Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:12:45 -0500

Althea

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:56:47 -0500

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

sparky derby

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:33:23 -0500

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

red box, blue box, old box, new box

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:26:47 -0500

(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

final gear

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:50:09 -0500

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.

start me up

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:57:46 -0500

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.

CRX DX/HF

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:05:17 -0500

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.

More twisted metal

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:31:06 -0500

sculpture.

Mr. Hankey gets pimped

Sat, 10 May 2008 10:58:18 -0500

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

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:05:02 -0500

a lesson on airbag safety

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:39:40 -0500

Tercel again/still

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:30:52 -0500

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.

dashless

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:31:02 -0500

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

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:46:43 -0500

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

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:06:59 -0500

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.