oh dear. it appears as though i have been . . . lax in updating this journal. this is only partially due to being lax in working on the car.

i have assembled the engine stand, removed the flywheel, and fully mounted the engine upon it. I have degreased several of the suspension components. i have acquired a real rolling toolchest, and partially stocked it. I have begun the interior teardown. i, perhaps foolishly, also began to de-loom the wiring harness and separate it from the engine bay.

i fear that corrosion is taking its toll on the chassis and some of the parts. my garage swells with bikes, wagons, old refrigerators and also a piano. i now have three small children, the eldest of which just began school. a honda odyssey has joined the vibe--now my daily driver--in my driveway. my free time has many demands.

this build has stalled again . . . but i will not let it die.

last night, i removed the front brake calipers and rotors from both sides. the next step was to remove the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle . . . ordinarily a little difficult. fortunately there are several 'tricks' well known in the Honda community to remove this ball joint. unfortunately, most of them assume that the upper suspension is still attached, and that the axle(which is held by the knuckle)'s far end is plugged into the tranmission. unfortunately, niether is the case, and so none of the 'tricks' work either. also, in the process, i damaged the ball joint boot (which is a negligble expense, but still . . .).

at that point i decided i should simply remove the entire lower control arm, with knuckle and axle dragging along with it. i removed the steering rod and antiroll bar from the passenger side LCA, and had a go at removing the one bolt holding the LCA/knuckle/axle to the frame. the bolt was willing to move, but getting access to the nut on the other side proved difficult. the clock said 12:30am, and i went to bed defeated.

tonight, i will remove that bolt, and then take out the whole assembly. then, i will repeat the feat on the other side--LCA/knuckle/axle removed entirely. with luck, i'll remove the antiroll bar and start a little bit of work on the engine bay.

last night i took the engine back off the stand and replaced it on the tire-and-board affair. i had another quick go at the flywheel bolts--this time with a measured amount of PB Blaster assistance--but no luck breaking them free. i may try again tonight with a breaker bar, but it is looking more and more like that cannot be a one-man job.

tonight i will read up on the steering hub and knuckle dissasembly, and then LCA and antiroll bar removal. i hope to accomplish all of that tonight, and then the stripping of the engine bay this weekend. if i can hit those targets, then i will be thrilled. moreover, i'll be ready to do some real restoration work.

in the wake of the transmission disappearance, i am choosing to stay the course on the chassis stripdown and rebuild. no progress has been made lately, but tonight i am going to take the engine off the stand and prepare it for the removal of the flywheel bolts. after that, i will finish disassembling the entire front suspension, steering knuckles, axles, antiroll bars, etc. i am hoping to accomplish both of those things by this weekend. with any luck, my friend morning_bell will give me a hand with the flywheel bolts, at which point the engine will be ready for external teardown and all-over cleaning. then i have to finish removing and cataloging all the hoses, wires, brake booster, charcoal canister, fuse boxes, etc. so that everything from the firewall forward will be off the car.

at that point i can rent or buy a sandblaster, and the true restoration work can begin.

looking around for transmissions is going to be completely obnoxious. the Si transmission is the same as the DX transmission, only with a different final drive; it may or may not be cheaper to buy a DX trans and swap in an Si final drive. however, at that point, we are talking about cracking open a transmission--and that is definitely a scary proposition. someone else could be paid to do the work, but there was no money for the transmission in the budget anyway, so paying someone else to work on it would be far too expensive. it looks like i'll just have to be dedicated in scoring the internet and junkyards.

updates tomorrow with how much progress is made tonight . . .

my transmission is gone.

i have been holding off on posting this since i was not 100% sure, but when cleaning the garage i'd gone to bed and then realized that i had not seen my transmission the entire time. last night i searched high and low for it, and it was nowhere to be seen.

this is terrible for many reasons:

1) it's an Si trans--the most desirable--and therefore will be more difficult and expensive to replace.

2) it was one of the few "good parts" that i already had, and therefore did not need to spend money on.

3) if it has been stolen, and not just misplaced or lent out, then someone knows that i am building up a Civic Si in that garage, and they have been casing the joint waiting for an opening to steal my parts.

terrible, terrible, terrible. what a crushing blow.

last night, the clutch was finally removed from the flywheel. this was great news, as it made it possible to mount the engine on the engine stand. in my haste to see if mounting the engine on the stand could be done, i did it--but i shouldn't have. the flywheel still has to come off, and that will be extremely difficult; again requiring the assistance of morning_bell. so, to sum up, the engine is finally on the stand, but it will be coming off shortly. in the meantime, the extra space will be used to clean up and reorganize the garage. between buying parts, housecleaning, and general accumulation, the garage is once again filthy and overflowing. further, car parts i had squirreled away are now needed, and old garage-junk things floating around the garage need to be squirreled away. i want to pull out all the car parts and catalog them, so i know exactly what i have and do not have. further, cataloging their condition will help me round out the project plan from this point forward. once all that is done, and the garage is clean and organized, the grinding, stripping, cleaning, and scouring can begin in earnest.

even though progress is coming slowly, and in fits and starts, it is surprising how quickly things are coming along overall. for the longest time the black ship sat and rusted, while every few months i would make a great show of, say, moving some parts to the other side of the garage. now i am really and truly actually working on this car, and it is exciting to see.

every day i picture myself getting behind the wheel, turning the key, and hearing her fire up. i remember with fondess the looks and nods she drew at stoplights. i think about my daily commute, taking the onramps and offramps with the VTEC at full song, the throaty buzz ripping through the exhaust and the wind rushing through the open windows and sunroof. i think about autocrossing and track days, i think about the satisfaction of having completed the journey, and i think about the confidence and skills i'm acquiring that will last me the rest of my life.

every day, i think about that day, and it keeps me hungry.

Current Mood: creative

last night saw the complete removal of both front dampers and upper control arms, finally. even more good news comes in the form of pictorial proof!

( click for pics )

finally, one of the tried-and-true sayings amongst car guys is "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?" i hope to prove that speed can be bought with blood, too.

last night the drivers' side front damper (spring/shock) assembly was sucessfully removed. also, three of four bolts holding in the drivers' side upper control arm were removed. one rusted, frozen, difficult-to-reach self-locking nut is the difference between the driver's side upper control arm being attached and being detached.

despite falling *just* short of my goal for the evening, i was very very pleased to see such progress made. tonight i hope to get both dampers and both UCAs uninstalled from the car. at that point i will be able to scrub, scour, degrease, clean, and repaint all of the front suspension bits--spring/shock, steering hub and knuckle, control arms, tie bars, sway bar, etc. meanwhile, the search for the tool needed to get all the pressure plate bolts off is underway. it should be an extremely inexpensive score, again assuming it can be found.

excitement is building, because the amount of remaining destructive grunt work is shrinking quickly. once the suspension has been completely disassembled and the clutch and flywheel taken off, and all the hoses/wires/etc. have been detached, then all the real bodywork that needs to be done can begin. grinding off all of the rust ensuring the future of the car. reparing old damage, replacing corroded clamps and rusting bolts. renewing, restoring, rejuvenating. beginning the real work that will transform this slowly decaying pile of metal, rubber, glass, plastic, and cloth into a living, breathing, revving, vibrant machine.

it occured to me that i owe you all some pictures. unfortunately there are only old camera phone pics at the moment, but here is one of the best ones of the engine stand:



last night's attempt at removing the clutch was a failure. the bolt head is a twelve-pointer, i still do not have my fancy ratchet set back, and my little piddly 10 mm socket wrench does not offer enough leverage to break the bolts free. despite all this, i was able to get one bolt off (at the cost of a knuckle). many thanks to my friend morning_bell for his assistance. i still have to get my tools back, but in the meantime . . .

last night i also tried and failed to disassemble the front suspension. in my frustration in failing from earlier, i simply attacked it without consulting the shop manual first. big mistake; nearly an entire precious hour was completely wasted. i suppose the lesson has been learned, however. tonight i hope to disassemble the front suspension in preparation for cleaning. sometime in the next few days, the clutch will come off and work can begin in earnest.

Current Mood: annoyed

though the layoff between posts was much longer than i'd like, and progress was unfortunately interrupted, work continues. for your reading pleasure, the items of progress:

* the engine hoist and stand were assembled, and the engine sits ready to be lifted onto the stand.

* a real shop light and a handheld spotlight were purchased, making late-night garage work much more do-able.

* both front quarter-panels have been removed, allowing greater access to the suspension-y bits and exposing the frame for rust removal and treatment.

* new upper control arms were purchased, and if all goes to plan installation will be this week.

* a step-by-step critical-path timeline was created. it is flexible of course, but at least i now have a roadmap where i can take a step at a time and feel like progress is being made cohesively and intelligently.

here are the next few steps in the plan:

tonight (i hope) i will have some assistance in removing the clutch. in order to do this, the flywheel's ring gear must be held in place while the clutch's pressure plate bolts are turned. you either need an eighty-two dollar part from Honda or a beefy dude with a crowbar to help you accomplish this. beefy dude is on standby. once the clutch is off, the engine will go on the engine stand. a thorough cleaning of the engine will take place--degreasing, scouring, washing of the exterior, and an oil flush of the interior to make sure all the gunk, dirt, dust, and grime is out.

the upper control arms will be sanded down and modified to fit the chassis (which, itself, will have to be lightly modified for clearance's sake). then all of the front suspension bits will be detached, degreased, de-rusted, cleaned, and repainted. optionally, i would like to replace all of the front suspension bushings at this point, but money may make that acquisition difficult.

once the front suspension is reassembled, the front wheel needs to be mounted. wheel? yes, wheel. one of the steel stockers the black ship was rolling on left me with my wrecked '91 prelude si. therefore, a new one must be sourced by this point; that shouldn't be difficult or expensive. once the front wheels are mounted, the car can be rolled out of the garage, and some serious garage cleanup and re-organizing can occur. moreover, i will be able to roll it back into the middle of the garage, and have plenty of space on all sides to complete this project.

that's it for now. updates will be fast and fantastic from here on out.

Current Mood: working

the trip to Cat's was a bitter disappointment. they have an EG hatch with a D15B7, and an EF/ED sedan with front end damage. the hope was to find an EG with compatible electronics and an ED/EF hatch with a clean front end. i may be able to gank the headlights, but i'm not sure. i will investigate the options at shroyer's before making any purchases.

on the positive side, i did complete assembly of the engine hoist a.k.a. cherry picker. i took some camera phone pics, but a step of this magnitude deserves some high-quality shots. i will post later tonight, possibly after i get even more accomplished.

Current Mood: energetic

. . . a run to Cat's Auto Salvage is imminently in the offing.

updates have, as always, been slower than I would like. the garage is not yet clean, though it is close, and the engine hoist and stand aren't yet assembled. my goal for tonight is to accomplish the first if not the second. i did manage to get a hold of my old friend, and he is thankfully willing to help with the remainder of the work (and return my parts and tools!).

i have again reversed position on the OBD-I/OBD-0 debate. a major engine build really ought to have ODB-I for tuning and engine management purposes, and besides building a heroic high-compression engine and dropping it into a worn and broken chassis is not a good idea. with a chipped P28 ECU, ODB-I, and good tuning, i will have a great platform for making big power later. i can also then afford more work on repair, restoration, and reliability.

i hope.

Current Mood: contemplative

this project was dormant again for far too long. work, family, and other pursuits delayed my effort again. however today i made progress for the first time in a while. i purchased a cherry picker (engine hoist) and engine stand. i began assembly of the beastly tools, but time and cold prevented me from completion. also, I realized an old friend i've been having trouble getting a hold of still has in his possession a large quantity of my tools. this will have to be remedied. pics in a day or two when i complete assembly and get the engine on the stand.

Current Mood: rejuvenated

with the blessing of my wife i drug my old rotary tool out of the basement, bought a new mandrel and reinforced cutoff wheels (less than ten bucks). i then attacked the heinous bolt attaching the bumper reinforcement to the frame. it was slow going as light was inadequate, but eventually the head came off. then the slow grinding down of the remnants of the bolt's shaft began until the whole thing suddenly dropped. i jumped back, and when the assembly hit the floor i laughed and laughed. damn, it felt good. that's been over two years in the making. i now have unrestricted access to the engine bay and all parts therein.

another fine toy i picked up was a 2" diameter wirewheel, such as for removal of paint and rust--but sized for a drill chuck. this is sublime, as i thought i needed a full-sized orbital sander/grinder to use a wirewheel or other paint/rust removal tools--but my trusty electric drill can run these just fine. i got about a half-inch-square area shiny and clean before the completely non-charged battery broadcast its last amp through the drill's motor. the drill is now on the charger, awaiting a hearty session of use tomorrow night or next.

and now, subway restaurants. i mean, pics:

presenting for you the newly cleaned engine bay:



and a quick hit with this:



did this:





we're getting there

Current Mood: awake

worked a little on the car tonight. still cannot remove the last bolt that keeps the entire bumper attached to the front of the car. decided to take another tack, and remove the urethane and styrofoam from the bumper instead, leaving only the bumper support, which should be easier to manipulate and possibly allow me to remove the offending bolt.

there were several (ten?) large flat screws with rubber grommets that attached the urethane to the bumper support. two refused to come out, so I shot them up with PB Blaster. took another go and stripped them both. i then resorted to using pliers to grab the outside edges and turn them . . . great plan when the edges are covered by rubber that's just been coated in the most powerful penetrative lubricant known to god or man.

eventually i got them all free except for one of the two bolts that holds the front license plate frame to the bumper support. so to recap: i now have the bumper cover and styrofoam attached to the bumper support by one bolt, and the bumper support attached to the frame by one bolt, and neither are coming off tonight. i shot them both real good with PB Blaster and, dizzy from the fumes, retired for the evening.

aside from the above i also removed the passenger side headlight, cleaned the windshield, removed all parts, debris, and bullshit from the engine bay, and wiped most of the engine bay down with a dry paper towel, just to clear the working area and get things settled.

i am bitterly disappointed that I could not remove the bumper tonight as that was my goal for the evening. i swear i will get that thing off with all possible speed and when i do i will rip out its eyes and skullfuck it.

Current Mood: devastated

as promised, adding new pics, this time shot with Kelly's camera so they look better.


first, up, the new, clean interior:



yeah, that's a lot better. next up, the dash shot:



man, when that's done that steering wheel will be a huge improvement. Finally, the big challenge, getting this:



into this:



You know, it's like one of those Magic Eye things. If you squint, and sort of relax your eyes, and "look past" it, and maybe do a little acid and let your imagination run wild . . .

You can almost see the car this will become:

last night, i finished cleaning and vacuuming out the interior. the bad news is that there was definitely some kind of critter or critters living in there. the good news is that i have found no critters, living or dead, as of yet. the only place where any could be hiding is under the rear seats, since i haven't yet taken out of the car. but, I don't think they could even get under them to begin with, so I should be all set.

not much else new to update with, still in the planning stages in terms of the ultimate scope of the project. i have to figure out exactly what i'll be able to do, when, and in what order. consider the next three pages of rambling to be me working it all out for myself in writing.


* first and foremost, the engine work needs to be completed. this will include swapping in ZC pistons for increased compression, and possibly new camshaft and valvetrain components in order to improve flow, efficiency, and reliability, as well as reduce the chance of detonation. the modded airbox I had from before flows very well and makes an awesome intake sound, so no change is needed there. i may do something with the throttle body, probably a polish and/or bore. the intake manifold has already been bead blasted; some mild porting & polishing may be in order. if my stock D16A6 exhaust header will bolt up to the new D16Z6 engine, then that will be used. evenually, I'd like an SMSP header in there, but budget doesn't allow it. the stock cat was partially gutted when my distributor failed at speed and unburnt fuel was pumped into the exhaust. ideally, I'd replace it with a high-flow cat, but that money can be better spent elsewhere for now. the HKS 2.25" exhaust is not going anywhere. properly tuned, this setup should net me 150+ whp and boost fuel efficiency to over 30 mpg.

* oh right, and then we actually have to put the engine back in the car. this is the area of greatest unknowns. the swap is straightforward, but we didn't remove the engine in the smartest or most meticulous way, and so that means a lot of work now to make up for the hasty removal. the engine mounts were in sad shape when we took them out, they may have to be fixed or replaced. all the fluids (coolant, oil) and stuff that pumps or contains them (radiator, water pump, a whole mess 'o hoses) will have to be checked and, if necessary, replaced. the A/C will just have to wait, as completely reassembling that system, pressure testing, coolant replacement, etc, will be serious $$$ and PITA and it's just not worth it right now.

* the interior will either be slapped back together (put the stock seats back in and make do), or completely gutted and re-installed fresh with new carpet, re-upholstered '91 Prelude Si seats, and a new center console and repaired dash. actually, the console and dash have to be done no matter what; we'll either have to ghetto-fab something or hit the junkyard.

* exterior. there is a lot of bodywork to be done; front end is FUBAR--the hood is bent, the driver-side front quarter panel is damaged, the bumper is twisted, the bumper supports are damaged, one headlight is missing, some headlight assembly parts are missing, the front radiator support is a little tweaked, and the signals and corners are messed up as well. between fixing stuff and junkyard crawls, I should be able to replace all of it fairly cheaply. ultimately i want to completely strip the finish on the whole car down to bare metal, fix all dents, blast away all rust, replace any panels that need replacing, reprime and repaint it. that will cost money and take time, though, so it will have to wait.

* the brakes were all completely replaced a year or less before the car died, and so should be fine for now. however, the rotors and pads are EXTREMELY rusty. i am hoping a re-bed-in procedure will take care of that. if not, something may need to be done about the brakes as well, possibly a swap to an Accord Wagon/ITR setup.

* wheels and tires are an interesting issue. one of my four stock steel wheels is gone, so now I only have three. two have very old, nearly bald tires, and the remaining one is okay. at the least, i'll have to replace the stock wheel with a junkyard find, and replace all four tires. that will do for the moment, though of course new wheels would be sweet.

* the suspension is tricky. i'm pretty sure the stock shocks are mostly blown, i may have to go for a used set of coilovers, or again wait until a later phase of the project. other bits like bars and bushings will be easier to do. I do need one upper control arm replaced because one was bent during the engine removal.

the next step is to completely catalog and lay out every part that I have. then, my wife and i will have to set a "phase one" budget, which will encompass getting the car back on the road safely, with as much engine, interior, and exterior work done as can be afforded (while the engine is out of the car). once that is done, i'll be able to break everything out into three or four phases, with proposed timelines and budgets. that's when the fun will really start.

Current Mood: frustrated

finally, some pics.

keep in mind that this car died on me when it was my daily driver, and i basically haven't touched it since.



just as i left it. that is the D16Z6 engine, sans valve cover, in the foreground. mostly-off bumper just behind it, miscellaneous car (and, apparently, computer) parts are strewn around the edge of the engine bay.



here's where incompetent thieves couldn't figure out how to jack my stereo so they just completely removed my center console to make it easier.



Oh man, it is a disaster area in there. the pics don't show the carnage. not only is it super-messy, but i'm pretty sure that at one point there were mice in there. careful and thorough inspection reveals no current verminal habitants, thank god, but there is clear evidence of previous rodent activity.



i told you i'd let this project go for a while. this newspaper was in the back seat. Ricky Williams tearing it up for the 'Fins, Brandi Chastain and the girls taking home the World Cup trophy. Yikes.

Current Mood: worried

after further research, it looks like the OBDI conversion isn't going to gain me anything in terms of reliability or performance, so instead i'll keep it at OBD0. i'll take the saved budget money and put it towards a more agressive cam and valvetrain buildup. priority will go to the engine build, completion of the swap, and the interior work needed to get the car driving safely.

i have further cleaned out the garage, after a friend helped me dump all the straight-up trash. I started on cleaning the car out, once that's done I'll catalog all the parts I have and work on a master list of all the parts I'll need.

Current Mood: working

today marks the end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end. Project: The Black Ship is reborn.

nothing has physically changed from a month ago or two years ago, save the recent cleanout of the garage. in my mind, however, the status of the project has officially changed from "dormant pile of metal on jackstands" to "project car in the middle of a major swap, restore, and buildup".

there is nothing special or extraordinary about swapping a D16Z6 into an EF hatch, in fact it's incredibly simple, as far as swaps go. however, there is much repair, restoration, and improvement to be done along the way. i am converting the car to ODBI. i am making many engine tweaks and improvements, such as P&P'd ports, increased compression, intake and exhaust mods, engine management, possibly cams/pullies, and all tuned to the 93 octane that is plentiful here in the Motor State. i am upgrading or replacing crucial suspension bits, including reparing or replacing the hood, bumper, windshield, right front fender, and possibly both rear fenders. i am getting new wheels and tires. i am upgrading the brakes. i am reparing or replacing much of the dash, center console, and audio system, which were destroyed and/or stolen by thieves over a year ago. i am swapping '91 Prelude Si front seats. i am reuphostering and recarpeting everything. i am tinting the windows. i am taking the paint down to bare metal, repairing all damage, and repainting the car.

the goal: a unique daily driver with great balance, handling, and driveability. break into the 14s, on street tires, all motor. expression of self, in automotive form.

the inspiration for the project is "the black ship", a spaceship from Douglas Adams' Restaurant at the End of the Universe. the outside is "so black you can hardly make out its shape". that is the goal. everything completely flat jet black on the outside and in, a notable more for its lack of presence than its presence. i want this car to look like someone cut a Civic-shaped hole out of the universe.

and with that, I close the first entry. many, many, many more updates and pics to follow.

Current Mood: working