"The Mothership" - 1998 Civic - Maintenance Log

ctag

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I got new shift bushings yesterday. It was humid and rainy, but I went ahead and installed them.













Also got a new shift knob. Not sure how much I like it though, it's solid and screws on better than my last one, but isn't as ergonomic.


The bushings have done a lot to tighten "vertical" movement (towards or away from the dash), but horizontal movement while in gear is still pretty loose.
 

ctag

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As an update, the shift bushings are holding well, and all of the gears are much smoother now.



The oil leak around the valve cover is completely gone =) but it looks like there may still be a small leak somewhere else, as the dipstick read half today when I checked. It's possible that the car wasn't on level enough ground to get a viable reading..

And the seal on the passenger headlight apparently broke, the housing is fogging from the inside. I'm going to attempt to bake the seal shut again, slated for sometime this semester if I can find the time.

Thanks guys,
 


TokyoSkies

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As an update, the shift bushing are holding well, and all of the gears are much smoother now.



The oil leak around the valve cover is completely gone =) but it looks like there may still be a small leak somewhere else, as the dipstick read half today when I checked. It's possible that the car wasn't on level enough ground to get a viable reading..

And the seal on the passenger headlight apparently broke, the housing is fogging from the inside. I'm going to attempt to bake the seal shut again, slated for sometime this semester if I can find the time.

Thanks guys,
Keep it up man! Glad to see you're still workin on this.
 

mymmeryloss

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Bake it. Tear into it and re silicone it :what:
 


ctag

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Well, life has a way of happening doesn't it. I guess we'll put this thread to rest for a while and just wait to see when that cover comes back off.



Thanks again for all of the support guys, this isn't over yet!


**9/21/2013
That was stupid ambiguous, the car's going to be tarped for the next two semesters while I work on financial management and classes, that's all.
 
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ctag

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It's going to be a quiet summer, I tend to drive my car every Tuesday and Saturday; I bike to class and work.

Changed the oil today. 3.5Qt of high-mileage 10W30 and a Bosch DistancePlus 3312 filter. Car still grumbles like an old cat =)

The headlights need to be sanded/rubbed down and resealed about every month, so I'm going to start looking around to replace them.

For the little that I do drive, I'm pan-handled surprisingly often. I would rather be taken for a loop than turn down someone who genuinely needs my help, so I usually do what I can to assist. That said, earlier this month I had an awkward run-in with someone who was very obviously not needing my help. In response, I've put together a few kits of camping supplies and food to distribute (as opposed to money or purchasing something on the spot).

Supplies:


Sorted into bags:


In a crate to carry in car:


Anyway, I guess it's touch-and-go with my maintenance ambitions until I have the time and money ;)

Thanks,
-BBX
 
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jameswanser

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that's an awesome thing you're doing. Good for you. It's so easy to become jaded when dealing with people panhandling at street corners.
 

ctag

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Headlight Horror - Halloween Update

Ah, it's good to be back with a nice, technical write up; regardless of the recent hours of angst and anxiety =)

I hope you all have been well. Regardless that this is really just a glorified maintenance log, I'm appreciative to have your comments when I go back through and re-read the thread.

Tonight I made some lousy mistakes. Please keep in mind that this isn't a guide, since I omit some information (both voluntarily and by mistake). If you have suggestions or comments, please send them my way!

Off and on for the past few months (longer than a year), both my trunk and headlights have been collecting water. It seems obvious to me that since I used the same cruddy silicon caulk on both the headlights and trunk, that it was re-flowing in the summer heat and opening gaps. I'd put off the repair job, since the leaks seemed sporadic and would sometimes heal after a hot day, but eventually it got to the point that I became concerned the humidity would damage the cabin's fabric and headliner. This evening's goal was to fix both leaks with some black RTV sealant.

The existing repaired trunk seams:








The existing repaired headlights:






I began by drilling three holes in the deepest areas of the wheel well. This is a preventative measure, in case standing water ever makes its way to the trunk again.









Then I started tackling the existing caulk on the trunk's metal seams. I wanted to get rid of all of the original silicon, because I hadn't found where the new leak was originating from, and wanted the RTV seams to be tight. As luck would have it, the silicon was very combative, and took a lot of effort to remove just most of it. The pictures I took of the cleaned seams were overexposed, but a lot of paint came off with the old caulk :???:

While the seams were drying from being scrubbed with mineral spirits and simple green, I went on to toy with the headlights:













With the headlight assembly warming up in the oven, I went back to apply the RTV sealant. To my dismay, the mineral spirits had buggered up the seams, and on two of the areas, the RTV would not find purchase, and instead sloughed off to the side. So I caulked what I could, and decided to revisit the rest with sandpaper at some point.








Apon returning to the headlight, disaster had struck. I was impatient, and put the headlight in the oven while it was warming up, and the glowing element melted the bottom of the headlight assembly :cry:



My good friends at the shop sharing their sympathy over my misfortune.




After picking up the little fragments of my ego, and waiting out an excruciatingly long 3-hour oven clean to bake off the rest of the melted headlight, I sawed off the new appendages and wired what's left of the assembly back into my poor little mothership.









Not only does the headlight still work (until I buy the replacement), it's also pretty hard to tell it's broken.





And some pictures of the shop+car, what would have made a nice closing had I accomplished anything useful.





Despite these setbacks, I have big plans in motion and look forward to discussing them with you in the coming months.

Take care,
-BBX/ctag
 
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XpL0d3r

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Sweet garage! And you're right, can't even tell there's an issue with the headlight.

Looks good! :thumbs up
 

TokyoSkies

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Good job man! Great attention to detail with this clean-up-build, as usual. Bummer about the headlight, but it will give you an excuse to upgrade em to CTR-style lights :cool:
I'm so jealous of that shop! Wish I had something like that (although, my roommate is moving out, and he took over the entire friggin garage, so I'll be getting that back very soon).
 

ctag

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You all are awesome :D

I wasn't aware of 3M Seam Sealer, by far looks like the correct choice for this job.

I like the CTR style headlights, but I also want to look into projector headlights some more. There are some affordable projectors available, but I'm not sure of the quality/worth.

TokyoSkies, good luck with the garage takeover :thumbs up

I wanted to take some more pictures today, but I got home from work late and now it's dark and rainy. Will hopefully update soon.
 

mymmeryloss

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You all are awesome :D



I wasn't aware of 3M Seam Sealer, by far looks like the correct choice for this job.



I like the CTR style headlights, but I also want to look into projector headlights some more. There are some affordable projectors available, but I'm not sure of the quality/worth.



TokyoSkies, good luck with the garage takeover :thumbs up



I wanted to take some more pictures today, but I got home from work late and now it's dark and rainy. Will hopefully update soon.

Please dont get projectors...
 

ctag

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Bergi85,

I'm confident that I'd somehow screw up buying projectors, especially since I'm looking at the low end of the spectrum. Plus, I've read enough posts from mymmeryloss to take his advice without a fuss.

And your car looks like a hell of a lot of fun =)
 


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