MelJ

I got it a little over a year ago, after about 5 months of searching for a new car. My old 94 Corolla is now being driven by the lady .
So I've got one shot of my engine bay after I got my new intake:

I wanna clean it up a bit. I may get a new condenser bracket. I had a cheap jack which gave way as I was lifting the car. I checked everything before I proceeded and the POS just....went. It somehow didn't break anything but that bracket and just push the condenser out of alignment with the radiator. I'm thankful for that. I got a really good jack this time, so all is well.
A few outside shots I took a while back:



I bought a replacement shift **** as well:

It became an inconvenience though. Aluminum wasn't such a smart idea . I ended up going back to the original one:
. ***** shiftar.
Not much in terms of mods. So far, I've done 2 transmission fluid changes. The first was OEM, then I got some Redline MTL, which I prefer a little more. Makes cold shifting a little easier. Also gave her a tune-up, brought it to the shop to get a new timing belt as well. New brakes, rotors, tires, coolant, and probably some more stuff I can't remember. Bled the clutch a while back since the fluid was looking nasty.
Also, maybe you amigos can help me. 2 of the bolts holding the distributor cap on snapped. Is there any way to get them off? I have a set of EZ outs, a Dremel, and a cheap Home Depot drill that goes in reverse? I don't feel really comfortable doing the job though. Any idea how much it'll run if I let a shop or someone do it?

ronaldo9

iTrader: (6)

Still think this is one of best civics and engines ever made.

MelJ

I wanna start working on it soon. Any suggestions? I wanna repaint the valve cover at some point in time and get an exhaust. I've pretty much got my mind set on the WS2 ATM. Also, I mentioned it earlier, but the lower bolt and right bolt on my distributor cap are broken. How should I deal with them?

Nosepicker

This guy! LOL!

Running a lude engine under the civic...haha Good stuff!

How does the car pull? Also, damn yo you got a lot of rust! LOL!

MelJ

. Yeah. One of the downsides of living in NY. It isn't that bad though. The parts probably just got wet from probably bay washes and stuff. My Corolla was the same way. I plan on getting a new condenser bracket since it's pretty much done. The car runs really well though. I don't really flog it though. But even when I do put the hammer down, I still manage 32mpg.

ronaldo9

iTrader: (6)

Are you into perfomance or looks? Your possibilties are endless. I'm big on handling but the SI setup is pretty good out of the box. If you want turbo the car it will be a monster if you want to stay NA it will be fast. Just be careful lots haters around unfortunately your car may be a target for thieves.

hindude

it's looking real clean from the outside. I'd keep it like that. less of a target for haters and thieves. I like that look too.

MelJ

Haha. Yeah. I know. I may start with a few cosmetic things. The paint has seen better days, but I can't really do anything about that now. I'm searching CL for replacement bumpers. I got lucky and got an OEM right mirror from the junkyard for less than 60 bucks! I think after that, I'll get those distributor cap broken bolts removed. Then the motor mount weld on the driver side fixed(long story. NYS salt FTL). I can't get my A/C belt off and it has a little squeak. Other belts were replaced though. Once all that crap is taken care of, I'll probably shop around for an exhaust. Nothing gaudy or loud though. I don't need any more attention. It's bad enough ricers rev at me .

VTEC-4.0

Yeah.Looking really clean no the outside.It's a good thing.So many Honda Civics and Acura Integras are like the most commonly jacked cars.lol.

Mad Dog Tannen

Negative. Hondas don't go fast.

MelJ

02civicsi02

Em1 looks good man. Make sure you have a good alarm system or lock up really good when you leave her somewhere. These are the most stolen cars out there.

MelJ

I usually park in the garage most nights for that reason and the fact that whenever I do park in the driveway, the birds poop on my car. Guess they have a vendetta or something.

02civicsi02

I use to have a em1 a while back. I always made sure that it was locked up tight or something. It was a great car though, I loved driving it. And the vtec in them is crazy.

Prodresurgence

Why cant you get the ac belt off? Have you tried using an extractor ratchet set on the distributor bolts?

MelJ

The a/c belt is behind the driver side motor mount. The welded bolt is snapped and I need to get it fixed before I can get the mount off. I'm not in any rush to do it though since I rarely use a/c . What is a ratchet extractor? Never heard of it. I'll look into it though. Thanks.

Prodresurgence

They are sockets and on the inside is basically a set of spiral teeth that you crank onto the rounded bolt head (in reverse) and the bolt hopefully comes out. They work best on stripped, round, rusted heads etc. Sears sells all different types check out their site.

MelJ

So they would work even though the screw no longer has a head? I always thought I'd have to use an E-Z Out for that.

MelJ

So, since I've got nothing to do today, I guess I'll compile of stuff to do here. The regulars on here are pretty helpful, so, hopefully a few of you guys can give me some help with some stuff. I'll search for some threads later on, but any tips are welcome as always.
1. A decent detail. I regularly wash my car, with a wax every few weeks. I haven't clayed or polished it yet. Any product suggestions? Nothing expensive though. I don't wanna sell a kidney for car cleaning products . I'll save that procedure for my RX-7 Spirit hunt.
2. Clean up the engine bay.
2a. Repaint the valve cover. I've seen a few FAQs online for this one. Probably gonna just go ahead with another black. Red was another thought as well, but I wanna keep everything like it was pretty much from the factory. Anyone know how easy it is to remove the spark plug tube seals for the B-Series engines? It was a PitA on my 94 Corolla. We scraped a little of the metal off because the tape on the screwdriver peeled(no problems after the reinstall though). Any tools you guys use to get them out? I wanna work smarter, not harder.
3. Fuel filter replacement. Pretty easy job it looks like. That's like the only tune up thing I didn't do. I've done pretty much every other maintenance thing for the car.
4. New rubber. PoS tires on now. Loud, brown, and loud. Winter is coming soon, so I'll throw my steelies back on and save up for another TireRack purchase for a good pair of summers.
5. Swap out old rusty fasteners under the hood. Do you guys just hit up the hardware store or do you get 'em off the Honda parts sites? I guess I could save myself the hassle and go with the former this time around. When I did a few other jobs on my car, I just bought the fasteners with the replacement parts.

mac25

if you paint your header cover learn from my mistake. don't use engine enamel use brake caliper enamel it has a way higher heat rating. mine looked gorgeous for a week but slowly discoloured from burning, it still looks way better then stock though! paint = almost free, but a racing header would look nice in that bay to!

MelJ

^Most definitely amigo. I'll keep that in mind. I just added a bookmark for a future purchase. Gonna get a new a/c condenser mounting bracket, some new rubber mounts, and the seals just to be safe.


Parts 3,4,5,16,1, and 10.

As I'm sure you all know about that PoS jack incident. Hopefully I can get all of that back in one piece. Shouldn't run me too much, but I'm starting to get my ride back to the way I want it to be. This site has been pretty helpful and much appreciated.

MelJ

I suppose I should revive this . I'm repainting the valve cover and replacing my bumper this summer. I'll try and snap some photos of the process.

iSharix

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Mel

kamal77

Nice color