Time to give this thread a bit of an update, i've been slacking lately but this weekend i managed to get A LOT done, as you will see below.
So continuing on from the last post, starting with the issues I had:
1. Notchy/Grinding Gear Changes - This actually managed to get even worse, to the point where the car would vibrate and shake when accelerating in a high gear at low revs. Took it to TGM and after a proper inspection and test drive we determined that it was 2 things. Driveshafts (front left in particular) and clutch. Got them to order 2 new uprated driveshafts and a Honda clutch kit. The flywheel was inspected and it looked in good shape so did not bother forking out for that. After those were changed the gear changes were smooth as hell! Clutch was light, car was much easier to drive and no more annoying vibrations. I then also had the gearbox oil changed and had a friction additive put in to make the box even quieter under operation.
2. Steering wheel not centering - This was fixed by getting the car receiving FSRU and wheel balancing.
The car was then fully serviced:
My rear type R badge had some red peel going on so decided to grab a sticker from the Bay:
Here is the old one after some oil and polish cleaner:
Here is the newly applied sticker. Perfect fit
And then I didn't actually end up taking a photo of the finished state lol. I did also manage to go over the black lines of the badge with a sharpie and it now looks a lot cleaner. Will prob add a pic of it later on.
Moving on the boot handle was a bit difficult to operate, i imagine it was due to the amount of gunk inside and not enough grease, so I stripped as much as I could apart around it and gave it a good clean. Now you can operate it with your little finger
Then I got some LED reverse lights and some cheesy item which actually ended up looking good (imo).
Then I felt brave and decided to tackle the Fuel Filter change, so took the rear bench out:
Then I found a guide on this forum which walks through it in detail... only to see that the forum was down as the DB server died
lel. So I still have to tackle this at some point, but for now I am liking the folded 2 seat mode.
Then I bought a MJC short shifter and Tegiwa bush kit:
This was a real ass to fit as well, such a fiddly job and you need so much patience. The amount of times I kept dropping things in the black hole of death under the shifter assembly was unreal.. Thank god for extended magnet sticks
Bottom half of console out:
Then I realised you need midget hands to do this without taking the top half off, so that came out too.
Shifter in:
In typical fashion I forgot to take pics when changing the bushes but it was probably mainly due to all the cursing and throwing of tools
. I did also copper grease the crap out of all the components that have any form of rubbing or movement, hopefully that will help in the long run.
Drove to Brighton with the new shifter and as soon as I got back I took it off lol (kept the bushes though). It made gears from silky smooth and easy, to notchy and hard to get into 1st and 6th in particular. The rest were fine once you were going at it, but in slow traffic it was a right pain. Now I see why TGM advised me against fitting it
It will be up for sale shortly.
Had some parts arrive from the stealers:
New boot lid cover thing, with all the required clips, nuts and washers, along with a spare set of clips (as those break stupidly easily). Battery cover terminal and some AUX cable as well. Oh and I also got a new set of tailgate hinges, will show you why in another post as I get around to that job.
Time to put the terminal cover on:
So now we move on to project "Kill All The Rusty Things". First up we have a close up inspection of the car's current condition:
Started off by removing the engine heat shield thing and exposing the bonnet. Then I took out the washer jets and the rubber piping for them. We now get to see some gross stuff:
Took out the front grille too as it needs repairs and a respray anyway
Then I managed to get ramp access for a weekend, so it was time to see what horrors hide undearneath:
Bumper off
ew
Some shiny parts at last in the mist of rust and heresy!
Well that was it. For the most part, it is only surface rust, sills are fine, arches are fine, but some components will need heavy amount of scrubbing and then good protection. No time to waste, we begin with some safety equipment (although you can't see the safety glasses as I already had them on
). The mask was only needed when under the car, but still it's cheap so no reason to not pick one up.
Some results of what it could look like once I go over the entire car. As you can see all the rust has fallen off the lower control arm and has exposed the black painted metal undearneath:
mmmm lovely stuff
Starting to look a bit better
Took the wheel arch undertrays/guards thing out, not too bad undearneath tbh.
It was a long 8 hours of scrubbing, swearing and getting sh*t on my face lol. Decided to call it a night, put the wheels on and the rest of the bumpers/guards in the back and drove like this, because no f*cks were given that day ;d
Got some real weird looks on the way back, felt like a proper EP3 driver
DD
The day after I did even more scrubbing and once happy with the state underneath I gave it a good jet wash there and drove it home.
Fast forward to this weekend, the ramp is being used so I had to resort home DIY again. Decided to tackle the components that I could see and reach, and then finish the rest off and underseal the chassis once I get ramp access again.
First up, wash and scrub the working area clean:
Then give all the undertrays a good clean too and let em out to dry on the front garden bushes, because again not many f*cks were given this week lol.
Used a total of 5 jacks here (need to buy some stands soon ;d)
Then you need to make sure you forget to take pictures every step of the way, just like me
Here is one of the rear end taped off, sanded and primered:
Rear bar is now finished!
More wheel well painting:
And that was that for the day, the weather was awesome so things dried off well between coats. Here it is back on the ground and you can see the massive contrast with the rusty LCA compared to what the bar.
Next day we start off by doing the front wheel wells and of course a cocktail
After that we move on to the rear underside. Decided to add a bit of contrast here:
And here it is all finished up:
Much blackz, much cleanz. Added the tegiwa sticker as a little extra since I have some laying about, doesn't look too bad I thought?
This is it for now, the car is going back on the ramp probably tonight after work or tomorrow to finish up the underside, then it will be getting work on the bonnet, the boot and the grille.
Hope you guys enjoy my painful moments :mrgreen: