Vtecmec's 4th Gen

[wurlycorner]

But never mind, there's always next year!

[Vtecmec]

But never mind, there's always next year!

I've been saying that for 5 years now.

[wurlycorner]

But made great progress this year...
And I've been saying it for over 15 with some of my CX's, so you're well ahead of me!

You'll get here and it'll be all worth it when you do...

[vtectom]

I had my lude under cover last winter.

It's worth taking it off every so often
to let it breath. I had mold growing on
some of the interior!

[Vtecmec]

Good advice, the cover I bought is a fully waterproof and breathable one, and I've loaded the interior with desiccant tubs to soak any excess moisture, plus I'm sure the itch will be back soon and I'll be doing something or other to it.

[Vtecmec]

Well, it’s been a while, now the weather has turned and most of the work to the house has been done, I’ve turned my attention back onto the car.

Unfortunately, whilst moving it around the other day, the dreaded oil pressure warning light came on at low tickover. After a bit of testing I determined that there was something wrong internally with the engine. So I’ve stripped the head off the car to have a better look. Once inside it appears that one of the dowel pins that aligns the head to the block has deformed slightly, causing an oil to water leak, which is where the pressure was going. Nothing is ever straighforward.

Anyway, I've had the head skimmed and bought some replacement dowel pins, along with a few other bits.



When moving house last time, the battery warning light was on and it wouldn't run with no battery, even after fitting a new battery, it still remained on, until I drove for 5 miles, then it went out, so I think after being sat for so long the alternator is a bit dodgy. So I thought I’d recondition the alternator whilst I am in the engine bay area.

One alternator.



Off with the cover.



Separating the innards from the casing.



Separated.



A wire brush cleanup to the casing.


And a bit of paint.



Going back together.









I also polished the little cover that sits over the electrics.



I’ve ordered a new regulator, which I think was the problem, but it’s yet to arrive in the post.

I’ve also removed the mounting bracket which is sitting in a derust bucket at the moment.



I’ve picked up some replacement front subframes which I’m going to derust before going on the car, they are a bit rusty at the moment, but nothing like when compared to the current ones on the car.





More soon hopefully as I have a few days off work next week, and the enthusiasm has returned…..

[farlow]

Looks like a spot on job with the alternator mate, defo gonna have a go with mine just for aesthetic purposes. What paint did you use, the finish looks excellent.

[mercutio]

well done buddy

[Vtecmec]

What paint did you use

Just a silver basecoat with a clear lacquer over the top.


Whilst the head is off, I took the opportunity to sort a few niggling things with the intake manifold, namely the fact that I was skint when I assembled it last and I had used silicone sealant instead of new gaskets. The wife went away for a few days so I took the opportunity to utilise the indoor workshop…..







Having the head off the engine has made removing the front subframe a little easier….







Here is the old subframe, you can probably see why I have decided to use a replacement rather than cleaning this one up.



Nasty





Out with the steering rack.



JDM rust dust.



The front suspension is in a pretty bad way, when I removed the front lower arms, all the bushes pretty much crumbled away, you can see the amount of rust.



Lower arms, eww.



Some stuff removed, but salvageable.



Even though the replacement subframe was in far better condition than the existing, it still requires a good amount of treatment before fitting, so having a bath….



Looks a little better, the clean-up does well to show the scale of rust that was lurking..



Fully de-rusted with some other bits.



Derust close up….



Now painted, but no pics yet, more soon…….

[NafemanNathan]

Top bollocks!

What's in your bath again?