I figured that since I have had to do so much crap to this car, why not keep progress. Bought her for 1300 by the way. She has a JDM d15b, p28 ECU


Previous to working on this car I have only made simple repairs to cars. Such as the starter, alternator, Tie rod ends and radiator in my 240sx. So Im doing all of this stuff for the first time, and learning on the way.


Ill start with the basic pictures. Along the way I will take more.

This is what she looked like the day I bought her. The picture was taken by the previous owner.I have since put the 13's on the back(Same ones shown on the front)



Picture the previous owner took while doing the headgasket. Engine bay is currently that dirty still I plan to clean it up a bit.

<u>Repairs, Needed Repairs, and works in progress.</u>
1. FINISHED!Replacing head gasket and Having head milled.-Gasket was brand new when I bought it, but car started overheating.I also noticed amounts of oil in the coolant. No coolant in oil or burning coolant though. Come to find out the head was never milled or checked by a machine shop (but was checked with straight edge and feelers by previous owner). Also not sure if new head bolts were used. So... I'm having the head checked, replacing the gasket, and replacing bolts with ARP head studs.
2. FINISHED!Replacing Water Pump and Tensioner Bolts- I broke/stripped these when I replaced Water Pump and Tensioner when my car first started heating. Figured if it wasn't the water pump, at least I would learn how to fix it. Plus they needed to be changed anyways. Timing belt was new when I bought her so...
3. FINISHED!Rack End Bushing and tie rod replacement-My wheels had ridiculous play. The rattle like crazy when braking. So I dropped the steering rack and started at it.
4.NOT NEEDED Removal and clearing of heater core- I don't even know that my heater core is clogged, but I figure what the hell why not do it "just in case". Truthfully I this probably isn't the problem because my car passes heat through the vent just fine, so it most likely will be done if all else fails.
5.FINISHED Installation of new Gauge cluster- Easy to do, im gonna make sure it is pinned correctly also. Need to replace because the current one acts awefully funny. Example being that when the left blinker is used the tach jumps and High beam dash light flicks on and off with blinker. Speedo isn't accurate, and fuel level is way off (this may be the actual sensor as well). Also the lights do not work when headlights are turned on(this may be a switch gone bad somewhere also).
6. Installation of climate control- Mine got broken like every other CRX climate unit. Will replace with reinforced one. Or I may go with Accord swap.
7.FINISHED New muffler and exhaust leaks fixed- Im gonna put on a POS muffler to get me by emissions and until I swap the motor. I also have fixed a few holes with the exhaust putty crap. Figured why not since I had to drop the exhaust anyway (for Steering rack removal).
8.FINISHED Stereo installation - This is a pretty low priority but a necessity the same. I just need a deck, got subs and an AMP just sitting in my garage.NOW IN THE CAR
9.FINISHED and TRADED THEM! Get rid of my blasted Altezza tail lights- They are Ugly as sin! Im gonna trade them for stockers. Gotta do a little De-Ricing.
10. Motor swap- The final Piece to the puzzle. I have saved some cash and aim to buy a GSR for the old girl. That should make her pretty mean. I don't plan on doing much mods to it, maybe bolt on's. I want to maintain the Life of the Motor, just want it to have some *****.

Damn thats all I can think of for now. I will have a great deal of this done by next week. Ive been working on this B*tch non stop for the past week. I'll make sure to take pictures though.

This is the block with the head and manifold removed. I cleaned off the pistons when I popped the head, so they look nice and shiny in the pic. I also Cleaned the **** out of the manifold and all the attached parts and hoses. Including IACV and FITV. Also cleaned the outside up a bit.


Modified by jackmode9316 at 7:46 AM 10/24/2007


Modified by jackmode9316 at 9:19 AM 12/6/2007

 

Good progress so far, keep it up

 

LOTS of work to do but I hope it will pay off for you

 

I took some more cell phone pictures today.

This is my steering rack, I took out the rack end bushing and am putting a new one in.


Good Old Valve cover, nothing special


Shot tie rod ends. These inners has so much play it was not even funny. Im getting new ones today


Pulled Exhaust with Leaks patched up


Where the water pump will go, with the tensioner. Both Brand spankin New.


The car as it sits now


Center Consol, needed climate control and CD deck.


Front of the Car with the Crawler underneath.


New door panels to replace the nasty ones in it!

 

That engine bay looks like a whole village vomited on it.

 

gotta start somewhere

turbo d ftw!

 

for doing the work yourself.

 

I cleaned up the engine bay tonight actually! I will take pictures tomorrow before I put everything back in. Man it sure was a pain cleaning it because I had to pull a couple things off in order to get it nice and clean. Got my head back today too. Now im just waiting on the Gasket kit before I throw all of the motor back together. Also bought New inner and outer Tie Rod ends today. Both sides of course. I have to wait for the inners though. After that the old girl will be in running condition!

The GSR swap that I almost bought went back up for sale. Sad thing is that I spent some money on new parts for this rig. Ohh well, we will see how things go! i might throw a deposit.

 

Isn't that solerizer's old car?

 

Yup sure is!

 

This is when I got the head back on. Thank god Sears has 12 point sockets(for ARP stud bolts). ALso notice how clean the Bay is compared to the before pictures.



This is the Intake Manifold, boolted back up. (I only need to connect 1 more hose, and attach the valve cover)



This is the Timing belt are.(Still have to line up Cam and Crankshaft and tension the belt)


I should get my Inner Tie rod ends today and should bolt up the good old rack tonight.

 

A few helpful comments for you...

4. Did you test if the heater was clogged by pushing water through it with a hose and with the heater valve opened? If the only way you know it is clogged by no heat coming out of it before the headgasket change, it was probably not working then b/c of the headgasket being blown, not because of it being clogged.

5. This sounds like a ground problem, not a cluster problem. If something related to your lights does not work, in most cases on older cars it has to do with the grounds for the light bulbs on the car. To check this, take out all of the bulbs on the car, and clean all of the corrosion off of the bulbs and the connectors on the car (with your battery unhooked so you don't blow a fuse). If this doesnt do it, then check to make sure all engine grounds are clean and not falling apart, and check the ones year all of your lights in the back of the car, and the underdash ones. After doing that, then suspect your cluster is f'd.
(This same problem happened on two of my cars so far, and in both cases, it was the fault of the grounds on the bulbs.)


For your headlight problem, I am guessing it is the switch, since in older hondas they pretty much always go bad.

For your speedo problem, make sure your tires are the correct size, and if so, someone probably touched the needle and messed it up pretty bad. (could be the same problem for the fuel gauge, which in fact happened on the last integra I owned b/c of the previous owner touching the needle) To fix these two problems, or to at least trouble shoot them, you'll need to find another cluster. (the ones out of the ef gen civics also fit, but most, if not all, do not have tachs)

7. Don't expect the puddy to last longer than driving your car to get inspected. Keep enough money in your budget for a new exhaust.

10. A GSR swap would be a great swap for a crx. Considering this is your first major car work you've done, it is also very realistic for you. Doing a crx swap only should take a weekend of work if it's your first swap, and you have all the parts to complete it with.


Overall, you have quite a bit of work ahead of you, but take your time, and it won't be hard at all. Remember, it is a Honda, so nothing you have to fix on the car is that hard to do. Good luck and email me (dantheflemwod@gmail.com) if you have any specific questions considering I have worked on plenty of CRXs.

-Dan

 

Finished putting everything back together last night. Would have started her up but stupid *** checkers gave me the wrong drain ****(Maybe not though). Bastards. I wil have pics up soon. Thanks for the helpful comments though.


Modified by jackmode9316 at 12:21 PM 8/28/2007

 

Looks good dude! well be watching you

 

I decided to take a break from working on the car for most of the weekend. I just need to adjust Valve lash. Also cant get my Cam and Crank timing matched up. So I will probably have the pro's take a look when I can. Also my CEL is flashing one long blink...which is code 10 for IAT sensor. Is this the same as the Air Charge Temp sensor?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SilverEkHatch15 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good progress so far, keep it up </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

There isnt really much at all to getting the d series timing marks lined up.

I would avoid having a pro touch it since they will charge the hell out of you.

Take some pictures and post them up...my first d series took about a minute to line up the timing marks on after doing a few B series before it (which are a lot harder due to the extra cam).

I'm sure someone on here can give you some advice to get you do put it together and line up the timing correctly. Don´t give up.

 

Okay so valve lash is good, the Check Engine light is staying on(code zero?) The bitch is still overheating. Im taking it to a performance shop to have the pro's check the ol'girl out. That way it will be fixed for good!

 

Ah man, that sucks. I'm guessing something might be up with with block's mating surface, or maybe the thermostat is stuck closed. Did you replace that yet?

For the ecu, it sounds like it's fucked. Usually they stay on when someone is wrong with it. But be sure you attached the ground that goes to the thermostat housing, and all the grounds in the engine bay are clean and tight. They can affect how the ECU works.

I hope the shop doesn't mess it up and/or rip you off. Good luck with it.

 

OKAY GOOD NEWS, as it turns out....My car was never overheating. I basically just replaced the cluster with one out of a 89 civic. BOOM all the sudden the heat stays normal, My gas guage works and No more jumping tach when I use the left blinker. Needless to say IM stoked. Now I just have to have the shop Do an alignment and maybe toss an exhaust on and check out that damn CEL (CODE ZERO!)
I may take some pics tonight after I throw the new panels on and clean her up and take pics.


EDIT: The shop I am taking it too is VERY VERY VERY (and I mean VERY!)Reputable amongst the Import Community here in Denver. http://www.tcperf.com

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jackmode9316 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OKAY GOOD NEWS, as it turns out....My car was never overheating. I basically just replaced the cluster with one out of a 89 civic. BOOM all the sudden the heat stays normal, My gas guage works and No more jumping tach when I use the left blinker. Needless to say IM stoked. Now I just have to have the shop Do an alignment and maybe toss an exhaust on and check out that damn CEL (CODE ZERO!)
I may take some pics tonight after I throw the new panels on and clean her up and take pics.</TD></TR></TABLE>


thats awesome bro keep us updated!

 

I´m glad you found a good import shop. Taking it to the wrong place could lighten your wallet fast.

 

Looks good!!! Sorry I had to steal that GSR motor from ya. I'll be following along too.

 

looks good so far

 

clean