Here's the set-up:

My front control arm bushings were shot and needed replaced. So following the sage advice of Karl "Rice" shultz I decided to replace them with the ES kit I had purchased several years ago and never installed. I believe the logic was something like "They may not be perfect, but they got to be better than busted-*** stock bushings." Socrates look out.

So I completely disssasembled the front suspension of the car, took the upper and lower arms apart and everything. Several hours later, covered in brake dust and grease, they are apart.

Next my "ricer" side shows throught and I degrease, clean, and repaint everything but the knuckle and tie rod end. This takes a while. I do this because my old batery spilled acid on everything and the paint peeled off.

I then go to Sears (carrying a pile of suspension parts - perfectly normal) and pick out $40 worth of sockets to use to press out the bushings. They are naturally, sizes I will never use again. 29mm socket anyone? anyone?

On my way home, I stop and buy marine grease.

Pressing out the bushings goes suprising well until a socket gets stuck in the upper a-arm bushing hole. Trying to press it out from the other side, I accidently press the arm into a nice u-shape. It looks like a c-clamp. I spend half an hour with a vice and a mallet to get it "mostly" straight again.

It's finally time for reassembly and I start on the lower control arm. Following the instructions, I find the correct bushing, place it in the hole and... it falls out the other side. It's way too small. A few minutes later I confirm that ALL OF THE BUSHINGS ARE TOO SMALL.

ANGER and Confusion reign.

I check the box. Box says 92-95 del sol / civic. But the instructions inside the box say CRX. Bushings match up to instructions. Some jackass put the wrong label on the box.

The best part - I bought the kit years ago, from a store that is no longer in business.

This morning, I ordered another kit. I hope this one is labelled okay.

Maybe next weekend will be better.

Phillip - who just wants a car that will consistently brake in a straight line.

 

sorry DooD

 

See that was nothing. Had this been a "Karl" weekend it would have gone something like this:

- Wake up. Trip over shoe on the floor and fall into lamp on nightstand breaking it.
- Go to bathroom
- When flushing toilet chain breaks
- Turn on shower water - nothing because the water main broke last night flooding the freshly planted grass in the front yard
- Get dressed in dirty clothes
- Head to garage, stop and get bit by cat on the way
- Open garage door - one of the hinges breaks wedging the door crooked in the door jam.
- Reach through crack and hit garage door openner button. Door slips off track about 8" above the ground
- Go outside, slip in mud in the front yard
- Crawl under the garage door. Tear shorts on door
- Get out prybar to fix garage door. Pry door back onto tracks.
- Prybar breaks in the track and it is wedged in between the door and the track
- Hit head on door repeatedly, bruise head but piece of prybar falls out
- Disassemble rollers and put it back together. 2 rollers are now missing
- Get flashlight out to look under the busted-*** MG for the rollers
- Flashlight batteries are dead
- Pull other garage door off the hinges and go inside.
- Get batteries out of kitchen drawer - get bit by cat again
- Put batteries in flashlight - bulb burns out
- Get out drop light. Burn arm on shield
- Find rollers. Reinstall. Drop one and it rolls down the driveway, out into the street and down into the sewer
- Give up on doors and get to work on the car
- Loosen lug nuts. Break 2 lugs in the process
- Jack up car and take tires off
- Hit head on fender lip. Twice.
- Find large hairy spider on axle. Run into house screaming. Get scratched by cat as you run past.
- Spray spider with entire can of carb cleaner. Disassemble suspension (breaking 3 more bolts in the process).
- Press bushings out. Get socket stuck and bend arm.
- Straighten arm (sorta).
- Take a break to come in and post story on Honda-Tech. Get scratched and bitten by cat.
- Knock over/break new desk (failure caused by faulty assembily). Remember to tighten camlocks next time.
- Go back out and start re-assembling suspension. Realize that carb cleaner used to kill spider has eaten away the pimpy concrete sealer on the floor.
- Get hose. Turn on water - forget that water is busted.
- Get out paper towels and begin "mopping up". Hit head 2 more times on car.
- Call it a night. Come in and post on Honda-Tech again while sitting on the floor (cat pissed on the chair).
- Go to bed

 

ROTFLMAO
I can picture it, despite having never met Karl in person. Oh wait, I'm seeing Mr Bean... nevermind.

 

That sad thing is, that's not far from teh truth.

 

Kill the cat

 

Wow - good job!

Ya know...when I instructed you, I didn't think that my ability to break everything, all the time would rub off. I sincerely apologize.

Drew - LMFAO. That does sound more like one of my weekends.

 

You know your "aura" has a 500 mile range Karl . . .

 

Hey Karl, stay away from me please. I have enough car problems on my own

Fixed my brake line, which had a fawking hole in it. I'll take a pic soon.

My alternator has been bad. I've been racing on the battery, except over 8000 rpm I didn't realize I would actually lose ower from this, but my dyno runs last weekend kept going down, and the alternator is getting worse.

Maybe I should have paid more attention to the battery light at CMP

Warren

 

Karl touched my car once, and the diff broke 5 minutes later. True story.

Ever hear the one about the guy who painted his "office," only to have his desk break and crash into the freshly painted wall when he was trying to move it back into place?
Who was that? I can't remember .

 

Nice one Drew That chit was too funny.

 

Sorry for your poor luck,
Entertaining nun the less.

Good luck in the future,


A.

 

As I sit here laughing out loud, the wife looking over my shoulder and shaking her head says..."Does he know you?". I then pointed out, I am ready a depiction of someone else who has the worst luck whenever a "free" day arise to work on the car...

I'm still laughing....out loud

Thanks..

Jeff
[edit spelling, still laughing]


[Modified by jasyatz, 7:43 PM 7/22/2002]

 

Well I read Drew's missive about me slipping in the mud and hitting my head on stuff, and thought to myself...wow. Surely it can't be that bad. So I searched the board for threads I started.

It is actually that bad. I got thread titles including:

- Please, for the love of GOD can I get one vehicle to run
- It might be busted, but at least it's light
- I hate this hobby
- I still hate this hobby, just a little less now
- Gutting the car, take two: this has not ben fun
- Gutting the car - this isn't as easy as I thought
- Hey homeowners - my house smells terrible. What to do?

You guys must think I'm an idiot.

 

LOL Thanks guy that brightened my day

 

don't forget Creepy stuff in the garage tonight
that one gets my vote as the most entertaining

 

How in the hell did I miss that one?!!!

 

Another true story. Last time Karl drove my car in April at VIR, I needed to replace an axle. Before that, the last time he drove it was at VMP last year when the throttle cable frayed and made the accelerator stick *while HE was driving!*

Karl, you don't get to ever look at my car again ever.

 

Drew.. you forget the part where karl breaks everything while gardening too

RJ - who hopes Karl doesnt breathe on his car at CMP, lest sit in or drive in it! I'm doing a good enough job of breaking things on my own

 

Drew, that was the best... I am still laughing!

nice

Sorry for your bad luck, Phillip

 

When I ordered some new prothane motor mounts for my 92 Civic they sent me a box full of...

Two Jeep V8 motor mounts and one Honda four banger mount.

Thank GOD I hadn't pulled all the mounts out of my car before I checked the parts.

Because of that, I check all parts and part numbers BEFORE I leave my tuning shop.



That actually saved me a bunch of time. I just ordered some H&R Sports and KYB AGX's. The AGX's were right, but they sent me the H&R Sports for the 4-door 92-95 Civic EX. But, I caught it before I left the shop, and they reordered it right then.

 

I missed the one on the smelly house too.

So does anyone know if Karl ever found the bag of **** Brinson and I put behind his...
Uhhh... I meant... Does anyone know if Karl found the source of the smell?

 

Found it . . .

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=87939

Hahahaha! God-damn Karl - how do you do it? Just when I thought you had finally peaked here comes a new and even more amazing tale of busted ****.

 

That thread ownz.
BTW Karl, IM me your mailing address. I gotz somethin' fo j00.

John -- who knows a thing or two about smelly mold and chit.