N0OS3

Hello, first time poster here. I did a search on the topic before I decided to post, I hope the moderator(s) dont kick this. I'm making this thread for community feedback but also a personal log of trial and error of projects to come. It's an old style car but parts appear to be very cheap and easy to repair/replace/diagnose.

Anyway, I just got a cheap commuter for work from a coworker. I'm a junior mechanic and managed to get this 1991 Civic LX for $200 that just got a used japanese engine with approx 60k miles on it (installed 500 miles ago); new timing belt, seals all around. It had been sitting for 2 years since the guy's daughter bought something new and just left this thing sitting outside collecting algae, moss, and mold.

So far what I've done:
Brakes:
Machined rotors, flattened pads (since they still had 7mm left, just rusty/sticky calipers), replaced calipers and well lubed everything. I machined the drums, replace leaking wheel cylinders. Shoes looked new(ish) and not contaminated.
Replaced leaking master cylinder and flushed entire brake system.
I had to do all this just to feel safe enough to drive it 100miles a day. Now the brakes work great with a high firm pedal.
Detail:
Vehicle was full of junk, coin change, and stains. I filled up x3 50gallon trash cans full of moldy clothes and random garbage.
After that, I took out all of the seats and shift/parking brake center console and deep cleaned everything with dish soap, laundry detergent, goo gone, windex, and interior dressing/shine. I don't have a professional steamer yet and dont feel like a real interior detail is necessary just yet. I got about 80% of the stains out but moldy smell still lingers a little. I'm going to take out the HVAC blower motor soon and see if there's anything trapped in there and see if it's moldy; maybe tape a scent-tree to the bottom of it for a little while after spraying some mildew cleaner in there I can get from the auto parts store.
The driver seatbelt strap (has automatic sliding seatbelts) is shredded. I heard through the grapevine that seatbelts are lifetime warranty so I called up my local honda dealer today and confirmed it, YES, you can get seatbelts replaced at no cost from the dealer. I'm scheduled for next week and since our shop does business with them all the time, and we just a few blocks away, they'll send a guy to come pick it up and bring it back. How nice!
The trunk was very nasty but found that the spare tire was still well inflated to 60psi. Didnt have a spare tire kit so I bought one including the screw jack amd 19mm tire iron. Got an old rechargeable flashlight and medical kit to store back there as well. I'm still missing the floor board though... hopefully I can find one at the junk yard. A friend suggestes just cutting one out of ply wood and putting carpet on it but I think that will be too heavy for my goal of fuel economy... i'd rather make one out of fiberglass if I can't find one.
The trunk lid has rust holes. I know this year of hondas had bad water leaks in the tail lights and trunk. I doubt I can find a good condition metallic graphite trunk lid so I think I'll just grind out the rust, weld in plates, and use touch up paint to make the repairs...
When I washed the outside, I went from top to bottom with a toothbrush in small areas, went behind the window seals, behind the door hinges, removed the tail lights and cleaned behind that and went over the paint with a clay bar. Hell, I probably removed 5lbs of dirt and mold alone from this thing! I get a Paintless Dent Repair kit I used on my old BMW that has been sitting in the garage. I'll find it, get the dings out, and use some touch up paint to fill in the chipped paint in areas then follow it up with a good buff. I haven't decided if I want to spray paint the OE hubcaps black with a gold lip or just gloss black with a gold honda symbol. I do sign/vinyl work as a hobby and planned on removing the chrome trim with gold.
Lights:
I plan on switching everything to LED to take some of the load off of the alternator and maybe get another 1mpg or something but it's just theoretical right now. Either way, I don't like how dim the instrument cluster is even with new bulbs so I got #194 and #74 bulbs coming in LED form.
The brake lights had something funky going on where the left lights wouldn't work at all instead cut out the right inner bulb (the running light also) and only lit up the right outer and high mount lights. I dove into to find 2 burned bulbs but the culprit was a severe amount of corrosion in all the sockets. I used my handy hex-shank wire brush set (I use to clean battery cable ends quickly) and cleaned them all out. I applied dielectric grease to all of them, replaced all of the #1156 and #1157 bulbs and now they work perfect. I also have LED replacements coming for these. I pulled the license plate lenses off and cleaned those with goo gone. Headlights didn't need any attention at this point but I planned on getting some projector replacements and switching to LED as well. I'm thinking smoked DRLs and turn signals. Halo headlights are tacky to me unless on a BMW (who originally thought of the idea). If I can find or someone can send me a link to some projector headlights without halos that'd be perfect. Also, I can only find euro style tail lights for the 3dr/hatchback civic... can someone send me a link to some for the sedan? I only like the circle light output but I plan on tinting them to hide the ugly look. Haha
Alignment:
During my brake job, I decided to shake down the front end to find some more neglected issues: upper ball joints on both sides are toast and left outer tie rod is toast. This explains a vibration I was feeling at speeds above 35mph on acceleration and deceleration. I was surprised to find lower ball joints were still very solid...
I got new upper control arms and tie rods for both sides (even though right side was okay, they are still very old and would find it senseless to replace soon after and pay for another alignment). I figure after this I'll be getting my fuel economy the car was designed for (less drag on the wheels).
Engine:
During my detailing, I decided to hit the motor a little bit and get some control on the oily mess that was getting on everything. I sprayed brake clean and used compressed air on the tight areas and scrubbed the larger areas with dish soap and a toilet brush. Cleaned up pretty good. After about 100 miles, I found my valve cover gasket leaking and oil pan gasket leaking, which got me thinking: since I have to pull part of the exhaust off anyway to pull the pan, what would headers do for fuel economy for this little 1.5L? I can only find long tube headers but I know from experience that it kills low rpm fuel economy and performance but adds the power higher in the rpms. I read up on the little yellow 55mph mark on my gage, supposedly its the optimum fuel economy for this vehicle since the rpms are at 2500 in 5th gear. If I added headers, you guys think it would help out when I'm going 75mph at 3500rpm or say, 3500rpm in 4th when going 62mph? I say these speeds specifically because those are the main 2 speeds I travel at on my commute (actually 2700 rpm in 5th @ 62mph). Anyway, repairs to be made very soon, oil leaks are a peeve of mine; I don't like the lingering thought of not having enough oil at the wrong time and its burdensome to have to check it all the time other than when I have to change the oil. I also ordered a magnetic oil drain plug to catch wear from bearings and cylinder walls as miles go up to prolong life of the engine. Typical filtration of an oil filter is 20 microns but the smaller pieces of metal that go through do, in fact, increase wear on the cylinder walls and bearings. I plan on keeping this car going for a while...
Fuel and Air and Transmission:
Air filter was nasty, changed that. I used to have a 2006 BMW 325i and decided to get a cone K&N filter for it. Back then I had more money so I thought I would have it dyno tested to see if it really does add performance. Result: it does NOT. In fact, the 3rd pull actually lost performance. The tuning expert explained that oiled filters actually create a restriction and often contaminate MAF sensors over time. I had a closed box system at the time but he also added that cone filters open to engine temperature or even systems designed to fit in the wheel well add no performance because the air is hotter than outside temp. The only way to add performance to the air induction system is to ram it as close to outside as possible (by adding custom dams) or force induction. So, with that said, I plan on sticking with my plain old box filter and maybe designing a ram air system with fiberglass some time in the mid-future. When I have the money to install an electric A/C compressor, I'll use 2 evaporators, one for cabin air and the other for engine intake air. Custom evaporators arent that expensive and I'll build a carbon fiber box to house it.
The remaining 1/4 tank of gas was 2 years old. I filled up the tank once so far (cost me $24 here for 10 gallons in western Washington) and reset the trip meter to find out what kind of fuel economy I'm getting right now and I'll see improvements once I get an alignment. Once I'm on my 3rd tank, I plan on a new fuel pump and fuel filter and clean the injectors with a motorvac.
The transmission seems to be solid and dry. It's my understanding that 10w30 engine oil can be used in these transmissions permanently, but is it really a good idea? Will synthetic 10w30 be more effective for fuel economy you think? I think I'd still rather have a 6speed trans if there's one out there that's compatible with this engine, I don't think there is though. If you know of one that's tried and true, drop thw info down here in a reply please.
Ignition:
The ignition cap, rotor, wires and plugs were all new with the used motor. Back to my old bmw: the OE plugs in that were platinum. When I upgraded to plasma and had it dyno'd I DID see an increase of about 3.5HP (i wasnt concerned with ecomoy back then so I have no idea the result) That engine was also direct injected though so I'm skeptical about how they'll do on this old engine. Anyway, despite my skepticism, I ordered some plasma plug replacements for this 1.5L and hope it'll help the cylinder burn a bit better. The idea behind plasma plugs is that the plug itself has its own little capacitor in it and results in nearly a 5,000,000 volt charge into the cylinder enough to create a plasma field inside the combustion chamber resulting in more thorough burn of the same amount of fuel/air mixture, you end up with more power, fuel economy, and less carbon buildup on the piston but no increase in heat thus saving the valves from damage. Once the plugs go in, I'll check my results with the trip meter.
Tires:
Now here's where I'm not sure where to go with this... I want to put slightly taller tires on this but I can't find anything anywhere about how to modify the speed sensor to account for the increased tread movement. If I was able to keep my speed and odometer accurate with the modified size my economy would certainly be increased but I can't calculate accurately with the trip meter due to scewed odometer reading... anyone have a part or suggestion for this?
Chip:
Im seeing only performance chips out there for this that replace the plug-in chip on the ECU... are there any for fuel ecomony that someone knows and trusts? I may call a tuning shop and see what they say. Hell, they may be able to tune in the taller tire size too? Who knows...
Windshield:
Again, this car was highly neglected... it looks like the rubber blades on the wiper blades (some time ago) had worn down to bare metal and has scraped the windshield to hell. Also looks like someone took a brillo pad to it at some point. There's 8 different rock chips small and medium, only 2 were filled. Theres a huge crack on the lower left corner also. I considered sanding and buffing but its only $250 to replace and takes them an hour to do so I'm just going to do that instead. I want to have all the windows tinted at some point and seems like a waste to have the [maximum legal size] 6" wide tint strip on a cracked and chipped windshield.
The rear window defogger doesnt work. I havent diagnosed it yet or checked a fuse for it but it seems it can really only be a few issues: fuse, switch, open/shorted or bad grid. Grid seems solid but a simple test light should show me for sure. I do have a question for you guys though: how do you safely get rid of an old dry rotted sticker mounted on the inside of the window right on top of the defogger grid? Someone told me WD-40 but haven't tried it yet. Another person just said "screw it, shave out the entire area and just repair the grid with copper epoxy that's designed for those repairs" but I dont want to spend hours or perhaps days applying and drying epoxy over and over since the sticker covers four grid lines. Any suggestions?
Audio:
This thing still has the original Sony tape deck... wow...
Anyway left door speaker is shot. Car only has 2 speakers so I just have it turned to the one speaker on the right side for listening to the radio in the morning. SonicElectronix seems to have the basics of what I want for audio, something I can plug my phone into, bluetooth, x2 5.25" door speakers and x2 6"x9" speakers I can mount on the rear deck. Don't need a CD player, I don't even own CDs. Not sure if I want to get a little 10" subwoofer because of the added weight but bass does sound good though...
Last but not least, unecessary but interesting mods I want to do:
Electric steering. Manual racks are easy to find for this so I plan on using the Saturn Vue electric motor and adapter wiring harness to equip electric steering to this. Motor is about $120, Harness is about $60, Rack is about $60 at the junk yard. Cheap mod but will take load away from the engine with no steering pump constantly moving fluid.
Electric water pump: for this, I'll have to 3D print a prototype to adapt the plate of the water pump to just a water outlet and find a way to get a shorter timing belt to eliminate the pump itself while still using the existing tensioner, then make a cement mold, and finally make the aluminum part. Would have to be aluminum for the low melting point and versatility. A steel one would have to be completely custom made. I also considered just drilling out the center of the water pump and grining a lip on it for a hose to clamp onto. Then drill a hole in the timing cover, insert a grommet for belt protection and mount the electric pump somewhere on the fender. Bigger project than what it sounds like but if I get some insight from the community it might make things a little more thought through and easier. This kind of project is far future though and probably a very costly one at that.
Removable steering wheel and alarm system after I've made some investments in this car. After all the work I've put into it, the work I will put into it, and the necessity for a car to get me to work comfortably I don't want the mostly commonly stolen car to get.. well... stolen.

So. Anyone got some input or suggestions?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Welcome. That was one hell of an introduction !! Good to hear that you are giving the old car some love. It sounds like it is coming along great.

There were questions in there? lol. Might be best to post them bulleted or something so that's it's easier for people to see them. I am usually on my phone and it's a pain searching for questions and quoting them when they are in paragraphs.

N0OS3

Questions:
1. What color you think would look better for the hubcaps? Black with gold lip or black with gold honda symbol?
2. Does anyone know of some projector headlights without the halo? I'd rather not have it there and not wired up. Link please. Also looking for euro tail lights for the sedan. Link?
3. What are your thoughts on long tube headers for higher RPM fuel economy? Or, does anyone know of some shorty headers for this? It would suck to spend $500+ on custom headers just for a little bit of low-mid engine performance.
4. Will 10w30 synthetic oil (instead of standard 10w30) in this transmission be better for lubricity and help with fuel economy? Or should I be on the safe side and stick with Honda MTF? If no one knows, I'll do an experiment to see if there's any change.
5. Does anyone know of a 6 speed manual thats compatible with this engine D15B2 and would fit with little modification?
6. Does anyone know how to modify the speed sensor for slightly taller tires? Im think of adding 2 inches diameter.
7. Are there any tried and tested fuel economy ECU chips available or should I just get it custom tuned or consult a tune shop?
8. Does anyone know of a way to get this old dry rotted sticker off of my defogger grid without damaging the grid?
9. Mods at the bottom of the post: electric steering (pretty easy) and electric water pump; are there any preexisting kits for this water pump thing that anyone knows of?
10. I think an oil cooler kit is unecessary and probably a waste of time since there's no compression modifications that make it run hotter but would it prolong engine life or would it just make more carbon buildup? I would think it would increase wear since the oil would tend to stay towards the lower viscocity end of the 5w30 engine oil... thoughts?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Neither, but I am not really a fan of black wheels/hubcaps. I would say gold emblem though.

Do a retrofit. Check out www.theretrofitsource.com and look at he Morimoto mini projectors. Way better then buying pre made projectors.

Don't think you will see much MPG gain from headers. Same goes for HP. On a stock N/A engine it not worth the cost for custom ones. I prefer long tube, don't know of any shorty headers. Did you try eBay?

Unless you do a complete ECU swap not that I know of. Again, don't think it's worh the expense. Fuel economy has a lot to with driving habits and environment. Honda did a pretty good job at making the engine get optimal fuel economy.

Out of time will look at other questions later...

N0OS3

New question: anyone retrofit some nice cup holders into this thing or have any ideas?
I thought about cutting out some rectangles in my dash above the glove box and putting some spring loaded bmw cup holders in it. Junk yard has them for $20 each.

ezone

Projector lights, TRS (the retrofit source)

MTF... or basic 10w30. I'd use Hondas MTF.
No on synthetic, it may be too slick for proper synchronizer action leading to grinding gears when shifting.

Headers, IMO no. You'll never get the money back and that money will buy a helluva lot of gas.

Taller tires, your calculated economy will drop but true economy might remain the same once true mileage traveled is corrected for taller tires. Use GPS for speed....

Have you LOOKED at the speedo yet?
It's cable driven. 637 cable rpm = 60 MPH on the speedo.
What are you going to change now?


6 speed, I don't know of any that can bolt up and all I'm familiar with face the wrong direction.

Performance chip scam thread: https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...ance-chip.html


A real tuneable ECM may be along the same lines as headers. Lots of money for little or no gain..

Electric steering and water pump? Why? The car is just fine as-is....Steering pump pretty much freewheels until you need assist, and the water pump runs off the timing belt.

Check these sites for more ideas
ecomodder.com
hypermiler.com

N0OS3

Thanks for the tips.
Yeah, i know its cable driven just wondering if there was a gear set that would change the cable rpm at all. Probably not. Maybe if I could do some math and 3D print and mold/copy with a hard resin i might be able to widen the teeth for lower ratio. I'll look at that at a much later time I guess.

The fluid power steering pumps still move fluid even when you're not turning and is a slight resistance on the engine. Once I get some of my other fixes complete i'm pretty set on doing the electric steering mod. Im pretty good at step by step guides and I'll do one including my economy gain recording (even if there is none to be had). The mod itself isnt expensive or hard to do.
The water pump thing im thinking will be way too much trial and error for likely no gain. I'd practically need a custom timing belt to eliminate the pulley or in the least modify the tensioner assembly. Probably never gonna happen just a thought

Thanks for the ECM scam link, good info.

ezone

Put a manual rack in it instead?

If you read up on the legitimate theories of why one would try to fool the IAT sensor with a resistor, some of it may make sense.
Paying $99.95 for a 3 cent resistor and some wire does not.

N0OS3

The electric steering uses a manual rack. You basically confiscate the electric motor to turn the shaft.

And i know the resistor scam. I was looking for a legitimate chip that plugs into the ecu.

ezone

Honda has been using two different versions.....
One version has the electric motor in the steering column, the other places the electric motor out on the rack.

I've got an electric assist column out of a 15 Fit in the back of the car right now (lightning strike victim), I'll try to upload a pic of it later on

N0OS3

My mod is different. It uses the electric motor out of a Saturn Vue. There's an aftermarket wiring harness just for the popularity of this mod. $100 part from the junk yard, wiring harness $60, manual rack maybe $60-$100, and some welding skills.

ezone

Well, I'll be danged. Didn't know that.

N0OS3

Little bit of an update to the car..

I adjusted the cruise control cable, it's now accurate instead of diving 5mph before engaging. Wasn't hard to adjust, you pretty much have to look at it to figure out how it works and use your mechanical logic.
Put new spark plugs in. I got free ones with my O'Reilly's gift cards since I shop there all the time. Pretty much everything I tend to find at O'Reilly's has a lifetime warranty as long as I have the car. Don't need a receipt either since I have an account they can just search for the approximate month/year I bought something.
I have the control arms and tie rods in hand, I'll be putting them on this weekend and an alignment on Monday. I hooked up the motorvac machine to the fuel system and gave it a good 45min injector/TB/intake manifold/valve cleaning. I noticed a HUGE difference in performance when I finished up; the acceleration is night and day difference and I filled up the fuel tank right after. So far I've gone 115 miles and the level needle just now dropped below the max mark. We'll see how the rest pans out after the alignment.
I removed the front mud flaps for less wind resistance.
I found my pre-intake box runner was separated from the intake box; its the plastic tube that runs from the middle of the radiator like an air scoop/air ram and connects to the box. I connected that all back up.
I'll also be replacing my valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals along with the oil pan gasket this weekend.
Next paycheck i'll be getting some Liqui Moli engine flush, cera tech, and liqui moli sythetic 5w30 with a magnetic oil drain plug to protect the engine for the long term. I've only heard positive results including lab results of oil samples when using cera tech so I'm pretty confident about it.
Talked a little more to the local honda dealer about the seatbelt thing, they said they usually don't cover freying or splits/cuts in the seatbelt, but the service manager said honda has a lot of New Part Old Stock they are trying to get rid of and since most people just get seatbelts from the junk yard they'll just cover mine under warranty to get rid of stock, it only takes 15 minutes to install the seatbelt so paying the tech 15min flat rate or one of the junior techs isnt really much of a loss for them. They were kinda happy to hear that an old honda was being resurrected anyway and not all riced out haha.
I acquired a pioneer head unit for my stereo and 2 6.25" speakers for the doors for temporary use. I had one speaker completely blown and the other one was a 15W RMS speaker it was ancient junk. It sounds okay for now but I'll be building a little Boss Audio 4 speaker setup sometime in the near future for it. Im not trying to spend a whole lot and don't care about having "the best audio system out there" I just want a little better than what is in there now.
I cleaned out the HVAC blower fan, it was a big mouse nest and I sprayed the passages with generic mildew cleaner. Smells great now and now I just use a vent perfume.

So far, the cheapest winshield install i could find is $250 with all new molding so that's in the works, just gotta budget that in...

So earlier in this thread, I was talking about installing taller tires... I'm considering doing that still. I think my MPG (currently calculated to 36mpg commute, 41.6mpg all highway 70mph+) is a little off, here's why:
When i'm going 65 according to my speedometer, my GPS says i'm going 61. If i'm currently running 175/70R13 and I bump up to 175/80R13 it'll be pretty much on point with GPS. I also stopped by a parked state patrolman who said he'd give me a reading and also confirmed my speedo reads 4mph above what i'm actually going (trialed 55mph speedo and tagged 51mph with officer's ladar). So when my tires finally get low enough to get new ones, i'll get taller tires and maybe get a more accurate economy calculation.

N0OS3

So, i replaced my valve cover gasket and spark plug seals at the valve cover but the felpro kit didnt come with the rocker arm O-rings. Separately they're $15 from O'Reilly's. That'll get done in a couple more weeks when I have some money. I'm getting some oil in #2 spark plug hole so i need to fix that. I was going to adjust valves but since i realized i didnt have the o-rings i figured why bother. I'll just do the adjustments later.

I also changed the oil pan gasket and torqued all the bolts to spec but i think there's a problem. The felpro gasket is soft silicone and torquing the bolts to 118in (or whatever it was I forgot) seems to have squished the gasket down far enough to stretch the bolt holes. After just 400miles i've lost 1/8qt oil and checked underneath and there's oil drips everywhere from the gasket/bolts. I think whats going on its the bolt holes stretched enough to reach into the oil sump and oil is getting out that way. I have 3 options and was hoping to get some advice: 1. i could just hand tighten the bolts till their snug and not worry about torque with the soft silicone. 2. I could fill each bolt hole with silicone then run the bolt through to spec. 3. Get a different gasket material (that's not cork or soft silicone). I also put in a magnetic oil drain plug for better engine protection under 20microns on the oil filter.

I made a block off plate for the rear of the cylinder head where a mechanical fuel pump would go, the core plug started to leak and no one except the honda dealer had one, they wanted $22 for it... i just made a 2"x3" cut of 1/4" aluminum plate we had laying in the shop, put the 2 metric bolts in the cylinder head holes, made dots on the plate matching the bolt centers using a sharpie, drilled my holes and smoothed out rough edges, cleaned the surface and applied silicone (what we use for rear diff service) and bolted it on. Checked after 400miles and its dry as a bone.

After 2 tanks of gas following my steering parts repairs and alignment i'm averaging 39mpg using my current tire size and trip meter and only driving my daily commute. My repairs seem to be paying off coming from 36.6mpg when I first got the car.

After my alignment i was still getting a heavy vibration so i got my wheels balanced, that fixed the problem. Cost me $51. When they balanced them, they rotated them, i started getting a vibration right between 55-65mph most heavily right at 60 from the front (felt in steering wheel) I rotated them back and it went away leading me to believe since the tires were dated 2010 and had been sitting in one spot for 2 years that a hard spot developed on the tire(s). I'm just going to leave them where they are until new tires are needed then bump up the tire size to make my speedo and odometer more accurate. Thats an 8% difference in speed so im assuming thats an 8% difference in fuel economy but im just guessing (-3.12mpg difference). Change in rpm and energy used isnt accounted for so only measured results will tell me the story.

So, apparently the honda dealership wrote down my vehicle information wrong and ordered a seatbelt shoulder strap for a 99civic (do they even have automatic seatbelts?!), not a 91. They're still gonna cover it under warranty but they said they may have to get it from japan since there are no more available in the US.

So... im still getting a pop/clunk when i go over bumps. Seems to come from either side of the car but i dont really feel it in my feet. I felt around the steering rack while i had someone rock the steering wheel, im getting a lot of play in the worm gear or maybe its some up and down play in the rack but i dont have any leaks out of the seals so im thinking wear on the worm gear. I'm not certain that's my source though. One of the other techs thinks it's my struts getting old... its $150 for a pair of loaded struts or $450 for a basic set of coilovers without damper control... i'd like the option for a softer ride though but i dont want to replace all my suspension if i cant confirm the source and so far Skunk2 coilovers seem to be the best quality but at a whopping $1200+... no matter how much i bounce and shake the car i cant replicate the popping noise...

More updates will come as I revive this car piece by piece

ezone

I want to say the original pan gasket was probably rubber, not cork or silicone.
Make sure the gasket matches all the bumps and dimples in the pan surface (I barely remember old Accords having pan gasket issues, but I really don't remember what the Civics had)
Stamped steel pan may need holes peened down flat if they have been deformed from overtightening.

Factory gaskets sometimes are the best even if they aren't always cheap.
Know what the price should be before you walk in to the dealer.
Does your shop have an account at the dealer (jobber price?)


Make SURE there aren't any washers from the original pan gasket still stuck to any of the studs. (I once pulled a trans out only to find the oil leak was caused by a leftover washer stuck to a stud)

Hand tighten until the gasket JUST starts to squish then stop.
If it seeps you can go back and tighten a little more later.

N0OS3

The pan has a thick support ring around it so no possibility of dimpling the bolt holes. The old one seemed like it was rubber but was hard as a rock and came off in pieces. I think ill drop the pan again this weekend and just hand tighten the bolts - hopefully the new gasket hasnt already taken permanent form to its squished position...

N0OS3

Okay so i took the pan gasket back down and i surely squished it down too far. I caused it to crack in a couple of the bolt holes. Since it was a sunday and i had no money left i cleaned everything up and lapped both sides of the gasket with silicone and slapped it back together. So far after 1.5wks there are no more drips. I didnt expect it to work long term but i guess i'll leave it as is until it becomes a problem.

While i was under the hood, i replaced a rotted out coolant hose... It was the little 3in piece going into the intake manifold and didnt bother looking for where the other end went, i just put bulk hose on it.

Also, Friday, the honda dealer warrantied my shoulder belt. Its all nice and shiny now!

Only another issue i was chasing that i didnt mention before and i was hoping to get an answer on this; the crankcase breather canister on the back of my engine seems to be broken and it intermittently whistles when opening the throttle. I wiggled the upper hose and whatever its supposed to be connecting to solid on the canister is broken, i can pull it completely apart. Our honda guru in the shop has never seen that before but suspects the spot weld came apart.
I cant seem to find a replacement part when i search for "1991 honda civic crankcase breather" or "1991 honda civic pcv canister" so my question is, is this technically an oil catch can? If so, is there an aftermarket one i can adapt to it easily? If it's not and either way can somone post a link to something that's going to work?

ezone

It's not shown as unavailable in the dealer parts catalog.....yet.
Majestic catalog says "MAY have been discontinued" under at least one version of the car.
Call a dealer and ask them to check availability
WAIT: Reread first post, this has a Jap replacement engine....the breather chamber may be different from original....I looked in a couple different versions of 91 in the parts catalog and see the breather chamber is not the same for all of the engines . Crap.

ezone

Backpedaling......
Dealer catalog showed me the same breather chamber part number 11860-PM6-G00 for all USA versions of the 91 Civic I could find, 3 4 and 5 doors.
Majestic catalog showed more than one part number.

N0OS3

Got some results for "crankcase breather chamber" but nothing comes new, they're all used...

So, also backpedaling: do you think a 4-port oil catch can (for the crankcase chamber and the valve cover breather tube) might [help] keep the intake clean as well as serve to eliminate the OE canister? I don't see anything that will convert the canister into a nipple to stick a hose onto... do you (or anyone reading this) know of one and can semd me a link?

ezone

What's wrong with a good used one?



Other question: I got nuthin.

N0OS3

Next update for the log...

Today I changed my leaking radiator. To me, it looks like the original one 291,000 miles ago. Solid metal, a lot of copper parts. The new one was way lighter. Aluminum core with composite central tubes. It must have been at least half the weight. I wasn't intending on doing a weight reduction, just wanted to fix a problem.
When I discovered the radiator leaking I also found that most of my hoses were really soft and deteriorated so I decided to install a silicone hose kit. It was cheaper to buy a kit for $108 rather than a bunch of individual pieces from napa or oreillys. Just $48 for the lower radiator hose. Anyway, 'you get what you pay for'; I'm short 2 heater hoses (5/8") and it seemed to be a multi car kit to me for the whole 88-91 series. Some hoses didn't go to anything. Others had to be modified, cut, or tweeked to fit but they're all there solid. I drove nearly 200 miles today with no leaks (i had confidence since i pressure tested before i road tripped). Looks pretty unique too with the bright red color.

(i need to remember to post pics with these haha).

I found the issue with my crankcase vent canister... the hose on top where it connects to the pcv valve on the manifold was so deteriorated that the inside of it was completely closed. Im guessing crankcase pressure blow off the hose from the grommet it sets in. I used some bulk oil rated hose to fix the issue (i think) I could hear a whistle sometimes at low rpm, I think I fixed that issue also.

I buffed and polished it! Why not? I had a saturday to kill so I took out the old orbital polisher, foam buff pad, and some cutting compound and went to town on the whole thing. My intention was to fill the rock chips but the hood has seen enough in its life... maybe 1,000 dots minimum and its all dented and bent. I guess im saving for a CF hood in the far future. For now im satisfied with the deep rich gray it is now, regardless of the imperfections.
I took the tail lights out and refinished them as well. 500grit, 1500g, 3,000g, foam buff, foam polish, sealer/protector. The finish looks brand new but there's debris inside of them but even my air nozzle won't free it up. I may have to pry them apart, hopefully it'll separate without me having to bake them. Another distant future objective.