I wanted to have one of these threads too
First off, some info about the car for those who haven't read my introduction thread.
It's a 1989 2.0-16 4W ALB, originally imported to Finland from somewhere in Europe, the car is the French type according to the plate in the engine compartment but might just as well originate from any of the surrounding French-speaking countries (update, I'm almost certain it's Switzerland)... The engine is a B20A8, which means it's got emissions components unlike the Finnish version (B20A2), and thus a bit less power. Other differences are exhaust manifold and compression ratio. Only thing it really lacks accessory-wise is A/C, other than that it's got pretty much all you can get. Cruise control, power windows/locks/mirrors/steering, seat heater, ALB, headlight wipers... That should be most of it. With about 270,000 km on the clock, I'm guessing she's got a mid-life crisis coming on?
So, here we go.
She needs a good wash, no good doing it yet with the weather we've been having here. In the past three weeks or so the snow's melted three or four times and snowed back a few days later. Also needs a paint job, right now the both rear wheel arches are just red primer... Probably gonna be a while 'til I can afford that though. Still a bunch of rust to get rid of. Had her patched up enough so I should get her through inspection which I need to do within a month.
Also, thanks to a flat tire it's got a new wheel I found in my trunk.
OEM spare, for ca5 accord/ba4 prelude. By the looks of it, it had never been used before.
Then it flapped it's wings and took off...
After we got it to settle down, me and a buddy were trying to figure out which part of the front right speed sensor (for the ALB system) wasn't working. So we checked the shop manual for troubleshooting (I know it's the front right speed sensor because of the control unit throwing me the code), first thing it said to do was "disconnect wire harness from speed sensor". Well, after scratching our heads for about half an hour without figuring out where said wire harness was, we gave up and poked around with some other random things on the control unit. Needless to say, we didn't come out of the experience any smarter.
Does someone know where the sensor harness is? All we found was the wires running from the sensor inside the car (nothing to disconnect, just solid wire going from the sensor through the hole in the wheel wall), and the connector which connects all of the wires to the ALB ecu. Of course I forgot about taking pictures in the process.
Gonna try and get some more pics later. I need to take some pics of all the rust spots (and a hole or two) that needs to be fixed (for own reference if nothing else), and of the parts that have been fixed. Just sucks that I don't really have any excess money to use on the car, would love to get her in tip top shape. I guess I should just learn how to weld and shit...
I guess this'll have to do for now, need to go to sleep and take a shower... In reverse order.
PS. did I write all that? o.O
Here below I'll be updating what I have done, and need/want/dream to do.
Done:
Body work
(had a guy do this for me, I need to learn to weld some day)
- New right rear wheel arch panel, was completely gone with rust
- Rust hole in the side skirt in front of the right rear wheel fixed.
- Left rear wheel arch patched up, a bunch of rust here too
- Area below filler cap fixed, had a rust hole
- New sheet metal on both sides behind the rear wheels (the ones where the bumper's attached), as everything else these were also gone with rust
Other:
So far not much done, I've changed the oil and replaced the drivers door doorstopper (or whatever it's called) the old one had broken off.
Replaced the cracked bumper light cover with a less cracked one...
Got some new trim for the part that was cracked (wrong color)
Changed transmission oil
In the process of figuring out what's wrong with my ALBs.
Got it through inspection
Changed valve cover gasket and the seals around the spark plug holes. Also made an attempt at adjusting the valves.
Fixed my idle problem (maybe), adjusted the FITV so that atleast it doesn't try to warm up at 2k RPMs when it's already warm. Hopefully this will help with the roaming idle too, which seems to have almost disappeared before when I replaced the coolant.
To do:
- Fix up my summer wheels (on hold for now, had to put them on earlier than I planned because I didn't want to spend money on fixing the winter tire that got a flat... there's always next year )
Body work:
- Inner rear wheel arches
- Rust spots here and there... Hole below the right taillight, rust around the hinge of the rear left door, various spots on the trunk lid, bottom rear corner of the rear right door, some around the antenna, and a bit on the edge between roof/sunroof... I think that's most of it. Update: after taking a hose to the car and most off the crap coming off of it, I found a whole lot more rust
- And even more rust found inside the rear bumper, not sure how much, but I can pull out one of the fog lights without screwing it off... the mounts are all gone, and I think a lot of the bumper mount is too. Also similar things inside the front bumper, a lot less tho.
- Retractable antenna isn't working, the motor is turning but nothing happens.
- Cruise control on/off switch doesn't switch off (better than the other way around I guess)
- Rear bumper hangs crooked (about a centimeter), front bumper is a bit weird at places too.
- Fix the exhaust up, preferably a completely new system
- Fix the ALB
- Paintjob
- Win the lottery
- A bunch of the moldings need replacing, why do these rust anyway?
- Suspension making noises (front right)
- CV joints don't sound good
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