Bridget The Midget - My 1988 Honda Civic Project
A while ago I was desperately looking for a new hobby. No, I am not done with computers, I just needed a break form them. A longer one, perhaps. The opportunity presented itself in form of a lil' car, which I initially called Squeaky, due to amount of plastic interior components which seemed to move and rub a lot. It is 1988 Honda Civic hatchback, standard edition, 1.5 liter engine, and almond cream body paint.
My reasoning was quite simple. My primary vehicle, 1996 Nissan Pathfinder, gets 16 miles per gallon, this puppy does twice as much. After doing a little calculator work I discovered that in seven months of using it, with an average of 160 miles a week of travel, the car will completely pay for itself in gas saving alone (assumed gas price was 3.60 - we already passed that in California... :-( But it will also provide additional benefits such as decreased environmental impact, and, of course, a new hobby.
The car itself initially cost me 500.00 and required a new alternator. My new hobby, and adventure was about to begin. Removal and installation took me a few hours, but this first task made me feel good and hopeful (like I know what I am doing kind of thing...). Well, after making it "drivable" it was time to make it legal to drive. Next step: SMOG CHECK!
BOOOO!!!! It failed!!! Due to high HC emissions at idle. It scored 133, while allowed limit was 120. And what to do with that? I know, research!
| Item | Price | Source and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Initial price | 500.00 | Negotiation ongoing |
| Alternator | 125.00 | Kragen |
| Sum | 625.00 | So far so good! |
Comments (0) Apr. 09, 2008 19:35
The Plan
Some of us see it all clear. What is out there, what needs to be done, what will lead to failure. SOme of use do not give a damn about what's next, and that would be me. But there is another kind of folk, people who believe in planing. And that is what I am planning on trying next to get this over with. By this I mean Civic projects.Current Status: Bridget completely gutted out, running fine with exception of blinking CEL (#16, injector/main fuse issue). Rachel is in a garage, with tranny and axles pulled out. Working on that rattle issue. Firsts is to put newer clutch and bearing in, and then try wheel bearings. That should do.
Engine Build Status. Yes, there is a change! Got it bored and honed to 76mm. Now I need to find pistons of that size. but before putting pistons in the following needs to happen:
Comments (0) Mar. 14, 2009 00:07
Intake Manifold
Slowly I am pecking it away. This time it is intake manifold time. It is a MPFI from a D16A6 engine. Took it completely apart and dropped it off at the only engine shop in my area... $15.00 later I got this back:
I cleaned the injectors, fuel rail, put it together, and here is the end result.
One step forward, two steps back. I had a chance earlier to clean up my pistons, they turned out really nice as well. However, something tells me that cylinders are f'd up. I measured them with my digital caliper, then I tried bore gauge, telescoping gauge, and everything points to the fact that cylinders are out of round. Oval cylinders! Why me?! I will remeasure it again tomorrow and post results here. If they are in fact out of round - that means bore and hone job - another $150.00 out of my pocket.
But that got me thinking since D15B7 bottom is identical to D15B1 (am I right?) why not just take the D15B1 out and work on that instead? At least I know that THIS engine has not been molested in any way, and I would end up with the original block.
Dirty and cleaned pistons side by side comparison.
To conclude, what do you guys think, if cylinders need to be bored over, should I even bother? Or should I just take the D15B1 out and work on that instead. This hobby is a money pit, but you all knew that, right?
Comments (1) Nov. 21, 2008 17:56