Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200

[Steph]

I finished making my resonator today. I made it using the shell of the stock muffler off my motorcycle. I used a piece of 1-3/4" perforated tube down the center, and 1.5mm plate on the ends.

I wrapped the perf tube tightly with stainless steel. I then inserted it down the center of the shell, and stuffed stainless around the outside using a small diameter pipe to ram it in. I cut out 2 plates from the 1.5mm sheet, and cut an 1-3/4" hole in each one. I then welded a plate on each end, and proceeded to linish and polish each end. This is what i finished up with...

I now have everything I need to fit the new exhaust system, but it will have to wait until late November after my final exams.

[Manx_Gti]

Looks great Steph, good luck with your exams :-)

[Vulcan]

I likey! :D 8)

[Bill]

Its all looking good! Can't wait to see the finished pics in early December...
whenever... lol

[Steph]

Thanks Tom, Keil, and Bill

I'm determined to fit it in early December as after that summer really sets in, and I don't fancy working on the car on a hot day. Plus, I want to take advantage of the header this summer, with its low heat radiation, to see if the air conditioner works better without all the heat the cast iron manifold radiates, as it's only a couple of inches away from one of the condensers. My air con has 2 condensors, one in front of the radiator, and the other in front of the exhaust manifold. Neither being the ideal placement when factoring in stopping at lights, etc. The radiator fan is always on when the air conditioner is on, but I swear it's only at half speed, as it doesn't howl like it does when it switches in from high engine temps.

[Steph]

I finished my air cleaner today. I used a large air cleaner off a Nissan Patrol which has a 4.2 liter engine. I figure that even though this is a restrictive paper element, the larger area of this filter will provide an equal amount of air flow (less resistance) to that of a smaller K&N filter. The upside is my engine will get increased air flow and optimal filtration. I went with the AC Delco filter because they've been shown to be the best filter in regards to filtering out small particles.

Now, I know when you look at the mounted filter assembly that it looks like this it won't fit under the Civic hood, but all the measuring I've done tells me it will, but I may have to remove the wing nuts off the top, and tighten it from underneath the filter. Either way, I can always use a shorter filter if I have to.

I used the same M20 cable gland that Jay did, but I used a 13mm 90 degree garden watering system fitting. The internal diameter is the same size as the outlet on the valve cover. This can easily be swiveled around to obtain the best angle for slipping the hose on. You can see the drain outlet for my oil separator (more on this shortly).

I'm putting the oil separator on top of the base plate, as that's the easiest way to go. I was looking around for something to use as a cover, and while staring in the kitchen cupboard, I noticed the chocolate shaker used for dusting the tops of cappuccinos was made out of stainless steel, and ideal for use in this application! Don't you agree?

I then stuffed a stainless steel scourer inside to act as a filter to catch the oil coming in from the valve cover vent (PCV system). The 'drain' hole is connected with a vacuum hose back to the inlet manifold, and as the oil in the separator settles on the bottom, it gets sucked down the hole and fed into the engine. This way oil doesn't get sprayed into the carburetor inlets, which subsequently gums them up with oily gunk, and stains everything.

Then I used a stainless screw which I drilled and tapped a thread for in the base plate to screw it into. I didn't tap it all the way through the hole, as the untapped portion acts as a locking 'nut'. Sort of like a nyloc, but an 'alluloc' in this case. I put RTX silicone sealer around the base of the filter cap, so it wouldn't leak oil, and the oil would get sucked back into the manifold

And here it is all assembled and ready to bolt on the engine. I polished the edges of the base and top plates, and used a Scotchbrite belt on the linisher to give the top surface of the top plate a brushed aluminum look.

Oh yeah, the reason my manifold looks grey is because I used a glass bead blaster to clean it up, and it makes the surface a dull grey colour. I then used a clear VHT engine paint which was oven baked.

[Kurt]

Frak ya

[TREVORM]

nice! kurt said it best!

My nissan truck has a piece of wire brush pushed in to the air/pcv valve thing?? now I know why

[Steph]

My latest addition to my glory box. I now have the NOS parts for the oil pump, as well as a NOS oil pump drive gear. So that should just about cover every part for an engine rebuild, except for a new camshaft.

[Steph]

Oh yeah, I also managed to find a NOS horn...