Holy crap! I've been slacking. I've been trolling around hear for years so I guess it's time I post up some pics of my 91 RT4WD wagon.

A little back story:

My old man bought the old girl back in 93 with 45k miles on it and drove it 120 miles every weekday round trip to work and back for 19 years. As of right now she has 681,xxx miles on the chassis...

Gotta love a Honda.

Anyway, one day last year he wasn't paying attention to the temp when a heater core hose sprung a leak and the old A6 overheated and blew a head gasket.

At the time I didn't know how long it had been run hot, so I assumed the hose could be replaced and all would be well...

SO...
I dug in.



Because I'm crazy about clean engine bays (and my dad wasn't in a rush to get the car on the road again), I decided to pull the motor and give the old girl a thorough cleaning, since she'd never had it.







After LOTS of cleaning I got the old A6 all cleaned up...



Got some new hoses from Mishimoto...



Got a new radiator and fans...



And a new front motor mount, because... uhhh....



Yeahhhh....


Everything was going well.



Even got a new AC compressor and condenser.




Then I slammed everything together, put it on "blend" and...



The motor made it back in the car.


Aaaaaaannnnnd that's when I realized the head gasket was gone.

FML


But, I never let anything get me down.

The old A6 had done well in it's 675,000 mile life, but one of the plugs was seized in the head and I decided it wasn't worth fixing considering the mileage on the motor, and that day, my dad decided it was time to get a new car and pass the wagon on to me. The moment I'd been waiting for since I was 14 years old. Lol.


So what do I do?


I say: "**** this ****! Yank that bitch out and throw a Z6 in there!"

So I did.

It WAS a little heartbreaking to see all my work on the old motor go down the drain, but I was glad I had chosen to get the rad/hoses/ac/etc because it would all swap over to the z6 no problem! Wooo hooo. Three cheers for planning ahead. Lol.

A few phone calls, $400, and 3 hours later I had a grimey, formerly-boosted D16z6 with ~120k on it.

It needed a lot of love, but I always have plenty to give, so I gave it my special "That thing looks brand new!" treatment.

And hey, everybody likes a good "Before & After" shot, right?



Ahhhh... Muuuuuuch better.

And since we're in the "before:after" mood...

I decided the engine bay wasn't clean enough for me. AND the red wasn't going to work with the color scheme with the engine, so I went to town... Again...



Can't forget the hood...




At this point I was shooting to have it done in a weekend, but then, I **** YOU NOT, I randomly came across this on the internet, and it cursed me.

-_-



Soooooo... A week later... Lol



Obviously, getting the motor in is no problem, but sourcing all the other parts that were missing or broken was time consuming.

Throttle body
TD42U distributor
P28
Injectors (because I'm a butterfingers and ******* DROPPED ONE)
OBD0-OBD1 Jumper
Etc.

It's nice having friends though. Got the TB, dizzy, and injectors for free.
Picked up a full RyWire jumper harness off a buddy for $90.
But in the deal of a lifetime, I had a customer call me wanting to sell his 3-month old Hondata S300 in a p28 for $350 if I'd just drive 80 miles to pick it up from him.

Totally worth it.



It was around this time that a buddy called me and gave me the craziest news ever.

He was just out trolling around a junkyard 40 miles from me and stumbled across this...



Same color. Same interior. RT4WD. SAME PINSTRIPE!

I'd never seen another wagon with the same stripe as mine, so I had always thought it was aftermarket.

I was there an hour later and picked up a minty passenger side corner lens (which I hadn't been able to find anywhere for ANY PRICE for months) and a nice passenger mirror (mine had the block-off plate).

That week I also got my spare valve cover and fuel rail back from powdercoating. Refurb'd the dizzy my buddy gave me, and I blasted and painted the factory header too. **** rusted iron. Lol

All I can say is... Dat purp







So since I had everything ready, I plugged everything in, put a stock p28 base map on the s300, filled her fluids, and wouldn't you believe that even after that motor sitting for almost 2 years, it started up on the first crank.

Drove her around the block and immediately, my 3% of laziness bit me in the ***.

I had been impatient and left the z6 clutch on.

It was GONE. lol

Started slipping with full throttle @ 3000rpm in 3rd. So, like, 35lb/ft torque. Lol

Oh well. **** happens.

So the next day I grabbed a little goodie out of the display cabinet at the shop



That night I dropped the trans to swap clutches and hopefully throw in a lightened flywheel in the process.



No such luck. Whichever D series this is meant for, the pressure plate alignment pins don't match up with a D16a6 clutch.

Once again, I can only say "Oh well" Once I boost the motor, I'll just have to get a D16y8 clutch to match up with this flywheel. :D

After that was done she drove around with no problems (and got to see VTEC for the first time that night), and has been doing so ever since.



That's pretty much all there is for now.

It's still on stock suspension, stock exhaust, and steelies.

The parts list for the near future (3-4 months) is as follows:

Function Form type 2 coils
Work Meister CR01's 15x9 -15
225/45 Toyo's
Fender flares
Tanabe Touring Medalion exhaust
Other little random suspension goodies
35% window tint w/windshield
Full wrap in Metallic Purple/Black Iridescent



Eventually it'll be boosted. But hey, what Honda owner DOESN'T say that. Lmao.


Anyway guys and gals, let me know what you think. I'll try to update this periodically with lots of pics, as always.

 

i could follow this.

 

I think i will follow this! lol gotta ask what did you use on the engine bay? is taht rattle can? looks GOOD. this whole build is propper. Jealous that it's a RT4WD wago too. pix of the gauge cluster??

 

All RT4WD have color matched bumpers. 88-89 clutch's are smaller than 90 and up. You should be able to use it with the right combo. Lightweight flywheels are fun, you just have to shift a little quicker ;] Welcome to the wagon squad. Y8's, Z6's, and D15b's are fun in the wagons. Who needs two cams? Especially with boost, two cams just make everything more expensive!

 

i REALLY want one of those.
like, REALLY do.

 

i wish i could find an awd for a good deal like people out of ca does. or if my brother can give his up! i'd love a single turbo on it! although the 2 cams in my is also fun still. i thought it was just the 88 that has a small spline? cause i bought an exedy for my uncles 89 from an 88 and it doesnt fit. then went with a 91 and fitted perfect. (original engine)

im curious about the paint too, looks clean!

 

Well, you called it. The engine bay is rattle canned, just 3 coats of regular old gloss black enamel. I've found that spray painting can actually look REALLY good if you know how to prep everything right.

As for the clutch, I didn't have any issues getting the clutch to swap over, it was just the flywheel that wouldn't work with the clutch.

And EFsedan is right... 88 D Series clutches had a 21 spline input shaft. 89+ had 20 splines.

As for pics of the gauge cluster... There's nothing special about it. The mileage isn't accurate since I broke the damn thing 3 years ago because I wanted to take it apart and put it back together for no good reason. I pulled the old cluster out of my 91 Sedan and threw it in.

I wish I still had the original one with the mileage though. I never thought it would get to such an impressive number. I'm tempted to roll the odometer forward to where the mileage should be, just so I can have some more bragging rights. Lolol

 

Wow this is awesome! Makes me want to bring my build thread over here to Honda-tech on my Wagon. Keep up the great work! Looking forward to more updates!

 

^ This.
Good idea, I'd sure do that.

Dat purple=hawt

 

wait...why did the a6 fail? the headgasket was gone like, you forgot to put it on? lol sorry I'm not understanding

 

Quick question about those mishimoto hoses you bought... will that kit work on a DPFI setup as well? The description on ebay just says all 88-91 civics.

 

yes had them on my crx, but you dont use some of the smaller hoses.

 

Haha. The head gasket was blown. Quite badly. Let's just say, quite a bit of coolant came out of the exhaust. When I started it up.

As g.r.crx said, yes, they will work.

ONE NOTE THOUGH!

I got the Mishimoto hose kit because the heater core hose had a small hole in it, and I figured I might as well get all new hoses. But, as it turns out, both heater core hoses ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THAT KIT!!! Mishimoto doesn't even offer them. Lol

I don't regret getting the kit, but I ended up having to run to Autozone to get a new upper HC hose anyway.

Oh well. Whatcha gonna do?

 

Also very nice work. Love the wagons.

 

awesome car, nice clean job in the engine bay. Its a shame that red rt made it into the wrecking yard.

 

ohhh..so why didnt you just get a new gasket and bam, call it a day

 

Love this and would love to do the same

How does the 4WD system hold up with that many miles?

 

Yeah. It was an auto RT though. And it had an interlock device in it. Lolol

Spark plug was seized in the head. Besides, why would I try to squeeze any more life out of a motor that already had 650k on it?

This is "Honda-Tech", not "How to fix your car as cheaply and easily as possible"

 

There were a couple of hiccups with it the other day when I was playing in the snow and ice.

I'd stop on an icy slope and put it in Super Low, let the car roll back, the take off. The car would grip HARD, but as soon as it stopped rolling back, the rpm's would pick up and it would spin a bit. It was like it was engaging all four wheels until it started making forward motion, then only 2 or 3 wheels were grabbing.

 

idk, because you cleaned it up and showed you would still have ran the engine but then the gasket was gone. lol im not saying it in that way, but it could have been an option. either way i think this is sweet car as well as a sweet swap.

 

That is good to know that it worked at all with that many miles

Between you and this thread http://www.civicwagon.com/showthread...iscous-Coupler
I think I feel a a bit better about these 25 year old 4wd systems, I think i'll go ahead and pursue a wagon in earnest. Thank you i'll be watching this thread

 

I would be super impressed if that motor had never been rebuilt. It had probably only been rebuild once so having it honed or bored over a little and rebuilding it would be no different that rebuilding the same motor with only 200k on it. A6 is a damn good single.

In for more on the wagon!

 

like the purple and gray combo looks nice

 

Lol. It was never rebuilt, promise. (Unless it was rebuilt in the ~45k miles it had before we got it)

Original main bearings and everything. I think it had either 5 or 6 water pumps/timing belts, a couple of new distributor caps and rotors, but other than that, it was all original.

My dad was the kind of man who changed the oil ever 2500 miles, let the car get to operating temp before driving it, rarely used the AC, rarely shifted over 2800 rpm, never went over 65 mph... etc.

He's basically a used car buyers' wet dream. Lmao.


I guess when it comes down to it though, I've always wanted to put a Z6 in the car, it's as simple as that. Lol.

 

Well, I just got off the phone with the head of KPMF USA and unfortunately, in order to get the purple/black iridescent vinyl I was going to wrap the wagon in, I'd have to order a minimum of 50 yds of it @ $1250 a roll. It ships from Wales in the UK since they haven't started production in the US yet.

It's just not worth it right now. I'll still have the first vehicle in the country wrapped in KPMF material, I'm just going to wait until the new US plant is open and operating (some time around the end of this year)

SO

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to my original plan and wrap it in 3M Gloss Black Metallic and keep the 99% black, 1% purple color scheme going. Lol.

Anybody have suggestions on what to do with the wheels?

I was thinking gloss black metallic spokes with a satin black lip and purple lug nuts.