Delboy's DC2 Integra Type-R

[Delboy]

Afternoon ladies and gentlemen (and Daz),

I've finally managed to get the right combination of free time, good weather (ish) and motivation to give my latest vehicle a damn good clean and wax. It took me 4 hours and I was shattered after, so the pics aren't great, but she came out rather well :nod:

Most of you will recognise her as she was formerly owned by a strange ginger bloke who hangs around on here a fair bit :p :D

Soon as I saw she was up for sale again I didn't waste any time. The timing was perfect as I was in the process of getting my insurance settlement for the Mondeo and a DC2 seemed like a perfectly sensible replacement.

Have had a soft spot for this car ever since Arry bought her and I got a go in her, the experience kinda stayed with me and I'm very happy that is something I now get to enjoy every single day :smitten:

She has obviously been very well cared for and she drives like a car of less than half the age, everything is very tight and solid all round.

Anyway, that's enough of my life story, time for some pics (again, apologies for the crapness of them. I'll get some better ones when the sun is out next)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1264.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1260.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1263.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1262.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1269.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1266.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1270.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1268.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1267.jpg

I didn't manage to clean the engine!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1274.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1275.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1272.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1259.jpg

And this last one was taken on my way back in, I stopped to look back at the car and the sun caught it and nearly blinded me, tried to get the reflection in this shot but it didn't really work.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/IMG_1276.jpg

That's it for now!

Will no doubt have more in the future, for now I'll just keep enjoying driving her. If you haven't ever been in or driven a DC2, just do it, amazing cars.

Once I've renewed my membership I'll prob start a little project thread too. Nothing drastic, more of a tidy up, I just want to keep her clean and well maintained, but have a couple of little things I'll be starting that mission off with.

Thanks for looking everyone.

Del

[sxbaz]

shes very nice and jdm tyte yo dude, and i enjoyed setting the alarm off with my exhaust as i left bluewater last night

[30PSI]

Make sure you sell this to me when you decide to only keep it for a few months ;)

[arry]

Well done mate :thumbs: She looks great.

Really glad you're enjoying her. If you want some pics done with my SLR just drop me a line; can find a nice country road for scenic driving shots

[Delboy]

shes very nice and jdm tyte yo dude, and i enjoyed setting the alarm off with my exhaust as i left bluewater last night

So it was you!! I knew the alarm had been off when I got back to the car last night, bloody chav :p


Make sure you sell this to me when you decide to only keep it for a few months ;)

Haha, if that happens I'll let you know, but I wouldn't hold your breath (despite what my track record may suggest!)


Well done mate :thumbs: She looks great.

Really glad you're enjoying her. If you want some pics done with my SLR just drop me a line; can find a nice country road for scenic driving shots

Cheers dude, got more shiny work to put in as I know she can still be cleaner, but will def have to arrange something when the sun is back out :)

[sxbaz]

i think our mate in that gay as fcuk civic of fail probably set it of at least 5 times with the 19 tons of audio in the boot :)

[shane_evans]

That is very clean mate. Glad to see your back in a proper car, instead of that ford tank.

[FullMetalGasket]

I'm officially jealous - Despite my non-preference for FWD I've always liked and fancied DC2's :nod: :smitten:
Maybe I should have tried swapping my 180 for it :wack:

[MEL]

Its a very tidy car del, looked good on the move last night :thumbs:

Your playing taxi for the wharf then :D

[bonelorry]

Not bad motors at all these :)

Ill keep my eye on your showroom thread on ITR-DC2 :wave:

[Delboy]

Cheers again everyone :)

Thanks Mel, how'd it sound in the tunnel out of interest? :D

FMG - they are brilliant. Actually has some RWD characteristics at times, on some sharper corners if you get your toe in, you can feel the rear end swing round ever so slightly as the front bites. Is quite bizarre for a FWD car, but part of what makes it awesome!

Cheers bonelorry, yeah I'll be keeping that thread up to date with anything I do with her :thumbs:

[30PSI]

Is this up for sale yet? :wack:

Anyway, when can I book a ride in this?

[Ghazoobe]

I give it 3 months till you change it for something else :wack:

[arry]

I give it 3 months till you change it for something else :wack:

I'll bank against it. They're too difficult to replace with anything that does what it does as well as it does. Everything feels dead after driving it

[Ghazoobe]

I'll bank against it. They're too difficult to replace with anything that does what it does as well as it does. Everything feels dead after driving it

Maybe 6 months then, but I highly doubt he'll have it any longer than that :)

[Delboy]

Is this up for sale yet? :wack:

Anyway, when can I book a ride in this?

HWH? Or if you're at the wharf this week can take you out in it then :thumbs


I give it 3 months till you change it for something else :wack:


Maybe 6 months then, but I highly doubt he'll have it any longer than that :)

Christ, I know I'm bad at shifting cars on when Ghazoobe is ripping into me for it. But at least mine go in one piece :p

[Ghazoobe]

Christ, I know I'm bad at shifting cars on when Ghazoobe is ripping into me for it. But at least mine go in one piece :p

:whip: maybe you just have more money to spare and can afford the loss of selling them in one piece :wack:

I will be shocked if you keep it longer than 6 months though :D

[Delboy]

I made money on all the cars I've sold in the last year or so thank you very much :nod:

I do currently have a decent level of disposable income, which is why I bought the teg and why I'll be hanging onto her. First car in a long time that won't have money owing on it, so will be no reason to sell. Plus the wife no longer has a credit card, so that's another possible fail taken care of :smash:

[FullMetalGasket]

Actually has some RWD characteristics at times, on some sharper corners if you get your toe in, you can feel the rear end swing round ever so slightly as the front bites. Is quite bizarre for a FWD car, but part of what makes it awesome!:

Kate's H reg Mazda 323 did that too despite only being a carb'd 1.6 :wack:
I thought it was awesome :nod:

[Jem]

Very nice and will look so much better without a ginger driving it :D

So when are you going to get me to detail it? :p

[bonelorry]

I'll bank against it. They're too difficult to replace with anything that does what it does as well as it does. Everything feels dead after driving it

Exactly why ive just bought another one, Missed my old one and should never have sold it back in 2009. After struggling to find another good one and viewing a few sheds i gave up and went down other avenues.

Lucky for me i spotted a cracker on ITR-DC2 and collected it last Wednesday from London, Oh the fun im going to have this summer ;)

[Delboy]

Once I've got a few very minor blemishes taken care of and the good weather is here I may just be in touch Jem :thumbs:

[MEL]

Thanks Mel, how'd it sound in the tunnel out of interest? :D


Dunno couldn't hear it over mine

[Delboy]

Lol! Everyone else in that tunnel was clearly sat there thinking 'what a pair of cnuts' :D

Happy to play taxi driver on Thurs BTW :thumbs:

[30PSI]

HWH? Or if you're at the wharf this week can take you out in it then :thumbs

Will have to wait till HWH as I'm gonna be working on the crap fast Datsun Thurs night

[sxbaz]

Will have to wait till HWH as I'm gonna be working on the crap fast Datsun Thurs night

really!!! must be annual "do something to the fast datsun day"

[30PSI]

Yeah I know.... I haven't even seen the car since September!

[Delboy]

HWH it is then fella :thumbs:

Can't deprive the fast datsun of it's annual loving :smash:

[MEL]

Lol! Everyone else in that tunnel was clearly sat there thinking 'what a pair of cnuts' :D

Happy to play taxi driver on Thurs BTW :thumbs:

Meh :D

See you Thursday bud

[Delboy]

Well, following the heartache and general anger caused by the events leading to the below thread, the car is all fixed up and looking fine again:

http://www.sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=490406

I've today had a chance to give her another damn good clean and for once when I finished there was still lots of sunshine so I took some pics :)

I'm getting to grips with my new camera at the mo, so these were all taken in auto mode (I'm not used to being able to adjust such things as ISO, aperture and shutter speed etc) and I think it struggled a little with the dazzling whiteness before it, but some of them still came out quite well.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06016.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06023.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06014.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06010.jpg

And I really like this one for some reason, I think it's the reflection:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06019.jpg

You may notice a few marks on the car, most of them are actually flies as the little bastards wouldn't keep off it! :wack:

That's all for now folks.

[Jem]

Looking great mate, good to see it all nice and straight again:thumbs:

[arry]

Nice work Del - really pleased you've got it sorted :thumbs:

[MEL]

Car was looking good yesterday bud, much better with the new bumper

Good to see you enjoying it again

[Delboy]

Cheers Jem, always a compliment when you say a car looks clean!

Me too Arry, back to just enjoying the driving again :D

Thanks Mel, enjoyed the drive back with you guys last night. Hopefully this random road trip Pablo is trying to sort out will come together soon as that will be a lot of fun I reckon :nod:

[MEL]

Hopefully this random road trip Pablo is trying to sort out will come together soon as that will be a lot of fun I reckon :nod:

Should be good :)

[Delboy]

Well, just for those of you who find my constant bad luck amusing, here's another episode of calamity from the car crash (usually literally) tv show that is my life :wack:

On my way home from work today I passed a cement mixing lorry coming the other way... Just as it decided to eject a lump of dried cement from the back of it.

Said lump collided with the car and made a horrendous noise as it hit then the debris rolled over the roof and down the back of the Teg.

Not enough space to throw the car round and give chase (not that I think anything would come of it anyway) so got home and inspected the damage.

A nice dent right on the front of the bonnet just to the near side of the H badge, plus some scratching to the paint in that area. Couldn't see any damage to the roof, but suspect I'll notice some marks next time I wash the car.

As you'd expect, I'm not exactly chuffed about it and will probably be hunting for another bonnet as I imagine it will be cheaper to get another one than repair this one.

The more I think about it the more I realise this is actually a great example of my amazing bad luck. I had to be in a very precise location at a very precise time for this to occur, with so many variables that could affect that it's really quite amazing poor luck this time!

If only I could find a way to harness this and reverse the polarity :smash:

[arry]

Mate, as said earlier, really sorry to hear it :(

[Cosy]

I am really feeling for you, sorry your not having the best of times.

[Mr G]

What a piss take. What are the chances of that? :(

Still a cracking motor though and I'm sure you'll sort it and be able to forget all about this.

[30PSI]

Jeez what a pisser, sorry to hear that Del.

PS - Thanks for the trip out in the car the other night, brought it back to me when I first went out in one of these back in '98 as a youngun that thought big engines made cars fast.

[Delboy]

Cheers guys.

I'll get it sorted soon enough I'm sure, just a pain in the arse.

No worries on taking you for a spin Martin, any time mate :thumbs:

[Delboy]

Today's update!

Bonnet has taken a backseat as I noticed increasing movement from the engine during hard gear changes and sudden throttle movements.

Arry had replaced the two upper mounts with hard race items, so that left the lower 'torque mounts'. Yes Honda despisers, there is actually torque produced that needs countering by these mounts :p

There are three in total, two front and one rear.

Replacements are rather dear so I thought I'd try the Energy Suspension Poly Motor Mount Inserts, which effectively strengthen the stock mounts by filling the gaps in the rubber with polyurethane inserts.

Yesterday I took on the job of fitting the front two (the rear is a bastard, I'll prob get someone else on that!) with a mate after we fitted a rear ARB to his Clio sport.

The drivers side mount is easy, car in air, wheel off, inner arch panel removed and airbox out of the way, then unbolt the mounting bush from the chassis and loosen the mount from the box so you can get clearance to remove the bush.

This bush wasn't too bad, one split but otherwise ok. I popped in a fair helping of sikaflex and then fitted the inserts. The sikaflex isn't noted as being necessary but as the mount was a little split I thought this would help to bond the rubber to the insert to add some further strength.

All went well and in true Haynes manual style fitting was a reversal of removal :)

The passenger side mount was a little trickier. You can't loosen off the mount from the block as it's behind the AC pump and it's much easier to just drop one side of the engine to give the clearance needed.

So with the jack under the engine, the bush was unbolted and the passenger side upper mount also unbolted, we then lowered it slowly until we could remove the bush.

This side was utterly faunicated, I think it just had one bit of rubber still supporting the mount :wack:

Had I known it was that bad I would have got a replacement bush for it, but as I was there I figured I'd try the insert and if it's not good I could order a replacement bush. So, liberal amounts of sikaflex added, inserts in place and left to set for a while.

We then went to refit the mount and... It wouldn't got back on. As the mount was actually now rigid, there wasn't enough space to clear the chassis. Before the buggered state of the mount allowed us to get it out.

After various attempts to get the extra clearance needed (literally just a couple of mm) I put my couch potato physique to good use...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/f0b84c82.jpg

That coupled with a little tap with a hammer saw the mount back on :D

So, with everything bolted back on it was time to see the difference.

Short answer, it's like night and day. Everything is so much more positive now, throttle response is better with no hesitation, no movement with gear changes and no wobble through the gear stick with sudden throttle changes. One negative is there is a lot more vibration through the car now (including a rattle from my front bumper that wasn't there before) but I can live with that for the benefits :)

Well worth the £30 and few hours of my time :nod:

Apologies for the lack of pics, I did my usual and just got on with it.

I think she's now ready for the track action at Weekenderfest and I'll report back on how me and the car get on :thumbs:

Not sure if a mod wants to move this to non S Body projects now? As it is more of a project thread now. Maybe a title change to 'Delboy's DC2 Inregra Type-R' too?

Thanks :)

[arry]

Good work mate. I did mean to get round to those mounts - sounds like they deteriorated a lot more. Can't believe you're standing on that rocker cover, you'd best not have marked it!

[Delboy]

They were in a sorry old state, passenger side one must literally have been doing nothing it was that bad :wack:

Haha, no marks, I was gentle. Well, as gentle as you can be while bouncing on a rocker cover :smash:

[p.nicholas]

This side was utterly faunicated

got to be a quote about Daz there somewhere

also the first time I seen this word written down

good work BTW

[Delboy]

Long time no update. The first bit I have to say is a touch out of date, but hey ho!

The car performed very well around Donnington at Weekenderfest and was way beyond my amateur skills on track. The only downside revealed was that the stock brakes didn't like the abuse and my fluid (rather old and nasty looking) boiled. This meant I had zero brakes by the time the second session came around, so I had to give that a miss.

Here's some shots of the car on track (thanks to those who took them, I'm forgetful and can't remember who it was!):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DoningtonPark20112.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DoningtonPark20114.jpg

Anyway, shortly after that I placed an order with Dixon at DMS for some Dixcel brakes. Following lots of looking into various options and talking it over with a number of people, I opted for stock size replacement performance discs and pads all around, along with some HEL lines and some DOT 4 fluid.

So after a significant wallet lightening, this lot arrived:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/ee15d77f.jpg

I'd love to tell you all how good they are, but I've been a bit shit really and not fitted them yet. There is a reason though!

You see, I also have had these sat around for a while:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/d1a8dd0b.jpg

And I figured that if everything is coming off for rebushing the car then I may as well hold off doing the brakes until it's all off anyway. With no track time coming up I was ok to wait, as the brakes that I cooked are fine day to day.

There will be a rather large update next week, involving those bushes, some nice shiny powdercoated bits and a lovely bald man from Kent, but for now here is a smaller one.

Over recent weeks the car has been sounding a little more tappety than usual and given she's now covered a little over 119k miles I figured it would be wise to check the valve clearances.

At first I was going to find a specialist to do it for me as it's relatively cheap at £50 to get done, but having read a few guides and watched a few videos, I decided it looked easy enough to DIY it.... Clearly I'd ignored the fact DIY involves me.

Anyway, first step was to remove the rocker cover and spark plugs:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/5b56ad92.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/faf5c401.jpg

Pretty clean under there, no nasty build ups or anything which was nice to see.

Pics are non existent relating to the work involved from here on in, but essentially it's a case of turning the engine to TDC for each cylinder using a 19mm socket on the crank pulley nut, then stopping to check the clearances with a feeler gauge on the valves for the piston that's at TDC.

Stock clearances for the B18C is 0.006 - 0.007 on the inlet side and 0.007 - 0.008 on the exhaust side (those are in imperial measurements obviously!).

Most of my valves were out of spec, some far too big a gap, one or two were too tight. So it was time to start adjusting.

The principal is simple. Slacken off the jam nuts, use a screw driver to adjust the clearances until the smaller feeler gauge just starts to drag when pulling out, then tighten the jam nuts back up. Simples. And indeed, if you have one of these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/24bd548a.jpg

It is!

However, I did not. Foolishly, I thought I would get away with holding the screwdriver in place and using an open ended spanner to tighten them up. But sadly I couldn't get enough purchase on the jam nuts due to the angle I had to hold the spanner at to get to them.

After a lot of frustration as the clearances got thrown out when I tightened up the nuts with a socket, I made a few phone calls to some helpful fellow SXOCers who are unfortunate enough to know me :smash: to see if anyone had a flexi ratchet spanner they could lend me, as that seemed to be the solution to the problem.

After a few no's, **** offs and people pretending they didn't know me (nah, not really, everyone was their usual helpful selves but just didn't have what I needed) I put in a call to Pabs and it went something like this:

'Pabs, I need a blah blah for blah blah'
'Ah, I'm at Dals and my car is in bits. Everyone's car is in bits... except for Baz, shall I pass you over?'
'Yes please my good man.... Hi Baz! I need blah blah...'
I know what you mean and happy to drive up to you with it, but I'd have to relay that to Dal so he can find one, shall I pass you over?'
:wack:
'Yes please Baz. Hi Dal, I need a blah blah for blah blah.'
'I have one and it is now in Baz's hands!' He said casually reaching into Pablo's tool box and taking it :D

Then Baz was on his merry way to the correct side of the river, carrying what we were sure would be my saviour:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/8a0cbf0f.jpg

But, alas, it did not fit. Not quite enough room to fit it over the jam nut. Shit balls.

By this time Mel had also arrived and he made a genius suggestion to get around the problem.

Remember the proper tool I posted up earlier? Well, I made my own. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you....













Ghetto Spec Honda Valve Clearance Adjustment Tool of Destiny!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/dc97b8c2.jpg

Awesome isn't it. Well it worked so I don't care!

Put it all back together, gave Baz a reach around for driving all the way up here (he doesn't remember this as I asked him to sniff a suspicious hanky first) and then started the car up waiting for it to spit it's valve train out of the exhaust.

But 'lo, she started fine first time and now sounds nice and quiet. Took her for a test drive that evening and all seems well, much smoother throughout the rev range and seemingly better on fuel too. Will know for sure by the end of this week :)

That's it for now folks.

Next week's instalment will be the awesomeness of rebushing. That should involve less wurdz and moar picharz hopefully. Can't wait to get it all done as have heard very positive things about how much better a DC2 feels after being done and I already think it's fairly awesome now!

[MEL]

Genius :D

Glad you got it all sorted :thumbs:

[Pablo13]

Nice write up :D

Loving the


Ghetto Spec Honda Valve Clearance Adjustment Tool of Destiny!!!


:notworthy ;)

[Delboy]

Cheers chaps :)

Pabs, I've put your ratchet spanner in my glove box. Remind me at HWH and I'll give it back to you :thumbs:

In other news, I cleaned out my IACV as the idle was very low cold or hot. It was covered in shite and cleaning it has made a huge difference to cold idle and the revs no longer drop right off when stopping.

However, when coming to rest now the revs fluctuate a couple of times before steadying out. I also had to turn the idle screw to max adjustment to get the base idle right, which can't be right surely?

This was all pre valve clearances by the way so its not that :smash:

Any ideas?

[Delboy]

Right, hooj update ahoy!

Yesterday was a day I'd been looking forward to for a long time, fully rebushing the Teg!

I had put the wheels in motion a few months back, buying the hard race bush kit pictured in my last update and also getting hold of another set of DC2 suspension arms to have cleaned up, powder coated and get the new bush treatment so that when the day came it was just a 'simple' case of swapping everything over.... 'Simple'.

Anyway, I'm not foolish enough to think for a minute that I have the time, knowledge or equipment to tackle the whole job on the road by myself. So I enlisted the help of the friendly bald man in Kent, otherwise known as Dal, to provide his awesome mechanical services for the day.

It was an early start and I arrived at Dal's for about 8.45, where the important first task of consuming a Maccy D's breakfast was undertaken first and foremost.

Then the Teg went in the air, ready to have her undercarriage completely and utterly violated.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06965.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06967.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06966.jpg

And a few before shots:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06956.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06957.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06958.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06960.jpg

Not long later and the NSF was looking like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06961.jpg

Dal was very excited about using the 'Tooooool of the weeeeeeeeeeek' which was an inner Track Rod End removal tool. I forgot to get a picture, but it was awesome and basically looked like Robocop's penis enlarger.

I digress.

This was the pile of awesomeness waiting to go onto the car. The combination of my numpty picachure taking skills and the workshop lighting makes them look orange. They're actually red. Red arms on a Type-R, oh yes, you can all pick yourself up off the floor now you've finished being shocked by my epic originality.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06962.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06963.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06964.jpg

Dal got cracking and in the meantime, some other people who appear to have no homes to go to on a Saturday arrived. Oni refused to dance, even when Pabs arrived with some b-boy choons blasting out and with the cardboard on the floor begging for some head spinning, body popping actions. He's a cool cucumber that one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06977.jpg

Everyone's favourite vagrant:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06973.jpg

And some cnut turned up in a rollerskate:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/DSC06969.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/DSC06970.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/DSC06971.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/DSC06972.jpg

Love ya really Pabs and the car was looking cracking yesterday too.

Once I'd finished wasting batteries in my camera, it turned out Dal had been busy and the NSF was now looking like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06989.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06990.jpg

Don't panic, the ARB droplink was done up later and they along with the ARB pivot bushes are on my to do list too as they are looking well past their best.

The OSF went without a hitch and Dal was flying through that side having found the knack working on the other side.

I have some red calliper paint, which I will be using to paint the callipers (obviously) soon and also plan to wire brush and paint the hub carrier with it while I'm there (not so obvious) to help it match the rest of the new arms a bit better.

So with both sides sorted up front, it was on to the rear:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC06997.jpg

Old RTA

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07000.jpg

New RT... OMG MY EYES!!!!!! ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH JESUS IT'S SO 'KING BRIGHT!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07002.jpg

Starting to build it up, using new OE RTA bushes rather than the hard race ones. This is because these bushes are designed to have some movement in them as the honda rear suspension set up is very clever and effectively has a passive variable toe setup, change the toe of the rear wheels depending on wheel load etc which helps to keep the car stable whilst also allowing better turn in on tighter bends.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07004.jpg

The day was moving on

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07001.jpg

And the light started to fail at this point so not many more pictures of it all on:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07008.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/DSC07011.jpg

We then changed the brake fluid over for my Motul RBF 660, torqued everything up as per the manual with the suspension under load, popped the wheels on and she was ready for a road test.

Overall the day went well. Unfortunately due to the pressed nature of the rear lower arms and the additional thickness created by the powder coat, the rear lower arms pinched a bit when the bushes were pressed in, so it was necessary to massage them out a bit which marked them (but you can't see it with it all bolted up anyway).

Other than that there were some moments where Dal looked like he never wanted to see a powder coated arm ever again when some bolts wouldn't bite the threads because of the powder coat.

All problems overcome though and I can't thank Dal enough for his excellent, methodical work, patience and time (he was there until 10.30 at night doing this for me). So cheers dude, much love as always.

And the test drive....

Well... frankly the car now feels like a bag of shit.

It's in serious need of alignment, which hopefully will be happening within the next week or so and then I am sure it will be fine, but for now there is almost zero steering feel, no self centring of the steering and almost no front end traction (or at least it feels that way)

Everything is certainly taughter now, with no knocks or bangs or groans etc so from that perspective everything is great.

I believe the problems are due to the front wheels having some epic toe in going on, even though we were careful to put the new TRE's in place with the same number of turns as the originals, so I can only assume the new inner TREs are slightly longer.

Once she is all aligned I will report back with a finished verdict on how much of a difference this job has made.

As always, thanks for reading and hopefully more next week :thumbs:

[Pablo13]

Yay I'm not alone, fit loads of new stuff and it feels worse :) Some alignment may be needed for me too.

[yoji]

loving the build , keep up the good work ;)

[zornyan]

Lovely work as always del, if you're ever stuck for space to work mate I've got a workshop in Colchester you're more than welcome to use (just drop us a txt)

Gotta say I do think these sound and look the bollocks, (goes ok to ;) ) and I think a pass ride is required when I next see you at a meet!

Reckon tracking is you're issue, tbh mate my s13 was chewing tyres and all over the place, got proper 4 wheel alignment at a place near me an transformed it! Since all the components have been off everything is more than likely way out :)

[MEL]

Vagrant :eek: Cheeky cnut :whip: :D

Good to hear it's all made a difference, you're playing taxi for the next wharf meet then ;) :)

[Daz]

Nice work Delboy, or should I say Dal :p.

[Delboy]

Vagrant :eek: Cheeky cnut :whip: :D

Good to hear it's all made a difference, you're playing taxi for the next wharf meet then ;) :)

:D

Happy to dude :) as long as my wheels are pointing the right way by then :wack:


Nice work Delboy, or should I say Dal :p.

Dal is awesome :nod:

I made tea and passed things/lifted stuff :smash:

[alanjuggler]

good write up chap :D

if you're in the mood for some pikey alignment as a temporary measure, get some string, spanners for the track rod inners and a volunteer to help. :D

[Delboy]

Cheers fella :)

There is a guide on the ITR forum for how to do it with string etc, so if I get stuck I'll do it that way until I can get it checked again.

[Delboy]

So today I took the car to have a full four wheel laser alignment at Jet Wheel & Tyre in Rayleigh and Arry came along for the ride.

The service at Jet was first rate, Darren the manager there seems to know his onions and is a thoroughly nice chap to boot.

They had previously aligned the car when it was in Arry's ownership and as I was more than happy with how the car behaved then it seemed sensible to go back there.

Anyway, here are some pics of the car on the ramp (only phone pics unfortunately, forgot my camera).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/e4eb749e.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/7f3ffdd4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/d2528ae6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/b70cf166.jpg

Everything went well, apart from there seems to be something wrong with my rear (oo-er).

The adjustment was maxed out and still left the toe out of spec as below (also note the comedy spec the front toe was before the adjustment, I'm not kidding when I say it was squealing in a straight line on the workshop floor on it's way to the ramp :lol:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/b1414927.jpg

I'm really stuck as to what is causing this. At first we thought maybe the compensator arms had been put on the wrong sides of the car, but the manual says they are symmetrical so that rules that out.

None of the arms are obviously bent in any way, also I think it would be seriously unfortunate for arms on both sides of the car to be that out of shape.

Anyone have any ideas about whether anything else we could have fitted incorrectly might have thrown out the alignment like this?

The car was fine before as illustrated in the previous alignment:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/80cb54d8.jpg

So the difference has to have been caused by something we changed with the rebush, which is either the bushes themselves or the arms (all arms were swapped for ones from another car).

Once I've found the cause of the problem I'll be heading back to Darren to finish off the alignment and get it to spec, so any help appreciated :)

Even though the rear is out of spec, the car feels excellent now. Very tight, the steering is nicely weighted and it does seem to grip better than it did before the rebush.

So overall, rebush and alignment come highly recommended from me :thumbs:

[Pablo13]

I'd get your old rear arms painted up and stick them on :nod:

At least she is feeling better to drive :)

[Delboy]

As much as that plan is the logical one, I don't like it one bit!

I'm going to have a bit of a dig around and see what I can find. The arms that are on there aren't bent so there must be something else going on.

[CamInHead]

It's the bushes on the trailing arms. It's always those damn bushes. I'd be inclined to flip them regardless, ballache as it is.

[Delboy]

Do you know what it is about them that causes the issue?

We pressed them in to the same depth as the old ones and were careful to make sure they were sat at the right angle too.

They are directional too and were installed the right way up.

Am tempted to just get some adjustable toe links and dial it out that way, but kind of feel I'm just masking the issue!

[Delboy]

Well, I've now covered about 200 miles since the alignment and I can 100% confirm the car sticks like a Guinness poo to a fluffy blanket :nod:

And that's with the rear still out of spec as no joy solving that yet :(

The rebush has definitely improved grip levels, or maybe just feel so I feel more confident to luzz it around corners a bit more! My drop links are shafted too so there is yet more room for improvement ;)

I'm tempted to just grab some adjustable compensator arms to allow me to dial out the rear toe problem, but I can't help feeling that's just hiding the problem even if it would effectively work.

Thoughts?

In other news, my car obviously finally decided it felt left out not having a soggy boot (common Teg fault) and has started letting water in!

Got back to the car tonight after work and it was steamed up like sauna but not as warm or relaxing. Check under the boot carpet and sure enough, wheel well is damp.

The drivers side rear light has been condensating for a while so I thought the seal was probably on its way. I'll remove both at the weekend and seal up with some Vaseline (yes Daz, I'm applying vaseline to my rear) or similar for now until I can grab new gaskets :)

[raseri]

Be sure to get OEM gaskets!

And your car is awesome! Have you considered K-swapping? :)

[Delboy]

Maybe 6 months then, but I highly doubt he'll have it any longer than that :)

Just had to quote the above...

In your face Ghazoobe!! :p


Be sure to get OEM gaskets!

And your car is awesome! Have you considered K-swapping? :)

I will mate, don't worry and thank you for the comments :)

I have thought about the K-Swap but I a) really can't afford it and b) am trying to keep the car largely stock.

If the B18 ever goes bang I'd give it some more thought though :nod:

I've just ordered some adjustable compensator arms... Screw it, I'm sorting my toe issue the easy/lazy way :smash:

[sxbaz]

got toe dellage?

[EMENEAR]

Looking good! Pablos is looking damn clean too :)

[Delboy]

Cheers Emenear, she's getting there (or rather back to there as she was fine until I got her!!)


got toe dellage?

Indeed I do Baz, indeed I do - or at least the functionality is there now :smash:

As mentioned before, I ordered some adjustable compensator arms and these arrived last Thursday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/c69aaa2d.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/7851c859.jpg

They were pretty cheap and they look it to be honest, complete with random unknown Chinese name proudly stamped on them - Gau Dong Lih or something :wack:

But, they seem sturdy enough, the welds are galvanised and they'll do for now!

Popped back down to Dal's on Saturday and, rather shockingly, got my hands dirty!

After re-examining the rear LCAs I'm fairly sure they will be what is throwing the toe out. However, I did not have the time or inclination to remove them and swap the bushes to the old arms.

The car is driving and riding superbly, so I decided to just fit my new toe links and dial out the toe that way. If it becomes a problem or I'm at a loose end down the line I'll still have my original arms to fall back on :)

Fitting the toe links was pretty straight forward, unbolting them from the chassis and the RTA and then unbolting the RTA bush from the chassis to allow enough movement to get the toe link off.

In true Haynes style, refitting was a reversal of removal, just making sure to set the new arms to the same length as the old ones (for now) so I didn't throw anything out more than it already was! Luckily Pabs was on hand to assist with lining the RTA bush back up with the mounting holes as I was struggling on my own.

It was dark when I finished so no fitted pics I'm afraid, will grab some at the alignment session, which is taking place on Sat back at Jet Wheel & Tyre in Rayleigh :)

While down at Dal's I decided to tackle my leaky boot too.

Now, I know I said I was going to use OE gaskets, but bugger me £60 for two tiny bits of foam was hard to swallow. So I tried out an alternative.

Doing some digging, I found a thread where some chap had replaced his light gasket with one he made from.... Wait for it.... A Halfords camping mat. Yes, you did read that correctly!

At £6.99 for a whole mat, it was about 10x cheaper, so I decided it was worth a shot!

First step was to remove the light, it was without doubt the drivers side one as it was full of water (I could have put a goldfish in there!).

So, out it came, water emptied and light heated with a heat gun for a while to try and dry it out (still some moisture in there so will stick it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days when I can).

While I was doing the heat gunning, I appointed Baz as chief engineer in charge of gasket design and production and he got to work.

It was simply a case of using the old gasket as a template and cutting it out. Et voila!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/71761c7f.jpg

In case you can't tell, the one on the right is OEM :wack:

The new one was quite a bit thicker, but once all bolted up it compressed nicely and you can't tell.

I then cleared the small pond from my spare wheel well, dried everything off and put the rear trim back. Job done.

I'll let you know if it worked next time it rains :thumbs:

I didn't do the passenger side at this point as the gasket on that side looked fresh and fairly new, if it's not broke don't fix it!

Turns out my new roll of Halfords gasket was useful for another car that was there that day, so always keep a camping mat handy :smash:

That's it again for now guys, more at the weekend after the alignment session :)

[Si]

Wow, I think there's a standard fit list of DC2 issues!

- Leaking rear lights: Check (solved with silicon sealant as refused to pay the £60 :wack: )
- creak and clunk from the rear - check (haven't done anything about it yet :o )
- clunk on/off throttle, and when dumping clutch - check (really should sort that...)

Do you also have the tinkly buzz from the gear stick at around 4k?!

[S3 1MDl]

Are you planning to track the car more? If so i would seriously consider some camber arms (proper non-allen key ones) - you would be amazed what -2.5 at the front does.

[Delboy]

Wow, I think there's a standard fit list of DC2 issues!

- Leaking rear lights: Check (solved with silicon sealant as refused to pay the £60 :wack: )
- creak and clunk from the rear - check (haven't done anything about it yet :o )
- clunk on/off throttle, and when dumping clutch - check (really should sort that...)

Do you also have the tinkly buzz from the gear stick at around 4k?!

Leaky lights are very common :nod:

I don't have a creak or clunk from the rear though, just squiffy alignment!

The clunk from the front during gear changes will be your engine mounts :nod: prob the two torque mounts and rear mount, get the energy inserts as they made a world of difference on mine dude :thumbs:

Re the buzz from the gear stick, are you married (not as odd as it sounds!) I notice one from time to time then realise it's just my wedding ring resting on it :wack:


Are you planning to track the car more? If so i would seriously consider some camber arms (proper non-allen key ones) - you would be amazed what -2.5 at the front does.

I will be doing the odd track day, but nothing too hardcore as she's my daily too. To be honest I'm yet to find the limits of the stock chassis, so I don't feel the need to go mad yet.

When/if I start to reach those limits on a regular basis then I'll think about adjustable bits and pieces :)

Out of interest, what other camber arms are there? I've only ever seen the allen key ones, which do look like you'd be asking for trouble!

[Delboy]

Went back to Darren at Jet Wheel & Tyre in Rayleigh yesterday aaaaaaaand....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/bd55f003.jpg

We're back where we should be :)

The car feels so much better now, it drove fine before but now it's back to how it used to be in terms of inspiring confidence, with the advantage of fresh bushes making it even better.

So now everything is sorted, I can 110% recommend a rebush if you want the most from an aging DC2, no matter how tight you may think it feels.

I can also confirm that my boot remains puddle free, hooray!

Next update will hopefully involve the fitting of my new discs and pads and possibly renewing my fuel filter :)

[arry]

Nice one mate :)

[Pablo13]

Straight wheels and puddle free :eek:

:wack: :D

[Delboy]

Well, they didn't stay straight for long Pabs :wack:

Had a knocking noise start from the front drivers side over the last couple of days, only while turning over bumps etc.

I was going to leave it until the weekend to check, as I thought it would be the perished drop links but ended up off work today so thought I'd look now.... and I am very glad I did!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/d69336ef.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/9dd413de.jpg

They have only covered about 400 miles of regular road use, they were fitted correctly with the supplied circlips seated correctly also.

The circlips are still under the arm (although they've been pushed down past the boot so they are now sat on top of the hub upright).

It looks like the circlips simply gave way and allowed the ball joints to pop out of the arms.

I've contacted the seller to see what he is willing to do about it. The parts had a 12 month warranty, so lets see if it's honoured.

I'm not happy, not least because I need the car to get to and from work and now have no means of doing so until this is fixed but also as I am epically skint right now and really can't afford for this shit to happen :(

But on the plus side, at least I'm still alive :wack:

[MEL]

WTF! bummer dude :(

Hope you get the part replaced

[Delboy]

Well, the seller was straight up about it, said he didn't think it was the part but offered a refund or replacement.

I replied asking if they had seen any other failures, if not I'd take it as bad luck and have a replacement pair. If so I'll have the refund.

He replied saying that he's sure the parts are fine but he'd rather refund me... Read into that what you will I guess :wack:

So now I need to find an alternative pair of upper ball joints. Anyone have any ideas?

[Pablo13]

:eek:

Are those budget Taiwanese jobbies? You could always go see Mr H, at least it will fit the hole propperly.

[Delboy]

They were cheapy eBay ones yes.

Mr H doesn't sell upper ball joints seperately, only complete upper arms. Seems everyone else is the same. I've found some blueprint upper arms to replace these with now.

You say about fitting the hole properly, but they had to be pressed in, they weren't loose. My lower ones were quite loose but they've been fine.

I'm now shitting a brick about the lower ones :(

[alanjuggler]

was there paint on the mating surface? just pondering if it caused a not quite perfect interference fit and under constant bashing, the circlip failed.

[Delboy]

There would have been yes, so you could be right.

Hopefully once the new arms are on I'll be able to enjoy some trouble free motoring for a while.

[sxbaz]

ferkin 'ell, it doesnt rain, it pours!

Hmmm i wonder if mr honda sells complete arms for this reason and because he can bend u over a little further without lube.

[p.nicholas]

Daz's ball joints made an awful noise when pushed them out with the flypress at work

[Delboy]

And we're good again - hopefully for longer than a week or two this time :wack:

Picked up my replacement arms earlier, massive thanks to Mrs Nicholas for taking me to get them :thumbs:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/019bb81a.jpg

Turns out they are First Line parts, not Blueprint. I'm sure they're made in the same place anyway.

How balljoints should look:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/14221c43.jpg

And with my Hardrace pivot bushes swapped over:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/998145b9.jpg

Has completely ruined my colour scheme but I couldn't give a sweaty left testicle as long as the car is drivable at the mo!!

And, thankfully, she is :D

In what was one of the most pleasurable, trouble free jobs I've ever undertaken on any car (the joy of removing parts only fitted a couple of weeks ago!), I swapped the new arms on, torqued it all up and went for a test drive.

All seems well, no knocks or rattles and she's driving and braking straight as an arrow. I'm guessing I should probably get my alignment rechecked now, so I'll get that booked in (again!) at some point soon.

Properly paranoid about the lower balljoints still, but I checked them properly while I was under there and they seem good with no signs of the circlips giving up yet.

Hopefully that will be it for major dramas and the next update will hopefully involve me (finally) fitting my discs and pads :)

[arry]

How's it going Del?

[30PSI]

Is this for sale yet?






:wack:

[arry]

Is this for sale yet?






:wack:

It'll be a year in February, so it can surely only be another few months..... :D

[Delboy]

Cheeky feckers :p not for sale yet Martin, other than for the special price I quoted you last HWH :D

Going alright thanks Arry, back in for alignment number three on Saturday and hopefully we're then good for a while! Front is feeling a bit light of late, unsure if that's the recent drop in temps showing up the KU31's or if it's the alignment being a touch out following the new upper arms being fitted. Should know on sat :)

Just need to save for new front tyres now as they'll be needing doing soon and the Exalto's are now £116 a corner :eek:

[Delboy]

Well, it's not right, again.

Front end, again.

Fed up, again.

:(

Had it aligned on sat for the first time since fitting the new upper arms and it felt good, best it's felt in a while.

On way home today though I was increasingly aware that the front was feeling vague. Not wandering and cornering ok, just felt a bit numb. Then as I got closer to home I became aware of a speed related clicking/more of a knocking/clunking at low speed under light braking. In a straight line only, say on the approach to a junction.

No noises when turning or accelerating that I can tell.

Seriously bored of this now. I wish I'd just left it alone to be totally honest as its been so long since the car felt good I've forgotten just how much fun it actually was :(

Getting it up on Dal's ramp one night this week to see if we can spot anything obviously untoward.

First suspects were the lower balljoints as I'm nervous about those following my upper balljoint experience, but they seem to be in place and no sign of them having moved/been dislodged.

Will let you all know how it goes.

[Mark]

Check the wheel nuts mate. Its odd for something to go so quick like that :nod:

[Delboy]

Just checked them. All fine.

Not sure if it was the lighting or not, but drivers wheel appeared to have toe out and passenger wheel was straight though. I did dry steer it full lock right and then back to centre when I was looking over it earlier though, without engine running. I'm wondering if those track rod ends I bought are shit and the ball joints are flopping around.

[Delboy]

Right, drama over hopefully.

The noise turned out not to be speed related, instead seemingly more terrain/incline related.

Got it up on the ramp this evening (thanks Dal :thumbs:) and everything is nice and toight front and rear except...........

The drop links and ARB bushes.

I was thinking of putting them on my Chrimbo list anyway so I'll get them ordered, fitted and see how she feels then.

Once they're done I only have the shocks/springs left to replace under the car!

[Mark]

Well thats not too bad then :thumbs:

[arry]

Always the same with suspension; uprate one bit and it just emphasises the slop in others.

[Delboy]

Probably right there Arry, I suspect everything else being renewed has accelerated the wear on the already pretty worn drop links etc.

The new ones arrived today and I think they tried to deliver the D bushes too, so that just leaves the rear ARB end bushes to get and I'm all set to get it all on :)

[Delboy]

Update time!

Today, after some grief getting the right parts delivered to me, I got my ARB bushes and drop links swapped over for new ones.

The rear I had already removed as went to fit the parts last weekend only to find I had the wrong D bushes, but I took the opportunity to swap the end bushes over while it was off. This was a piece of cake thanks to the thoughtful secret Santa gift my work colleagues bought me:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/46d3d55d.jpg

It said it was rubber safe so I figured it would be perfect for helping me slip those bushes into place :D

And with the new D bushes on:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/ff8b52c9.jpg

No pics of the front, but did those too and we did have to cut one of the drop links off as it was stuck fast to the ARB.

Seems to have made a nice difference, car is cornering much flatter now and the strange knocking noises have stopped :D

I do still think the front feels a bit vague compared to how I remember it being, but not sure if it's just me. May have to see if a local Teg owner wouldn't mind me having a go in their's and them have a go in mine to find out for sure.

While the car was on the ramp today, I took the opportunity to fit the Dixcel discs and pads I've had laying around since August.

Front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/8a9d2f61.jpg

And rear:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Sil1480/Teg/a3cf4b09.jpg

Still bedding in, but definitely stopping better than before :nod:

That's it for now, hopefully it for a while, although new tyres will be needed up front soon and I still need to sort out a wheel refurb and new bonnet and new OEM shocks so it's far from over!

[suj]

Lovely car dude, love these, my mate (who has OCD) had one, and it was so much fun :D

Also LOL @ anal lube hahahahahaha :D

[Delboy]

Now up for sale everyone.

Thread in the other vehicles for sale section.

As I've mentioned in that thread, please no piss taking about it. It's a sore subject.

[sxbaz]

. ........ It's a sore subject.


anal intimacy lubricant not up to the job then dude?