Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200

[Blackbullet]

I'm just wondering what my wife would say if she found honda parts in the oven. :evil: She's already caught me with honda parts in the dishwasher

Good work Steph 8)

[Steph]

Thanks Jay

Hey, a bit of sulphamic acid in the dishwasher will clean all your parts like you wouldn't believe. The trick is to run through about 2 or 3 cycles afterwards to flush out the system properly. Once you've done that, the dishwasher will look like new. Sulphamic acid is often used for descaling dishwashers, and is an excellent metal cleaner. I bought some at the local hardware store, although it was specifically to descale my dishwasher, but once I saw how well it worked, I did some reading and found that it had been used for cleaning engine parts as well. Ideally you'd want an old dishwasher I think, but I'm fairly certain nobody would ever be able to tell, as the acid removes everything. :P

Steph

[bob78cvcc]

I would get thrown out of the house if I ever got caught putting parts in the dish washer. How long and at what temp do you bake on the paint? The parts look great.

[Steph]

I would get thrown out of the house if I ever got caught putting parts in the dish washer. How long and at what temp do you bake on the paint? The parts look great.

I use the lowest setting and turn the heat off after 10 minutes, then leave the parts in the closed oven for at least an hour. The finish ends up being as smooth as glass.

[Thor]

It's all well and good for you, Steph.
It's your kitchen.
How are you going to get the bumpers in there?
Those of us with wives live in trepidation and fear of the domestic authorities.
Now, powder coating.
Oven.
2 fan-assisted units facing each other with a hot box between them, made from asbestos-substitute.
It gets to the right temp and works well :roll:
ATB
Pete
Anyone know a tame kitchen fitter?

[ASM]

Steph I've got a few parts just to be sprayed. Can I come over and put them in your oven? Mine has a sort of auto-parts ban imposed on it.. :?

[Steph]

Steph I've got a few parts just to be sprayed. Can I come over and put them in your oven? Mine has a sort of auto-parts ban imposed on it.. :?

Andreas, it's your own fault. Let's face it, there's only one way an "auto-parts ban" got put in place, and that's because you asked first!

You should have at least got away with one oven load before any restrictions were put in place. Honestly, there's no after-smell in the oven at all. So, just wait 'till everybody is out of the house and bake to your heart's content.

[Steph]

I've started on building a stainless resonator for my new exhaust system. I had the original stainless muffler off my motorcycle which had only been used to run the engine in, before I changed it to a titanium aftermarket muffler. The muffler had been taking up space in the garage for a few years now, so I decided to put it to good use. I began by cutting each end of it off in the friction saw, and then pulled the inners out which thankfully were only held in by an interference fit. A few hits with a rubber mallet and they were out.

I tracked down some 1-3/4" stainless perforated tube from a local exhaust shop who had some in store from years ago. I can't believe they even had any, as it's not the sort of thing an exhaust shop would use, as only a muffler manufacturer would have any use for it, and nobody makes 1-3/4" resonators, well not locally anyway. I also found a sheet of stainless 1.5mm plate at the local steel recyclers, which still had the protective plastic skin on it. It only cost $7 plus the $19 for the perf tube, so all told, it's cost me $26 out of pocket. I'm packing the resonator with stainless steel wool which is available from the hardware store for about $10. Most mufflers claim to have stainless in them, but the guy at the exhaust shop told me they usually wrap the inner tube with stainless, and then fill the rest with fiberglass. The only way to make them last is to use stainless alone, as the fiberglass breaks down over time.

Of course, it should go without saying that I'll be polishing is up after it's been put together

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[Steph]

I went out looking for packing for my resonator today. After a couple of hours trolling various forums I discovered the cheapest option available. I wanted to use stainless steel wool, and had assumed the that steel wool was made from stainless steel, but it turns out it's not, just plain grade steel which rusts very easily. The last place you want steel wool is in a muffler, because they get heaps of moisture in them from cold engine starts. So all it takes is one quick trip to the shops and back, and you have a bunch of moisture laden steel wool sitting inside your muffler rusting away.

So anyway, I discovered that Coles supermarkets sell their own brand of these little stainless steel scourers. They're made of continuous lengths of thin strips of stainless steel, and resemble swarf off a lathe. The best thing about this is they can easily be unravelled and wrapped around the perforated tube inside the muffler. The other great thing is they don't rust, so they should have an indefinite lifespan within the resonator. I'll leave the bulk of them in the little balls they are packaged as. That way they will retain their springiness and absorb the exhaust pressures better. It cost me less than $30 to buy enough to fill my 510mm (20") resonator.

Steph

[Bill]

Nice find! And you are so right, the steel wool goes away every season. I had to repack my bike as part of the seasonal prep...