2008-09-06T19:12:45Z

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Althea

2008-08-31T02:56:47Z

Althea is the given name for my recently aquired 1990 Honda Civic DX hatchback. My mom bought a new Civic in ~April, and gave me Althea. HOORAY!
Mom's had Althea since new, and it has about 190K miles on it. In the last few years, strangers have approached her with offers to buy it. The Honda dealer said he could have sold it 5 times in the weekend it sat on their lot. But now it's mine! MWAHAHA!

Dreya and I flew down to Ft Meyers FL to get it over the weekend of the 16th, and drove it back from Naples FL. I picked that weekend because it was my birthday on the 17th. I got a car!

We had to get AAA over to jump it since it sat for 4-5 months. I bought a battery, charged the A/C, and changed out a tire, and it was good to go. We stopped overnight in Savannah,GA and visited an old cemetery among other places.

Althea has been on this site before. Links to about 2 yrs ago:
jump

]]> http://www.pleasurizer.com/2006/08/moms_civic.html

http://www.pleasurizer.com/2006/08/civic_reborn.html

http://www.pleasurizer.com/2006/08/moms_going_home.htm

And Mom's newsletter on the matter:

sparky derby

2008-08-19T02:33:23Z

Dreya's Lebaron is going to the Demo-Derby!
Check in later for the date.

Vern just sent me the email about its imminent destructive prowess.

FWD from Vern The Destructor -see marvel comics #
∞

Now Quoting Vern:

Hi Fellas,

Please pass these pics along to the girl that used to own Sparky. I spent all weekend getting her ready for the demo derby and now, there's not much left to do but wire down the hood and trunk. And to think, I built this car in a total of 3 days!

AS RECEIVED:
http://www.axcessmypics.com/photos/photo03/e2/03/a8bce97c2375.jpg

START OF BUILD:
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee313/vernonmcl/vernpics042.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee313/vernonmcl/vernpics043.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee313/vernonmcl/vernpics044.jpg

Vern McLendon

endQ and ThanQ- scott

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red box, blue box, old box, new box

2008-08-13T03:26:47Z

(OK, it's actually black, not blue)

---------------------
edited on 8-14-08 @ 22:00, jump&scroll*
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My toolbox was falling apart, and it didn't fit my tools well. I was losing tools because I couldn't keep them organized. Solution: spend way too much money on a shiny new tool box.

Old box

jump

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fuzzy phone camera :)

*tool box specs edit:

And no, I didn't pay full price. W/ my 10yr-old box trade in I'm paying less than 60% of full price... plus I get $700 in tools of my choice. Sweet deal (for snap on).

final gear

2008-08-11T01:50:09Z

The title sounds ominous. The thought of doing this task was daunting, but I finally got off my duff and did it.

what is it that i have done?
I have created Frankenstein's transmission.
I took a 4spd from a Civic Hatchback and a 5spd from a CRX HF, and created a 5spd with a different final gear... or more accurately, I added a 5th gear to the 4spd.

"what is all this fuss about final gear?" you ask
you'll be sorry you asked, but at least I have pictures.... you could just skip to them.

Final gear (or final drive) is the gear by which all others are multiplied. Remember this for when you look at the tables below... FINAL.... All gears, 1-5+R are multiplied by this gear. Also Pay attention to the individual gear ratios' differences.

FINAL is very important. It's the last gear in the equation. Each gear is actually a pair of sprockets to find the ratio -dividing #of driven teeth by drive teeth- like gears on a bike, but autos use two pairs for each gear, the final pair's ratio being multiplied by every gear on the stick.

For example, if your 1st gear ratio is 3:1, and your final gear ratio is 3:1, your actual 1st ratio is 9:1 (3:1*3:1=9:1).

Now your 4th gear ratio may only be 1:1
but the final drive is still the same gear @ 3:1, so actual 4th is still only 3:1 (1:1*3:1=3:1).
My final is going from 3.25:1 to 3.88:1... it doesn't sound like much, but it's about a 20% increase in tire spinnin' fun off the line versus the HF trans. ALL GEARS get this 20% increase.

blah,blah and so on

So, here are my "4" transmissions. all numbers are ratios x:1.

_______Si__________________HF _____________4spd ______Franky
1st_____3.25______________3.25______________3.25_______3.25
2nd____1.894_____________1.65_____________ 1.65________1.65
3rd____1.259_____________1.033_____________1.033_______1.033
4th____0.937 ____________ 0.823_____________0.823_______ .823
5th____0.771 ____________0.694 _____________X____________ .694
FINAL___4.25______________3.25______________3.888_______3.888

The Si trans is way too low geared for the engine I'm about to use. The HF trans belongs with the engine, but went in a slightly lighter car and has zero torque off the line. So basically I took the 5th gear out of the HF trans and put it in the trans with the 3.888 final drive.

I get the long distance between gears vs the Si trans(lower#=lower RPM), plus a little more oomph where I want it I hope. The engine I'm using makes slightly less torque than the one I'm removing, but it makes it all at a much lower RPM. Horsepower is a function of torque, so the horsepower on this engine is low, but thankfully the fuel economy is high.

I don't believe I'll be sacrificing much economy with Franky, but I'm sure he'll put a little fun into this 70hp engine. Jump for pics.

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OK! and HOORAY!
it took me a little while to figure out that the reverse fork bracket from the four speed was keeping me from shifting to 5th, but once I put the other bracket on, it was fine. I forgot to take a pic of that.
Now all I have to do is give the guts a thorough cleaning and lube, and seal the case back up. I'll probably put the other trans back together too, giving me the "bride of Franky 4spd"

BTW, the big ass gear which stayed in the trans is part of the final drive gear which drives the axles.

Update... I do have pics of that bracket. These two pics are best if compared. You can click on any of these pics for larger views as usual.

For more ratio understanding, you can visit this gear ratio calculator and plug in the #s from the chart above, a tire size of 185/70/13, and any speed to see the difference in engine RPM@speed.
http://www.chevellestuff.com/tools/rpm_calculator.htm

start me up

2008-07-13T05:57:46Z

Miss Fuller's Jetta broke. She had it towed to her house and there I diagnosed it, then replaced the starter. The tow truck driver suspected the starter, but I had to be sure.

I tried to work on the CRX today, but didn't get much done. I dragged engines and transmissions around, swapped a few hoses, wire brushed some corroded aluminum... and I found out the intake I'm using has a busted TPS (throttle posision sensor) so I need one. I also found out that I have nothing to control the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) on the new engine. Those parts are not easily found.

And the awful red paint on the replacement engine's valve cover is proving to be a challenge to remove.

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This is a wiring guide I borrowed and modified for my swap before I realized I needed the EGR parts. The ECU (electronic control unit) has EGR programming. I just have to run the wires, vacuum hoses, and mechanical parts.
just ;)

old standard link to snicker:
Kia concept hybrid

CRX DX/HF

2008-06-29T22:05:17Z

My CRX DX (A.K.A. LE PEU) started misfiring. It lost compression in one cylinder. Dreya's been driving Mr. Hankey since then (with the 13" wheels back on it).
The CRX engine already burned oil, so it's getting replaced. I've only got about $600 in the car minus the cosmetics, so I'm not too upset that it only lasted almost a year.

Apparently it's very popular to swap engines from one type of Honda to another (like from an Acura Integra to a CRX). People do this to waste gas, er, I mean go faster.
I'll be going in the opposite direction. I want good fuel economy.

We'll see how it works out. It'll take me a while.

Ant helped me hoist out the engine today. I was getting 27/38mpg with this car before it broke- 27 without trying, 38 on trips on the highway cruising 75mph, or driving in town/beltline like a brick.

more pics and stuff after jump.

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Above/below is a D15B2 engine out of my CRX DX- 1.5 liter, 16 valves, dual point fuel injection. Some small amount of horsepower. Attached to it is a low/close geared transmission out of a CRX Si, I think.

I will be installing a D15B6 engine out of a CRX HF- 1.5liter, 8valves, multi point fuel injection, some even smaller amount of horsepower (but almost as much torque). Below is the multi point part, and a snip of the ECM (engine control module) from the CRX HF.

I don't know why the valve cover was painted red. It's also very badly painted.

Here is a picture of the HF engine, ECM and trans, as well as a 4spd trans from a hatchback (I have sinister plans).

one last pic-
Now, I had the interior out of this car when I first bought it, because it was gross. It cleaned up well though. Through no fault of my own, evil clouds conspired to dispense rain through an open window. The car had a good inch of water in it for a few weeks. It aquired copious amounts of mold and was infested with ants.

Dreya removed the interior seats, panels, and carpet yesterday while i worked on removing the engine. She helped some with that too.

After Ant and I got the engine out, we set off three foggers to kill the ants; one inside the car with the windows up, one under the car, and one on the roof. Then we hightailed it out of the garage and locked the door. There will be no escape.

More twisted metal

2008-06-22T16:31:06Z

sculpture.

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Click on one for photostream

Mr. Hankey gets pimped

2008-05-10T15:58:18Z

It's only temporary. These wheels ride like crap and don't fit well. They came with Sean's recent Del Sol purchase. But, riding thru the neighborhood like this I caught the attention of someone who wants to GIVE me another old Honda wagon like Mr. Hanky :D

2008-03-14T05:05:02Z

a lesson on airbag safety

2008-03-12T03:39:40Z

Tercel again/still

2008-03-11T03:30:52Z

Have I ever mentioned my contempt for electronic carburetors? No? Just my lack of enthusiasm for carbs in general, i suppose. They are a miracle of technology, but complications are many... especially when you combine the old carb tech with computer tech.

So I thought this Tercel was done, as you might recall. I was given the wrong carb, but i made it work. I didn't like the way it worked, but it worked.

BUT then weeks later suddenly the car wouldn't start.
I of course blamed the "wrong" carb. I searched for the correct one. FOUND. I got all the eleventyhundred vacuum hoses routed right. Still no start.

It turns out the distributor crapped out. I had no spark. I changed the distributor and it fired right up. Add new plugs and it runs smooth. An extra bonus is that with the correct carb it actually runs right cold and hot. Higher RPM cold, lower RPM hot... as opposed to opposite or random RPMs with the carb I was provided to install.

I also replaced the thermostat. The engine had been running cold/rich. The 'puter needs to know it's warm to quit throwing buckets of fuel down the intake throat.

So I'm driving this car this week to make sure it's good. Once i'm confident it is (and I am, but I'll give it a week)... it goes back to Celina with no extra charge.... on the condition that it never darken my doors again.

Jump for some tech pics of what I was dealing with.

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Above is the ""extremely helpful"" Toyota dealer picture.

Below is from some poor genius schmuck in Canada working with an emissions problem... It's the best one i could find, but it is for an auto-trans. The vehicle I have in limbo is a 5spd and has a few more tubing connections (note the tubes which terminate with a plug).
Also remember they are not actually spread out like in the pic. Fold the pic in half to pile one layer on top and figure out ported vs constant vacuum. (the air cleaner fits on top of the carb)
Ick. it's worse than Jr high Algebra.

Also I'd like to mention the many vacuum HVAC tubes included but not mentioned in either picture. (heat/vent/a/c)

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor

dashless

2008-01-25T04:31:02Z

So this is what a lincoln towncar looks like with no dashboard or steering column.... from my phone camera.

I got this M.F. back together. It wasn't that bad. I wish the literature had told me to take the power seats out before I disconnected the battery. It did tell me it required 2 "technicians" to remove and replace the dash. I had a modicum of help for out, but for in, all me baby!

So this bastard Ford has a new heater core. hooray.
One of the 10yr old rear suspension air springs pooped out while I was fixing the heater.
Air springs... ugh! They are no spring!!! They are an air filled catastrophe!

Recritterations

2008-01-21T03:46:43Z

Dreya and i have decided on a name for trying to sell our creations.... and we made several things last weekend. Check out our Flickr account at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23026128@N06

(cut and paste if necessary)

In other news, Sean bought some steering parts for the Lincoln. We'll be installing those shortly. He's putting some shift solenoids in Vic's Volvo, so we'll see if that pans out, or if it needs a trans.
Mr. Hankey is running fine for Dreya but is a little drafty in the cold. The Camry still needs a Cat. Sean's been driving her to work and she does fine... but she needs a tiny bit of body work and the P. side fender replaced due to a little trailer accident.
I've been driving the CRX since towing it home from Maryland after Christmas. It burnt the power wire going to the new "autozone" fuel pump. Fuses were all fine. And it's been doing fine since fixing the wire. No more long trips until i put in a Honda pump and a fused wire there though. I'm going to do some other work to it too. I fixed the flat tire which I'm sure would have blown out at 80mph had the fuel-pump not quit. Good car.

At my job, among other things, I have to replace a heater core in a '98 Lincoln Town Car. This is not fun. I might take a picture of the interior minus entire dashboard once i get it out. I'm still working on removing the steering column w/o compromising the airbag system. Old plastic is difficult to deal with. Maybe next week or so... or not.

A good start

2008-01-01T23:06:59Z

This new year's day Dreya and i finished up a few projects.
She finished her windchimes (1st pic)

I finished an Illumination Stabilizer (lantern holder) which Jeniffer commissioned from me. The pic is of before i added the flat-stock with which to attach it to her brick. It takes the place of Dreya's hands in the pic ("Hurry up! I't's heavy!") (2nd pic)

3rd pic is of a brake rotor flower (The Iron Chrysanthemum) which I had promised to Jeniffer as a gift a while back.

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