But I'm not bitter about it at all.
But I'm not bitter about it at all.
Dr_Snooz
"I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff." - Beavis
1989 Honda Accord LX-i Coupe, 240k miles, MT swap, rear disc swap
Shop manual downloads available here: CLICK TO VIEW
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.
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 . 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.
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.
dead white and blue
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.
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?
Dr_Snooz
"I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff." - Beavis
1989 Honda Accord LX-i Coupe, 240k miles, MT swap, rear disc swap
Shop manual downloads available here: CLICK TO VIEW
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!!!
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.
Last edited by ShiRen; 10-15-2020 at 07:36 AM.
Dr_Snooz
"I like to take hammers, and just break stuff, just break stuff." - Beavis
1989 Honda Accord LX-i Coupe, 240k miles, MT swap, rear disc swap
Shop manual downloads available here: CLICK TO VIEW
Not if I remove the speedo cable lol. Whole point of an EK speedo is to get rid of the cable.
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.
But yesterday I did a whole lot of wrenching (read: hammering) and now it looks like this!
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.
Last edited by ShiRen; 10-19-2020 at 05:05 AM.
Looking really good!
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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.
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.
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.
I finally did it. I cured my wheel gap
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?
Last edited by ShiRen; 10-26-2020 at 05:50 AM.
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.
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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!
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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.
Last edited by ShiRen; 10-26-2020 at 12:15 PM.
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.
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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.....
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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.
Last edited by ShiRen; 12-10-2020 at 06:33 AM.
I think the Cheddars arms are in stock?
1988 Lxi owner since August 1995
336k miles running strong!
Now running E85.
Oldblueaccord <<< MY YOUTUBE PAGE!
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.
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