'99 BB6 "nut and bolt" restoration.

[mercutio]

4gphil is selling type s pistons why didn't you ask him? great work though bud and I agree you need to prepare for the worst when doing this stuff the simplest things fight you

[BlackShadow]

Allllllllriiiiiiggggghhhhty... I picked up a great new compressor, and a hand held sand blaster.... and not a moment too soon. I was growing tired of the Amish craftsman-like way I had to work on the car.


As of today, there is still no word on my pistons. According to USPS they are "in transit" but they can't tell me anything more about them. Four days since the last update, and I'm getting antsy.


Today I broke out my new sand blaster and attacked some of those brackets I have been toiling over. Yes.. again with the brackets. I promise this will be the last you hear of them until I finish them with ceramichrome. (sp)?|


Remember this guy? The power steering reservoir bracket:



I had my doubts about this one. I didn't think I would be able to do anything with it, aside from painting it black and hoping no one would ever see it.

In an earlier post I showed you a Rust Check product that converts rust. Since then I have found an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC product for getting rid of rust.

This stuff:


I didn't even know this stuff existed. It was $5.99, and, to be honest.. it blows the other stuff out of the water. The permatex stuff is thicker and clings to parts, which makes it easier to let it soak in and work on the corrosion. When it dries, it doesn't turn into a rock, so it is easy to rinse off. When it comes to actually removing the rust, this stuff makes it possible to simply wipe it off. If you want to get rid of rust, I highly recommend this stuff.

I slopped some of the permatex rust disolver onto that bracket, and got most of the surface rust off the bracket. It took a couple applications but it came up a lot better than before, as you can see here:




Obviously that rust isn't good enough... not when Princess Auto has hand held sand blasters on sale for $13.99!







Work on the car is progressing slowly. That rubber undercoating is a muffin to get off, but the more I remove, the more spots of rust I find. Sadly, I have scrapped the May 25th deadline. I am going to focus on doing this properly. I will be removing the cross members, blasting and painting them, along with the suspension parts. I will be replacing the bushings.. and I might even look into some form of upgrade in the suspension. Something adjustable with a good ride... open to suggestions on that front. My main concern with this work is doing it right and being thorough. I also want it to last. I don't want to have to have to do this again because I schlepped it together to meat an unreasonable deadline. I would love to have it on the road again at some point this summer, but I am no longer racing the clock. It'll be done when it's done.

I will be experimenting with a new rust removal method for the larger parts, like the cross members and such. Blasting is cool and all, but it's messy (I have sand in places I didn't even know I had), and the blaster goes through a ton of sand, which is a pain when having to reload often. This new method will involve soaking the parts in a chemical solution and rinsing the rust off with the hose. I'll show and tell you all about it when I get there.

Thats all for now. Check back with ya soon!

[Ferdie]

Hehe LOL

check mine


was last year

[Vtecmec]

Yes, it does all take significantly longer than you initially expect. Good thoughts on scrapping any deadlines, I've learnt that you just end up compromising on quality if you do that, which is clearly not what you are after.

I've done a fair amount of rust removal on mine, don't know if you've read it, but it might prove useful for ideas. Just click the link in my signature.

[BlackShadow]

On the weekend I dragged out the box containing the valvetrain that came with the Type-S head. I gave all the followers a thorough cleaning and checked that all the pistons used for VTEC were all in good shape.

I laid them all out after a thorough cleaning. The reason for the clean was not to make them look pretty. They are meant to be soaked in oil and aren't seen, so the cleaning was strictly for visual inspection.



Keep in mind, two sets are still in a ziplock bag, tightly bound with rubber bands, probably for reference purposes from the previous owner, so that accounts for two missing sets, but notice anything else missing? Yup, I have 7 and 2/3rds of the set. It seems one of the followers went missing during the uninstall. I'm not that worried though, I have a complete set in my current head.

Aside from the VTEC pistons and their bores, I was also concerned with the condition of the faces that the cam lobes slide on. They are highly polished surfaces and should be smooth. After cleaning them off, there were a couple that still had some discolouration, which could be hiding problems.



So what I did was I lightly polished off the discolouration to have a better look at what was underneath. This only took a light buffing. I don't want to buff away too much material and start changing clearances.

Here you can see the same follower with a little less clutter on the surface. It isn't perfectly clean, but remember, I'm not looking for a show 'n shine finish, I just want to see what the surface is like. As you can see, there is some scarring near the tip. I can feel the gouges with my fingernail. I'm not crazy about this particular piece, so I will most likely replace it with one cannibalized from the other head.




All of the springs, seats and retainers are present and accounted for. I am however, missing a couple of the "keepers". I am not particularly worried about this, nor do I fault the guy who sold me the head and valvetrain. This stuff happens, and because I am prepared it's not a big deal.


::Soapbox::

I'm sure vtecmec (and anyone else who has taken on big jobs like these) will agree;

Being prepared is huge in a job like this.

Mentally, you have to prepare yourself by accepting the fact that stuff will go wrong. You will break things. Bolts will round and shear. Stuff will be hopelessly corroded. You have to eat, sleep, breath that fact, so that when it happens, you can shrug it off and add the corrective action to the list of jobs you have to do, and whatever you broke to the list of parts to buy. I have seen some who basically shut down and look as though they are going to cry when something goes wrong. They're completely lost.

You also have to start thinking of "outs". These are plan B's. The worst thing that can happen is you end up backed into a corner. You've broken something that cannot be replaced, or is beyond your budget. What are you going to do? Before each and every job I do, I look at it, size it up and think of everything I can possibly conceive of going wrong. Pessimistic? No. I then think about all the ways I can get myself out of trouble.

"If I do this, and it goes pear shaped ... what will I do?"

"Can I fix it?"

"Do I have a spare?"

"Can I buy a new one?

Can I afford it?"

(If you don't have answers for these questions, STOP!)


This came into play with this valvetrain. I am missing a couple pieces, and one cam follower doesn't look so hot. I was mentally prepared for this because though experience (both mine, and friends), I didn't expect everything to be "all that". I already had a backup worked out in my mind the day I went to pick the stuff up.

I got to thinking about this after a friend of mine had a new transmission installed in his car yesterday. He isn't mechanically inclined, and has quite a bit of money on hand, so he tends to rush into things with absolutely no research. As a result he is always left with egg on his face. The transmission he purchased pops out of 5th gear. The one he replaced was grinding in 3rd.

His problem (and a problem I find with a lot of "tuners [where I live]") is that they are not prepared. They don't have a way out planned. They aren't prepared for the eventual headaches that come with this hobby. My friend is now stuck with a bum tranny *snickers* and there's nothing he can do about it. He isn't prepared to be off the road long enough for me to rebuild it, AND in his haste, he purchased two different transmissions, so the parts are, to my knowledge, not interchangeable.

In his case, he is prepared to shell out the cash, not not willing to sit down and think about what he needs to get the job done right.


This is an expensive and frustrating hobby. The car will always fight you, but the majority of the headaches are caused by us not being prepared, and leaving ourselves in tricky spots.

[BlackShadow]

Let the games begin!

[BlackShadow]

I'm back with a small update.


I started a new job working on boats. Friggin hard work in this weather, made worse by the fact that people don't maintain their boats the way they do their cars. Take the worst DIY renovation you've ever seen on a house, and put it into a big fiberglass tub that is impossible to move around in. It's a nightmare. Needless to say I have been "slacking" on my car since by the time I get home I have absolutely no energy left to work. Weekends I have to spend some time with Stancie after sleeping in a bit longer. Lately though I have been harassed by friends to get my car back in order, yet when I get a chance they call up with "emergencies." Lesson learned there. They all have their cars but I don't. Weekends from now on are going to be dedicated to getting my car back on the road. /apologetic explanatory rant.


So I left off with the rust removal in the wheel wells. The passenger side is just about done. There is still a bit of rubber undercoating up around the upper mount/upper control arm. I was going to do my best to scrape it out and just prime it with the suspension still in the car. The plan was since the budget and time are running on, I would use the stock suspension for the remainder of this season and then replace it with Tein super streets next summer. The current stock suspension is rusted badly but it was holding its own. There was a mystery scraping sound over speed bumps (sounded like the splash guard scraping pavement) but I was easily clearing the speed bumps.) Anyhow, I moved over to the drivers side wheel well and in a moment of rest I poked the spring to get some of the old paint off of it and this is what I found:



jobby.

Looks like the Teins are coming this summer. I can't say I'm not partially thrilled. Who in their right mind would want to sand and blast the wheel wells down to bare metal, prime, and then replace all the seam sealant and undercoating, and put the old rusted jobby back in there? Granted, I am not in my right mind for doing all this work myself.. by hand.. but I can definitely tell you it was giving me blue balls to contemplate those rusty old springs in my fresh wells.


I also had the cylinder head looked at because the valve guides looked a little rough. I found a terrific little shop locally that managed to save me a pile of money by simply honing them out (and checking the clearances of course), instead of flat out replacing them. Instead of paying $6-700 to replace the guides (as other shops quoted me), he honed them out, checked the whole thing from stem to stern and gave it a wash, all for $40.

I don't have any pictures of the head...yet. You've all seen it. It's all shined up, and now the guides are ready to accept their valves.


Next purchases:

- Tein super street coilovers... I know I know... there was a set on here for sale and I even commented on the thread...
- Mishimoto rad w/fans
- Ball joints
- Suspension bushings (TBD)
- Automotive seam sealant
- Rubber undercoating

[GJMHONDA2012]

where did u get the easy oil drain plug from i want one for my 4g?

[Edson]

Nice going mate, liking how you treat your lude.
Superstreets would look stunning in a clean well.
But all that work
That is dedication.

[BlackShadow]

@Edson: I know what you mean. Sometimes I open the garage door and think to myself "what have I done???" There's so much to do. I can't wait to see fresh black undercoating in there with fresh Tein green accents.


@GJMHONDA2012 I picked the Fumoto drain plug and adapter up off of ebay a couple of years ago. They weren't expensive at all. I don't think it was more than $18, and the adapter was something like $7. You just have to make sure you get the right one and the adapter if your requires it, otherwise it won't screw into the pan.