The 3rd Wife: Cosmic Grey EP3 Civic Type R - Project OEM

[Riknos]

Great to see someone else who replaces rusty bolts!

I hate buying used cars and the bolts are so rusted on that you can't get them out, nice to see another owner who likes to replace them before they get too far gone!

[Track_Cit]

It messes with my OCD as well, it spoils the look of the bay if it's full of old bolts - sad I know!

Thanks Fellas.

Few more updates. Finally got around to taking some better photo's.

I got new mats a while back and have mainly been cleaning the car to within an inch of it's life. It's looking lovely now Machine polished it and waxed it this week. Few more things to come, I have ordered a full set of Yoko AD08's. I thought I may as well! Good tyres make a huge difference and transform the car. The Paradas are nice but a bit slippy in the wet, in fact very slippy. Also the non matching rears are messing with my OCD! :-|

I also ordered some new oil, filter, magnetic sump plug and replacement intake pipe this week along with a few bolts to tidy/sort the bay a bit more. Will try and give it service if the bits arrive before I go back to work. Also need to sort the hesitation which I believe to be the TPS but haven't figured how to approach it yet (buy a new TB with one fitted or a replacement TPS alone and attempt DIY calibration, which I find somewhat daunting).

Here are the photo's anyway.

New mats:



Cleaned:









Clay barred then polish and waxed inside the door shuts:



Quick overall shot with the beast in the background (Rallye) - needs some love!



Bay cleaned up a bit:





Spent AGES clay barring the skirts and removing all the tar - what a b*stard of a job that was. Look so much better now though. Non matching rear tyre ruins this photo for me though!




So the car is gradually coming together and I am pleased so far.


List of bits i'd like:

Progress Rear ARB
Camber Bolts
Adjustable Rear Camber Arms

Bits I need:
New front light
New discs all round
TPS/New TB

That's all for now.

Edited by Track_Cit on Saturday 28th December 13:57

[richtea78]

Did you not put tardis on the tar before claying?

[Track_Cit]

richtea78 said:

Did you not put tardis on the tar before claying?

No, simply becuase I did not have any! I did however use a small piece of soft cloth with GT85 sprayed on, and that works a treat with some gentle rubbing (ooo errr. Then rinse off then clay bar after to ensure it's properly clean.

[ClarkPB]

As above,Tardis will knock an hour or two off claying time on a car even moderately covered in tar

[richtea78]

ClarkPB said:

As above,Tardis will knock an hour or two off claying time on a car even moderately covered in tar

Polished Bliss?

[ClarkPB]

richtea78 said:

Polished Bliss?

I've heard of them yes

[Track_Cit]

ClarkPB said:

I've heard of them yes

Cheers fellas, will bear in mind for next time.

Bit of an update. Bought a few service bits for the car, and a few small parts to replace also. Wanted to change the oil, fit a new filter, fit a magnetic sump plug, and swap out my intake pipe as it was splitting (although not as bad as I thought) and fit a new OEM battery tie and bolts. I removed the old one previously and sanded it and painted it but wasn't happy with the finish.

Had a go at this today. In between being talked to by all the neighbors (some old people crashed into the building I live in and nearly took the entire lot down but that's another story) and the rain, I managed to get it all done. Absolute SH*TTY day today, and it started to rain literally as soon as I had undone the sump plug!

Not too bad a job, although getting to the filter and taking it off without it pouring all over the CV and the sub frame was nigh on impossible, and this turned out to be an arse so had to degrease it all and clean it down afterwards. I had thought of a cunning method to cut an old container and scooch it in under the filter but the space was too tight so I just undid it and hoped for the best - oil everywhere haha...still, got it all cleaned up and the new one fitted no problem.

Also changed the battery tie down and intake pipe, however, the intake pipe wasnt' really that split but it would have gone eventually so I guess it needed to be changed. Gearbox oil should be quite fresh as the previous owner told me he changed it when the new clutch was fitted. Next month I will fit new OEM Honda Spark Plugs and also swap out the cabin pollen filters. Also my new Yokohama AD08 tyres should arrive end of the month so looking forward to getting those fitted and sticking to the road a bit better!

Here are the shots anyway from the days work:



Parts:





Oil defo needed a change - look at this gloopy muck!





Mileage at this oil change - want to record this for whenever (if) I decide to sell so any prospective new owner can see that it's been well maintained:





Old battery tie down plate:





Old vrs new:







Old vrs new intake pipe:





Split in the old pipe:







That's it for now. Will get some more photo's once the weather improves and the light is there (got dark again too early - I hate the winter!)


Lewis

[Track_Cit]

A few more updates tonight. I have been carrying out a major service on it, and managed to do the oil at the weekend as you saw above. Also bought myself some OEM sparks plugs from Cox Motorsport Parts and Gearbox oil. Changed out the plugs tonight, and will do the Gearbox oil at the weekend. Also ordered a magnetic Gearbox plug from Tegiwa so hopefully that arrives tomorrow in time for Saturday.

Pics as follows:

Parts:



Close up of the Plug:



Getting started on removal of the old ones:



Mans gotta have the right tools for the job!



Old vs New - as you can see the old ones were haggard and definitely needed changing!



New one with some Loctite Copper Grease to be applied to the thread before fitment:



Copper grease applied and ready to be fitted. Hand tight first of all:



Halfords Spark Plug Socket and Snap On extension bar - essential for getting down the the depth of where the plug screws in. And no that is not a pair of the wifes dirty knickers in the background!:



Hand tight first. No big watches here, just an old man hand on a young mans body! :mrgreen:



Once that was done I just nipped them up tight with the Rachet - job done. Then refitted the coil cover bolts.

When only the best will do:



Mileage at the this service interval:




Will get some OEM pollen filters finally, around the end of the month and fit them, that will be her service complete then.

Hopefully my Yokohama AD08's will arrive too - I am really looking forward to getting those!![/img]

Will get some OEM pollen filters finally, around the end of the month and fit them, that will be her service complete then.

Hopefully my Yokohama AD08's will arrive too - I am really looking forward to getting those!!

Starting to make some progress on it now, hope you like it.

Lewis

[liner33]

Great attention to detail , nice project

[thebutch]

Alot of detail going in to this, car looks great. I had a Premier Edition in cosmic grey a few years back and have always regretted selling it never put a foot wrong in the 2 and a half years I had it!

[Stokemon]

Love this, I recently picked up an EP2 and it was so hard to find a car looked after well. If you do ever come to selling just send them the link to this page, there won't be any doubts!

Or just give me a buzz first

[Track_Cit]

Thanks guys

Yes, it took me a while to find this one, and while it wasn't amazingly well cared for, it was hella better than all the other examples I looked at. I have put some money into it to be fair, but I like my cars and happen to be very particular, so when things aren't right with them it bugs me and I have to sort it.

Eventually I would like to get the wheels refurbed too. They are pretty good overall but I want them perfect. Also a few dings to sort, but as it's my daily I will leave those until last as the colour hides them well, and it's impossible to keep a daily driver mint due to all the idiots who have no consideration for anyone elses motor!

[kayzee]

Great job! I love threads like this... although personally I don't start to get like this until a car's at least 25 years old

[liner33]

One little question . Why Honda boxed spark plugs and then a pattern oil filter ?

[zedx19]

Great thread, amazing attention to detail. One question though, you mention you didn't like the socks, but then realised the purpose and liked them. What is the purpose??

[HorneyMX5]

zedx19 said:

Great thread, amazing attention to detail. One question though, you mention you didn't like the socks, but then realised the purpose and liked them. What is the purpose??

If you boil the fluid through spirited driving and seeps out of the pots the socks soak it up rather than it stripping paint off parts of your engine bay. I have the same ones in my FN2.

[liner33]

It's impossible to boil clutch fluid , well unless the car is on fire

They have a pseudo purpose but are bling really

[Track_Cit]

liner33 said:

One little question . Why Honda boxed spark plugs and then a pattern oil filter ?

No particular reason really. The HAMP ones are Honda approved and there's little cost difference. I guess I could've bought a Honda one but didn't see the point. The HAMP one's are proven to be as good as the Honda ones, if not better. Whereas with Spark plugs I wanted the exact item specified by Honda.

Edited by Track_Cit on Monday 13th January 16:16

[Track_Cit]

liner33 said:

It's impossible to boil clutch fluid , well unless the car is on fire

They have a pseudo purpose but are bling really

It's more for spills when topping up the fluid. My last Cam Cover had loads of marks on it from fluid, and after paying £70 to refurb the current one I didn't want the same thing happening again