When I was looking at the pics I was thinking I saw a roof rack...I like...lol...
1987 RT-AWD WAGOVAN build!!
- Thread starter EastCoastEK
- Start date
Yeah, dude. I was hoping to have the car done in time to use the roof rack on the wagon to hall the Christmas tree back to the house. The Xterra got to do it this year though. Maybe next year!
The rear diff. doesn't sit that low at all. This car could be slammed comfortably.
However, lowered suspension set-ups on the 4WD wagon are much more complicated. The 2WD wagons can receive all of the same aftermarket parts as the rest of the 84-87 Civc's/Crx's.
With the 4WD wagon, I CAN use the same stuff up front as the other civic's. But, on the rear, I would have to custom fab something, as the 4WD set-up is completely unique of any other Honda in the 80's. It's set-up for lighter off-road capabilities. It's actually pretty tough stuff, supposedly.
However, I could care less about hitting the trails. This baby is hitting the valet lane, and it needs a drop big time!
So, until I can shell out the dough to get a custom set-up fabbed in the rear, I'm just going to have a local shop heat my springs up to lower the car about 2.5 inches up front, and 3 inches in the rear. It won't be an optimal ride, I know. For now, though, it's the cheapest and easiest solution. I can always fix it up correctly later on.
Updates:
Sorry, no pics. It began to pour as soon as we got down today!
Billy came over yesterday, and we got the car put back together again. Everything is now back on. Billy does incredible engine work, and is great at cleaning everything up under the hood. I really could not have made it this far without him. VERY grateful!
Today, my in-law Alex came over and helped me to install the throttle cable bracket he fabed up. He did a wonderful job, and it looks
SUPER clean, while giving very little flex when revving, if any.
The car IS up and running now. However, we are not in the clear yet.
We played around with the engine a bunch before it started to pour, trying to smooth everything out. We are still experiencing a few "abnormalities" in performance, and I am hoping to get some advice from my fellow RPR members. If you know ANYTHING about Mikuni/Weber or any other sidedraft carb set-up ,than you probably know more than me! Please visit my thread below to give me some advice on the problems we are facing.
http://www.redpepperracing.com/forums/inde...showtopic=41561
Other than that, I got the Nardi Steering Wheel and Knob mounted up. I think they look and feel great!
I'll post pics on Monday.
Peace, DT
Sorry, no pics. It began to pour as soon as we got down today!
Billy came over yesterday, and we got the car put back together again. Everything is now back on. Billy does incredible engine work, and is great at cleaning everything up under the hood. I really could not have made it this far without him. VERY grateful!
Today, my in-law Alex came over and helped me to install the throttle cable bracket he fabed up. He did a wonderful job, and it looks
SUPER clean, while giving very little flex when revving, if any.
The car IS up and running now. However, we are not in the clear yet.
We played around with the engine a bunch before it started to pour, trying to smooth everything out. We are still experiencing a few "abnormalities" in performance, and I am hoping to get some advice from my fellow RPR members. If you know ANYTHING about Mikuni/Weber or any other sidedraft carb set-up ,than you probably know more than me! Please visit my thread below to give me some advice on the problems we are facing.
http://www.redpepperracing.com/forums/inde...showtopic=41561
Other than that, I got the Nardi Steering Wheel and Knob mounted up. I think they look and feel great!
I'll post pics on Monday.
Peace, DT
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Congrats on getting her back up and running. Can't wait for the pics on Monday.
Pics, as promised:
Just got my Thrush Turbo muffler and Magnaflow tip. Hoping to get the brakes bleed tomorrow, then off to the exhaust shop Wednesday!
Thanks for looking!
Just got my Thrush Turbo muffler and Magnaflow tip. Hoping to get the brakes bleed tomorrow, then off to the exhaust shop Wednesday!
Thanks for looking!
Nice man! Still looks like it's missin somethin.....
Drop and a roof rack? I dunno
Drop and a roof rack? I dunno
awesome man! looks good all put together! hows it drive?
Man...that wheel/knob looks great in there...any plans on putting some up to date electronics...possibly a hidden CD player/upgraded door speakers/4-channel amp...
Thanks, definitely not done yet!
Yeah, I'm going to try and get to a local shop to have the suspension adjusted to sit down about 3 more inches front and rear. That should set up the stance niclely, I think.
I'm keeping the OEM roof rack, so thats on there.
Thanks brother!
Hoping to drive it today, we'll see. I just have the front brakes left to bleed, and I"m off!
Can't wait to drive the wago. I will say,the carbs sound MEAN, almost like the car is camin', or something.
Of course, thats with an open header....
Whats up man! Thanks for the compliments on the wheel. I'll post up more interior pics soon.
Yeah, I had put some thought in to going with some more modern stuff at some point.
For now though, the OEM is just fine. The speakers are upgraded front and rear. Basic aftermarket stuff, nothing crazy.
I could use some more bass though!
However, the stock radio with the OEM EQ really does sound quite nice. The EQ's are nice, b/c they actually amplify the sound slightly, as well. For the 80's they are some pretty hot ish!
I would like to upgrade, but I don't want to kill the 80's vibe I"m trying to keep going, ya know?...
Merry Christmas to all!
Quick Update:
We drove the wagon out for it's first short drive this weekend!
The car handles much better, thanks to the new CV axles. I'm still hoping to get some new Energy bushings and an Ebay front tower bar shipped and installed next week though, that way I'll be ready for autocross in the spring!
We bleed the brakes, but made a shortcut not bleeding the rears, since we didn't put the new shoes in yet. We were hoping to be able to get away with it. This short-cut doesn't work! Way too much air still in the lines. I'll install the shoes and bleed the brakes PROPERLY, from the rear forward, on Monday.
The carbs are doing a little better now, and sound great with a little gas around 3000 RPM. I'm going REALLY easy on the engine for the first 1000 miles, until the head and clutch break in. Especially now, with the exhaust not connected. The carbs still need a good bit of work. I'm hoping they can identify any vac leaks at the shop, and get them in tip-top shape for me.
I also got the K&N Air Filters for the carbs in the mail yesterday. I think having these on the carbs will help A LOT. They are just taking in too much air! These filters are really high quality units, but are tough to install, due to the extremely limited clearance behind the carbs (in particular, the right carb, as the close-ness of the brake booster makes things OH SO fun!). I got really frustrated today. I had to step away. I will try to come back and complete this task tomorrow. I didn't think it would be so challenging. Getting them mounted is pretty tricky!
The car will be off to the shop on Monday morning.
They will be installing my exhaust: Dynomax Thrush Welded muffler; 2.5in tubing; finished off with a Magnaflow SS tip. It should be pretty "aggressive" sounding, to say the least. I originally bought a Thrush turbo, as the sound clips showed that it was much more quite than the Welded model. However, on further thought and research, I realized that it was only going to last for a few years, as it was rather cheaply made. The Thrush Welded, however, has much better construction, is ceramic coated, and will likely last the lifetime of the wagon. The exhaust shop told me that the Welded is also a good bit better flowing than the standard Turbo muffler. The Welded muffler WILL BE louder, though. However, I'm keeping the cat, as per, well....the law. I'm hoping this will help to tame down some of the sound of the Thrush Welded muffler a bit, and take away most, if not all, of the ricey-ness!
Also, I purchased a set of headers a few weeks back from another RPR member, Brian. The "Y" at the bottom of the headers is set back too far, and is hitting on the 4WD tranny case (another part fits EVERY other 3G Civic BUT the 4WD Wagon, you don't say?!). So, the exhaust shop will be moving the Y forward to clear the tranny, and extending the pipe/flange back further to meet the exhaust. So, I'll be losing the Si manifold, and once again, I'll be going with the 4-2-1 headers, in hopes of optimum flow.
Since I can't afford to have a custom coilover set-up fabbed up for the rear YET, they are going to heat my springs up to relax them a bit, and re-index my torsion bars for me. I'm hoping for around a 3-inch drop, front and back. I'm not too proud of this, as I usually like to do things "right". However, I also can't drive around with my current wheel gap. I just can't. I'm already over it! When I look at the wagon, I feel like Grandma hemmed my pants up twice as high as I asked her to.
Lastly, I'll have the car re-aligned later on this week, once all the new bushings are in place.
Alex, RPR member from New Zealand, has sent over JDM Shuttle black-housing lights, JDM corners, the rest of my JDM Fog light wiring/switch, a JDM Shuttle center console with door, and a Shuttle 1-PIECE front lip. He sent the 3-piece originally, but it DOES NOT fit a 86-87 Wagon. I need the 1-piece.
So, within a week or two, all of that will be installed, along with the little JDM sidemarkers that have been sitting in my closet for a month. I will be sourcing the 84-85 header panel to go along with the new lights this week. I'll have Maaco repaint it for me. They owe me some work for messing up the paint near my antenna a few months ago. I'll have them paint the header panel for me instead (for free, hopefully!), and then I'll just hit the area near the antenna with some touch up paint
I will also be painting my door and hatch jams at some point. Man, that's going to be a royal pain. NOT looking forward to it. I'll be doing it at home, with Duplicolor Wimbeldon White paint. I used this stuff to paint the underside of my hood, and it looks great! It's a near exact match to my exterior paint.
Also, every likes pics. I made some more progress on my door decals. I'll be sending these images to the vinyl shop here in town this week.
I started with this. I was just an image from a pic I took of the door prior to removing the faded decal:
About 15 minutes of work with some 4B lead and a ruler and I ended up with my final product for print:
I'll just make sure they enlarge this image to meet my original measurements done prior to removal, and we should have a decent vinyl replica. If anyone is interested, I'll try to get them to get me a copy of their exact print file, so that you can use if for your local vinyl shop.
That's all for now. I'll post pics on Tuesday of what goes down on Monday.
Thanks for looking!
Quick Update:
We drove the wagon out for it's first short drive this weekend!
The car handles much better, thanks to the new CV axles. I'm still hoping to get some new Energy bushings and an Ebay front tower bar shipped and installed next week though, that way I'll be ready for autocross in the spring!
We bleed the brakes, but made a shortcut not bleeding the rears, since we didn't put the new shoes in yet. We were hoping to be able to get away with it. This short-cut doesn't work! Way too much air still in the lines. I'll install the shoes and bleed the brakes PROPERLY, from the rear forward, on Monday.
The carbs are doing a little better now, and sound great with a little gas around 3000 RPM. I'm going REALLY easy on the engine for the first 1000 miles, until the head and clutch break in. Especially now, with the exhaust not connected. The carbs still need a good bit of work. I'm hoping they can identify any vac leaks at the shop, and get them in tip-top shape for me.
I also got the K&N Air Filters for the carbs in the mail yesterday. I think having these on the carbs will help A LOT. They are just taking in too much air! These filters are really high quality units, but are tough to install, due to the extremely limited clearance behind the carbs (in particular, the right carb, as the close-ness of the brake booster makes things OH SO fun!). I got really frustrated today. I had to step away. I will try to come back and complete this task tomorrow. I didn't think it would be so challenging. Getting them mounted is pretty tricky!
The car will be off to the shop on Monday morning.
They will be installing my exhaust: Dynomax Thrush Welded muffler; 2.5in tubing; finished off with a Magnaflow SS tip. It should be pretty "aggressive" sounding, to say the least. I originally bought a Thrush turbo, as the sound clips showed that it was much more quite than the Welded model. However, on further thought and research, I realized that it was only going to last for a few years, as it was rather cheaply made. The Thrush Welded, however, has much better construction, is ceramic coated, and will likely last the lifetime of the wagon. The exhaust shop told me that the Welded is also a good bit better flowing than the standard Turbo muffler. The Welded muffler WILL BE louder, though. However, I'm keeping the cat, as per, well....the law. I'm hoping this will help to tame down some of the sound of the Thrush Welded muffler a bit, and take away most, if not all, of the ricey-ness!
Also, I purchased a set of headers a few weeks back from another RPR member, Brian. The "Y" at the bottom of the headers is set back too far, and is hitting on the 4WD tranny case (another part fits EVERY other 3G Civic BUT the 4WD Wagon, you don't say?!). So, the exhaust shop will be moving the Y forward to clear the tranny, and extending the pipe/flange back further to meet the exhaust. So, I'll be losing the Si manifold, and once again, I'll be going with the 4-2-1 headers, in hopes of optimum flow.
Since I can't afford to have a custom coilover set-up fabbed up for the rear YET, they are going to heat my springs up to relax them a bit, and re-index my torsion bars for me. I'm hoping for around a 3-inch drop, front and back. I'm not too proud of this, as I usually like to do things "right". However, I also can't drive around with my current wheel gap. I just can't. I'm already over it! When I look at the wagon, I feel like Grandma hemmed my pants up twice as high as I asked her to.
Lastly, I'll have the car re-aligned later on this week, once all the new bushings are in place.
Alex, RPR member from New Zealand, has sent over JDM Shuttle black-housing lights, JDM corners, the rest of my JDM Fog light wiring/switch, a JDM Shuttle center console with door, and a Shuttle 1-PIECE front lip. He sent the 3-piece originally, but it DOES NOT fit a 86-87 Wagon. I need the 1-piece.
So, within a week or two, all of that will be installed, along with the little JDM sidemarkers that have been sitting in my closet for a month. I will be sourcing the 84-85 header panel to go along with the new lights this week. I'll have Maaco repaint it for me. They owe me some work for messing up the paint near my antenna a few months ago. I'll have them paint the header panel for me instead (for free, hopefully!), and then I'll just hit the area near the antenna with some touch up paint
I will also be painting my door and hatch jams at some point. Man, that's going to be a royal pain. NOT looking forward to it. I'll be doing it at home, with Duplicolor Wimbeldon White paint. I used this stuff to paint the underside of my hood, and it looks great! It's a near exact match to my exterior paint.
Also, every likes pics. I made some more progress on my door decals. I'll be sending these images to the vinyl shop here in town this week.
I started with this. I was just an image from a pic I took of the door prior to removing the faded decal:
About 15 minutes of work with some 4B lead and a ruler and I ended up with my final product for print:
I'll just make sure they enlarge this image to meet my original measurements done prior to removal, and we should have a decent vinyl replica. If anyone is interested, I'll try to get them to get me a copy of their exact print file, so that you can use if for your local vinyl shop.
That's all for now. I'll post pics on Tuesday of what goes down on Monday.
Thanks for looking!
Update:
So, on the start up to go the shop, I discovered the starter died. Figures!
This build has been filled with interesting events like these...
However, I was able to quickly source a new starter and solenoid at Auto Zone, and installed everything this morning.
I then drove it down to the shop, but got there a few hours later than planned.
Thus, the car will not be done until tomorrow afternoon. So, probably won't have pics to post
until this time on Wednesday.
I'll get them up as soon as I can though. Have a good day!
So, on the start up to go the shop, I discovered the starter died. Figures!
This build has been filled with interesting events like these...
However, I was able to quickly source a new starter and solenoid at Auto Zone, and installed everything this morning.
I then drove it down to the shop, but got there a few hours later than planned.
Thus, the car will not be done until tomorrow afternoon. So, probably won't have pics to post
until this time on Wednesday.
I'll get them up as soon as I can though. Have a good day!
Sounds good man...nice update...