Since I've been lurking around here a little, I thought I'd show ya'll what I'm up to.

I purchased a 4WD wagon as a DD. I've always like these wagons and did research on them for a few months before buying.

Here's the one I bought. Decent body, couple of small dents. Great interior, only blemish is the ripped driver seat. 4WD components looks great, no major leaking. And NO RUST!!











I test drove the car twice and it drove well. I opened the hood and noticed a pretty nasty oil leak coming from the valve cover. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so I talked them down on the price and bough the car anyway. While test driving the car, the temp was steady and cool, like I expected and the oil seemed fine, other than the leak.



On the way home, I blew the head gasket. It made it most of the way home just fine, then suddenly, it started getting hotter and hotter. The car was low on water and oil, and got hot after only 5 minutes of driving after the gasket blew....

I also think the water pump may have been defective, but this is just a guess based on how it all unfolded, and how corroded it is!! Damn you tap water!!!



Anyway, it's a SOHC ZC motor,

Here are all the items I am replacing:
water pump
timing belt
valve cover gasket
thermostat
head gasket
plugs / wires
oil / air filter



I tore the motor apart to find coolant in the head... expected.


Here is the damage to the head gasket,




The pistons and sleeves look good, but the water passages need some cleaning.


Here's what I wasn't expecting to see on the head...


It's pretty obvious that someone recently tried to repair this motor, but didn't really know how to do it properly. I mean, I'm no engineer but I wouldn't gouge at a head with a screwdriver....

Anyway, am getting ready to send the head out to get milled, and get this baby back on the road. I can't wait to add some style to her!

 

toss the engine...car looks good

 

why toss the engine....?
It's way cheaper to have it milled than to buy another motor that I know nothing about...

 

Man, wish these pics were up a few months ago.
Somebody was trying to convince everyone that running straight tap water was ok.

Your pics show exactly what it looks like when you run straight water for a long period of time.
That's tap water and no coolant.

 

right you are 4drEF... tap water is the worst thing you can put in ANY motor (except for sand ), and it doesn't matter what city or state you live in.

Even you manual recommends distilled water.

 

Head is getting milled now. $75 for removing the cam, milling and cleaning!!
Should be back together by Monday-ish!!

 

This is moving a little slower than I expected.. actually a lot slower, but I've been super busy with work and Christmas shopping/decorating/ etc. but here is a little progress.







You can see the HUGE difference in the head surface now that I've got it back from the machine shop. They cleaned, disassembled the rocker arms, milled it down 10\1000, and reassembled it. All for $80. Totally worth it, and much better than having to buy a different head or block that could have the same issues... now I know this head is straight!!

There is no evidence of those scratch marks, and even the pitting area is almost completely gone. This should work out well.

I actually am returning the valve cover gasket and seals to Checker and going with the Honda OEM ones; thanks to the suggestion of the forums.

I am also sending the valve cover out to get powder coated tomorrow. I think I'm getting it coated red... what do you think?

 

looks good. i personally would have put a z6 or a y8 head on there and gone obd1, just for the extra umph, but that's just me. lookin good so far man. red valve cover ftw!!

 

If I would've gone with one of those heads, chances are it would cost double... The price of the y8 then the price to have it decked. No matter what, I would've had to deck whatever head I end up with just to be certain it was done right. I already had this one, so it was an easy choice.

Then there's the cost of the obd conversion... I'm not really looking for a money pit. My RX7 already has that job filled =]

 

looks like a good platform too start off with i would love to own one of those for a dd by they have all been overcome by rust where i am from

 

Thanks DoubleDirtyC, Do the wagons in Canada have options like auto windows and locks?

I would love to get one of the conversions from Europe or somewhere rather than wire it all in new...

 

zc motor ftw

 

to be honest i am not sure of the trim levels and the difference in options but i do know that there is an 1989 for 500 dollars that need a little body work and a rear strut and it has air conditioning
p.s.it only has 107,000 kms

 

dude, grab that bad boy!

 

freshhh nice build

 

I accept with information:Decent body, couple of small dents. Great interior, only blemish is the ripped driver seat. 4WD components looks great.

 

ummmm, someone delete this spammer crap...

 

I did some day dreaming the other day. With the help of Photoshop I came up with this...

 

hah sweet pik looks good

 

those are fun cars. I drove the hell out of mine and got almost 40 mpg.

 

where does the 6-speed part come in?

 

it has 6 speeds in the tranny... Pretty self explanatory.

 

6 speed? Very nice!

 

ya, I've never seen a 4wd civic or a 6 speed civic, but this one has both!! I was pretty stoked when I found it.. Now if only it had a sun roof

 

true true. you can always make the conversion harness your self tho... lol