So the rust monster that is my ED is clearly going to require some big bucks to straighten out the body, or I'm going to have to learn how to weld. In any event, it's going to get a swap and boost, although it runs fine right now except for some oil consumption. To make a long story short: It's a long-term project.
I wanted something that looked decent NOW, and that would be a little more comfortable for driving while I'm working (I'm a real estate appraiser and I do 24-30k miles a year). I wanted less rust, a more compliant suspension and to have a/c, as it's not too professional to show up at people's houses for inspections dripping with sweat. Michigan summers can be hot and humid and not having a/c was getting old. So I set up Craigsnotification on my phone and I'd been watching for a 90-00 hatch that wasn't too expensive. I think I'm a hatchaholic lol. Anyway.
Enter the EH.
The listing was for a 92 hatch with a D16Y7 swap out of a 97 that couldn't be driven down the street because it would overheat, and the girl selling it said it needed a radiator and probably a head gasket. The asking price was $750 and I ended up getting it for $600 after she didn't bite on my $500 offer. Nice girl, she clearly didn't want to let it go, but it needs quite a bit of love to bring it all the way back to great. I had it towed to my house Thursday afternoon. Enough words, let's get into the pics.
They're brother and sister, 91 & 92 Tahitian Green Pearl Clearcoat hatches that both have 205k miles on them (weird, right?):
Just the EH:
The interior is 8.5/10, the gal I bought it from took good care of it:
So this morning I decided I wanted to drive it by the end of the day, even though it hadn't been started in over a month. A couple of trips to two different parts stores and I picked up a radiator, upper and lower radiator hoses, a thermostat, some hose clamps, a bottle of fuel system cleaner and manuals for both 92-95 and 96-00 models. Spent $160 total. I was hoping like hell it wasn't a dead water pump or a blocked heater core, so I basically decided to replace all the easy stuff lol.
Up she went:
A peek up her skirt, oy, what a dirty girl XD:
Put the hose in the radiator and water pretty much sprayed out of several holes from behind the fan, as well as leaking like crazy out of the bottom. Felt pretty good about my purchases at the parts store. Then I took out the old radiator and, well, pretty much danced around my driveway:
Yeah, it got hot. I was pretty sure that I had nailed the issue. I don't think radiators work very well when they're missing a third of their cooling fins. Note the giant hole melted in the overflow tank (which was wrapped in duct tape). Like I said: It got hot lol. The girl had bought another overflow tank from a junkyard but never installed it and left it for me in the trunk. It took some full-power yanks to get the old one pulled up and out of the slot, and I ran to the store for a bottle brush to get the ancient gunk out of the junkyard replacement part.
After I pulled the old radiator and overflow tank, out came the hoses and thermostat, then did a little stage one wipedown. Put in the thermostat, dropped in the radiator, replaced the overflow tank, hooked up the new hoses and voila:
Looks slightly better, no? (Yeah yeah yeah, I didn't have the lower hose in when I took the pic, trust me, it's in there now ) I put the splash guard back on the bottom and hooked up some jumper cables. Ran muh Jeep for about 5 minutes and cranked the Civic... no go. Rotated but no fire. Damn. So I thought maybe because it had sat for a month I should take it off the jackstands, let it sit level and try again. Success. Sat in the driveway with a s***-eating grin on my face, letting it idle and watching the temp gauge. Looked good after ten minutes so I ran her on the freeway for twenty miles:
All systems nominal, Captain. It pulls to the right and shimmies a little above 75mph, but I think two new front tires (the ones on there are nearly to the wear bars but the rears look good) and an alignment will do it right. It's got some issues too, but it's just annoying stuff, nothing major. The door handles are sticky and need to be replaced. The door locks don't work from the inside. The hood latch sticks and needs to be replaced. The side view mirror is all peeled from where "someone threw a powdered donut at it" (lol, I love owner stories). The cigarette lighter outlet doesn't work and the ashtray appears to be so packed with butts it won't open lmao. There's a little bit of rust along the edges in all the usual (Michigan) places, as well as a small hole about the width of a fat pencil, four or five inches long above one rear wheel well. Most of it is just superficial stuff, surface rust or along edges. Stuff that doesn't require welding. Win. Next thing up now that it's running is an interior cleaning, removal of the dealer sticker on the back and the parking stickers on the windshield. Gotta charge the a/c too, make sure that's up to par, and like I said, two new tires and an alignment.
Then, body work and fun upgrades. EX/Si gauge cluster, intake & exhaust, nice soft drop sport springs and dampers along the lines of a stock ride but with less body roll (suggestions anyone?). Perhaps rims, or it may just get the 14" steelies off of the ED when I get 15s for that one. We'll see who ends up with what rims though lol. At the most extreme, I may use that Z6 head I got for the ED mini-me project before I ended up buying that complete Z6 motor. Then, I will proceed to drive the f***ing s*** out of it. I'm excited.
I've gotta watch out, my wife eyef***ed the s*** out of it while I rolled it out of the driveway for the first time, and when I came back she demanded a ride and while we drove kept talking about how much she liked it XD
I love it, what do ya'll think???
I wanted something that looked decent NOW, and that would be a little more comfortable for driving while I'm working (I'm a real estate appraiser and I do 24-30k miles a year). I wanted less rust, a more compliant suspension and to have a/c, as it's not too professional to show up at people's houses for inspections dripping with sweat. Michigan summers can be hot and humid and not having a/c was getting old. So I set up Craigsnotification on my phone and I'd been watching for a 90-00 hatch that wasn't too expensive. I think I'm a hatchaholic lol. Anyway.
Enter the EH.
The listing was for a 92 hatch with a D16Y7 swap out of a 97 that couldn't be driven down the street because it would overheat, and the girl selling it said it needed a radiator and probably a head gasket. The asking price was $750 and I ended up getting it for $600 after she didn't bite on my $500 offer. Nice girl, she clearly didn't want to let it go, but it needs quite a bit of love to bring it all the way back to great. I had it towed to my house Thursday afternoon. Enough words, let's get into the pics.
They're brother and sister, 91 & 92 Tahitian Green Pearl Clearcoat hatches that both have 205k miles on them (weird, right?):
Just the EH:
The interior is 8.5/10, the gal I bought it from took good care of it:
So this morning I decided I wanted to drive it by the end of the day, even though it hadn't been started in over a month. A couple of trips to two different parts stores and I picked up a radiator, upper and lower radiator hoses, a thermostat, some hose clamps, a bottle of fuel system cleaner and manuals for both 92-95 and 96-00 models. Spent $160 total. I was hoping like hell it wasn't a dead water pump or a blocked heater core, so I basically decided to replace all the easy stuff lol.
Up she went:
A peek up her skirt, oy, what a dirty girl XD:
Put the hose in the radiator and water pretty much sprayed out of several holes from behind the fan, as well as leaking like crazy out of the bottom. Felt pretty good about my purchases at the parts store. Then I took out the old radiator and, well, pretty much danced around my driveway:
Yeah, it got hot. I was pretty sure that I had nailed the issue. I don't think radiators work very well when they're missing a third of their cooling fins. Note the giant hole melted in the overflow tank (which was wrapped in duct tape). Like I said: It got hot lol. The girl had bought another overflow tank from a junkyard but never installed it and left it for me in the trunk. It took some full-power yanks to get the old one pulled up and out of the slot, and I ran to the store for a bottle brush to get the ancient gunk out of the junkyard replacement part.
After I pulled the old radiator and overflow tank, out came the hoses and thermostat, then did a little stage one wipedown. Put in the thermostat, dropped in the radiator, replaced the overflow tank, hooked up the new hoses and voila:
Looks slightly better, no? (Yeah yeah yeah, I didn't have the lower hose in when I took the pic, trust me, it's in there now ) I put the splash guard back on the bottom and hooked up some jumper cables. Ran muh Jeep for about 5 minutes and cranked the Civic... no go. Rotated but no fire. Damn. So I thought maybe because it had sat for a month I should take it off the jackstands, let it sit level and try again. Success. Sat in the driveway with a s***-eating grin on my face, letting it idle and watching the temp gauge. Looked good after ten minutes so I ran her on the freeway for twenty miles:
All systems nominal, Captain. It pulls to the right and shimmies a little above 75mph, but I think two new front tires (the ones on there are nearly to the wear bars but the rears look good) and an alignment will do it right. It's got some issues too, but it's just annoying stuff, nothing major. The door handles are sticky and need to be replaced. The door locks don't work from the inside. The hood latch sticks and needs to be replaced. The side view mirror is all peeled from where "someone threw a powdered donut at it" (lol, I love owner stories). The cigarette lighter outlet doesn't work and the ashtray appears to be so packed with butts it won't open lmao. There's a little bit of rust along the edges in all the usual (Michigan) places, as well as a small hole about the width of a fat pencil, four or five inches long above one rear wheel well. Most of it is just superficial stuff, surface rust or along edges. Stuff that doesn't require welding. Win. Next thing up now that it's running is an interior cleaning, removal of the dealer sticker on the back and the parking stickers on the windshield. Gotta charge the a/c too, make sure that's up to par, and like I said, two new tires and an alignment.
Then, body work and fun upgrades. EX/Si gauge cluster, intake & exhaust, nice soft drop sport springs and dampers along the lines of a stock ride but with less body roll (suggestions anyone?). Perhaps rims, or it may just get the 14" steelies off of the ED when I get 15s for that one. We'll see who ends up with what rims though lol. At the most extreme, I may use that Z6 head I got for the ED mini-me project before I ended up buying that complete Z6 motor. Then, I will proceed to drive the f***ing s*** out of it. I'm excited.
I've gotta watch out, my wife eyef***ed the s*** out of it while I rolled it out of the driveway for the first time, and when I came back she demanded a ride and while we drove kept talking about how much she liked it XD
I love it, what do ya'll think???