Dirt


I originally bought this car for the price of a new starter. My friend had owned it for ten years, commuted to and from UMD in Baltimore from Frederick county for almost six years and all the while, delivering pizzas with it almost every evening. The starter froze out one night and , he thought, seized the engine... he popped the hood and saw the old one glowing red and smoking. It was towed back to his house and sat for a year and a half becoming a home for squirrels and other such small, furry woodland animals. He bought the car with 174,472mi on it... I know this because the VSS crapped the bed a few months after he picked it up... and there the mileage stayed until I purloined this dirty machine after it's long slumber! I have NO EARTHLY idea just how many miles actually DID end up on this thing, but his conservative estimate was over 500k miles in the decade he used this thing.

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It's a great car for it's age and wear, and while I haven't been able to store anything in the trunk due to rusty quarters allowing water in, I can park this thing downtown with the friggin' keys in it and still find it where I left it when I get back! I just leave a good layer of trash on the floor as my passive anti-theft system. It's also kept my other car out of the snow for two years (8 years and no winters for the red one), and with crappy tires 'Dirt' still tackles the snow with aplomb.



My girlfriend has grown tired of seeing this beast in the driveway, and a coworker of mine needs a whip after a stint in the Army... so out it must go! I ended up having a loss of compression six months ago and haven't had the time to tear it apart with tech school ending, a new shop job coming, and an unexpected ER visit getting in the way... but I finally got around to it. I drove with three cylinders for a few months and I suppose the OEM clutch bore the brunt of the work since the engine really only had three good cylinders... and then the clutch burned up: so it sat again.

I learned to tear-down, measure, and rebuild at school; so I did so with a junkyard head and valvetrain. After a few hours (8) in the hot tank and some new parts the head was ready to go. Then I had it dragged to school to get it all put together. I found all the oil leaks (camshaft seals), an improperly reinstalled crank pulley, and a cut timing cover which was allowing the oil out all over the driveway while tearing it apart. The valve seals had become solid and no longer functioned properly, so between them and the oil leaks; I was refilling the engine (or at least checking it) every time I stopped to fill the tank. At it's best I got 430mi out of a tank following an induction and fuel system cleaning. With the 'misfire' on cylinder two I was down to just over 300mi per-tank.



Off to the doctors! Going back in is a freshly restored F22A head with all new valves and valve seals, and a Prelude ECM. I'm also adding an EX 4-2-1 header, new tires, a stereo, and a decent set of speakers, and possibly a set of RARE fog lights I got from another user on here (Thanks Tommi!). I'm still on a lift at school, so by next Tuesday 'Dirt' will be prowling the streets of MD again!

Here's some shots:






Aaaaand the state it's sitting in now!


I'll keep it updated as I go... and I'll also post up any miscellaneous parts I have left over in the B-S-T section. The old head and valvetrain will be measured, tested, and rebuilt soon too; so maybe someone on here can save a few bucks and time picking that up!

 

So many miles and water under the bridge! My girl got a sweet new job that comes with a ridiculous salary and new company car... so she's gonna give me her 2010 Subaru; and wants me to get rid of Dirt!!! The ignition cylinder crapped the bed and allows the key-turn to get stuck past the "start" setting, so the starter energizes every time the clutch is engaged. You have to play with the key back-n-forth to un-stick it. And the ignition switch has gotten finicky and keeps the accessory circuit active with the key off and keys in my pocket... HILARIOUS! I've had to push start the bastard a few times before I figured out what was happening! Parts on order, though... I'll get it fixed this weekend!

I just foam-cleaned the engine last week and I'm getting 462+ miles-per-tank, but the oil blow-by and exhaust fumes are probably killing me slow...

And I just did some stuff to it that are keeping me from wanting to get rid of it. I "Rat Rodded" the beast!


The pic was taken at the College Park Tuning Meet in Bowie MD at the Baysox Stadium; I'll get the gallery off my camera and put up a new thread soon.

 

This thing is such a bastard! I CAN'T GET RID OF IT!!!

 

You painted the wheels while they were on the car? And painted over the keyholes? And didn't do anything about the rust? And put the stickers on before the paint completely dried?

*ED. - just saw the Pictures thread. Better make sure the buyer likes Rage, or they're gonna be piiiiiiissed.

 

No to all of that (but the key holes; the key doesn't work in the ignition half the time anymore: not worried about the damn doors)... I'm a technician; I did it right.

It has a half-million miles on it; the rust will come back and I only paid $126 for the car... again, not worried about it! A new set of tires totals the car twice over...

 

Two words: Rat Rod themed



Once the adapter for the wheel adapter shows up I'll get the new ignition cylinder, ignition switch, and welded-chain link shifter w/ baseball grenade shifter **** installed.



It's not supposed to look pretty

 

That steering wheel looks to be like one of the cheap eBay variants, if so, it's far more dangerous than whatever you have currently. I'd recommend against using it.

 

Do you get your stuff from ebay or..? Im not hating on ebay stuff im just wondering

 

It only deserves an eBay special; but the wheel was from Jeg's, wheel adapter from Summit (still waiting on that piece), chain links from TSC, hardware from Home Depot (M10x1.50)...

I need to remove the thing at work today and wire-wheel the jagged stuff down a bit, then it's getting a vinegar bath to strip it to bare metal and left in the rain... once it flashes, my brother will be lending me some Glisten PC (POR-15) to clear over the rust and seal it all up pretty-like. I'm also trying to get the stock boot to cover some of the ugliness...









Console still has to be futz'd with to make it look less un-finished, and the finishing of the metal is the next part of the project after that... now if only that damn adapter would show, I could finish the sterring wheel!

Thanks for the help, bruh!

 

Whoa too high shifter!

 

I love the custom fab shifter, but that seems unsafe. My 2c.

 

Your post looks to be one of the cheap honda troll variants, if so, you're far more dangerous than whatever is posted currently. I'd recommend you stop posting. f*ckin '05...

 

Nice shifter mod...

Did you go threw all the gears after the install? Not sure, but I think your passenger may not like reverse....lol


lmfao @ this douche. You should watch who you're calling a troll!

GTFO nemesismachine, you're the F#@king troll

 

No body calls the muffin man a troll, especially some noob like you.

 

ANYTHING will be better than the wheel that's in there now!

 

HAHAHAHA!!! Welder-checking in, guys... tanks fer da help, Bruddah!

Did some clean-up today... whaddaya think: clean and shiny like 'dis; or flash rusted and coated?!





Also messed around with a "Custom" badge (looking for more SE badges btw...)

 

Fixed the boot so it looks less ghetto

 

Moron.

*edit*

For clarification, it doesn't appear to be an eBay one. That should have been your response - those eBay ones are legitimately dangerous and not something I'd trust on my car. Crawl back in your hole you ******* '02.

 

rat thing out!!!! dope man iv wanted to see this done!! keep it up!

 

Nemesis is my brother guys... Jesus! Don't be so touchy.

 

Rat look?

Try meth head look

I'd expect to have meth heads beating down your door offering bindles of meth and a Sunfire in trade.

 

You know a little too much about amphetamines to be considered an authority on anything but...

 

i would have gone for super short shifter with grenade, but thats just me

 

That would be cool, too... I hadn't thought of that. I'm just having fun with this bucket before I get rid of it; but that shifter isn't welded on the stick! I just didn't want to cut the original stick and thread it because it's all one cast piece.

It was easy enough to make the thing... I may order another grenade and just make another shifter **** out of it.

 

shifter looks scary i can see it providing problems, lol...

nonetheless it is unique