JohnnyB's 'lude

[NafemanNathan]

Ok that computer is kinda cool

Nice find with the door handles then.

And cool. Look forward to following the progress

[Kawa]

WB JB

Hope you get it sorted soon mate.

[JohnnyB]

WB JB

Hope you get it sorted soon mate.

Cheers matey Seems like I've been gone ages.. Although thinking about it it's probably been a good few years


Anyway, I got bored tonight and instead of going to the pub I decided to strip down my questionable starter motor. I've come across a slight problem in that I can't get the ally casing off the com end of the motor and I've already pulled the rotor out so obviously it won't go back in now the brushes have sprung in. D'oh! Hopefully I'll be able to use some gentle persuasion over my lunch hour tomorrow in the workshop to get them apart. May have a go at blasting the ally castings too if I've got enough time to mask the machined surfaces down.

Anyway it was worth popping the rotor out as both com and drive end bearings are on their last legs - strange as all other components appear fine showing little wear. I'll see if I can get them pulled off the rotor shaft and get some replacements pressed on at work (handy working somewhere that design and build electric motors by the millions).



As a general rule I'm going to try and treat most parts like this where time allows and strip them back and rebuild them to show the old girl some of the love she's been missing all these years. A question for those of you that have reconditioned and/or spruced up their engine bays though: How do you prevent the ally castings from deteriorating again? Is there a heat resistant lacquer or similar I can use to seal them? I will probably paint the block and gearbox but not sure how to treat the smaller castings such as these...

Thoughts, ideas?

[grant_day]

I can't help with the above question but otherwise its looking very nice mate,

[NafemanNathan]

I will probably paint the block and gearbox but not sure how to treat the smaller castings such as these...

Thoughts, ideas?

Why can't you paint these smaller bits as well? As long as you mask the appropriate areas you'll be fine.

[JohnnyB]

Yeah I suppose they could be painted. I just don't want to go to the effort of cleaning them up to watch them corrode again!

Anyway, I managed to split the rest of the starter motor down today. Handily I also found two bearings to fit so I've managed to pull the old knackered ones off the rotor shaft and replace them with shiny new ones. Bonus!



I've got the day off again tomorrow so will try and get some more done while I'm still keen!!

[JohnnyB]

Spent another couple of hours swearing loudly at the car this afternoon... I started with the intention of dropping the gearbox out today but plans were changed by the 2 o/s radius arm locking bolts stubbornly refusing to move. So I ended up taking the whole assembly off in one piece which I'll now strip down in the garage to clean up and paint. I'll probably then clean out the wheel arch and reassemble the suspension minus the driveshaft then repeat on the other side, that way I'll be able to drop the gearbox out when I want with the added bonus that if needed I can lower the car down and move it around.

I'm pretty sure there's something missing here...



Ah, there it is!

[jozefsan]

when you will put lower arm and radius arm back put them together with bolts loose on floor and then install together, i found that line up bolts when lower arm is on frame bit tricky and you can spend bit time to do it and bit swearing

[JohnnyB]

Cheers for the advice Jozef, hopefully I'll remember that when I come to put it all back together!

I managed to blast the ally housings during lunch today at work and reassembled the starter motor minus bolts (which are still being rust treated) when I got home this evening. I used hammerite satin black spray paint on the motor housing and solenoid after first degreasing, stripping the old paint and treating/removing the rust. It's come out pretty well although I am missing a small screw If it doesn't turn up I'm sure I can replace it easily enough at work.

All parts stripped, degreased, blasted and main motor shaft bearings both replaced:



Starter motor reassembled minus bolts:



I've decided not to bother laquering any of the aluminium ancillaries but I will no doubt paint the block and gearbox and repaint the rocker cover. I had a brief search through a thread on Honda Tech full of frankly awesome rocker cover paint jobs. I'm not even going to attempt to compete with them but it's made me think just plain wrinkle red is a tad dull. I may paint it with a heat resistant primer then put pirates black over the top with polished DOHC VTEC lettering then a layer of lacquer but we shall see..!

[NafemanNathan]

I know it's only a starter motor, but that looks amazing!