The Black Box

[sketchman]

First drive reveals an issue if you're tall. The Civic shifter design I got (with one bend) isn't bent enough to match the angle of the stock shifter. So I find I have to stretch quite a bit to reach 1,3,5. I can compensate by basically shifting with my fingertips, but it'll be coming back out and getting bent to match the stocker before I leave it for good.

Just boring progress for now. Studs, nuts, and tires ordered. Knuckles should be here tomorrow. Gonna run with the stock suspension till I have a little more extra cash to do Rio front struts and Aspire rears, with eBay sleeves and good springs.

[sketchman]

Knuckles are here, rotors in the mail, and I just scored a TD04 for later. Looking at using a B series Honda cast turbo manifold or finding an Aspire mani to use. Not sure yet. Gotta wait on tires and studs/nuts to install the knuckles, so they will get pretty in the meantime.
Pics soon, hopefully.

[sketchman]

More boring updates.
Turbo came. Can't believe the folks at Busaru stick this tiny thing on a 2.0, but I'm glad they do.


All the brake parts are here too, as well as tires.
Went over some specs. New tire/wheel combo "should" be 4.8lbs over stock setup with 155/12s. New brake combo is around 2.25lbs more than stock and WELL worth it so that's OK. I haven't gotten to measure the fuel economy yet, but I'll do before and after to see what the extra weight does. If I can stand these bone shaking rotors long enough to run through a tank.

[sketchman]

Just realized I was over-thinking the manifold thing. Will be using a spruced up stock Festiva mani. Man, the time and googling I wasted on that.

[sketchman]

Sweet baby carrots. I hate this manual tire changer. Maybe it's just me, but all I managed to do was scratch up my brand new wheel. I'll be painting them anyway, but still aggravating. I am very careful too. I just can't use the thing, I guess. Watched several youtube vids too. Didn't help.

Pictured the one I've got done so far and the cheap little tool that did nearly all the work. The only thing the tire changer was good for was the bar I used to start the tire by pushing on the inside of it to get the back half on the wheel. Other than that, just set it on the floor and use the little pry bar. Piece of cake,..... at the end of a pile of manure.

Also looks like the 165s will be slightly stretched on these wheels. Didn't expect that, but OK with me.


Realtime Update EDIT: Yeah, a couple flat prybars is the way to go. I guess the bead breaker will come in handy, though.

[Prafeston]

Tires look good!

[sketchman]

Thanks. Hopefully it'll be less frigid enough to get everything on this coming week. Getting excited.

[sketchman]

Got done giving my wheels a pretty bad paint job. And that's bad as in bad, not the new bad that's good. Considering how I did it, it could be WAY worse, but still. They're still a bit wet, so no pics yet.

Mounted the other 2 tires, and disassembled and inspected a new toy.
12:1 and 1:1 together at last. Manual boost controller on the way to complete the set, then it's onto the manifold.


Brakes and wheels should be on tomorrow.

[sketchman]

Tires all mounted. Still not aired up. It shows the wheel poking out quite a bit. Paint job doesn't look quite so horrid from a few feet away, but there are runs galore from pure Rusto flat black applied with a sponge brush. I may spray them when the weather gets warmer, but it serves the purpose for now. Flash out, sedate blandness in.

[sketchman]

25 ft of 1/4" FI hose and a Crown Vic fuel pump ordered. Supposed to be frigid all day today. Woopee. Looks like next week for the install. Oh well.

[sketchman]

Aired them up and the stretch is almost not noticeable. On the car it won't be at all unless you're looking for it. Comparable to the way the 185s look on my 6.5" wheels. I have a tiny 1 gal pancake compressor that seems to work really well seating the beads if I let it build to 100psi, then shut it off, and start the inflation. Balances out to 20psi and everything's good and tight.

Kinda funny side note; I used an exhaust valve stem to install my valve stems. Watched a guy on youtube do it with a nail and pliers, and then I looked around at some spare junk, and voila the perfect tool for the job.

[sketchman]

Pics.



Should make for decent handling.

[sketchman]

Unhooked the IAC's electrical plug and now hopefully the idle will be more stable. It would always let it go WAY too low after it warmed up. So low I'd have to turn off the headlights when sitting still. Don't know why it was doing that, but I don't like IACs anyway, so away with it. I'll completely remove it when I install the turbo.

I've also got an Escort ZX2 throttle body coming. I posted a question on FEOA.net asking how the pedal feel was with one, and it was mentioned that it's a progressive rate feel as well as being softer than a SOHC 2.0 Escort. Checked eBay and yep, 2 springs on the shaft. So hopefully it'll give me the nearly no resistance throttle I love. Can't get used to a feathery clutch and a stiff throttle. I've been driving MTX cars for years, and I just have no confidence at stop lights with this car, nor can I time throttle work for shifts for manure. That needs to change. :twisted:

And it will.

[sketchman]

So after driving it last night and this morning to work and back, I realized it was the IAC going whacko that was causing my throttle control issues. I can drive it fine now, but I'm sure I'll like the softer throttle better still.

Ordered misc bits and pieces. Oil feed fittings and a boost gauge. Getting there, slowly.

[sketchman]

I got the TB on and working, technically. ZX2 uses an IAC circuit integrated into the TB. Annoying, so I have to fill it with JB weld and try again. It was having vac leak issues. Idled like it was cammed but revved fine. I'll also be running no TPS for a bit to see how it affects fuel economy and throttle response. It free revs fine, so we'll see. I'm getting 47mpg right now.

Those looking for a bigger throttle that's easy to find should try one. I'll get a pic of how much bigger it is, when the JB sets and I get it back on.