Tube is 2" diameter
I made a tool cart for my boss Jerry. When I got done adding all the tool spots he said he wanted a critter to make it complete. My boss Greg showed me Jerry's IM avatar- a monkey with glasses. So here we are.
The monkey head is about eye level with me in the center of the back beam of the cart.
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The car is actually made by Opel... remember Opel?
I have the special sockets at least. I call them reverse Torx. I think I don't know the real name because the sockets are labeled E#s... like I used an E10, E12, and E14 on this car today. The bolts have 6 pointed star shaped heads. Some sizes can accept a regular metric or standard wrench, but some won't. European cars use them a lot. Here's a socket picture:
And here's a picture of the engine:
The water pump is down there somewhere ;)
...oh, there it is :)
So that's all done. I have to admit it was extremely aggravating. European cars give me the blues.
I bought me some sockets
I bought me some more
I use the new sockets
The old ones no more
A special tool
I'll only use once
Cost half a weeks salary
I feel like a dunce
that's the mechanic's blues i guess. It's not entirely accurate if we improvise.
I didn't actually buy any special tools for this particular job. I already had the ones I needed. If I'd spent another 400 bucks on the tool kit for the timing belt I would've wanted to replace that too while it was exposed. That might be another story. I mIght even break even on the tool kit in the next ten years. The job can be done with the combined tools I and my co workers have, plus the shop I work in, given the time. This engine type is also in some Saab stories and some Saturns.
Here's my kitty:
My 15yr old drill has seen better days. The windings are all melted out of place and the reverse switch is inoperative. I think I can get all the parts to fix it but I have to be more careful... and more patient.
Stop before you see smoke. It's plenty hot before that.
Robin's 1986 CRX is as quiet as Bosal can make it.... new "B" pipe and muffler assembly (cat back) installed with the offending cat bolt drilled out and replaced.... casualty- one Black&Decker D2000 TYPE 1... my own fault.
I bring this up because I had a bad experience.
I replaced the noisy transmission bearings in Dreya's red Civic so they wouldn't explode.
Then I drove it 300 miles w/o issue, called Dreya and told her the car was done. The next day the shifter was slightly non compliant. I called Dreya back to tell her I had to keep the car until the weekend (another week) when I would have time to investigate and I parked the car.
Last Saturday I took the shifter linkage loose from the transmission to isolate it and shifted the transmission by hand... it seemed fine... at first. A little more wiggling around and I heard something fall down inside the transmission...tink-tink-tink-dink-dink and then suddenly the shifting was all wrong. Very very wrong.
So I had to take the transmission out and apart AGAIN.
I found that a bolt fell out. That's what I heard make the tink-tink-tink-dink-dink noise. The bolt and spring washer were found on the collector magnet inside the transmission.
It's possible I just didn't tighten the bolt when I had the transmission apart to do the bearings. The spring washer wasn't very springy though. This time I used thread locking compound on the bolt. I couldn't get a new spring washer.
That's a story of how I was very lucky.
So here's some pics after the jump... where the bolt was supposed to be, and where it ended up.
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4mm
5mm
7/32" (5.5mm option)
1/4"
6mm
9/32" (7mm)
5/16" (8mm)
3/8"
10mm
7/16" (11mm-slight variance)
12mm (edit: almost forgot the 12mm- d'oh. 1/2" and 12mm look close in print. No interchange.
1/2"
13mm
14mm
9/16"
19/64" (I bought that once for my '72 Ford. It's a 15mm)
15mm (cause it's always included, see 19/64")
5/8"= (16mm)
17mm
11/16" (rare now, use in a pinch on 17mm)
18mm (a must-have, use in a pinch on 11/16th)
3/4"=19mm
20mm (flare nut for fuel filters on GM)
13/16" (is the one I use)
7/8"=22mm (esp good for o2 sensors)
15/16'=24mm
25mm?
Sockets
1"=25.4mm (26mm works)
1 3/16'~30mm
1 1/4"~32mm
I haven't worked the rest out. This is mostly all from brain stem, but 25.4mm = 1" is good.
]]>"It just looks like a red car"
"unless you really look at it"
I was told by a friend.
So I made a red car red again I guess. I hope it lasts.
First I painted the grey/silver hood "Bright Red" and then dulled it with scotchbrite to kinda match the old paint.
I painted the pink/white/black-mold roof "cherry red" and have to wait 2 days before I can try to smooth out the lines.
The cherry almost matches the old paint, but i have zero blending skills.
I'll prob'ly take more pics after i do it if it looks somewhat better.
The pictures pick up a lot of sun yellow and tree shadow. It really does look like a red car... better than before anyway.
I put another throttle body on this red civic and tested it with the smoke machine. It passed. We'll see if it passes the cold short shift when Dreya drives it. I can never get it to do it, but it does seem to run smoother when first started.
I'm trying to get the A/C to work for the hot Texas sun but the compressor is noisy w/ the A/C on and the used one I got is noisy all the time. I'll see if they'll take it back w/refund. I can get a better deal on craigslist I bet.
Oldie but a goodie ;)
]]>Luckily I have access to other expensive diagnostic tools, like this: (pic after jump)
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Accessing a vacuum port, I filled the intake manifold with the smoke that this little gem makes and watched, and waited, and watched.
Low and behold I see smoke coming out from somewhere it should not, right above the #3 intake runner, from the throttle body shaft bushing (I took a pic with my phone camera but it didn't come out).
Unfortunately the only way to get this part is to buy another throttle body, which is $400 new. I'll try to find a used one which doesn't leak, but we may have to live with this. It only runs rough sometimes when you short-shift to 2nd with a cold engine, so we can work around that.
So I got all worked up over a tiny vacuum leak... at least, so far that looks like the culprit.
]]>Dreya's spark plugs look great. They're not the cause of the problem.
"What is the problem?" you may ask.
It has a cold misfire.
"The cause?"
Now that I've had only a cursory look I don't know for sure, but I suspect I won't like it.... not at all.
Symptoms suggest more diagnosis of the ignition system. I hope it pans out. My gut says something else. I hope I'm wrong.
He's not a mechanic like me, but he plays one on T.V. -OK not really. He's just really smart.
Anyway, I made this car (Honda CRX DX/HF) with a custom transmission. When I went to buy spark plugs they gave me a choice. I chose "cold" because my custom trans runs high RPM for this 70HP 8valve engine.
fast fwd
I bought Dreya a 4spd 16valve 70hp Civic and we swapped the custom 5spd trans to it.
fine
later we changed the timing belt, swapped to a 90hp cam, ECU, and fuel system, and exchanged all the parts which go along with the timing belt except spark plugs and tune up.
Skip over-(I let Dreya do a lot of it and something minor had to be redone- it happens).
But she still has the custom 5spd trans for the 70 HP engine. Fuel economy was good. 38mpg
sputter soon after.
I changed the plugs (stock # for both the 16valve 4spd 70hp and 5spd 90hp) wires, cap and rotor button.
FIXED
no
months later sputter. I suspect the plugs are fouled.
If so I will try the the hotter HF plugs. This engine I created combined with this trans I created runs lower RPM than factory design. Sean might have thought of this if I'd told him about it.
An italian tune up could fix it right up I'd bet, but I'd prefer to attempt to modify this car to fit the driver on this occasion... bein' all customy like my brother.
He might tell you something opposite. I always tell him to stick to stock parts.
But I am. They just don't mix right sometimes.
----------------------
So she was getting 27mpg w/ the same spec engine, lighter car, and higher RPM trans.
Then ~30 in the newer stock 4spd heavier car too I think, and 38 with the 5spd in it.
I like the 38mpg for her. I just need to make it not cold sputter sometimes.
HOT PLUGS
[edited for memory]
]]>I told Robin I had a good used axle for her CRX.
I had checked my parts car and it looked like the driver's axle was good... it turns out the outer boot was split in a way undetectable by the casual glance of a professional.
oops
Luckily I also had an extra driver's side axle with a known good outer boot. But it had a sliced inner boot incurred during removal or storage (I acquired this axle with a transmission I purchased).
I must've had that in mind before the casual check ;)
The lacerated boots are not so bad as the aftermath they cause.
Anyway, I used the axle with the good outer parts and installed all the good inner parts from the other.
A new axle is cheap, but it's cheap she ain't got.
I assembled an axle with known good inner and outer joints and boots.
And she can drive her car.
I spent all kinds of time making this axle but it was kind of fun.
And she can drive her car.
I probably should cash the check even though I don't want to.
no pics. I'll snap a pic of an axle for reference. Updated soon.
8/26 Update... I ain't got no pic.
Here's a howstuffworks page. This axle used a Rzeppa joint on the outside (hers was bad/torn/making noise) and a tripod (plunging) joint on the inner. There were snap ring pliers, new grease, and many shop towels involved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constant-velocity_joint
Most or all of that info stuff is lodged in my brain pretty good... somewhere...
How can i increase my brain RAM? If it's brussels sprouts I'll pass.
Anyway, CV axles make for good robot-bear parts ;)
]]>I had a bit of a head scratcher with it.
It turns out I was sold the wrong thermostat. The part stores specify 190*F as the correct opening temperature for the T'stat in this car.
I looked up the Mazda spec, found the correct 180*F thermostat, and installed it.
Lo and behold the radiator cooling fan now cycles normally.
All that is left is to drive it.
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But this is Miss Fuller's car. I'm putting in a used engine because a rebuilt one is prohibitively expensive, and a new one costs not much more. Think "buy another car" expensive, and she only just bought this car.
I could go on.
pic after jump
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Notice the mop bucket (upper center). I used it frequently.
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I like how even the NGK plugs come in boxes marked Honda.
-all genuine Honda parts except for the new (not reman.) axle-
plugs
wires
dizzy cap, gasket, rotor button, fasteners
dizzy o-ring
left inner tie rod & clamp
valve cover gasket -old gasket turned to stone... chiseled out and remaining pieces are in picture.
and an alignment
I made another robot bear from old parts from her car and gave it to her
pic
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Sean thought maybe I could open a business fixing cars+making art for the customers out of their old parts. Sometimes that wont work so well.
But if you have a FWD car in need of an axle I can put in a NEW one plus make a robot bear out of (mostly) the old one for you for a competitive price ;)
I could disassemble the car and sell parts off of it and get about 5x what I paid... if i had the space to do that...
Or I could find a few parts and sell it whole as a POS for 3x at least including purchases
Or i could spend a buttload on it and have a nice stock CRX Si (has sunroof).
Or maybe I can trade it for something. The Honda community seems to be big on that.
Why do I do these things? I have 4 Hondas now.
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