Project Civic Si(gh) – Something old, something new, and even something used
I recently introduced you to the Civic Si that’s taken up residence in my driveway. There is a long list of items that need attention, but I decided to tackle two fairly glaring To-Do bullet points. For good measure, I threw in one more fix while I had parts of the interior ready and willing to accept change.
Keep reading to see how the Civic is coming along…
One of the areas where the Civic needed my immediate attention was up front. The body work can wait, as this time it’s all about replacing the headlights. One was damaged (yet still functioning minus the turn signal), and the other was fogged over. At night, the damaged bulb bounced around while the foggy lens on the other side was as efficient as a birthday candle in a hurricane.
I reached out to my friends at AutoShepherd.com for a new set of headlamps, and the Anzo replacement units arrived quite quickly.
Wading through the damaged front body pieces, I removed the bumper to access the headlamps. Getting to a few of the bolts was easier than it should’ve been thanks to torn up plastic trim in the wheel wells. The old lamps came out, new bulbs went into the new lighting assemblies, and in they went. Reverse the procedure for getting the bumper off, and Project Civic Si(gh) can now see at night!
Other drivers might not be able to see though, seeing as how the lights aren’t aimed properly yet. This car is currently pulling off a rather convincing impression of Marty Feldman.
After getting the lights in, it was time to tackle that lame-duck, airbag-blown steering wheel. I found a used NRG quick release hub on the Honda-Tech forums, and I asked the seller to throw the steering wheel in as well. The seller was friendly, the hub and wheel were mine, and the Civic was getting a new tiller.
Here are the wheel and hub I lined up for the car:
To remove the original wheel, I first had to access two bolts on either side of the airbag to remove that unit. The next day, I returned to the project with a set of Torx bolts, and removed the airbag. After that was gone, the main steering bolt was removed, and the wheel was easily shimmied off of the column. Four more bolts and I had the rest of the airbag system out of my way.
Unfortunately, I may have mistakenly cut away the wiring for the horn at this point. Seeing as the “new” wheel has no horn button, I’m ok for now. However, when driving the car after fitting the wheel, I missed having a horn almost immediately. I plan on rectifying this problem in the very near future.
The new hub installation was quite easy, and the wheel fits in perfectly. Well… almost perfectly. Unfortunately, there is some play between the wheel and hub. I am going to find some thin rubber or cushioning material to cut and fit to the wheel to make for a tighter fit and reduce the tiny bit of unwanted shakiness I currently have in the wheel.
When I had the wheel off, I decided to take apart the gauge cluster as well. I was not a fan of the aftermarket white gauges installed by the previous owner. Thankfully, they were of the variety that just sit over the original gauges. I pried the unit apart, and set to work removing the lame-duck white displays.
During the process, I had the pleasure of snapping the fuel gauge off…
After admiring my unfortunate handy work, I set about putting the cluster back together. After getting it all back into place, and installing the wheel, I realized I left the tach needle below the plastic stopper that keeps it from falling down. Again… fuck.
Oh well, pull it all back out and re-do it.
It was worth it, as you can see in the before and after shots below.
Before
After
More shots of the car can be found below, and stay tuned for more updates as they happen.
Related posts:
http://youtu.be/SMxB4RpCDzA
Just sayin'.
This is awesome. Not to be a wanker, but it's actually nice to hear of the small, frustrating difficulties you encountered (wheel play, fuel gauge, speedometer below zero) as most of us can relate to that more than anything. What are you going to do for a fuel gauge? I would attach one of those little springs from a pen. Boing!
According to Honda-Tech, it's as simple as replacing that gauge… which for me, will probably be a huge ordeal.
I am the anti-Tim Odell…
What the Tech did not tell you is that in the factory they have a fixture that holds the gauge in place while they build the rest of the car around it…
I remember that a friend of mine wanted to make the gauges in his Chrysler Dynasty look cooler and in the process managed to snap his speedometer needle off. I think he needed to get an all new cluster because of how it was set up.
I thought it was funny, anyway.
I started laughing at myself when I snapped the fuel gauge off… I was pissed, but it was pretty fucking funny. Especially because I was making it way harder than it had to be… I thought the cluster trim was attached to the unit, until I found a tab and removed the extra trim… giving me clear access to the gauges.
If I had a nickel for every time I laughed out loud when I fucked up something that should be so simple…I would probably have enough money to hire somebody to fix stuff with out breaking it. So I know exactly where you are coming from!
I love this feature, but it does make me feel guilty about my own automotive underachievement. I know that, technically, keeping a KV6 engined Rover on the road is probably project enough, but I still hanker after something else to tinker with.
Unfortunately, we've just bought a house. So I haven't got any money. And never will for the rest of my life.
Congrats on your new house, you crazy kids!
Thanks man!
On the hood – Did you paint the duct tape?
Tell me you didn't paint the duck tape…
It's black tape
Whoops, replying from my iPad…
Whew! I was worried for a minute. “Painted duct tape” is right up there next to “Bondo over rags” on my list of Hoopty repairs worthy of eye rolling.
http://duckbrand.com/Products/duck-tape.aspx
Ahh, the joys of fix-er-up. At least with a relatively recent Honda, all you have to do is clap twice and replacement parts start falling from the sky. The '72 AMC Matador sedan I was trying to keep on the road in the 1990's, not so lucky with the parts availability.
crap crap crap crap…
I went out to drive the car last night, having not done so since the updates.
I must've removed one too many wires behind the gauge cluster… the gauges don't light up at night now.
Gauges…you don't need no stinkin' gauges…
You didn't need a puller to get the steering wheel off? That's not very confidence-inspiring. Good thing there was a nut holding it on.
Sure. But it's a nut with two hands.