<--- She was such a good car...

Well, there’s a first time for everything. After nearly 30 years in this sport, I finally hit something solid at an autocross and its bent “Scruffy” up enough that she’s no longer useful as a racer. So here it is two weeks before Nationals and we are without a car…again. The crazy man in me is saying that I should find another 89 Civic Si shell and swap everything over. So, that’s the current plan (until I come to my senses and just punt).

So if anyone knows of an 89 Civic Si (must be exactly that year and model) for sale that has a straight body (no rust), let me know ASAP! I just need a shell, but I’ll take a whole car if necessary. Preferably in stock form.

--Andy

PS: I’ll post some pics of the damage up on SCCAforums in the ST section there a little later.

PPS: Yes, it was at this time last year when I blew the motor at the same event. You’d think I’d learn my lesson about going there…



Modified by Andy Hollis at 11:45 PM 8/28/2005

 

Wow.

Andy I wish I could help you out. Good luck finding a 89 Si.

 

Picture links in this thread: http://sccaforums.com/forums/1...50988

--Andy

 

It didn't look that bad until the rear subframe shot..Then got ugly..

Sorry to hear about another misfortune for you...Good luck finding a car...I'll look around, I know theres a STD around here, but not an Si..

Jeff

 

ive seen that rear suspension dammage before and it is fixable. new rear subframe and new suspension parts and she'll be good as new.
i say try to fix it. i think its totally doable.
-spenc

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lo-Buck EF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ive seen that rear suspension dammage before and it is fixable. new rear subframe and new suspension parts and she'll be good as new.
i say try to fix it. i think its totally doable.
-spenc</TD></TR></TABLE>
That's what I was thinking...?

 

Rear frame rails are now closer together by about .25". It will need to be bent back on a frame machine. I worry that it would no longer be as strong after the pushing/pulling.

Part of my issue is time. Welding in a subframe and straightening may not happen in a week. But I am going to check into it.

Thx,

--Andy



Modified by Andy Hollis at 5:43 AM 8/30/2005

 

I can't imagine that there'd be any significant change in the strength/rigidity of the car.

Wouldn't dropping it at a frame shop be faster than tracking down another Si, buying it, stripping the current car, and putting all the old parts on the new car? Especially if you have to transport the car or drive a distance to pick it up.

Regardless of which route you decide to take, good luck!

Christian

 

That looks like an easy fix to me. Far quicker than swapping out the entire shell for another one. That whole rear crossmember is available from Honda, so a good body shop should be able to repair that damage in a day or two (assuming you can talk them in to starting on it right away).

-Chris

 

Fix it.

Hell, after Renee crashed the C car at Barber last year it scaled up BETTER.
Maybe you'll get lucky too!!!

 

Thanks for the advice guys. Turns out I found another car in great shape, and it comes with some extra go-fast parts that I can sell off.

We harvested all of Scruffy's vital organs tonight in about five hours time. I'll go to get the other car tomorrow, drive home Wednesday and then we'll do the swap. Should be running again by Thursday night, Friday at the latest.

We have an ulterior motive for getting another shell. This one has some previous crash damage and is cosmetically rough (thus the name). The new one should be nicer. And we can still fix up the old one as a daily driver for our daughter.

--Andy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Hollis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We harvested all of Scruffy's vital organs... --Andy</TD></TR></TABLE>

The "proper" industry term is Procured.

Carry on....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerBowie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The "proper" industry term is Procured.

Carry on....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, but that sounds like we stole them!!

--Andy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Hollis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, but that sounds like we stole them!!

--Andy</TD></TR></TABLE>

How about "rescued"?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Hollis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, but that sounds like we stole them!!

--Andy</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, the car did wake up in a bathtub full of ice... hmm. I dunno "Procured" still sounds more honorable than "5 Finger Discounted", even if you are speaking of your own car.

Good luck with the reassembly!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WRXRacer111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Well, the car did wake up in a bathtub full of ice... hmm. I dunno "Procured" still sounds more honorable than "5 Finger Discounted", even if you are speaking of your own car.

Good luck with the reassembly!</TD></TR></TABLE>

A term we use is "meticulously dissected en bloc, removed and packaged for shipping. (ie: cut free, yanked and boxed)

 

Update info here near end of thread: http://sccaforums.com/forums/2...51799

Short story: New car back in Austin, stripped down suspension & drivetrain out. Ready to swap in good stuff today.

--Andy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Hollis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Update info here near end of thread: http://sccaforums.com/forums/2...51799

Short story: New car back in Austin, stripped down suspension & drivetrain out. Ready to swap in good stuff today.

--Andy</TD></TR></TABLE>

More updates on SCCAforums.

In short, we fired up the motor tonight, half the suspension is back on, and lots of other stuff we hadn't planned on got done. Might be done tomorrow.

--Andy

 

Update: Car *was* finished and put together yesterday (Friday), but with wheels on we noticed the positive camber on the left side was back. Turns out the uprights were both bent (front and rear) and we had transferred those from the broken car to the new car to save the bushings. No go. More parts were bent than originally thought. So, the left side suspension came back off and we transferred bushings to the new car's uprights. I hate those friggin' bushings!

Rear suspension is now back on, front is almost done. Should be able to finish up this morning, corner weight, and get to the alignment shop. Big plug for our sponsor Soulspeed Performance who is opening special on Saturday just for us.

Hopefully the next message will be about how everything is perfect. Now where'd I put those rose colored glasses...

--Andy

 

Good Luck Andy!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Andy Hollis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Rear suspension is now back on, front is almost done. Should be able to finish up this morning, corner weight, and get to the alignment shop. Big plug for our sponsor Soulspeed Performance who is opening special on Saturday just for us.

Hopefully the next message will be about how everything is perfect. Now where'd I put those rose colored glasses...

--Andy</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, the frustration continues.

Everything is perfect except that the front left has a major camber problem. Can't get within 1.5 degrees of the right front (and what the other car had on both corners). And the corner weights were dead-on. Slotting the control arm got us within a half degree, but I really want to get back to optimal. This makes no sense since this car shows no body damage at all and there are no parts on the left front from the wrecked car. I've never seen this kind of side-to-side discrepancy in a straight car. I'm at a loss...

--Andy

 

Could the control arm or upright from the "new" car be damaged on that side? Just because they did not come from the old car does not guarantee the parts to be good.

 

Maybe if since you swapped in the old bushings the angle in the bushing formed with a little more camber in them. Just a guess.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mohudsolo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could the control arm or upright from the "new" car be damaged on that side? Just because they did not come from the old car does not guarantee the parts to be good.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Indeed a possibility. You never know with a car that has 250K miles on it.

-Andy

 

did you check your wheel bearings? both chang and i just went through similar things on our cars. chang had a .6* discrepancy in camber, i had a .3*. both loose wheelbearings. just a thought... hope you get it done so you aren't thrashing to make it to topeka.

nate