Vtecmec's 4th Gen

[Vtecmec]

Post 21 - Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010

Some more rollercoaster action regarding the engine, I went to it a week after getting it running and the bugger started acting up, after playing around I realised it was only running on 2 cylinders, and this was due to a lack of fuel in said cylinders. Bugger.

So I whipped out the injectors and somehow they had stuck closed, which is odd as a few week earlier when I was investigating the non-starting, they were flooding their respective cylinders.

I gave them a good clean and then tested them with a AAA battery on the connectors, still no joy. So in frustration I gave each a 'light' crack with a hammer, tested them again and would you believe it they all came back to life.

With that sorted, the little metal bracket that attaches the exhaust to the back of the engine block was pretty knackered, so rather than spend my hard earned cash I made my own.





I forgot to take a picture of the finished item, but it's basically two pieces of .8mm steel with a central strip down the centre for stability. Nothing special really, but should be as strong if not stronger than the original.

Next I changed the gearbox fluid, while not difficult, its a bit of a pain to do. I ran a pipe from the top of the engine bay to the fill hole and attached a bottle to the top as a ghetto funnel.

The top.



And at the bottom.



I then moved on to the HID kit that I bought (what feels like) eons ago, whilst removing the old bulbs I noticed that the connectors had melted rather badly, so I replaced these at the same time.

Here's how they looked.



Next task was deciding where to fit the ballasts. I put the o/s one here.



The n/s needed a little more consideration due to the lack of space, I finally decided on down by the side of the washer fluid bottle. It's hard to make out but you can just about see it.



I've installed it such a way that should mr MOT not like the white goodness of the HID's that I can easily refit the originals in less than half an hour.



I bought some white LED bulbs to go in various places in the interior, I've replaced the door puddle lights, interior light and I've fitted two led strips above each footwell; due to the fact that the battery is flat I have no pics of this yet.

Exterior wise I have (re)fitted the original amber indicators and changed the rear lights from a detango setup to their original tango'd look.

To smarten things up at night I have also fitted white LED bulbs to the rear number plate, to help this along I cleaned the holders up a little.

Before



After.



I got round to finishing off the sunroof install, fitting the rear headlining required some thought.

First I had to remove this little piece from the motor area.



Then cut a portion of it away.



You can see here why this was necessary.



Due to the sunroofs having a totally different mounting method for the headlining, some work is required to make it fit. First some of the mounting brackets need to be snapped off (4 of), you can just about make them out in this pic.



Then it was a case of working out a way of attaching the lining at the front end, to do this I came up with the idea of using the front headlining as some sort of support and fitting brackets so that the rear can slide onto the front before you clip it in place.



The brackets are a little rough, but do the job quite nicely.

On checking my camera it seems I have forgotten to take a picture of the finished article, I'll have to take one later.

I managed to fit the front lip that I had engineered earlier, and I must say I am rather pleased with the overall look and finish. It's a bit more than stock, but in no way OTT or in your face.







You can probably see in the pics above, I have also fitted new discs and pads on the front, I also went round the car and bled all the brakes (with the help of the wife) hence all the scruffy fluid marks on the ground.

[Vtecmec]

Post 22 - Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010

Got a few more bits done this weekend.

I never quite got round to finishing off the repair from the front end I had back last year, the splash guard that sits in the front wheel well was shattered, so I sourced a new one and went to fit it. Try as I might I could not get it to fit, the intake resonator thingy was in the way, then on closer inspection I realised why.



The damn thing had twisted all out of shape.

So I sourced a new one.



Fitting was pretty straight forward (just 3 bolts) and after that the splash guard went on without a problem.

As mentioned the headlights are looking quite grotty.



So I rubbed them down with some 400's paper followed by some 600's.

Part way through...



Then I hit them with the polisher and some T-cut.



After this I turned my attention to the interior, namely the I pod kit that I had part fitted. I decided to integrate the screen into the dash as I did not want an add-on screen spoiling the interior.

So I removed parts of the dash.



Then I broke open the screen that comes with the kit, removed the electronic gubbins and fixed it into the dash.



I put it all back together and here's how it looks. ( Please ignore the silly amounts of dust).



I decided to refit the controller as I didn’t like where I had put it previously, I put it here as I did'nt have to make any holes in the trim, it mounts into an existing trim hole.



Also, changing my mind again, I decided that I didn’t like the gearknob I had found earlier, so I've gone for a different design.



For a bit of underbonnet swishness, I bought some sweat bands to act as reservior covers.



I took the car for a quick test drive, just down the cul de sac and back again, and the brakes felt a little soft, also the handbrake was not quite right, after a bit of investigation the problem appeared to be the n/s rear calliper, so I readjusted it, re-bled it and the handbrake sorted itself out. I then took it for another spin and the brakes felt awesome, better than they have ever felt in the whole time I've had it, even though I was only braking from 15mph.

And I think that’s now it mechanically, I'm going to put an MOT on it next week if I get the time. Vtec here I come.

[Vtecmec]

Post 23 - Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011

Wow, it's been a while. Well, if you hadn’t guessed, the car never made it to an MOT station.

I had a think about what to do with the car and decided that although I could have put it on the road, there are still plenty of jobs to get on with and if I didn’t do them before it went on the road then they may never get done at all.

Anyway, needing some dry storage to do most of the work that is still outstanding, I decided to move house, to one with a garage, so in November last year we moved house and I filled it with tools and the Lude.



Sweet, so on with the car, I removed the front screen and rebonded it into place, I had to remove the scuttle panel cover to do this and in doing so found this……











Pretty nasty stuff! So I wire brushed the crap out of it and then slapped a load of detox gel all over it.








Once I cleaned it all off it looked like this….







Pretty sweet I thought, so what to do with it next, all the rust that can be seen is gone but there will still be some lingering between the panels so I decided to use a rust prevention paint. This is what I opted for.



Rust bullet, from reading reviews and their claims it seem the best product for the job.

I applied a first coat mixed 50/50 with xylene thinners painted it on and used compressed air to blow it all the laps and crevices. Then I applied a second coat and a third.







After the paint had set I liberally sprayed with cavity wax.



Once this had set I slapped a load of underbody wax to prevent any more rust (hopefully).



Well, that’s one job out of the way, now onto the next one…..

The rear parcel shelf was looking a little tired after 20 years of sun bleaching, so I decided to retrim it.





The rear speakers were always on show as the previous owner could not get the stock covers to fit with the aftermarket speakers that he fitted, so I went out and got some covers to fit.



They too looked a little tired too so I cleaned them up and sat them in a bucket of black dye overnight. Unfortunately the black dye would not stick to the synthetic material of the cover and the only way I could get them back to black was to lightly paint them.


Once painted the speakers required some persuasion with a grinder to get the covers to fit nicely.



And now all fitted back in the car.



After this work on the car stopped for while, mainly due to this little handsome chap appearing into my life.



Anyway, a gazillion nappy changes and a LOT of sleepless nights later we got him settled into a routine and work could continue on the car.

I derusted and painted some more bits in the engine bay.







I decided that the colour I painted the rocker cover was not bling enough. And so removed, repainted and refitted.



Now onto the rest of the rust on the car, I know there is some underneath, and the n/s sill too, but did not grasp the actual scale of the task in hand. The pics speak for themselves……

Sill



Arch





Underneath











I have started to remove some bits as a start of an attempt to remove all the rust.

Very rusty fuel pipe off the car.



And a very rusty fuel tank off the car.


I fear this may need replacing.

Some (slight) good news is the floor does not look too bad where the tank lay.





So I’ve started to remove the underseal from the floor before I start to remove the rust.



Its back breaking stuff and very slow and painful so it’s going to take some time, hopefully I can offer another update a little quicker than this one........

[Vtecmec]

Post 24 - Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011

Hello all, I’ve made some progress, though it’s a bit slow.

I removed the rear steering rack, which looked a mess and so I decided to give it a clean.





First pass with a wire wheel…



Some of the aluminium corrosion was so bad it looked like cauliflower and took ages to remove….



I also de-rusted all the little brackets and covers and painted them.



A lick of paint to the rack…



And finished….



I’ve now managed to remove the rear suspension, and it turned out to be quite a job. Both the rear camber bolts had seized to the inside of the bush and the only way to remove them was to cut them out.







I’ve been doing some research into rust removal, the bilt hamber stuff is good but rather expensive and I need something that works out a little cheaper given the amount I need to sort out. I looked at most things from electrolysis to hydrochloric acid, all of which work very well, but electrolysis was too fiddly and hydrochloric acid is nasty stuff. Then I read about phosphoric acid, it works by converting iron oxide (rust) to phosphoric oxide this then is soluble in water, so it dissolves and leaves clean metal. Another plus with the phosphoric acid is that when it comes into contact with steel it reacts and creates a thin protective layer of iron phosphate, this effectively etches the metal and apparently is an excellent base for painting onto. Perfect, this stuff de-rusts and primes metal without much hard work and it’s non-toxic too.

So I went out and bought some phosphoric acid suspended in water to a 40% strength. When it arrived it smelt familiar, just like the bilt hamber stuff, some further research and I realised that the major ingredient in it (and most rust removal products) is…………..phosphoric acid.

Initially, I only removed the suspension to clean the rusty floor, but my OCD kicked in and I just had to remove the rust from, well, everything really.


So I started with the n/s suspension strut.





Placed it in a tub of water and phosphoric acid for a few days, this got most of the rust off.





Some scrubbing and a few more days later….







Then, onto the task of removing the damaged bushes.







Once all the rust was totally gone I gave all the bits a lick of paint.











All the ball joints seemed a little loose, so I decided to get some new ones.



I left all the nuts and bolts from the car in the phosphoric solution too, after which I mixed some anti rust paint and some thinners and dipped all the bolts, once dry I dipped them again.





Before assembly I plan to smear marine grease over all the bolts and any parts that touch, in a bid to prevent rust from forming where paint gets broken or water lingers in crevices.





The rear sub-frame looks tatty, so I have removed it and currently have it sitting in the phosphoric acid.





I’ll let you know how it goes……….

[Vtecmec]

Post 25 - Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011

OK, So I’ll start where I left off…..I dropped the subframe into my bucket of stuff, but due to it’s size I could only get the frame in a half at a time, so it ended up taking twice as long to refresh.

First I dipped it for a day to take most of the loose rust off, then removed the paint with some stripper.



After which, I left it in the bucket for a few more days and it came out pretty nice.





I then gave it a lick of very thin paint to get maximum coverage.







The silver is a base coat and I intend to paint the frame a different colour later.

You can probably see the rear suspension struts in the background, I’ve decided to just do a quick job and just remove some rust to stop it leeching to other parts. The struts will probably get replaced within 12 months of the car going on the road, so I’m not going to town.

I’ve scraped any big rust off the ends and removed the paint and they sit in the bucket.



I pulled out the rear o/s suspension and have started to dismantle it.



Realising that I have a fair few bushes and ball joints to replace on the car, and hating having to pay someone to do something, I decided I needed a press to do it myself.

Being a tight wad I then decided to make my own for £50 rather than shell out for a pre-made one. It’s not quite finished yet, but should do the job I need it for.







I have yet to test it out.

Then onto the floor, just a few little bolts and clips left to strip it completely, here is another typical bolt that's given me crap.



Tank straps (which are currently in the bucket).



I then set to the floor with a wire wheel to remove most of the loose rust.

Before, and a broken exhaust hanger.





After a few hours with the wire wheel.









I’ve slapped some bilt hamber detox gel to eat the rest away.





The floor is too big to do all at once, so I'm doing it in sections.

Some more updates soon hopefully.

[Vtecmec]

Post 26 - Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011

Only a small update I’m afraid, progress has been really slow recently, I only get about 4 hours a week to spend on the car, due to wanting to spend as much as time as possible with the little lad. But enough excuses and on with the pics.....

I finished off the subframe, giving it a lick of hammerite black and a thorough waxoyl inside.



After which I stripped down the o/s hub and placed in the de-rust solution, this side seems to be more manky than the other side....









It’s almost done, i’ll post some after pics up soon.

While that was doing I set about stripping a bit more of the floor. I was really struggling getting the existing underbody sealant off as its really tough stuff and pretty thick.

Now a while ago I bought myself an oscillating cutting tool, it’s a tool I used to use daily when I worked in a garage, and it’s the same tool that hospitals use to remove plaster casts. The tool I bought not only came with the cutting disc, but also came with several attachments, one of which is a scraping tool. So I bolted it on and gave it a go with the underseal.



It cut through it like butter. It’s saved me tons of time.

I’ve given the floor a bit of work, I removed the detox gel after leaving it on a few weeks, then I applied again, and removed and applied again, and removed again. It appears to be almost there, probably needing a final mechanical wire brush and then one more pass with the gel.















I'll tell you, there is little pleasure in doing this bit of the car.

Once the floor is totally cleaned off I plan to give it a coat in this.



It’s a 2 pack epoxy mastic, apparently it rather good.

I got to use the press, it works like a charm.



Some new parts, new anti roll bar drop links bolts and washers for the rear subframe.



I’ve been considering widening the rear track on the lude when it’s on the road, to improve it’s broken suspension look, so I picked up some longer wheel bolts to enable the use of spacers.



Hopefully some more in the not too distant future.......

[Vtecmec]

Post 27 - Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011

Time for an update.

It’s been a while since I last updated, and while I’ve been working hard, I’ve made little progress, but I seem to have plenty of pics.......


I’ve been continuing with the floor, and it’s almost there, but not quite. I’ve had to give it another wire brush and several more applications of detox gel.



























Derusted and painted fuel tank straps.



And some suspension bits....







Now, I had spent quite a bit of time de-rusting and painting all the nuts and bolts I had removed, but a few were past saving, so I ordered some replacements in stainless steel, they works out reasonable cheap, so cheap that I decided to replace all the small bolts and nuts with stainless versions.

Old



New



The old fuel pipe



Semi stripped and ready for de-rusting.



With the floor being as fun as it is, I decided I needed a break from it and have started on the sill and arch.



The inner arch being cut out, you can see how neatly the oscillating saw cuts the steel, such a great tool.



A bit dodgy looking



Opened up a bit.



And a bit more.



Hopefully some better updates sooner rather than later.

[Vtecmec]

Post 28 - Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011

I had the day off work today and got stuck into the car.

I decided to fabricate some of the little bits of panels that are rotten in the sill area.

Making templates...



Cut out and next to the old, which has significant bits missing.



Some more pieces.



Bending them into shape.



And bent into shape.



Next to all the old crap.



I half bolted the rear hubs together.



Here are the clips and bracket off the fuel pipe, totally de-rusted and painted.



I got an idea for a supplementary digital speedo and some instructions off the net, I’ve been waiting for the parts to arrive on a slow boat from China, most of them have now arrived, It’s currently 80% complete.



I have tomorrow off work too, and am itching to do some more, but tomorrow is my birthday and the last time I worked on the car on my birthday, I set fire to the bloody thing, so I think I’ll pass.

[Vtecmec]

Post 29 - Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011

These arrived this morning........

[Vtecmec]

Post 30 - Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011

Progress seems to be painfully slow, but there’s still progress none the less.

I have the fuel pipe festering in some detox gel, ready to be cleaned and painted next week.



All the fuel pipe brackets were looking very shabby.



So I stripped them of all the rust, cleaned them and painted them up.



On to the car itself, another piece of the puzzle made..





I cut some of the outer panel away for access to the inner and middle skin, though being careful not to remove too much at once as there is a risk of chassis distortion if too much is removed.



Not very pretty!

Then on with removing some of the rotten metal.



Middle skin removed..



I then fabricated a replacement.



And the cut the inner skin out, quite a bit missing now.



So after a thorough going over with a wire wheel, I slapped some detox gel to remove the rust.



I had to leave working on the lude for a while and when I finally came back to it was left with this mess.



Fortunately applying more detox gel eats into the dried out stuff, so I slapped on some more.



A while later I got back to it and jet washed the crap off.



Lovely. After jet washing an area I spray the area with a 20% phosphoric acid solution, It etches the steel and prevents any flash rust occurring.

While this was going on I attacked the strut mounting.



And adjacent areas.



After a going over with a wire wheel.



And yet more detox gel.





After the gel had done its stuff I was left with this.







And after a lick of paint.





Finally, feels like some decent progress. Once I complete all the rust removal, I plan to cover the whole floor and arches with this.



I’m almost at the point where I can begin to weld in some fresh metal.