rustyrex's beater build ***update on page 2 finally***

Post YOUR Hatchback here
 Reply

By rustyrex
- Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:07 pm #326935 All right guys, good news. Everything is delivered and sitting in my dining room. Bad news is, last night we got hit with about 2 inches of snow and the wind is blowing about 20-25 mph. So, the wind chill is right around 10 degrees. I love living 100 feet from the lake but i hate it even more. I am gonna try to atleast post some pics later today of the parts. The first thing I want to do is install the clutch and flywheel. But, that means i have to work with my garage door open. I have a heated garage and i dont really want to do that lol. I am gonna see if i can move the hatch back about another 8 feet so i can move my engine lift and yank it out.

By rustyrex
- Thu Feb 21, 2013 11:50 pm #327024 All righty its finally update time. I have had this car for a little over a year and have not been able to drive it. It was killing me. So, I made a few things happen and ordered a shit load of stuff. Some stuff i needed to make it driveable and some stuff i just wanted. I am waiting on a few more pieces to come in but, i can atleast get going on the heavy lifting. Or so i thought. Mother nature decided to have her period on tuesday the 19th and dropped about 6 inches of snow and the temps into single digits. so i am stuch doing little stuff until it warms up a little bit. The first thing i did was install my front license plate bracket onto my new front bumper. The old bumper is horribly ripped, I will post a pic later on to show the damage. I ordered all the hardware from Honda of Mentor and the front bumper came from Rock Auto. There are 5 bolts, 2 special nuts (thats what she said) for the top and 1 special nut for the bottom of the bracket. Plus, the lower bracket and the frame. Total for those 10 pieces was $98.86. It was way more than i expected to install a damn license plate but i wanted OEM parts, so to me i can live with it. The front bumper itself was $35.79 but shipping was $98.74 (thats $134.53). On to the pics.


The bumper and OEM goodness
Image

Incase anyone wants a shot of the part number
Image

These are the 5 bolts, 3 special nuts and lower bracket for the license plate holder
Image

Obviously a $35 bumper isnt gonna be perfect but this is ridiculous
Image

800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and my deburring tool later. Its not pretty but atleast I can get the bolts through now
Image

This is the back of those hole. The 2 nipples are how the special nuts attach (thats what he said)
Image

The easiest way to get them on without breaking the nipples is to use something that you can tap and let the nipple slide into. Man my posts are kinda kinky.
Image

When you are all done this is the final result. I have to tap the nuts a little harder on the top to center them in the hole (this is getting out of hand sorry guys)
Image

Here are the 2 upper mounts and bolts along with the lower bracket. The bracket has a single nut (that sucks) and bolt. The nut wraps around the ABS and has teeth that bite into it to hold it in place.
Image

Dont forget to tap you holes fellas (giggity). The coating Honda uses on the lower bracket is either powder coating or a EMP coating. It was thick enough that i could even get the bolts started. M6x1.0 incase someone wanted to know.
Image

By rustyrex
- Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:12 am #327029 I got a little ahead of myself and bolted the plate on. I said to myself this doesnt seem right. I forgot that i bought the OEM license plate frame and forgot to put it on, oops.
Image

AAHHH, much nicer looking
Image

Here is the part number and what the OEM frame looks like
Image
Image

Here is the back side once everything is bolted on. You can see the bottom special nut
Image

This is the part number for the front bumper. I still can believe shipping is almost 3 times the cost of the bumper
Image

Here is a picture of the rims i went with. They are Drag DR-21s' in flat black with Falken Ziex ZE-512 tires. I ordered them through Discount Tire Direct and spent $782.35. I ordered the Nankang Toursport NS-N605 tires but someone called me and said they were out of stock. They were nice enough and gave me the Falkens' for the price on the Nankangs'. which is sweet because the Falkens' have a lip that the edge of the rim sits into to help fight curb rash. The rims measure 15x4 with a +40 offset and the tires are 195/50r-15s. The tires only have a speed rating of up to 130 MPH. So, once i can find someone who is selling a manual transmission from a EX/Si (hint hint) i am gonna have to get different tires. I have been looking for a year and still cant find a transmission though.
Image

Well, thats all for tonight. Tomorrow i am gonna head into the garage and started pulling the motor to install the clutch and put the OEM exhaust on for Echeck. Let me know what you think positive or negative.

By rustyrex
- Fri Feb 22, 2013 2:31 pm #327058 They are growing on m lol. I was torn between these the Drag DR-23s, Konig Foils, or the Konig Rewinds. To me the 23s styling is classic but the look of a Honda on slipstream style rims is over used. I loved the Foils and Rewinds but, I have Clinical OCD. The thought of the Foils being so open faced and having to clean up and paint my entire suspension damn near gave me a panic attack. And the Rewinds I really liked but for what I have planned for my body work they just wouldn't flow properly. So, I made a impulse decision and let my son pick. He chose these because he said "they look like the steering wheel from the ship wreck on Sponge Bob papa". I thought that was so cute I had to buy these.
User avatar

By brandoff88
- Sun Feb 24, 2013 5:05 am #327185 i have a jdm tranny from my old d15b vtec that has a stage 2 exedy clutch kit, probably got about 50 thousand miles on it, but its still mated to the old motor, and its in good condition no grinds or werid noises..its too bad i live in washington and you live in ohio...id probably sell it for 250 or so if you paid shipping..but thats probably costly...and then id have to get it off the motor
lol

By rustyrex
- Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:26 pm #327209 Well, it took me 4 or 5 hours hours but i finally got the motor and tranny aligned and put back into the car around midnight lastnight. Now i ran into another snag. I thought i could replace the lower ball joints without removing the axles. I had to cut the lower ball joint stud that goes into the knuckle and did not break the axle nut loose. So now i have to find a way to ge the axle nut loose so i can replace the ball joints and tie rod ends. Man this sucks ass. i have every part i need to put this thing back together but i keep running into hiccups.

By rustyrex
- Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:01 am #327306 So, i managed to get the axle nuts broke loose. I had to use the handle from my engine lift, a big ass pry bar and a breaker bar but the knuckle is off. i discovered the upper ball joint are trashed. Next month i have to order them. Once they come in everything in the front will be brand new. Then i realized i have never looked over the rear suspension. I am gonna try to finish up the front end and get it on the ground this week so i can look over the rear. I am anticipating having/choocing to redo everything just like the front.

By rustyrex
- Mon May 18, 2015 2:03 pm #353781 Damn I forgot all about this thread sorry guys.

I'll post some recent pictures later today or tomorrow. I am going to be starting the rust repair soon. I am trading my 96 integra LS to a neighbor who can do the quarter panel replacement for me. He is almost finished building his 2009 LS3 powered KIA Sorento. So I have nothing but confidence that he can help me weld on some quarters and do patch panels where needed. And I just picked up a pair of American Bass XFL 12s. When I start building the box and redoing my alternator and wiring expect a ton of pictures. I love sar audio and have competed I'm DB Drag for close to 12 years and held 3 world records and championships. So I guarantee you this will be the loudest eg hatch anyone will ever see when its done.
 Reply
Return to Your Ride - Hatchback