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Domes shonky autos - Manta progress!


dome

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A picture says a thousand words so here goes.

 

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First impressions? Engine seems good, I'm taking it easy til it's got 200 miles to bed the new chain in though.

 

There's a nasty clunk suspension wise, I'll need to sort that before I can push it. The abs light is also on which I'll need to look at.

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It's sorned and not insured at the minute, I'll get it on the road next week and see how it is. It's got MOT til the end of the month so will see what it needs. First thing before I drive it is new front discs, they're drilled and grooved but they're worn down to the grooves  :shock:

 

It was cheap but runs the risk of ending up like my Clio 182-getting more money spent on it than I should. Will see how things go.

It also sadly needs 200 miles of running in on the new chain before I can let the VTEC kick in YO.  :-(

 

good job you melted the plug then!

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So. After getting it started up Saturday afternoons mission was getting it back together, trying to make it smell less of fags and changing the front discs so i could drive the thing.

 

On the way home from cycling on Saturday morning I popped into the scrappy to get a new connector for the VTEC solenoid-the one I'd melted.

 

Back home and here was the problem.

 

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I expertly* chopped this off and fitted my new wire-first victory.

 

Next was the interior. According to Amazon my new front discs would arrive around 5pm so I hoovered, cleaned all the plastics and had a go with the steam cleaner until he arrived. It's a bit better but still pretty bad. I'll have another crack at it though.

 

Discs arrived on time so I got stuck in to them. the old discs were worryingly fucked.

 

post-7629-0-35737500-1527028186_thumb.jpg

 

The grooves were no longer grooves. I've never had so much trouble getting a disc off. The retaining screws came out OK but hammering them from the back did nothing. 

 

I had to resort to threading a bolt in the blind hole on the disc to break it free of the surface of the hub. This had predictable effects on the disc but eventually I got it off. The other side was the same

 

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The lower sliders were also stuck on both sides, one of them requiring copious amounts of heat to get it free. I left the Plusgas to soak in while I mowed the lawn and came back to fight it free. I was trying not to shear off the slider but victory was mine in the end.

 

Shiny disc!

 

post-7629-0-09516300-1527028478_thumb.jpg

 

Now it was back together (and road lega after I'd taxed and insured itl) I could test drive it. The engine seems fine and I can't see any leaks, it starts and idles super sweet even though you could nearly drive a Type R through the plug gaps. New plugs are on order...

 

The clunk I mentioned I think is from the wishbone bushes, I've got a pair of new wishbones on the way for it which will hopefully cure it.

 

I used it for work the last couple of days to get some miles on it-it needs to have 200 apparently to bed in the new chain before I can approach the red paint on the tacho sadly. This will coincide nicely with some new bushes...

 

Other than the clonks it drives nice. Gearchange is quick and it feels nice-stiff and pointy like an old school hot hatch. I'm looking forward to getting some proper miles on it when things are sorted. The controls all feel nice too. 

 

The ABS light comes on after a few miles. I did notice that there are different size tyres front to rear and wonder if that's the cause?

 

Wheels/tyres are my next headache anyway. All the alloys are totally fucked and the 2 back tyres are old and shit. I'm keeping my eye out for a decent set of wheels without ditchfinders on them but may have a crack at refurbing mine myself

 

It's in the lockup just now while I wait for the wishbone bushes to arrive. 

 

post-7629-0-72679400-1527029261_thumb.jpg

 

Next time out-wishbones and some GLFery hopefully...

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Oh and being the glutton for punishment that I am the MR2 got four new shocks and springs fitted tonight- 30mm lowered Tein springs and KYB shocks all round.

 

Fairly straightforward with no major headaches. I've not even had a chance to drive it yet, one top mount isn't right so I'll need to pull that off in daylight and check it. 

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Different size tyres can cause and lights to illuminate on some cars, I'm not specifically sure about the Civic though.

Yeah, if it needs a sensor then fair enough, I want to sort the tyre situation out anyway so might as well do that first

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The fact you reckon the motor sounds sweet highlights just how damn good those VTEC lumps are. The state of the brakes gives a good clue of how the car has had the shit beaten out of it by some Lynx-soaked, spotty teen with a 3k insurance renewal. Yet the engine still sounds good. I read ages ago that Honda had only had a tiny percentage of faults with the VTEC engine, whereas most were hugely reliable.

I wonder what the K20 is like to drive, compared to Toyota's 190bhp 2ZZ? I've still got a Corolla T sport sat on the drive, but I'm not convinced I can justify the spend on getting it shoehorned into my MR2.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The fact you reckon the motor sounds sweet highlights just how damn good those VTEC lumps are. The state of the brakes gives a good clue of how the car has had the shit beaten out of it by some Lynx-soaked, spotty teen with a 3k insurance renewal. Yet the engine still sounds good. I read ages ago that Honda had only had a tiny percentage of faults with the VTEC engine, whereas most were hugely reliable.

I wonder what the K20 is like to drive, compared to Toyota's 190bhp 2ZZ? I've still got a Corolla T sport sat on the drive, but I'm not convinced I can justify the spend on getting it shoehorned into my MR2.

 

 

If you get fed up of looking at the T-Sport I could give it a home...

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How fast is it mister.... etc.... can it beat your locost etc....

 

Just found a photo of my old horror show. Rear engined MR2 turbo after a bit of work..... god that thing almost killed me sooooooo many times.

 

post-21918-0-03722200-1528451081_thumb.jpg

 

Sadly stolen from a garage whilst in storage. Must own another one day......

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Despite the lack of updates some progress has been made on the fleet. An 8 week old cocker spaniel puppy arriving in the house has caused some dirsruption, as you can imagine...

 

MR2

 

The MR2 got its new power steering hose made up by Pirtek, I fitted this after changing the union-the original one they gave us seemed OK but the diameter was about 1mm smaller-it threaded in but wouldn't tighten up. New one fitted and it was all good.

 

That's sorted and we can now drive it on the lowered suspension. The difference is massive and show's how bad the rear ditchfinder tyres are-oversteer in something this small and mid engined keeps one focused! Matching Toyo T1Rs for the rear have been acquired and will be fitted. The slightly rough rear wheel bearing is apparently making itself heard too, this wee car likes to keep us occupied!

 

Civic-1 step forward, 2 steps back...

 

We left this running and driving but clunking like a bastard from the front suspension. As it had advisories for wishbone bushes I bought a set of wishbones (first mistake). A friend arrived at my house before me one night and proceded to fit the passenger side for me-a quick test drive and the clunk was still there, in fact it was worse! A bit of investigation revealed a fucked gearbox mount. I also approached the top end of the rev range for the first time whereupon I promptly got a EML. I'd noticed a damaged connector round the back of the cylinder head, this is the VTEC spool valve which does VTECcy things. 

 

At this point I chucked it in the lockup and forgot about it while I awaited parts. I wasn't happy.

 

I bagged a set of uprated gearbox mounts via ebay and a used spool valve. 

 

When they had arrived and I could be arsed again I looked at the spool valve first. It's on the back of the head and access is difficult. There are 3 bolts, the first one came out OK but the other 2 had rounded bolt heads. Fucking fuck.

 

Gearbox mounts were changed, I think it's safe to say this one was fucked.

 


 

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Took it out and it still rattles. Cunt of a thing.

 

I gave up and booked it in for an MOT-I wasn't spending another penny til I saw the results.

 

post-7629-0-80231800-1528452957_thumb.jpg

 

Aha! Nothing on there was a big surprise but I didn't notice the play in the balljoint. A new one was duly purchased. It needs a press to install so I removed the hub and dropped it and some beer in to my local garage. I should get it back today hopefully.

 


 

Yup, that'll be fucked. Not noticeable with it jacked up, believe it or not. I did know the boot was split though.

 

The rear brakes I'd noticed were dodgy but hadn't got round to-a sticky slider was freed off on the affected side and a handbrake now works.

 

The ABS light comes on usually after a few miles, I hoped it might stay off for the test. I'm going to test all the sensors while its in bits and take it from there.

 

Inbetween this I managed a test drive. With the damaged connector bodged back onto the spool valve I managed to complete my usual test ride with some added VTEC. It was still clunking but pulled well and gave me some confidence in this mission.

 

Should've got another Auris...

 

 

 

 

 

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How fast is it mister.... etc.... can it beat your locost etc....

 

Just found a photo of my old horror show. Rear engined MR2 turbo after a bit of work..... god that thing almost killed me sooooooo many times.

 

attachicon.gifIMG_0649.JPG

 

Sadly stolen from a garage whilst in storage. Must own another one day......

 

That looks exciting!

 

 
How fast is the Civic? Difficult to say, partly because I'm in the lucky position of the 200bhp hot hatch being the 3rd fastest car in my fleet after the S4 and the Locost!
 
It'd be nice to get the VTEC fixed properly to tell, there is a noticeable kick as it comes in though so it feels fairly healthy. 
 
Better than a Clio 182? I'll report back when it's all working...
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So, some more progress has been made. 

 

Firstly I tackled the easy stuff-the OSR caliper was removed and a stuck slider freed off, I now had a working handbrake.

 

I decided to tackle one of things I hated about the car-the shit tinted rear lights. Of course I had to dremel the rear bumper off to access the bolts holding the lights on..

 

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Much better.

 

I had a helper for this, he was enthusiastic but his work was a bit ruff.

 

post-7629-0-85412700-1528922514_thumb.jpg

 

ithangyou

 

The balljoint was cheap to buy but needs a press to fit. I removed the entire hub and took it along with my knackered balljoint and a case of beer to my local garage who pressed the new one in for me.

 

Before I fitted it I decided to test the ABS sensor-I was fairly sure it was a sensor as the ABS light only came on after driving it for a bit. Try as I might I couldn't get a resistance reading off it. Surely not? The first one I test, the one that's off the car, the faulty one?

 

Euro locally didn't have one, a mate who was coming across was bribed and picked him up

 

It looked all good so I removed the old one, cleaned up the mounting hole and fitted the new one. I then refitted the hub to the car, fitted the driveshaft and tried to turn the disc.

 

It was stuck.

 

I thought it might have been the backing plate so checked that and tried again. Still stuck. I persuaded it a bit but something wasn't right.

 

I looked closer and realised all was not well with my new sensor. It was too long. Fuck

 

I removed it and compared it to my old one

 

post-7629-0-09444400-1528922483_thumb.jpg

 

Same connector, same cable guide brackets but the sensor was about 5-6mm longer and now fucked.

 

I was fucking raging.

 

I took it back to Euro Car Parts on Monday morning and managed to get a refund, partly because I'm a regular and they new I wasn't dicking them around. There was only one sensor listed for my car and I had the "right" one.

 

A cheapy was ordered off eBay and some nosing around was done. It turns out that Honda changed to the new style sensor when they facelifted the car, you'll struggle to find this on a parts catalogue though...

 

The ebay cheapy arrived and was fitted with a spacer. After 5 miles or so and no light I called that a win and dropped it off at the MOT station last night. Funnily enough after replacing that totally humped balljoint the car now drives a million times better. It still needs a top mount, that is the next owners job though...

 

The results are now in..

 

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Thank fuck for that!

 

I need to change the VTEC spool valve as it's fucked, one of the connectors is broken. I can get VTEC maybe a few times before I get an EML and a 4k rev limit. Having Torque running with a Bluetooth OBD scanner makes it easy to reset thankfully.

 

This will involve a mirror and a grinder/dremel as 2 bolts are fucked and it's down on the back of the head. Like that's a surprise...

 

After that-drive for a bit, straighten the front wing, clean and polish, drive a bit more and flog it, possibly after changing the alloys as they are all fucked.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The only thing standing between me and OMGVTECYO was a faulty spool valve. This is part of the VTEC system, allowing oil to go under pressure and bring in the second cam for maximum GLFery.

 

The spool valve is located down on the back of the head and held on by 3 bolts. Mine was original and had a broken electrical plug. It also had two corroded bolts and access was challenging.

 

It involved a dremel, a mirror and quite a lot of patience. And perseverance. Luckily once I'd ground the heads off the bolts I managed to undo what was left and remove the old valve.

 

A comparison of old vs new. The blue connector was what was missing off the old one.

 

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New valve fitted and a test drive was in order...

 

And Yes! VTEC has kicked in Yo! And consistently too over a gentle* test drive. Most amusing.

 

Now, cosmetics and then flog it. Anyone want a cheap Type R? 

 

 

 

 

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Cheap Type R? Got this Corolla 2ZZ sat here. Motor would fit in your MR2 a treat ;)

post-4721-0-83414300-1529695137_thumb.jpg

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The only thing standing between me and OMGVTECYO was a faulty spool valve. This is part of the VTEC system, allowing oil to go under pressure and bring in the second cam for maximum GLFery.

 

The spool valve is located down on the back of the head and held on by 3 bolts. Mine was original and had a broken electrical plug. It also had two corroded bolts and access was challenging.

 

It involved a dremel, a mirror and quite a lot of patience. And perseverance. Luckily once I'd ground the heads off the bolts I managed to undo what was left and remove the old valve.

 

A comparison of old vs new. The blue connector was what was missing off the old one.

 

IMG_20180622_141715058.jpg

IMG_20180622_141713301.jpg

IMG_20180622_141704035.jpg

IMG_20180622_141649723.jpg

 

New valve fitted and a test drive was in order...

 

And Yes! VTEC has kicked in Yo! And consistently too over a gentle* test drive. Most amusing.

 

Now, cosmetics and then flog it. Anyone want a cheap Type R?

I shouldn't ask this, as I am full up with cars and can't commit. But how much is a cheap type R?

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I shouldn't ask this, as I am full up with cars and can't commit. But how much is a cheap type R?

It owes me about £1400 as it sits which is cheap for one of these, especially with the chain done. It'll be going up for £2k when it looks presentable. It's far from mint but it's pretty sorted(or will be) and would make an ideal base for a track car.

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I didn't know Honda made a T PER

 

;)

 

Looks quite smart from these pictures. What's wrong with the wheels?

Everything.

 

4 different brands of tyres, 2 different sizes front to rear. And the wheels themselves are fucking shocking, including the one that was white and is now silver but with judicious application of the jetwash is now becoming white again.

 

The problem is finding the balance between a set which will make it sellable without eating into my already nearly non existent profit margin.

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