But I'm not bitter about it at all.
https://cdn2.justwineapp.com/assets/...l-1200x630.jpg
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But I'm not bitter about it at all.
https://cdn2.justwineapp.com/assets/...l-1200x630.jpg
Welp, I got the varus, then being cooped up in my house made me get back out to the garage and finish the old Accord! Just in time too because I tracked my ctr the day before I came down with a fever and killed my tires... A couple weeks ago too Bisimoto restocked their cam gears, so I jumped on that and had it to put on this weekend.
https://i.imgur.com/BTDSiMA.jpg
I chopped off my stock rad mounts and welded them to the underside of the core support to mount my Skunk2 rad... InAccordance I'd really like to see how you mounted that sucker :lol:. I was able to use the stock upper mounts after moving the pegs on the rad, I would not have been able to lean it back and clear the AC compressor, so that had to be done. Fits like a glove now!... well ok, the lower rad hose is really tight on the crossmember, but I think its fine. In other news, I chopped the big ugly fittings off the obx header and stuck it on. It was really as plain as that, I was expecting it to start rough for the first time in months, but it fired as soon as the carb filled with fuel, I just had to fix some massive fuel leaks, I think the float and the o rings in the needle and seat had enough of this world and just decided to yeet fuel through every orifice in the carb. Yeah, I think the float itself actually filled with gas, good thing I had another, it basically turned the secondary into a swimming pool.
https://i.imgur.com/6eVmKQy.jpg
Might track this car next week. I want to get the new suspension and brakes in, but the ctr will need tires because its going to take a while to restore all 4 corners, I should recruit some help so I don't tucker out half way like I always do. I am able to start on the bike carbs though, I pulled the intake off the parts car today and cut the back half off, it'll need a bit of welding to adapt it to the bike carbs. Hopefully I can make do with the jets that are in it. Swapping intakes and carbs is ezpz with a reusable gasket and nothing in the way, so doesn't bother me too much if I have to swap back and forth a few times. I am also going to send off my other cam to Delta and get a regrind, I can degree my cam now that I have this sweet cam gear. What profile should I get though? I want like a step under the 272, I don't really like how the 272 gets "on cam" at like 4k, with this stock carb at least I don't want it to be any lazier at around town speed. If I did not have the MSD box itd be a bear to dive around at low speed. Maybe a 272 will be ok with MSD or with a 2deg advance. Stock powerband is already 3k-5k, but up around 6k really feels like winding it out, I don't want to screw with valve springs because I didn't refresh the valve seats or anything while I had the head off. Maybe one day I will, but I don't see the point if stock springs are safe with a mild cam and bolt ons, and the head holds good compression, once I go digging into that next will be piston rings and I really don't care for that. I only love this engine for her top end (don't tell her I said that).
looking good dude, i forgot how much room is in the bay on these! keep it up man, i love the progress.
More progress has been made, I have not exhausted myself yet, haven't stopped working on it since I got it running.
I got my 272 regrind cam back from Delta, this is an increase to a .415 lift. After I installed it I was surprised that I did not lose any low end, but as far as I could tell duration and lsa are the same as the stock cam. What I did notice though was this mfer wanted to pull strong up to 7k rpm. I really do not need to float a valve and my trans REFUSES to shift above 6k. I am not sure what to do about that, maybe I need better fluid, but I don't know if this trans is particularly sensitive to fluid change. I advanced the cam about 4deg, this seriously gave it some torque, I might go more. Compression read 150-160 on all cyls and went up to 170ish on cyl 4 after I advanced the cam, spark timing is about 12deg, on 91 no ethanol there is still no pinging yet. I am curious what everyone has their spark timing set at, particularly you weber guys. I am at the limit of my carb now, I feel like I haven't gained much top end at all with this regrind, but it will be a huge supplement to my bike carbs and changing the timing was more effective.
I want to put out a PSA now. The next time you have your intake manifold off, if you are installing an oil filter sandwich plate, if you ever have the engine out, or simply changing your oil, do yourself a favor and replace the oil filter housing gasket. It was hell getting to it, luckily my intake is very easy to get off, but I think I pulled a fossil off the back on my engine. Funnily enough I have stopped hemorrhaging oil from a mysterious place on the back of the engine. Part number is Honda #15205-PC6-014, you will have to get it from a Honda parts wholesaler, the dealerships will not have it. Majestic Honda did not have it, I am not sure how many discontinued parts they hold since they are a dealer, but I am worried these are in short supply, BUY ONE WHILE YOU CAN.
I got my 4th gen Accord rear sway bar on this afternoon. It fits perfectly, well almost, it is about an inch too wide. I put 1/8" shims behind the brackets and that allowed me to bolt it to the car, but the bushing kind of sits on the curved part of the bar. If you use a poly bushing you may have to space the brackets away from the subframe more. I used adjustable end links for an Integra I think. They are a tad on the short side, but I got the preload set no problem. I think you can use the stock ones, but jesus they are stiff, and not in any way that will help you. If I need more length I will just put a longer bolt on top and add more washers between the link and the trailing arm, there are 3 washers there now, this takes angle out of the links.
https://i.imgur.com/Pem9SQE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZXqkcZw.jpg
Next on the list I need to seal up the stupid slip joints on my OBX header, I am going to try copper rtv and band clamps. Band clamps are already on it so I just have to separate it enough to smear the sealant on the tubes. I am trying to keep from welding them. I also bought a Borla Pro XS muffler... but its 2.25", so I am just going to get the back half of the exhaust made 2.25" instead of returning my muffler. The engine seemed to really respond to being run open headers, it just straight up ran better, idled smoother. The header collector and the stainless pipe after it are 2", but the extra 1/4" in the bends and the muffler should really help.
Sounds like good progress.
You can always hillbilly the filter oring with RTV. Not ideal but you can make it work.
Could you pack the slip joint with fiberglass mat?
I wouldn't want to fill put RTV on the filter housing because of the o ring groove and I'd hate to accidentally block off one of those passages.
The copper RTV did fix the header... it doesn't look the best, but it was the easiest to to because I didn't have to take the joints all the way apart. The tricky part is, the header hugs the lip of the oil pan so if you take it apart youre not getting it back on without a friend and some persuasion, but the joints seal tight around the inside edges, thank god because I couldn't get my finger in there, but there is a huge gap on the front and on the back. Slipped them apart about an inch, slathered the RTV all the way around each pipe the best I could, them slipped them together and tried to push more into the gaps. If you plan on using fiberglass mat then do it the first time you install it and prepare for it to be tight.
Uh, so I fired my car up today and it started running funny. No issues idling or low speed, but around 3k the tach starts jumping, revving higher and it feels like it putters out and driving feels like a wheel is out of balance. I am kind of assuming the distributor pickup is going out. I have a Hitachi dizzy at home, I will probably have to make that work. I am really hoping it is not the msd box.
Any suggestions? I am kind of leaning towards going megajolt
Got the distributor fixed, I had a fairly new reman hitachi from my parts car. Ordered a cap gasket and a brass cap and rotor because my msd has really done a number to the aluminum one on the old TEC. I think I have really talked myself into a megajolt, Ive already started buying parts. I need to go to a parts yard anyway because other things have not gone so well.
GORE WARNING!!! STOP READING IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT!!!
Attachment 10387
Yeah its really as bad as it looks
I opened the cluster the other night to desolder the BRAKE LIGHT warning, put it back together and the fuel gauge pegs. Opened it up again and checked the voltage, looks ok just needs the needle adjusted I think. The whole shaft pulled out of the needle and it snapped when I tried to pull it out. I think the same thing happened to the coolant gauge before I opened it, I think Ive got the needle in a little better place... or it could be totally whack, idk. Pretty sure my low fuel light works... at least it worked before.
My plan is to swap in eg/ek gauges, looks like they fit, if not its close enough to modify. I need to get a wheel speed sensor somehow though. Surely I can use the trans speedo output, it just has to drive something I can get a reading from.
Oh gee. I mangled the gauges on my '76 Accord waaaaay back when I had it. I haven't touched any needles since.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
Can you not use the magnetic pulser in the speedo?Quote:
I need to get a wheel speed sensor somehow though.
Not if I remove the speedo cable lol. Whole point of an EK speedo is to get rid of the cable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Snooz
If Civic gauges fit, which I think they should, it should be a lot easier to get parts. My main worry is the fuel and coolant gauges don't share the same centerline as the Accord.
Its been a while since I posted any body shots, not that there is much to see, but I was running around like this for quite a while. No bumpers, 1 white fender and headlight.
https://i.imgur.com/T3wvE1Z.jpg
But yesterday I did a whole lot of wrenching (read: hammering) and now it looks like this!
https://i.imgur.com/YsPTZFL.jpg
89 facelift complete. Its just the front bumper and lights/reflectors though. Kept the 87 side mouldings and rear bumper, they're smooth, I don't like the facelift as much. Not everything is 100% straight and I am not getting this car a frame alignment. I've got to fix the rust on the quarter panels, but after that it is ready for paint and it will look pretty good. I am not going to hold onto this body forever, but I want to get the learning out of the way on something that is ok to mess up on.
Looking really good!
Been driving the Type R all week, but that's let me get a good bit of work done on the Accord in between a few joy rides. Firstly, I got my Borla muffler on and 2.25" pipe from the header back, the old boom tube had the baffles come unwelded in it because this car has too much sauce. Sounds great imo. Recently got back on instagram and posted a vid on there if you're interested, @car_weeb.
I got a bunch of parts in that I am not ready to share yet, but yesterday I did something I should have done a long time ago.
https://i.imgur.com/xvFCYNF.jpg
I cut the sides off my spare air cleaner top. Wow, it made a difference. Whoda thought that would choke my carb down? I had noticed my afr would drop to 10 when I went from off to light throttle, and it would stumble hard in the lower rpm when the secondaries open. The secondary actuation is still not smooth, but before it would fall on its face, it was so bad it would nose dive and unbalance the car if you hit it mid corner!
I got my cooling fans working. Turns out the temp switch that was previously in the radiator will fit in the thermostat housing. The thread is wrong, it is not BSPT and it seals with an o ring, but it is the same diameter thread as this weird vacuum thing.
Attachment 10409
Yes, I have no learned how to attach smaller images from imgur, please clap. By fixing this I learned my car is running extremely cool, no wonder why my temp gauge never moved. I was actually about to run a 160deg tstat in it, but idk. I want to get as much heat out of the head as I can, all I care about is my winter heat. Works fine right now even though it is 20-40deg below normal operating temp, actually based on my findings the car starts to run normally well before I see my temp gauge start to rise, so probably 140-160, it just needs to heat soak a little bit. I don't see that it will run any cooler than that. What I don't want is the normal temp tstat to open and close constantly under normal operation, trapping the pressure in the block. I am assuming the fans kick on at 220 also, not sure if thats bad or not if I am running lower than normal temps, I would think its fine on an iron block.
Lastly I just want to share this: I have got the part number for the passenger side axle seal. You can still get it from Honda actually, but I got this National seal from Oreillys a while back, where it was listed as a seal for the AT, its the same seal. Honda 91206-PC8-005 or National 1036.
Attachment 10410
I finally did it. I cured my wheel gap
https://i.imgur.com/asy6wny.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/mSmgopi.jpg
For civic springs and oem shocks I think this went pretty well. The front end of the car is perfect, I have had no problems with the damping and the front does not roll or hit bumps hard. The rear springs might have some issues, the spring rate is 112/485 lb/in and the 112lb part is collapsed with the suspension loaded. I think stock spring rate is 170/387, but I'm not 100% sure, but now that I have the desired ride height for the dampers (I had to add coilovers sleeves) I think I can cut the tangental end of the stock springs and try those. The Skunk2 springs are too short anyway, I had to lower them down to the point where the spring pops out when you jack up the car. This is only stage 1 btw, kind of regret buying these parts now because I fully intend on buying ksports in the near future, but it lets me set a good baseline and I know a ballpark of the ideal spring rate for this car. I am thinking 600f/450r to 700f/450r, I think 485 is too much in the rear and I wouldn't want to go too much more up front, but 600/450 is still a little light for the total weight of the car, assuming min weight is between 2100-2300lbs. About the time I buy ksports I will buy a set of 8.0+32 Buddy Club P1s with 225/45r16 Yokohama Advan A052s, its gonna get serious.
I didn't replace any of my suspension bushings or put an alignment in it, but I have noticed some grip issues. On hard low speed corners the front inside wheel will lose grip or hop, I can feel it pull the steering wheel, I think this is mostly due to engine torque and the strut rod bushings probably have some give. The rear is a little loose, it rotates well, but I think there is some mechanical grip issues. I need to check that I am not getting any toe change before deciding anything there, my assumption is there is probably a lot lol.
On a side note, I need to know 2 things. How do I remove the blasted rear seat in a sedan, and are the drum brakes auto adjusting? If they are auto adjusting how do I get them to adjust, do I need to go reverse in a parking lot and slam the brakes a few times?
My rear seat the bolt to unhook it is not dead middle of the car but off to the passenger side. Honda joke I guess.
The rear drums are consider "self adjusting" but I never had a Honda do anything. I adjust my brakes when I do and oil change as a habit. I like the brake pedal nice and high and the drum brakes dictate the pedal height. You can cheat and run your e brake up a click or two...or three. Obviously test that the car still rolls with it on.
Im a firm believer that when the rear brakes fall out of adjustment the long pedal travel effects the bias ALOT.
I am a little reluctant to go digging my hand in the seat crack, but that does help. All my other Hondas the seat bottom just pulled out if you yanked on it then you could see the back rest bolts, but I guess that is not the case for this car?
This is the real problem with drum brakes, the stupid adjusters. I should really buy new adjusters thats half the reason I haven't messed with them, its hard to do the screwdriver ritual on 30yo parts. Ive got manual brakes so I can really feel when the brake pressure builds up... theres a little play in the hydraulics, then its stiff, but boy it does not stop. At that point it feels like I am only stopping with the drums, I know because Ive pulled the e brake before a corner to see if it increases rotation, but I can barely feel the drag. I am assuming that is a bad prop valve, if I press any harder it stops fine, fast enough to panic stop behind a Miata at least.
I noticed yesterday after I drove it hard that I barely had an e brake when I pulled back in the driveway, and I have known one drum is looser than the other since I put my braided lines on.
I pull the drums and adjust and keep sliding them on until theres drag and really you cant get the drum off with out effort...when you rotate the drum by hand you hear brake drag..but it turns. Good for about 5k miles.
I never really found a brake shoe adjust spoon that worked that great on Hondas.
I dunno how many cars people have brought to me to work on that the rear brakes are no where near the drum. Theyll cheat and adjust all the hand brake linkages but that doenst make the brake shoes any closer to the drum!
Im taking the rear trailing arm assembly off my parts car tonight and I will be figuring out how to adapt disk brakes from a 4g or integra, I'm tired of this.
is the SEi set up that hard to find?
I thought about it but was never sure if it added weight or better braking or any of that.
It is absolutely hard to find. I have actually got a plan here, I'll make a post here in a bit. I think I could actually get 3g prelude brakes to work, might be able to find one, or buy brackets off preludepower, but I would kind of like Integra calipers.
Car has been at a little bit of a standstill because winter is depressing and my poly rear control arm bushings pissed me off. If you don't really read into it you don't know that the bushings are actually for a 5th gen accord and they don't fit in the arms. There was a post on here, in the thread about poly bushings saying you have to keep the sleeves for the old bushings, well I got the bushings pressed out at a shop and didn't know I needed to keep the old ones. Its $100 to get new rubber ones and I'm a little bent over the shop charged me $70 to run the press (they charged me $35 for an exhaust, so explain that), I don't really know what route I want to go... And I need new trailing arm bushings bad. Good luck getting the stock bushings out of the front control arms too, I have new arms, I may leave those for now, the strut rod bushings matter the most. At this point I am really wishing my garage had power and heat.
I might have a little bit of motivation soon though because I found a black friday deal on the Buddy Club SFs I wanted... bout to have some thick ass 225/50r15s next summer. I will need them for next summer because there is a freaking road coarse being built 15mi from my house, like what the hell. I am not going to flog the ctr on a 4mi coarse every weekend, those tires are too damn expensive and 18s will run me twice as much as I just paid for these BCs. I am slightly excited to mess with my rear spring set up some more, I will have to grab some swifts or eibachs if cutting the stock spring don't work. My Skunk2 springs are not going to cut it, my back end needs to drop. Its going to annoy me to no end that I can not fix the roll center without a custom trailing arm though, sometimes I wish this car was a 6th gen civic hatch.
Most idiots on lowered cars run there roll center in the dirt any way I would sweat it to much.
maybe concentrate on the garage upgrade. That's what I did last few years,upgraded wiring heat and air etc. I used a wood stove for years before that made it tolerable.
Tip on bushings on cars real quick since I have made a few is the stock suspension parts are made for RUBBER bushing so the tolerance of the metal part is all over. So if you measure one hole at 1.000' and make the bushing with a press fit of .007" or what ever youll find the metal parts are like plus or minus .020" so one place its presses in one place it falls thru.
Kinda hurts your feelings when you make 10 at a time.....
After looking at it, it might be possible to cut the shock mount off the knuckle and put the shock mount on a plate mounted on the bolts holding the spindle to the trailing arm... that is going to be an experiment for much later, I can't run the car so low the front can only get 15deg of steering angle before destroying the fender, I don't know how to get the grip of a JTCC car and I don't think I have the balls to drive it like that, the roll center might not get too bad. The front roll center can be fixed with ball joints.
I was thinking about the tolerance on the bushings... Surely they're all pretty close, if I make one the size of a stock bushing, but I'll be careful, I only have one set and that's all I want to buy. The tolerance is all over the place because these rear control arms are just freakin stamped steel. I really want Cheddas arms, but they're $400 and you're in the dark for weeks after you place an order. I don't want to talk bad about the guy, but its almost scary sometimes, and I drool over his parts. I am sure he has a pretty big lead time and parts are hard to source right now.
I'll just leave this here
Attachment 10507
Attachment 10508
Attachment 10509
Attachment 10510
Buddy club SF 15x8+32JJ, will mount a 225/45r15, probably Nankang CR-1. I don't think fitment can be any tighter than this lol.
At a later date I might get a pair of 15x7+35s and 205/50r15s for the rear to run a reverse stagger, but I got a deal on a full set :rockon:
I think the Cheddars arms are in stock?
Maybe, I don't know the whole deal. Maybe someone on fb has them, but I would like to hear about them before I cough up that much money. The stock arms suck though, thin ass stamped steel. If I make some down the road they will take the poly bushings that came in my kit and probably be boxed aluminum... that is a lot of effort though.
So Ive been driving the car lately. The rear control arm bushings really had me in a bind for a bit. Cam bolts for toe adjustments had to be replaced with oem Honda bolts... which do not actually fit and I have to use a washer to keep the nut from bottoming on the shank. Slapped some new adjusters in the drum brakes aaand I noticed there was practically no wear on my drums. Turns out the wheel cylinders I replaced got the pistons cocked in the bores, so they didn't really move. God drums suck. Whatever, my brake pedal is slightly less sketchy and the parking brake works awesome. I haven't driven it hard recently to see if the brakes feel ok going into a corner, I really don't expect them to be very good until I change the prop valve.
It is getting put back up for a couple days for a health checkup because I think it left another damn spot on my driveway even though it didn't leak a single drop while it was up on stands. I also need to give it an actual alignment before I give myself a reason to buy tires.
Here are the oem bolts I got for the rear subframe.
Top is the eccentric bolts that are too long
Bottom is the bolts that hold the long control arm in the subframe.
Attachment 10575
Attachment 10576
The winter has not been kind to my Accord. First my grandpa put the bucket of his front loader tractor into my tail light while scraping my driveway, but I popped the hood yesterday and found out that I have a coolantcicle inside my radiator... Fuck. Dunno how I am going to get it into my garage to thaw, hopefully by the time I am able to get to it next week it will have been warm enough to thaw it enough to get it in there. I hope it doesn't require open heart surgery, or worse, a new radiator, but I don't see that it burst anywhere. I really, really hate the cooling system in this car, it sucks balls. Wondering if I should convert it to an electric water pump, then a thermostat housing will be next on the list. I will need to evaluate how well the coolant flows through the head and see if anything needs redirected.
Does anyone have pictures of the block with the water pump off?
I have electricity in my garage now, I am getting married this sunday, within a month I should be able to really get the ball rolling getting some work done on this car if the freeze doesn't set me back. I wish I could have just drove it this winter because its terrifying driving a ctr in a foot of snow, even if the traction control is fantastic, but I can't tell if I killed my water pump again on the Accord and it tracks like a wet noodle on ice, its getting Blizzaks next year.
Ah HAH married!
Well hope the Accords not froze up totally. The only car I froze up I just started it and ran for like 30 secs and let it sit a few minutes until it thawed out. Might have to slip the belt off the water pump if its locked.
Yep, getting married on our birthday... happened real fast too, next thing I know I'll be retired at this rate.
I think its going to warm up a bit, maybe it will turn over. Gonna be real hard to just let it sit and idle lol, she does not like this cold, was just getting started on my megajolt to fix that too.
open the hood get some sunshine on it. Just run it 30 seconds at a time and let it sit a few minutes,you might have to do that 20 times. maybe warm up some coolant in the house and try adding it to the radiator to help defrost everything. Just hope the freeze plugs havent popped.
Im honestly more concerned about the radiator than the freeze plugs lol, if I have to pull the engine again Ill just do a few "while I'm in there" jobs... tbf, this car is a never ending "while I'm in there" I just do one thing and drive it half ass taken apart for several months.
I'll dig into it real soon, its pretty nice out and the snow has melted off the hood.
He thinks this makes him special lol. All the passenger side trim is missing from mine presently.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
Ah nah, its good to know I'm not alone. And now I'm not so jealous that your car looks nice now that I know that it has an ugly side... just don't put it next to mine, I try to block out how damn ugly my car is.
Good news! The "water pump leak" I thought I had was actually the cam seal that I could pull out with my fingers! It only took me 3 weeks and 30mins of actually working on the car to change, gosh I'd change 5 of those before I'd change 1 water pump. In other news I replaced my blinker stalk since the old one broke off, had to rewire it for my DRLs and headlight relays, also found out the reason my right headlight was not working was it was not plugged in... Silly me. I drove it to work today... How long do you give me before I take it apart and wait a month to put it back together again? I still haven't aligned the damn thing even.
LOL. If it weren't a project, it wouldn't be fun. Glad you got it running, for now.
I have lights, a HUGE workbench in my garage now (3 4x8 sheets of plywood), and a wife to help me keep my shit picked up, so hopefully progress actually starts moving on projects once they get pulled in there. We will see, I still have a miata with the from of the engine pulled off sitting in there, and the donor car which will need cut up with a grinder and the engine pulled before it is yanked out of its resting place with a roll back. I keep offering my wife to drive that car but she keeps saying no :(
You have to restore the car BEFORE offering it to her to drive lol.
Good luck with the projects.
She called my brown car ugly so she should be grateful of my offer no matter how much scrap Ive filled the other car with and no matter how many parts Ive vultured off it!
Its been a year, but don't worry I have not abandoned the accord, in fact I am fixing it up to daily as I plan to sell my type R. Life is happening fast, I am moving and going back to school in a couple months, so that is my deadline. There is a lot of work ahead, but I don't think its too much because I am getting some help. It went under the knife last year to fit the new suspension and redo the brakes, but that is all changed. Here is the todo list now:
Prelude control arms - done
Lower control arms - done
Poly strut rod bushings - done
Front wheel bearings - done
Front ball joints - done
Fully depowered and rebuilt steering rack - done
Civic tie rods - done
Rear wheel bearings - not yet
Stripped and cleaned interior - done
Brake lines - removed but not installed
Wilwood master cylinder - mounted
Wilwood prop valve - still figuring out where to put it
Heater core - replaced
New fuel tank - soon to be replaced
Dash wiring - I don't want to think about it
Rust - I don't want to think about that either, but I will be getting help
Cam seal - needs hondabond
My wife is also going to help be with the interior when it goes back together, it will look pretty nice when its done. As for the rust, when I pulled the interior I found large holes where the rear seat pan meets the fenders, not much on the floor pan, but a bit where it meets the rockers... which might be a creative fix. I am wondering if it is viable to remove the rockers and put back in a stiffener and use 5th/6th gen civic side skirts to cover up the area.
If you have been wondering what has been going on with this turd...
https://pixelfed.de/storage/m/_v2/28...JkKs6GWKdf.jpg
https://pixelfed.de/storage/m/_v2/28...54BjBmBIby.jpg
https://pixelfed.de/storage/m/_v2/28...S1sozSUyJH.jpg
Since I moved in July the car has been sitting, but winter break gives me a chance to fix this crap. So, let's see how far we get in the next few weeks.
Thats alot of work man...Good luck!Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
The big holes were filled before Christmas. Some of the smaller holes near the rockers I will probably just fill with seam sealer. I think the plan for the rockers is to replace them with a heavily bolted on piece of tubing and then put on 4g skirts over top... Maintaining or improving the structure is important, but it's so hard to weld on this thing, the metal is so thin and there is a lot of layers, blowing holes is bound to happen
This week I started the plumbing (fuel and brakes). This is because the holes around the rear seat meant removing the tank and also I have a new wilwood master and prop valve, so front/rear split, all new brake lines, that is much easier done with the tank out of the way. So after all this I can put the tank back in and some of the interior will go back in. I am also installing a fuel return line, which has become a necessity after I broke the fuel pump trying to get a look at the strainer. Will post some pics of it before it goes together.
Now, I would just like to rant how freaking long plumbing takes... And I'm not even done after 2 days. I have everything done down to the rear tee, I even have the fuel return done. The fuel return was especially fun because I am using 5/16 stainless... It is so damn hard to work, can't even bend it with a bender because it's too stiff to work with the line in place, I only use it for tight bends and when I absolutely had to take it out of the car (to flare an end or cut to length). I've found that leveraging on it is the way to go, or if it's out of the car I bend it against my foot because I hate the bender. Stark contrast from the 3/16 stainless brake lines which bend nicely, stays straight, doesn't crush, doesn't work harden, and I can use my squeeze bender.
Well. I got a lot done this week. No progress on the rust, but the car is fully plumbed, has seats, and the obx header is welded.
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I, uh, shortened the clutch throw. It's not a very elegant solution and the cable is going to do some breaking in, but it got what I wanted
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I replaced the dampener block thing, that probably does next to nothing, and replaced it with a plate with some tubes for the cable. This ended up being a little too low and the clutch cable was not long enough, but that was fixed by flipping the bracket. Like I said, it's not pretty, but for some reason my car had to have its clutch at the very top of it's adjustment and it took the full throw to disengage the clutch. This at least fixes that and I put the pedal right where I wanted it, it still pulls as far as possible, so I will find out the true bottom and make an adjustable stop to that point, so the throw distance will be minimized. This also adds some weight to the clutch, which is welcome, still feels terrible compared to a hydraulic, but it doesn't feel lifeless
BADA-BING
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Civic/Integra poly trailing arm bushings installed. Involved leaving the outside metal portion of the OEM bushing, turning down the bushings, then turning a new center slug. These energy suspension bushings are probably about the only option to use this way, and rubber doesn't turn on a lathe very well lol, but they're only like $30 anyway. Still, most important bushing on the whole car, done and dusted.
Bushing looks great!.
You bent the tab that the clutch cable adjuster rides on correct? Otherwise its bent!
Yeah the clutch cable bracket it sub optimal, but it feels great after setting the stops for the pedal. It's a temporary bracket, aka permanent. Might get a b series trans before it gets a new bracket lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
AH HAH! :rockon:
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Well they're mounted. Would be happy, but I'm a dummy and thought screwing a regular m10 brake line with a bubble flare (it's round in the bottom of the caliper) would seal, or at least I crossed my fingers and hoped they would. Ideally you would get a braided brake line for an sei, but techna-fit no longer sells via website, somebody might need to call and verify they will still make them. I figure it is ok to have a hard line running from the old drum soft line to the caliper, as long as you use a material that doesn't work harden, my lines are stainless. I think my solution will be to make the brake fitting accept a washer then use a copper washer like what would seal the banjo bolt.
Also, it would be ideal to mock the caliper bracket up with the rear control arms in place. I got lucky and they barely clear, however you need to put the lower caliper bolt in before bolting the control arms up lol.
It's been a day
Oh also the water pipe on the back of the engine is leaking through a pin hole
Nope nvm I think this the only contraption that will work. Btw, afik sei rear lines are no longer sold
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A hydraulic hose place should be able to make you a DOT approved braided line. There two places in town here. its where I get all mine made.
I kind of don't want that long of a soft line anyway. I wouldn't suggest anyone else go this route, but I think it'll work. This is why I want a fixed caliper though, there's no reason to have a soft line all the way to the caliper.
I didn't mention what happened to my front lines though. I looked under the car this morning and found the rubberized coating completely destroyed all the way on both front lines. I can't think of anything that would cause this, heat or chemicals would have damaged something else if it was able to destroy the *entire* length of the line. Luckily, I don't think it does much for holding pressure and it's just to protect the line. Still replacing them, but I need to drive it home.
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I called techna-fit, but nobody answered and I haven't gotten a call back yet. I might have to look for somewhere local that can remake these, I'll just hand them the old line, maybe they can tell me what the hell happened lmao. Sucks though, I really liked these lines.
Just everything has gone wrong recently though, idk what the deal is. There's the pin hole in the water pipe, the melted brake lines, my throttle cable stuck (had to shorten it), I had brake fluid leaks everywhere, it was hard as hell to get bled, the engine seems to have a vacuum leak, and my rear wheel bearings aren't pulling all the way up on the spindle and it was downright scary when I found out going 50mph to the inspection station. Passed inspection though... Miraculously.
MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THIS OUT OF YOUR DRUM BRAKES BEFORE TIGHTENING UP YOUR HUBS, THE BEARINGS WON'T TIGHTEN WITHOUT!!
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And here is how I took care of the ebrake. I didn't know how well integra cables will fit and theyre expensive anyway, so I made an adapter for the original drum cables
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Nothing went to hell today! fixed all the issues and thinks look pretty good.
I started to do an alignment this afternoon, that was interesting with only 2 wheel alignment guages. Start with caster obviously, its simple to do, but can be quite stubborn, probably the easiest thing to adjust on a stock car. Then I did the camber, rear first. I have the adjustable mevotech arms from rockauto, I like them! Adjusted all the way in I get 2 degrees on the money, could just take some off the adjuster if I ever want more. The front was interesting with prelude arms... The prelude arms are maybe good for about a degree of camber, its really silly, and the passenger side of the car is way lighter so it takes a lot to get any camber at all, so I extended the slots. The ball joint in the prelude arms does not move perfectly in and out, it will add some caster, so I had to do all that again. The passenger side camber adjustment was much further in so it had higher caster, about 4 degrees, so I shortened the driver strut rod to match. Camber on the passenger side is about 2.25 degrees while the driver side is about 2 degrees without me in it. Now toe is a complete nightmare without making a toe box. Still working on it, but aiming for 0 toe all around. Simple enough to zero the front, just have to center the steering wheel, but I'm also using civic tie rods, so that all needs massaging. The rear is where you have to make a reference to what is straight with the front, and all I know is it really wants to thrust and dog leg. I don't know if it actually a lot, but I can't zero the toe with the front, i run out of adjustment, and one side seems like it is a different distance from the centerline of the front wheel. Tomorrow I am going to loosen the rear subframe and kick the shit out of it, hopefully it moves a little closer to straight, i think that will fix the dog leg and get the adjustment back where I need it to fix the thrust. FUN! Adjustable lower control arms sound a lot more necessary now.
That deal with the front brake lines just looks to be a color coating they put over them Still not good but I doubt the lines themselves are bad. I think that one picture the line is kinked.
I took the techna fit link off sticky because they wont answer me either I dont think they have sold anything in years. I didnt want to just lock it someone might get hurt feelings over it.
It was a clear coating, and yes I think they are still good too, but I dont think the steel braid will last line this. I don't see where you are talking about a kink, this stainless steel line was real hard to screw up. They must have stopped selling around covid, I think I bought mine in 2019.
I got the interior in and drove the car home last night. Looks really good (inside) and drives really good. I might have killed my new rear bearings though.
Man I just realized I never uploaded pics of my track tires!
225/45r15 Flaken Azenzis rt660 on the Buddy Club P1 15x8
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ1rYKCBGYs&t=1s
First ever autocross in this car, and only my second time racing. Went really well. Beat a lot of other capable cars. I have a ton of other things I need to check off on the car that's just going to make it even faster and more capable, and I learned a lot on how to wheel it today.
Biggest thing that needs work is the brakes... still. Not enough front brake, need more pedal ratio, and I think I am flexing the firewall. Once I am confident I think I need to start left foot braking in those slaloms and stuff, keep most of the power on and set the car into the turn. Grip is sure not an issue.
Tires setup looks good on 8" rim.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
I thought you drove great. The course was laid out really well I usually cant follow courses very well why I dont xcross.
If you can get a few 100's street miles on the tires they will grip better.
This is as wide as I can go without pulling the rear fenders. There's like a quarter inch maybe less to the trailing arms and I had to roll the fenders
Track was great, there is a section that kind of looks like a slalom if you aren't paying attention, but it's actually a big sweeper, I went on the wrong side of the cones once, but no big deal.
I drove on them for about a day, can't get them up to temp on the street, but they should be broke in now
I don't know why I haven't seen this thread in ages but good work man.
😂 because I let the car sit for a year, the first updates being like a month ago
Hey where are those rims made if you dont mind me asking?...and the offset?Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
Pretty sure they're made in Japan. And they're +32
Car has been behaving well. I replaced the driver side engine mount with a Cheddas one, its probably needed that for like 10 years. Other than that I've just been tidying things up. Stereo controls now have a little plastic panel where the head unit went, wires all tucked away, undertray and driver side fender liner replaced, squashed some rattles, got the hood and headlights a little bit more square, etc.
I did complete one big project though. The car now has an electric speedometer form a 5th gen Civic and it works. The tach is also from the Civic, but the temp gauge I replaced with an Innovate MTX-D water temp gauge because I could not get an actual reading with a stock gauge, and the fuel gauge is a custom little led bar graph powered by an arduino. I'm not going to make a writeup about it because I didn't document it and I don't expect anyone to be able to follow it, but if anyone is really interested I can do my best. Its 90% complete, really just have to tidy up some light leaks and hopefully fix the dark spot in the tach. But here is what it looks like now.
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Unfortunately the final drive is not the same as a Civic so the speedo is off, but I moved the needle and its pretty close, main issue is the odometer is super fast. It wasn't right with the stock gauge anyway because I run 23" tires, so I don't really care.
Oh and the car has rolled out of its parking spot twice now when I used just the ebrake. Don't rear disk brake swap unless you come to terms with the fact that the ebrake won't work very good lol.
Nice, looks good.
How many clicks do you get when you pull the ebrake up. May need to adjust it so its tighter, shop manual says 7-11 clicks.
I have adjusted it, probably going to do it again. I have to pull it until I can't lol then I shake the car and make sure I don't hear it slip.
Try pressing the brake pedal down when you set it see if that helps.
It doesn't. I adjusted the cables but I might have to modify the adapters for the calipers to the stock cables because I think I bottomed out the adjustment thread. Just needs a new hole for the bolt. I made the mistake of not loosening the cables when I made it, so I basically started at half adjustment.
Anyone notice their cars burning oil at high rpm? If I redline it in 1st and then get off it it will smell like oil in the cabin, sometimes I get a plume of oil smoke coming out of the exhaust if I idle shortly after. I am assuming my oil control rings are not doing too hot. You'd think the back of my block would be showered with oil residue from blow by coming out to of the black box thats vta, but maybe my compression rings are actually still in decent shape. My cylinder walls look like about what you would expect out of a 200k mi engine.
Also, no visible oil consumption. I just wish I had the means to start putting together my other engine with b20 pistons right about now.
Sent an oil sample off to Blackstone. It is due for a change so oil might have thinned out, exasperating the burning. Depending on the results I'll go to a 5w50, 10w60, or 20w50, whatever is most available and costs less. It has Rotella T6 5w40 in it, which is no longer cheap anyway.
Do you know what your compression numbers are? Also have you ever refreshed your valve stem seals?
No and no 😂 I really do not like removing the spark plugs in fear of cross threading them. I think I did a compression test when I did the head gasket and and they were all fine, but it's hard to judge ring health with a compression test unless it's really bad, valves have a way bigger effect. Haven't done the valve stem seals because it doesn't smoke on startup, I don't think I get much valve buildup either.
I'll do a compression test soon, but I need to find my leak down tester too, I'd like to do both tests at once
I think if your piston rings are real bad you can hear air escaping into the crank case during a leakdown test. I also think its hard to tell where the air is coming from unless you take the valve cover off because it is all connected via the oil hole drains.
Also check if you have excessive blowby. At idle, take your oil cap off, is it blowing anything out of there. Nothing should be coming out at idle.
As for your spark plugs. Blow compressed air around the spark plug while the plug is still in there to remove any dirt. Take the plug out and if its dirty, put some carb cleaner on a rag and clean the first few threads, this will greatly help threading them in correctly when the threads are completely clean.
Yeah, you should be able to hear it if it doesn't have a bigger leak somewhere else.
I did take the oil cap off while it's running, no oil mist, light pulses of air. Same with the black box on back it's vta and unfiltered (probably bad) but if oil was coming out of it the cross member would be getting showered, everything is bone dry behind the engine.
My head isn't super dirty either, I just don't like the stupid angle the plugs are at. Though, I'm just getting myself worked up, the time that I started to crossthread one it was nearly dark outside.
Got a used oil analysis and the results arent too bad. Due to the metals and silicon I'm going to put a filter on the pcv black box... its unfiltered vta right now. Some metals were expected though. Next oil change I am going to use Mobil 1 5w50, Rotella T6 is too expensive now anyway.
Still haven't done the compression and leakdown test, I'll get the numbers during the oil change.
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What it does show is no blowby (insolubles) despite the ring wear (chromium), no gas from rich conditions, no water from not getting up to temp because it runs very cool, and the oil is still good. I hope the mobil performs well too, but I liked Rotella due to the copious additive package.
Emailed fastbrakes about a big brake kit today, I'm going to make that a priority. Car stops ok, but even in regular traffic I'm gonna put my foot through the firewall one of these days, do a hard stop and you're pressing really damn hard and wondering if you're actually going to stop in time, it of course does easily, but I don't like that feeling. I think a big portion of it is firewall flex too, probably why it is so hard to lock the brakes, the force I'm putting in isnt actually going into the pedal, but during my autocross runs I did find that limit after applying a ridiculous amount of force.
Leakdown test results:
Cylinder 1 - about 5psi at 60psi
Cylinder 2 - very little, kept wanting to roll the engine over and open the valves
Cylinder 3 - same as cylinder 2
Cylinder 4 - same again
Not happy with these readings, but I expect cylinder 1 is the worst anyway, and its not that bad.
Compression test
Cylinder 1 - 170psi
Cylinder 2 - 163psi
Cylinder 3 - 165psi
Cylinder 4 - 170psi
Nothing to be concerned about there
Surprising really, engine is nearing 200k mi, has a slight amount of scoring on at least one of the cylinders, and has metal from the rings in the oil. It is smoking on startup now that its cold, but since it doesnt need any oil added between changes its probably no more than a few drops making the smoke. Putting mobil1 5w-50 in it, hope that helps. Nothing concerning, I just don't like breathing it. Valve seals probably need changed, but I don't want to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
Need that dino oil in there buddy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om8X0wr6G-c
Eh, it's really a myth that conventional oil leaks less, molecule sizes are both bigger and smaller, so as much will get through as synthetic, viscosity will have a bigger difference. And nothing will rejuvenate seals that are worn out from moving parts... It does burn better though, that's why you don't put synthetic in a rotary
I've run it pretty hard today and it hasn't smoked on me yet, so we will see what it does in the morning.
I wish it was still summer, I'd love to know if oil temps dropped
Do what Brian says but I would change out your master cylinder...I think its larger bore less pedal travel but double check me on that. There are formulas to get it right.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShiRen
it might also be pad knock back where the pads on disc brakes push out? in on the caliper bores and then the first application you get alot of pedal travel. ABS fixed that all up but older models it was pretty common.
I have a wilwood master cylinder. It's still a 7/8" bore, but that's not uncommon, even with manual brakes. A smaller bore creates more pressure at the same amount of force, but I think travel increases because the amount of fluid that needs to be moved doesn't change.
Not sure if the travel is excessive, there is just not a lot of pressure, even though the little brakes are ample to stop the car. I think I'd have to put my foot through the floor to lock them up. Bigger brakes should be more touchy and easier to threshold brake as long as they aren't too touchy. I've only ever barely locked the front brakes once, that was in autocross and I was worried about breaking my new seats lol, the recliners can't stand that kind of pressure.
Working on making a master cylinder brace, but it didn't seem to move a ton. I'd like to take that out of the equation though.
I think the next easiest thing is to drill a few more holes in the brake pedal to change the ratio a bit, I think I can get away with a little bit of angle on the pedal rod.
guessing a little but I think the LXi stock is 13/16" and some of the Hondas are 1.0"
EDIT: how about 15/16" I flunked 2 nd grade math a few times.
http://www.markwilliams.com/calculators.html
This should work for you....
You can see with that calculator you have to press a lot harder with a larger bore. Worst case scenario I go to a 3/4" bore, that will help with the unassisted brakes. Pedal ratio first though, it's doing essentially the same thing trading travel for force.
Well before that, new calipers, won't know how anything will feel until those are on. I did pull the trigger on a set of wilwood 4 pots btw
Really wanting a new rear swaybar, extended ball joints, and to call Fortune auto for some coilovers, but I don't think my wallet would like that after spending $800 on brakes.
Big brake kit done. It's the fastbrakes 88-00 civic 4 piston wilwood 11" kit. https://www.fastbrakes.com/product_p...ivic-11-4e.htm This kit is specifically for 9.5" cars, that's why I didn't get the significantly cheaper 11" Integra option for the accord.
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There were a few problems, though none really relating to the fitment of the brakes. All that was needed was a 4-5mm spacer, I just used 4 washers that were like 4.5mm thick. The problems I had was one brake line that came with the kit had a malformed thread and would not tighten, also I was shorted a caliper bolt. It's fine, that stuff happens, new parts shipped on Friday and I got them Monday. I had another small problem though, the 30mm offset wheels that I had on the front hit the calipers, so I had to get the track wheels out until I could swap the 35mm offset wheels from the back to the front lol, they had enough clearance. I'll have to use a small spacer if I ever need to swap the wheels front to back now I guess.
Also tip, when you bleed brakes from totally empty, work on getting a little bit of fluid to the calipers then pump the crap out of the pedal until it starts to get hard. Make sure you lift all the way off the pedal. Press it down as hard as you can and crack the first bleeder, pump it up again and crack the next, and until the brakes start feeling normal repeat this, then start doing it like normal where you would bleed one wheel at a time until the air is gone. Your fluid will go down as you pump it too, so watch it.
Oh yeah... It stops good now. I still feel like I'd have to stomp the life out of the pedal to get every bit of force out of it though. Master cylinder brace and pedal ratio first, then pads, worst case scenario I go to a 3/4" master cylinder.
Also, some relevant part numbers: this kit uses a 120-13839 caliper which takes a 7112 type pad, the rotor is a from an 09 Mini Cooper base model, centric part number 121.34100. Alternatively, Brembo has a drilled rotor 09A7611X
wow, definitely makes me want to upgrade mine. If i dont drive like a grandma i get warped rotors easily. With that said my brakes stop the car quick. I have locked up all 4 on the highway before with LXI fronts with SEI rears and prop valve.
Not sure why you feel you have to stomp on yours so much.
Are your wheels 15" or 16"?
Manual brakes make a big difference in that regard lol. Mine should be hard to press, but I want more brake before I'm flexing the seat. And after further investigation, the pads my brakes were shipped with aren't performance oriented whatsoever, they're wilwood bp-10, I'll probably install hawk dtc-60s. Strange your rotors warp though.
My daily wheels are 16, race wheels are 15
About a month ago my brand new brake caliper lost a mounting bolt and hit the wheel, putting a big scar in the caliper, wheel, and broke my valve stem. Everything is alright, its mostly cosmetic, but lesson learned use more loctite, I was running out when I put it together. That day I finished the paperwork to get an abandoned title for a 07 Ford Sport Trac with 113k mi, v8, 4wd, it is a hell of a little truck and I have been driving the crap out of it and hauling dirt bikes, haven't driven the accord a lot since. Part of that is ptsd lol, but the truck is just a bit easier to hop in and go, especially in the cold. I don't really like that, makes me feel complacent, and its part of why I sold the type R. Its fine if I am using the truck though, but Ill probably get tired to the abysmal gas milage pretty soon too lol. I'll probably throw some more parts at the accord soon to get it ready for autocross in a couple months, its definitely nice having another vehicle for that.
So my ford is having problems, but the Accord has nothing but reliable. That being said, I can't stop thinking about modifying it. I have the adjustable rear lower control arms to install, the front upper control arm camber mounts, and I want to raise the driver front a bit in an attempt to corner balance and correct the control arm lengths side to side to get a better alignment. Also still thinking about building an engine. I will eventually, as I've outlined it all here, but money is tight since I went back to college. I need someone who knows a little bit about what to do welding and porting a 3 valve head, that is the biggest show stopper. I'd also love to find some 5.5mm diameter stem exhaust valves to maybe bump up in size, or at least improve flow around the stem. What I'd love to get going sooner is my megajolt, but I really want to get my bike carbs put on. I am planning on getting a 3d printed manifold and 3d printed velocity stacks.
I've been doing some math to determine how long the intake needs to be, valve to the tip of the stack. I've seen some dyno sheets of A20s and they all make a really flat torque line, usually dips off around 6000, so I was thinking the tuned rpm of the intake should be between 14"-16.5". There is some complex math, but I don't think its rocket science, if that is an achievable length that's great. I didn't tune the formulas directly for my engine, yet, but I will share them. It has something to do with the valve timing and when the reflective inlet pulse comes back down the runner into the valve, so wherever flow starts to drop since the piston will be decreasing in acceleration in the latter half of the stroke, they say it is usually somewhere between 80-90 degrees. So the rough calculation is Length in Inches=84000/tuned rpm, but the better, probably not the best, calculation is L = D * C / 0.012 * N where L is the length in mm, D is the degrees of the crank, C is the speed of sound or roughly 334m/s, and N is your tuned rpm. I have no idea where 84000 or 0.012 come from, but the math agrees both ways. Even getting this slightly wrong is fine since you will still get the benefit from the resonate pulse, it just won't be at the point of lowest intake flow, plus just adding velocity stacks will improve laminar flow. The 84000/rpm equation got me 14" and the big equation got me 16.5" at 90 degrees, so I will probably design my stacks with a minimum of 14" in length and add a spacer between the carb and stacks to tune the length, also if my tuned rpm needs to be lower, like 5000rpm, then all that means is I need a longer runner, so it works out perfectly.
Eyes glazed over yet? I like to work this out and write about it, so at least I will remember what I wanted to do lol. Wish I could design my intake now, but I have actual homework that needs done.
Been thinking a lot about suspension geometry. So lowering the car obviously screws some stuff up. The alignment is impossible, especially with the weight bias. There is almost no way to get good camber on any remotely stock setup. The upper control arm angle is a bit too much, stressing the ball joint and also with the uca rotating along a different axis, it also changes caster. And of course the roll centers are pretty wacky.
I don't think a lot can be done to the rear, especially due to how the lcas mount through the knuckle, but this joint has been known for being extremely loose, so it would be nice to figure out something to improve it. I do have some ideas for the front though which I'd like to share.
Knuckles: it's fairly likely that knuckles from another car will bolt up. I think the only thing that would not allow it is the kingpin inclination, that might get hairy, but it could also offer improved scrub radius... This is probably going to have to involve some cad models... Anyway I am hoping that there is some shorter knuckles to see what happens when the uca is lowered back down. I'm curious if the tie rods could possibly be be moved down to improve their angle. I also want to find knuckles that have an increased distance from the ball joint to the spindle, however that can also be helped by the next item.
Extended ball joints: this is probably the easiest part, but they're 3x the price of a normal ball joint. They would of course change the roll center as intended, but they also shorten the lever arm of said roll center because the angles between the upper and lower control arms are more extreme. Nobody seems to really be bothered by this when doing the modifications to a civic, but with the civic being smaller, I don't think they have the option. Anyway, drop knuckles are a better option to extended ball joints, so at least extended ball joints plus shorter knuckles are pretty much exactly that.
4th gen lower control arms: this is pretty simple actually. They're longer by an inch. Otherwise exactly the same. If more camber is needed up front, at least without being at the absolute maximum you can get, these will surely fix the issue. They will also increase front track width, which is a nice benefit. The biggest limiting factor are the axles, however anyone doing a b series trans swap can be a bit flexible here.
The rear: We need to find a good solution here. Ideally, it'd be great to come up with a solution that fixes the sloppy lca mount in the knuckle AND lowers the lca mount by around an inch or two.
Regarding the loose rear LCAs, where the bolt goes through the knuckle... I wonder what would happen if one were to thread the hole and insert two large studs? Something might need to be done with the LCA bushings, probably reemed. Might be easier than sleeving the hole.
Small update: While I haven't felt like working on or racing my car this year, I did just buy a new 3d printer. This one will allow me to make a new intake for my bike carbs ;) Honestly that will probably be the biggest motivator to do anything else with it. The power gain and also the sound will be game changing.
