Hello folks, I'm new here, but certainly not to vehicle forums. I'm an old hand in the Toyota 4x4 world. But recent gas prices have pushed me into a well loved 87 Civic Hatchback. It needs a clutch and some exhaust help, to get back on the road. I guess pulling the engine is the way to change the clutch? Not much room in this thing... I thought my 4Runner was bad! :D Enjoy the pics.

 

Toyota Civic Si

Welcome, you should find some great info on here but http://www.redpepperracing.com has more love fot the gen III Civics. Check it out and nice project Si!

 

I prefer to think of it as Project MPG! :D How can you tell it's an SI from those pics? Is the sunroof a dead giveaway? It is fuel injected, but it does not say SI on the rear end like some I have seen. Decoding the vin says it's an SI though.... Were there any other differences?

And thanks for the welcome!

 

The Si was the only fuel injected version available during that model year.

OEM parts are cheap and plentiful, performance parts are generally out of production so eBay will be your friend. But with that said, go to http://www.redpepperracing.com for the best web site for these old cars. Some cool stuff is available over there.

Coming from the world of Toyota, you may not be familiar with the concept of the "interference" engine. If the timing belt breaks in a Honda you will bend some valves. So consider changing the timing belt and water pump (it lives in the same part of the engine as the timing belt).

Get under the car and check for rust. Specially around the Panhard bar mount on the driver's side, just in front of the rear axle.

The best path to high mpg and some more power is to "open up" the intake and exhaust for better breathing.

Yes, the tranny needs to come down for a clutch change, but that is not a big deal.

Resist the temptation to put big wheels and tires on this car, it prefers 14" wheels.

Scott

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmda7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Toyota Civic Si </TD></TR></TABLE>

word to your mother. this is always the situation.

 

Wow, no Toyota love here huh? :D FYI That 4Runner has 304k on it, and aside from the recent exhaust leak is still kickin @$$ and takin' names. It also has an interference engine, but has a timing chain, so it's rarely an issue, long live the 22RE!

Thanks for the info, I think I'll pull the engine/trans so I can get to everything easily. Anything else I should change now that's a real pain once the engine is in?

So far I'm changing the clutch, rear main seal, trans input seal, timing belt, water pump, valve cover gasket...

What size exhaust is recommended for the 1.5 FI for optimum power/mpg? I know too big can start to hurt things...

 

I have a 85 CRX and changed the clutch,just pull the transmission,ounce you start getting things out of the way its not so bad.go in with a pos attitude

 

is that an early runner with the solid axle front or does it have IFS? 22RE ftw!!!

those motors are soooooooooooo reliable.

 

Things are going well on the Hatchback, new timing belt, water pump, and rear main seal went in tonight, having the engine out has made it super easy.... I'm glad I pulled it.

The 4Runner is an 89, so it has IFS, I have a solid axle to do the swap sometime, but at this point it scares me what it will do, so I'm not itching to get the SAS done.

 

Hola lol.......

 

what, you don't want some serious flex outta that thing? gotta do the SAS in it, man. HAVE TO.

and pimp it out with a snorkle, yo.

 

Uh.... hola? :D Hehe

My 4Runner does ok..... It's got some wicked flex for a stocker!

 

hey hey hey!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MOE@Hyper16Valve &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">HOla back @ you ...</TD></TR></TABLE> hahah lol

 

Well, I shoe-horned it back in today. It went well enough. Didn't get everything hooked back up as it started to rain. With a little luck I'll be taking it for a spin tomorrow.

 

what do the drive shafts(cv joint/half shafts same thing) look like along with brakes and rotors shocks good?

 

Well, the Honda got a trial by fire today...

Last Friday I fired it up and took it for a spin, and everything was good. Then Saturday morning I was on my way to a friends house about 45 minutes away, and my 4Runner died 3 blocks from his house..... It's only an ignition problem and I have parts on the way, but I had to tow it home Sunday. Clearly the 4Runner got jealuse and decided to let me know it is not happy about the Civic taking over.... :D Hehehe

So the Civic got dropped into commuting duty today without a proper going through... But everything was fine, I bled the brakes this evening, as they were a little soft... It's a peppy little car I'll give it that. Of course after driving a tall truck with oversized tires, it feels like a race car... :D I passed a truck in 4th going uphill this morning, on the same hill I drop it into 3rd and punch it just too keep up in my 4Runner....

Front brakes are in good shape (haven't checked the rears yet), CV's don't make any noise and there's no rips in the boots. I have a receipt for a new axle shaft from 5-6 years ago... So I'll fix those when and if they need it... Don't know about the shocks yet, I'll see how it feels. So far so good.

Thanks for the help.

 

well the shoes are just your e brake so if you dont use it then they wont be that bad they might just need some adjustment like today i pulled my drums off and put them back on and they work better then ever(for some unknown reason) because one would work and one wouldnt work and then today they both work i just went through 3 thermostats before it would work without overheating

 

 

nice yota, i've got a 93 pick-up with ifs and v-6. 31 10.50 baja MT's and i love it!!

 

Thanks, I need to get the top off the 4Runner soon. :D

The Honda is running good, I got a hair under 40 mpg on the first tank!!!!! ..... then I put a muffler on it, and checked and changed the timing.... Hehehehe and it dropped to 35 on the 2nd tank... So now that it's smogged I can get back to the order at hand, more MPGs! Thanks for the help, I'm sure I'll be back for more insight!!!

 

nice find..any future plan?

 

Future plans..... A change of color is in order.... I'm not a red guy. Probably a grey/blueish something. I got a stock Toyota stereo for $2 and stuck it in today. Now I can have some tunes at last....

Anyone know which stereo wire is the illumination wire? None of the "mystery wires" were giving me 12V with the lights on.... I do have constant 12 switched 12, ground, left and right + and - speaker wires. Plus 4-5 other wires.... Did these have rear speakers stock? I haven't seen them yet..... Anyway, I'm rambling.... :D

 

What body dings!!!!!!?????? :D White may be an option.... How's the dirt show though?