1990 Honda Civic DX ("Grumpy")

pinchvalve wrote: Ahhh, memories. IIRC, I did the...mini-me swap (Si head and MPFI on the DX block) .....

I've heard a lot of folks mention the Mini-me swap. I'm thinking this is a good temporary alternative to a full b-series swap for the present time. How much extra ummph do you get from it?

not enough to make it worth it imho

I had a little more time this morning to work on removing the front suspension and transmission. I finally got the pesky spindle nut off (PB blaster, heat, cold chisel, and impact gun did the trick -- without damaging the threads!).

I have all of the new parts on hand to finish the current to-do list: All four brake lines, all suspension bushings:

Clutch:

By the time I had to wrap it up this morning (I only had about 45 minutes to work), the right front corner looked like this:

And here are the parts awaiting a good cleaning and some new bushing (I will also compare it to the driver's side items to make sure nothing is bent or deformed):

You'll notice that the upper control arm and the spindle are still attached. I couldn't get the ball joint separated while it was on the car, so I removed them together and will use the vice and a BFH/Pickle fork combo to finish the job.

It's amazing how much more quickly the driver's side came apart after completing the passenger's side. It took me about 30 minutes to get the driver's side looking like this:

I laid all of the parts side-by-side and it doesn't look like anything is distorted. So, it plays back to my original theory of just needing an alignment.

Tomorrow: dropping the tranny and replacing the clutch (or, at least beginning that process).

I got the transmission out this morning:

So, this is the first clutch I've ever done. Is there anything specific that I should be checking/replacing while I'm in there? I have to replace the front trans mount as it pretty much disintegrated upon removal. The others look OK.

What's the plan for the flywheel? Turn, or replace?

(tried to string align my EF on friday, but the tie rods are siezed. )

If you can swing it, these engines really love lightened fly-wheels btw.

accordionfolder wrote: If you can swing it, these engines really love lightened fly-wheels btw.

It's a Dual-Point car. Not sure it's worth it for 90hp.

In reply to tpwalsh:

Totally worth it! My instructor at Sonoma ran a stock engined DX and had was flying (just not on the straights), it really helps them rev a lot more freely.

Not to mention if you want to do HPDEs, but not constantly be working on your car it's hard to beat the D-series, his had like ... 150 or so track days on that poor little bugger (+ he daily drove it) and it was still chugging along, he wasn't playing nice with it either.

This is all good info. The plan is just to have the flywheel turned. The budget doesn't currently have room for a new one.

I got the flywheel turned yesterday and was planning to have the front rotors turned as well, but they were out of spec, so, new rotors! I also picked up the front engine mount and all the necessary fluids to finish the transmission and brakes.

Old clutch -- each side of the disc was about the thickness of a potato chip:

So fresh and so clean, clean:

Fresh clutch and flywheel reunited (and it feels so good):

In order to keep the crank from turning while I torqued everything down, I used my large breaker bar on the crank nose bolt and wedged it under the chassis. Worked like a charm and more free than the flywheel-holding tool I don't have:

I feel like all of these posts about fairly normal maintenance are getting pretty boring, so I thought I would give a quick update.

I now have (I believe) everything that will be necessary to make Grumpy drivable again. My current investment, including Grumpy's original purchase price, is just over $1000. That has included many new gaskets, a rear disc conversion (from a CRX), usable wheels and tires, new clutch, new front rotors, polyurethane suspension bushings, and normal tune-up items that we all replace at the beginning of our tenure as the steward of a new (to us) car.

Is there anything that you believe I have overlooked? Sometimes that "forest for the trees" saying comes into stark reality when you're buried in the middle of a project (especially when you're simultaneously working to complete a basement remodel and backyard landscaping overhaul to keep the house Goddess appeased). Like I said, the goal, for the immediate future, is to get Grumpy in a position to take me to work reliably.

The (hopefully not-too-distant) future holds GC/Koni suspension set-up, new wheels/tires, interior refreshening (I currently have coffee grounds and scent discs spread liberally throughout the car to get rid of the cigarette smell) and other performance goodies as income allows. So, I guess I have decided to keep Grumpy, rather than flip him for profit. Grumpy has unwittingly worked his way into the hearts of the Dustoff family...

I'm also making some wheel decisions, so I can start looking. I've narrowed it down to the following options and would like some feedback/opinion. The car will see mostly DD duties with some AutoX thrown in. No winter driving and little rain driving. I'm planning to keep the wheels to 15" and run either 195/50-15 or 205/50-15.

Option 1: Panasport type (Konig Rewind, Rota RB, etc.)

Option 2: 6UL

Option 3: TR Motorsports C1

Option 4: Kosei K1

Option 5: Konig Retrack

I have some opinions based on style and price point, but I'm interested in what you all have to say -- especially if you've owned any of these and put them to some good work. How did they stand up?

as if my opinion matters but I've always liked option 1 … it may not be a normal Honda wheel .. but still … I've got 2 sets of that pattern (13 x 8) that I use on my CRX for track duty

I have seen very few cars that don't look good with Panasport-style wheels. I loved the GRM Fiesta with them.

I rank them in the order you listed them. Panasports FTW.

K1 K1 K1 K1 K1 K1 K1 K1 kayyyyy oneeeeeee!!!! mmmmm love me some K1's

I say K1's or the TR Motorsports ones. Although I'm a sucker for some Panasports too, and you don't see them on Civics much at all. I think only the last one is not great (the Retracks). They're cool, but more for looks than autox.

I'm also leaning toward the K1s and the TRs, but if I came upon the right set of Panasports, I wouldn't kick them out of the garage. Mostly, it'll be whatever I come across first for the right price.

On a side note, the transmission went back in this morning. No pictures because it looks the same as it did when it installed the first time, it's just now filled with a fresh clutch.

Tomorrow: off to the auto hobby shop at the local military base to press out the old suspension bushings! Hopefully there will be some pictures of that process.

i run the TRs and the Kosei K4R on my autocross/track car and have had good luck with them

also get your koni/gc setup from chris at redshift

I just checked out their site -- good to know about.

I got the suspension bushings all pressed out today. Sorry, no pictures -- I was at the Auto Hobby Shop on the local Air Force Base and didn't want to look like a doof and use up more time by taking photos. However, not everything came out cleanly, so I've got some rubber to remove in a few spots. Any suggestions for this? I also have to re-use the dog-bone looking metal parts from the rear trailing arm bushings. Any suggestions to get the rubber off of those?

Fire works well.

I was going to suggest using a torch

kinda stinky …. I'd suggest placing a fan behind you to blow the fumes away