Pulled my front wheels off today, and then I de-greased the wheel well and used a high pressure cleaner to blast all the muck out. I'm not sure if Honda applied a coat of sealant/body deadener to the wheel wells, or whether it was just 32 years of accumulated road grime, but it sure was thick whatever it was. Once I managed to blast it all off I was happy to find that there wasn't a hint of rust in there, and the original paint was still intact and looked good. From there I painted on body deadener really thick in the hope of reducing road noise. I eventually plan on utilizing all methods of reducing cabin noise, and this was the first stage. On the weekend I'll do the rear wheel wells and fit my new wheels at the same time. Oh yeah, I painted the calipers so they didn't look daggy through the 8-spoke Watanabe rims.
Steph
Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200
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freakynami
- Short Shifter
- Posts: 74
- Joined: September 17th, 2007, 12:55 am
- Province/State: Adelaide, SA
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Steph
- Projects
- Posts: 3150
- Joined: August 14th, 2008, 2:02 am
- Province/State: South Australia
- Hometown: Adelaide
- Model: 1978 Hatchback
Thanks guys :D
Today I had the rear shocks, rear drums, wheel bearings, brakes hose, well basically everything replaced with new, as well as new steering rack boots and tie rods fitted, plus a wheel alignment. It was really difficult to find suitable rack boots, as all the universal fit versions didn't have a balance tube nipple fitted, and they all seemed to be cheap and nasty, quality wise. In the end I found a product called the Rakboot which was made of excellent quality material, as well as having the nipples fitted, so I bought those. For those of you who don't already know this, the rack boots have a balance tube running between both boots, because when steering to either side, one boot expands while the other contracts, so the air from the contracting boot is transfered to the expanding boot, thus creating a closed system, and eliminating the need to draw dirty air in.
http://www.productsthatwork.com.au/prod ... t-info.php
Tomorrow I'll clean and paint my rear wheel wells, and then finally fit my new wheels
Steph
Today I had the rear shocks, rear drums, wheel bearings, brakes hose, well basically everything replaced with new, as well as new steering rack boots and tie rods fitted, plus a wheel alignment. It was really difficult to find suitable rack boots, as all the universal fit versions didn't have a balance tube nipple fitted, and they all seemed to be cheap and nasty, quality wise. In the end I found a product called the Rakboot which was made of excellent quality material, as well as having the nipples fitted, so I bought those. For those of you who don't already know this, the rack boots have a balance tube running between both boots, because when steering to either side, one boot expands while the other contracts, so the air from the contracting boot is transfered to the expanding boot, thus creating a closed system, and eliminating the need to draw dirty air in.
http://www.productsthatwork.com.au/prod ... t-info.php
Tomorrow I'll clean and paint my rear wheel wells, and then finally fit my new wheels
Steph
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Steph
- Projects
- Posts: 3150
- Joined: August 14th, 2008, 2:02 am
- Province/State: South Australia
- Hometown: Adelaide
- Model: 1978 Hatchback
FINALLY!!!
I suspect that because of the heat we endure in summer, the springs over here sag about an inch more than those found in cooler climates. If you compare the gap between the tyre and the guard with that of Jay's car, you can see there's about an inch difference.
Here's Jay's fitted with the same size and profile tires as mine.
I suspect that because of the heat we endure in summer, the springs over here sag about an inch more than those found in cooler climates. If you compare the gap between the tyre and the guard with that of Jay's car, you can see there's about an inch difference.
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Thor
- LSD
- Posts: 3594
- Joined: November 30th, 2005, 8:05 am
- Province/State: Stratford upon Avon
- Model: —————-
We used to find on the rally cars that when we used double-acting dampers, the cars came off the stage 1.5 inches higher than at the start.
It's unlikely to be heat softening the springs, you don't get that hot
You may find that the valving is set too firmly, causing the hydraulics to jack up. Honda fitted single-acting dampers for an engineering reason, not cost.
Whilst all your re-bushing and renewal may well lighten your steering, by far the greatest factor will be that you now have some degree of positive camber, particularly now that you have increased ride-height.
As a consequence you are running on the outer edge of the tyre, you will also find that the car is more nervous as the camber goes from pos to neg under cornering and braking. It is best described as squirrelly.
Also bear in mind that the back wheels are set with positive camber, again running on the outer edge of those tires, camber changes make it step out quite viciously on lift off, it can be as bad as an old Porsche in the wet.
Look at getting negative camber sooner rather than later as your car is too nice to get damaged.
THIS IS THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE.
Several other members have found this out the hard way, and have acknowledged that it is an area for attention.
Please be warned Steph, your knowledge will show you how to go about it, I'm sure.
In friendship
Pete
It's unlikely to be heat softening the springs, you don't get that hot
You may find that the valving is set too firmly, causing the hydraulics to jack up. Honda fitted single-acting dampers for an engineering reason, not cost.
Whilst all your re-bushing and renewal may well lighten your steering, by far the greatest factor will be that you now have some degree of positive camber, particularly now that you have increased ride-height.
As a consequence you are running on the outer edge of the tyre, you will also find that the car is more nervous as the camber goes from pos to neg under cornering and braking. It is best described as squirrelly.
Also bear in mind that the back wheels are set with positive camber, again running on the outer edge of those tires, camber changes make it step out quite viciously on lift off, it can be as bad as an old Porsche in the wet.
Look at getting negative camber sooner rather than later as your car is too nice to get damaged.
THIS IS THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE.
Several other members have found this out the hard way, and have acknowledged that it is an area for attention.
Please be warned Steph, your knowledge will show you how to go about it, I'm sure.
In friendship
Pete
