89 civic

do the "b" seals, but don't bother with the ones below that. unless the
cam gets unbolted, they never leak.

 

I personally would not expect a boxed timing belt to degrade
after two years. Coincidentally I had a bagged one in the
closet for about two years. I installed it last summer. No
problems as yet.

Replaced the sparkplug o-rings today.... they were leaking
like
sieves..... Couldn't figure out why the car smelt like it
had an oil
leak, but wasn't losing any oil... I guess as the spark
plug tubes
filled up, they got to the point when they were in contact
with the
plug boots, and made a burnt oil smell.

Also, rummaging around in the trunk of my newly acquired
car, I found
a box... had a brand new OEM timing belt in it. SWEET...
that belt is
worth like $60 up here! This leads me to beleive the former
owner was
thinking about doing the t-belt sometime soon... Can I use
a new belt
that has been sitting in the box in the trunk for 2 years?

t

 

I personally would not expect a boxed timing belt to degrade
after two years. Coincidentally I had a bagged one in the
closet for about two years. I installed it last summer. No
problems as yet.

Replaced the sparkplug o-rings today.... they were leaking
like
sieves..... Couldn't figure out why the car smelt like it
had an oil
leak, but wasn't losing any oil... I guess as the spark
plug tubes
filled up, they got to the point when they were in contact
with the
plug boots, and made a burnt oil smell.

Also, rummaging around in the trunk of my newly acquired
car, I found
a box... had a brand new OEM timing belt in it. SWEET...
that belt is
worth like $60 up here! This leads me to beleive the former
owner was
thinking about doing the t-belt sometime soon... Can I use
a new belt
that has been sitting in the box in the trunk for 2 years?

t

 

As for the brakes, I am thinking rotor replacement with some
'cheapies'.... my father in law decided to do me a favour while we
were resurrecting this car, he thought the car may not pass safety
inspection with visible rust on the disks... (actually that is pretty
likely, most shops will try to use any leverage they can to get extra $
$ for parts outta you) so on the way from his place to the shop (about
20km highway drive) he spent the whole time speeding up and braking
hard. He said he did this to the point where the brake fluid was so
hot, the brakes wouldn't work anymore... Wish he woulda just left it
alone, I would have rather argued with the shop than have to replace
the rotors....

Finally did the oil change and transmission fluid rotation yesterday.
The 2 year old oil in this car looked great still, I'm glad I ran the
car for a couple weeks before changing it... gave it a chance to clean
the engine out some.

As for the trannie fluid, dropped 2.5 liters out of the trannie, it
looked pretty good, a little particulate in it to make it less than
crystal clear. Also, it looked like regular dexron, especially when I
compared it to the Honda Z1 I added, the colour is very different...
red (dex) vs flourescent pink (z1).

Shifts are much softer now... don't let anyone tell you Honda Z1 is a
waste of money.

I will let the trannie run for a couple weeks now and do another fluid
'rotation'... good ole drain and fill....

Also, this being my first time underneath this car for any extended
period... I was very impressed to see that there is NO corrosion
anywhere on the underside of this vehicle. The outside is rough and
rusty, underneath it might as well be a brand new car... exhaust
system included! Very odd to find a car in this condition at this age
in the Manitoba Rust Belt....

t

 

As for the brakes, I am thinking rotor replacement with some
'cheapies'.... my father in law decided to do me a favour while we
were resurrecting this car, he thought the car may not pass safety
inspection with visible rust on the disks... (actually that is pretty
likely, most shops will try to use any leverage they can to get extra $
$ for parts outta you) so on the way from his place to the shop (about
20km highway drive) he spent the whole time speeding up and braking
hard. He said he did this to the point where the brake fluid was so
hot, the brakes wouldn't work anymore... Wish he woulda just left it
alone, I would have rather argued with the shop than have to replace
the rotors....

Finally did the oil change and transmission fluid rotation yesterday.
The 2 year old oil in this car looked great still, I'm glad I ran the
car for a couple weeks before changing it... gave it a chance to clean
the engine out some.

As for the trannie fluid, dropped 2.5 liters out of the trannie, it
looked pretty good, a little particulate in it to make it less than
crystal clear. Also, it looked like regular dexron, especially when I
compared it to the Honda Z1 I added, the colour is very different...
red (dex) vs flourescent pink (z1).

Shifts are much softer now... don't let anyone tell you Honda Z1 is a
waste of money.

I will let the trannie run for a couple weeks now and do another fluid
'rotation'... good ole drain and fill....

Also, this being my first time underneath this car for any extended
period... I was very impressed to see that there is NO corrosion
anywhere on the underside of this vehicle. The outside is rough and
rusty, underneath it might as well be a brand new car... exhaust
system included! Very odd to find a car in this condition at this age
in the Manitoba Rust Belt....

t

 

that's less likely to be brake fluid, and much more likely to be cheapo
after-market pads. for about five extra bucks, you get honda pads,
shims and anti-squeal grease. oh, and very good fade resistance.

my experience with aftermarket rotors is ok, so consider those if you're
saving bucks on a car like this. don't go for the cheapest chinese
disks though - i've seen casting errors and cracking. stock replacement
brembos from somewhere like summit are just dandy.

indeed. basically, the only people that tell you otherwise are those
with no experience of this!

 

that's less likely to be brake fluid, and much more likely to be cheapo
after-market pads. for about five extra bucks, you get honda pads,
shims and anti-squeal grease. oh, and very good fade resistance.

my experience with aftermarket rotors is ok, so consider those if you're
saving bucks on a car like this. don't go for the cheapest chinese
disks though - i've seen casting errors and cracking. stock replacement
brembos from somewhere like summit are just dandy.

indeed. basically, the only people that tell you otherwise are those
with no experience of this!

 

one more thing - if you have the original '89 brake calipers, you need
to make sure the disks are the right ones. most aftermarket, and indeed
honda disks, assume you've changed to a later style caliper that takes a
slightly thicker disk. that thicker disk will just fit inside the older
caliper, but it will rub when you go around corners. shops will just
skim the disks so they fit, which i don't like since so many shops don't
cut disks exactly square.

bottom line, check into this and make sure you either have the right
disks or the right calipers. i shopped around and found the right
disks, but the honda dealer didn't have them. if the car were a keeper,
i'd suggest going for the new calipers too, but hey, maybe you can just
get new pads and use silicon carbide paper to get the rust off the disk
faces if your originals are not too badly grooved or worn.

 

one more thing - if you have the original '89 brake calipers, you need
to make sure the disks are the right ones. most aftermarket, and indeed
honda disks, assume you've changed to a later style caliper that takes a
slightly thicker disk. that thicker disk will just fit inside the older
caliper, but it will rub when you go around corners. shops will just
skim the disks so they fit, which i don't like since so many shops don't
cut disks exactly square.

bottom line, check into this and make sure you either have the right
disks or the right calipers. i shopped around and found the right
disks, but the honda dealer didn't have them. if the car were a keeper,
i'd suggest going for the new calipers too, but hey, maybe you can just
get new pads and use silicon carbide paper to get the rust off the disk
faces if your originals are not too badly grooved or worn.

 

that's less likely to be brake fluid, and much more likely to be cheapo

Have not pulled off the calipers, but it would surprise me if they
were not OEM... Everything on this car I have inspected thus far is a
factory or OEM replacement part. Oil Filter, even the replacement
timing belt I found in the trunk.

You've never met my father-in-law... trust me he cooked em....

 

that's less likely to be brake fluid, and much more likely to be cheapo

Have not pulled off the calipers, but it would surprise me if they
were not OEM... Everything on this car I have inspected thus far is a
factory or OEM replacement part. Oil Filter, even the replacement
timing belt I found in the trunk.

You've never met my father-in-law... trust me he cooked em....

 

well, my 90 crx had one "wide" and one "narrow" caliper on it [it should
have had two "wide"], and that was "all stock", so don't make any
assumptions!

that brake fade is still almost certainly pads, not fluid. i've
"tested" with fully loaded cars on the hills of san francisco. trust
me, some after-market pads will have you pushing the pedal like you're
trying to break the seat off its rails once things get warm. honda
pads, the fade is barely noticeable.

 

well, my 90 crx had one "wide" and one "narrow" caliper on it [it should
have had two "wide"], and that was "all stock", so don't make any
assumptions!

that brake fade is still almost certainly pads, not fluid. i've
"tested" with fully loaded cars on the hills of san francisco. trust
me, some after-market pads will have you pushing the pedal like you're
trying to break the seat off its rails once things get warm. honda
pads, the fade is barely noticeable.