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mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Never too late for a project car, right? Even though I've worked on my Miata, it's my daily ride and I don't consider it a project as such, over time I just add various zoom-zoom bits as stuff needs to be replaced.

Since normal vacations and travel are out of the question for the foreseeable future, I signed up for our local winter banger type rally. As far as I can tell, it should be just a chill roadtrip around interesting locations I'd never visit otherwise, through some less than ideal roads. All perfectly safe (unless you freeze to death). I just needed a car, sine the Miata is thankfully still too nice to qualify.

Here's the solution:

2004, about 150k km / 100k miles. ~80hp of non-VTEC L13A fury.

You could probably get something cheaper for the rally, but I didn't want to buy a complete wreck for a few reasons. It costs money to register the car and do the annual tech inspections anyway, and I'd probably also end up driving it while my miata is getting its sills and arches welded, and maybe my parents could use a cheap runaround later.

They wanted about $800 originally with some known faults. Probably could've negotiated a bit lower but it's already at about half of what something like this would cost, and he had quotes for replacing the throttle body and EGR valve so there was only so much room until he'd tell me to gently caress off.

The priority was making it driveable, registering it, and then preparing it for the rally. I already posted some of this in the stupid questions thread as I was dealing with the problems, though the main stuff is still ahead once I receive the necessary parts:

1. TPS codes P0122, P0221, and P0638.
I googled the 3 codes that came up and various Honda forums suggested it was a cut 5v reference wire to the throttle body.



Yep. This is after I already stripped the insulation, then just soldered it together and it runs nicely now. I might need to go back in there because I ended up with an extra bolt :v:

2. P0403 EGR control circuit code
Not critical but I'll need it fix to pass emissions in 4 months or so.




Seems reasonably clean to me, and additional cleaning didn't help much. It seems that the valve is just stuck there, I can't pull it out with pliers and applying 12v to pins 4 & 6 (bottom row) doesn't do anything either. Since it seems to be hosed, I'll probably try opening it and seeing what's up inside later.

3. Clutch/input shaft bearing
Definitely the most annoying to deal with. The bearings are like $50 but it's at least a day of work, and it's way too cold outside for that kind of work, so I'm ignoring it for now. Thankfully it mostly goes away once it's a bit warmed up. My miata had some noise for years and it never got any worse.

4. Brakes
They actually work fine but I should check the pads before going on any long trips in this. My street is on an incline so :effort:

5. Rear defroster
Something I discovered on the way home with it. I can measure 12v between the left and right terminals, but the elements don't heat up at all, none of them. The rear window has tint applied so I can't get to the elements directly without peeling it off (and I'd like to preserve the tint for now).
Every row looks like this though, so maybe these are the damaged parts.


6. Rear right door trim
Only saw this today since I never climbed in the back.



Just unscrewed the handle (it was still held in by some clips probably, but this was enough) and jammed the fabric under it with a screwdriver. Instantly looks much nicer.

7. Rust
There are a few rust spots, on rear left sill and trunk. Less than my miata TBH. Not urgent but also shouldn't be too difficult to fix before it's too late.



Mods
The other part is doing some basic mods to make it more suitable for the rally and easier to spend time on a long trip.

1. Lift
The best solution I cound find were these spring spacers form a Russian company Tema4x4. Nobody else is crazy enough to make them of course.

https://tema4x4.ru/catalog/detail/prostavki_perednikh_pruzhin_v_stoyki_dlya_honda_hon_15_005_poliuretan/
I'm sure they could be fabricated locally but probably not cheaper than just getting them from Russia. Now just have to wait.

2. Skidplate
This is really offroading cosplay so I'm not spending hundreds on a proper one. Thankfully I remembered seeing someone make one out of a traffic sign before. And what do you know, a yield sign's been in ditch not far from me for months now. I'm just helping recycle.



Not the best shape, but if I can bolt it on to the subframe wide side to the front, it should cover most of the engine and transmission.

3. Radiator protection
The lower intake seems to directly exponse the radiator (or AC) to gravel, branches and other crap that might be flying around, so Ill try to stick some kind of mesh in there perhaps.

4. Aux in
This seems pretty straightforward, the stock stereo supports it and you just need a jumper and an old headphone cable. Thankfully I have all kinds of junk in my drawers.

I just can't get the loving stereo out of the dash without breaking stuff. So that's not installed yet.

5. Lighting
I had a bunch of LEDs laying around so why not. Before/After, same exposure settings:


Also had an LED strip...



I snaked the wiring through the left seatbelt hole, the shock mount access hole, and to the stock housing (visible in the photo). I might need to remove the bar for the rally since it's splitting up usable space, but for now it's pretty nice.

6. Theme/decorations
Seems like an important part of this rally. Since the car is black, I thought I'd go for the Death Proof Nova look and hopefully the contrast with the cute little car would be funny and/or ridiculous.

Already 3d printed and painted the Convoy duck:


And ordered some white self-adhesive vinyl. This size seems about right




7. Camping poo poo
If I end up going alone, I probably won't do anything and just sleep in the trunk, since it's just about long enough if I sleep at a slight angle. If a friend of mine does go along though, it might be better to build some kind of sleeping platform which would be longer and let us store all the crap under it without moving everything each night. E.g.:

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Cactus Ghost
Dec 20, 2003

you can actually inflate your scrote pretty safely with sterile saline, syringes, needles, and aseptic technique. its a niche kink iirc

the saline just slowly gets absorbed into your blood but in the meantime you got a big round smooth distended nutsack
this looks cool as hell and basically what i'm aspiring to do with my 95 impreza

from what ive heard you picked a great car for it; the first gen fits were apparently really competitive in rally america's 2wd stock class

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

OMGVBFLOL posted:

this looks cool as hell and basically what i'm aspiring to do with my 95 impreza

from what ive heard you picked a great car for it; the first gen fits were apparently really competitive in rally america's 2wd stock class
Thanks! Yeah when I initially researched my options, I was shocked there's even a spec Fit racing series and they do pretty well despite the basic suspension setup and limited power. The European ones are a bit more anemic than the NA versions, but I have to say it feels reasonably zippy and should be good competitive with similarly underpowered econoboxes.

As far as I can tell there's going to be only a nominal amount of any actual timed racing this timer around due to covid related limits on organized activities but a dry run is fine by me as well. After that we'll see, there might be another event in the summer, and recently a few <$1000 road racing series started popping up. A turbo might be needed at that point, or maybe a K20, though that would break the budget and the law :getin:

An Impreza is an infinitely better starting point though, and now is as good time to kick it off as any!

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Fits are good cars. Hope this one treats you right.

Previa_fun
Nov 10, 2004

I had a USA model 2008 Honda Fit (same generation it looks like) and I think it might be my favorite car I've ever owned overall. Mine was named Lisa because L15A. :v: That chassis was probably one of the last Honda-rear end feeling Hondas and we were robbed that we never got a Fit Type R or even Fit Si.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Fits are good cars. Hope this one treats you right.
Thanks, I'm really pleasantly surprised, expected a hateful little penalty box which I might've gotten with a yaris or some of the chintzy european options but it's pretty solid and reasonably fun. It does make the miata of a similar vintage feel like a luxury vehicle, but that's just how it was before everyone started putting soft-touch plastics and heated seats into their tiny cars too.

Other than the bearing it's also in shockingly good shape for a $600 car, so I do hope to keep using it a bit whenever the miata is worked on or otherwise not convenient. So almost never, other than perhaps right now when it's raining and/or snowing and absolutely miserable every loving day.

Previa_fun posted:

I had a USA model 2008 Honda Fit (same generation it looks like) and I think it might be my favorite car I've ever owned overall. Mine was named Lisa because L15A. :v: That chassis was probably one of the last Honda-rear end feeling Hondas and we were robbed that we never got a Fit Type R or even Fit Si.
Yeah this is the first gen, GD, and the 2008 should be the same IIRC. I haven't thought of a name, maybe Liena in honor of the L13A (apparently these do require regular valve adjustments but seems to be ticking just fine for now sooo)? A bit weird name, but hey, it's foreign!

It's my first and only Honda so I don't really have any frame of reference, but despite the solid rear axle it does seem legit nicer to drive than various comparable econoboxes I've had the pleasure of renting. Really jealous that we didn't get VTEC in these though, yo.


Anyway, to my surprise yesterday I received a pair of LED lights from aliexpress in like two weeks flat. NOT surprisingly they're only 10W each and not 42W like the copy claims, but they're pretty drat bright and there's no way they could be more than maybe 15W without melting down anyway.



I went out to see where I could install them, I was thinking either at the front of the roof rack or maybe through the grille, but it's pretty well recessed and there's no easy access from the other side so that looks unlikely. It was raining at just over freezing point so I gave up pretty quickly. Searching around, I've seen these license plate brackets as a solution. But none are for sale locally and even I managed to fabricate something, the cops might get mad if it obstructs the plate at all:




I did check on the AC condenser situation though, and I might be a bit late with the protective mesh idea lol. I couldn't really tell if it was working properly when buying it, and it's hardly critical, but the seller volunteered that it's been serviced and working after I paid so it would be nice if it worked.

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.
No idea why these things seem to do gearbox bearings, I'm not aware of other Honda manuals being particularly delicate.

It's not the worst job getting gearbox in and out, but it's not like there's a huge amount of space under there.

Cactus Ghost
Dec 20, 2003

you can actually inflate your scrote pretty safely with sterile saline, syringes, needles, and aseptic technique. its a niche kink iirc

the saline just slowly gets absorbed into your blood but in the meantime you got a big round smooth distended nutsack
fwiw the yaris is a solid choice for a cheapass rally car too, especially if you can find one of the vanishingly rare stickshift ones

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

God drat, are those things that cheap now (Edit: Not anywhere around me. 180k w/ salvage title for $3.5k lol) ? I've always liked them straight up.

So, is there a hybrid-safari vibe to the build? If so, I approve. Are there any engine upgrades that don't cost more than the car?

meatpimp fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Jan 31, 2021

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.

meatpimp posted:

God drat, are those things that cheap now (Edit: Not anywhere around me. 180k w/ salvage title for $3.5k lol) ? I've always liked them straight up.
That's not even a really cheap one here, my mate's wife's one was £300 in a similar state.

Cactus Ghost
Dec 20, 2003

you can actually inflate your scrote pretty safely with sterile saline, syringes, needles, and aseptic technique. its a niche kink iirc

the saline just slowly gets absorbed into your blood but in the meantime you got a big round smooth distended nutsack

meatpimp posted:

Are there any engine upgrades that don't cost more than the car?

radical weight reduction

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Update for today: still too cold to work outside.

Picked up an old used roof rack basket and classic metal gas can.
Found a new item for my to-do list:
https://i.imgur.com/YtdpLHR.mp4
It doesn't seem to be wobbling in the rails so I'll try to take it off and bring inside tomorrow to check it out.

E: Also the heating sucks compared to the miata. Takes a while to get anything even warm, and doesn't get that hot even on max. Not sure if something is broken (heater core?) or that's jut how it is.

InitialDave posted:

No idea why these things seem to do gearbox bearings, I'm not aware of other Honda manuals being particularly delicate.

It's not the worst job getting gearbox in and out, but it's not like there's a huge amount of space under there.
No idea what the actual root cause is, maybe a bad batch of bearings :confused: I'm sure it doesn't affect ever car but seems like a common enough issue.

The procedure in the service manual (BTW please share it if you have one, I only found a Russian version) looks reasonably straightforward, but there are definitely going to be issues with rusty or otherwise stuck bolts and limited access requiring all sorts of extensions and weird tools. There are some videos on youtube of people doing this, looks like a day or two job, especially since I never pulled a gearbox before. But it's not like covid is going away so what else am I going to do.

OMGVBFLOL posted:

fwiw the yaris is a solid choice for a cheapass rally car too, especially if you can find one of the vanishingly rare stickshift ones
Yep and thankfully they're almost all manual here, so I did consider this one for about $100 less

which would be ok if I wanted to write it off after the rally, but I wasn't so sure I'd be able to DIY the damaged B pillar. They also seemed a bit more unpleasant inside and less practical so I noped out.

meatpimp posted:

God drat, are those things that cheap now (Edit: Not anywhere around me. 180k w/ salvage title for $3.5k lol) ? I've always liked them straight up.

So, is there a hybrid-safari vibe to the build? If so, I approve. Are there any engine upgrades that don't cost more than the car?
This one was obviously half-price thanks to the issues but even the (supposedly) nice ones are around like $2k.

Not really, other than the radical weight reduction as OMGVBFLOL suggeted. An L15A swap would be the cheapest way but we never got that engine here, so maybe if I smuggled one from Russia. Or a junkyard turbo, the ECU is by far the biggest issue there but it seems like a piggyback solution might possible. There are also some open source ECUs like SECU3 which are more appropriately priced but I imagine it's goint to be a huge pain in the rear end to get working.

InitialDave posted:

That's not even a really cheap one here, my mate's wife's one was £300 in a similar state.
UK's notorious for cheap used cars because nobody else wants them :) I saw somebody on youtube buy one like this for £100 at an action. Unfortunately it'd cost more to drive a car like this back so it's not worth it. On the other hand a Cayman/Boxster is like $5-10k less :thunk:

mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Feb 1, 2021

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.

mobby_6kl posted:

The procedure in the service manual (BTW please share it if you have one, I only found a Russian version) looks reasonably straightforward, but there are definitely going to be issues with rusty or otherwise stuck bolts and limited access requiring all sorts of extensions and weird tools. There are some videos on youtube of people doing this, looks like a day or two job, especially since I never pulled a gearbox before.
Been a while since I was doing it, but if you pull the driveshafts, support the engine from above, and drop the front subframe, you can get the gearbox out from underneath.

I seem to remember one of the starter motor fasteners being a royal pain to get at, I think we removed the intake manifold to get more access from above.

But it's fundamentally a fairly standard fwd transverse box job.

Actually, I double checked, my mate filmed pretty much everything:
https://youtu.be/PcGiGw63hvo

glyph
Apr 6, 2006



mobby_6kl posted:

E: Also the heating sucks compared to the miata. Takes a while to get anything even warm, and doesn't get that hot even on max. Not sure if something is broken (heater core?) or that's jut how it is.

Do you have an obd scanner that can read out in realtime (like with torque on your phone)? Because that sounds like an engine that has a stuck open thermostat and isn’t warming up properly.

E: got a sheet of cardboard nearby? Block off half the rad. :v:

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

InitialDave posted:

Been a while since I was doing it, but if you pull the driveshafts, support the engine from above, and drop the front subframe, you can get the gearbox out from underneath.

I seem to remember one of the starter motor fasteners being a royal pain to get at, I think we removed the intake manifold to get more access from above.

But it's fundamentally a fairly standard fwd transverse box job.

Actually, I double checked, my mate filmed pretty much everything:
https://youtu.be/PcGiGw63hvo
Haha that's your mate? I watched his video on the front struts before, since that also awaits me as soon as the spacers are here. Hopefully they aren't seized :ohdear:

This... Looks doable, but would definitely be the biggest job I ever attempted. I think I'll have to watch it carefully and take note of any special tools or equipment you used there to make sure everything I have everything ready. Or maybe try to convince my friend's BMW shop to help out for a case of beer :)


glyph posted:

Do you have an obd scanner that can read out in realtime (like with torque on your phone)? Because that sounds like an engine that has a stuck open thermostat and isn’t warming up properly.

E: got a sheet of cardboard nearby? Block off half the rad. :v:
Yep, and I even looked at the temperature before since the car doesn't have a gauge, but only once it was warmed up. I'll try from a cold start next time. And yeah I have some cardboard ready just in case.

Cactus Ghost
Dec 20, 2003

you can actually inflate your scrote pretty safely with sterile saline, syringes, needles, and aseptic technique. its a niche kink iirc

the saline just slowly gets absorbed into your blood but in the meantime you got a big round smooth distended nutsack
have you done a full coolant flush? it could just be crap built up, around the heater cores butterfly valve or in the core itself

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Nope, it's not really a "change all fluids immediately" kind of car, but I'll check if the thermostat works first and might do a flush when it's up for the suspension work.

Does anyone know how the rear fog light is turned on? It's the middle ring on the left stalk that you're supposed to turn, right? Mine is completely stuck and doesn't move with reasonable amount of force. If they check it during the inspections I might have to fix that too.


Since I actually had to park two streets away so I didn't bother dragging the seat here. Instead I worked on the more creative stuff, not exactly laser-cutter quality but it'll do.



I also picked up a cold weather sleeping bag, in the background, since we'll probably be staying overnight in the middle of nowhere. Cost like a third of the car :gonk:

Cactus Ghost
Dec 20, 2003

you can actually inflate your scrote pretty safely with sterile saline, syringes, needles, and aseptic technique. its a niche kink iirc

the saline just slowly gets absorbed into your blood but in the meantime you got a big round smooth distended nutsack
that's good. you don't want to skimp on a winter sleeping bag

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

No kidding. I'm not really into camping so I found that out the hard way when I spent two nights in Yellowstone with only a light summer bag and got like 2-3 hours of sleep total because it was literally freezing at night. Though the fact that I had a sleeping bag with me at all was a huge achievement of foresight for me since I usually just make do with whatever hoodies or jackets I have with me. Not trying that when it could be -15c.

surivdaoreht
Jan 22, 2009

I need that duck in my life. It's look awesome. Can you point me in the direction to where I'd find the file for that one? I have a friend at work with a 3d printer and I think I just found something I'd like to ask him to print for me.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

I received the spring spacers yesterday and hoped to take the afternoon today to (try) install them, but my manager called me for an urgent task right after lunch when I wanted to GTFO and that was that, the evening was dark and it started raining as soon as I went outside of course.



These are from http://tema4x4.ru/ if anyone wants to lift a weird car.

surivdaoreht posted:

I need that duck in my life. It's look awesome. Can you point me in the direction to where I'd find the file for that one? I have a friend at work with a 3d printer and I think I just found something I'd like to ask him to print for me.

Of course, there's a paid version if you google for it but thankfully someone put a free one on thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2744546

I modified mine so that it sits straight on the steep hood of this car, so if that would be useful I could upload the stl tomorrow.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Quick update: not much progress on the car for weather reasons:



But, I did fix the foglight switch! It just needed a bit of encouragement. Also picked up a roof basket from some old Lada probably, it has built-in feet for mounting that I'll have to cut off. Finally an opportunity to use the grinder!


Now the bad news. The organizers announced that due to all the covid restrictions, we wouldn't be able to leave the country so they're changing to a fallback route taking us (literally) around the country. And most likely it's all going to be paved and passable with stock cars. So combined with the weather, I think I'll de-prioritize the lift and skid plate installation as they'd be the most pain in the rear end with the least actual benefit.

Edit: updated to do list

  • Get the airbag recall done lol
  • Roof rack
  • Lights. Since they only draw 750mA each, I think I'll just hook them up to the existing foglight circuit if I can find it because the wiring diagram doesn't show it at all: http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual/a00/html/00/SAA2E00000000000000EBAT00i005.HTML
  • Aux in bluetooth mod . I found a bluetooth A2DP module I got from ebay a while ago, that's going to be much nicer than having to plug into the phone every time while it's also plugged in for charging. Just need a 5v linear regulator
  • Rear defroster. I'm guessing it would need to have every single trace repaired, which are unfortunately hidden under tint film that I wanted to keep.
  • Lift
  • Skid plate

mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Feb 10, 2021

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
I planned to do an A2DP board hotwire into the tape heads of an EG Civic, but I had sold the car by the time the boards arrived. It seemed like it would work surprisingly well.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

That should work pretty well, yeah. This HU is CD-only, but thankfully there's a connector prepared for aux input already, it's just a matter of wiring it directly to the stereo input and grounding pin 1 as far as I can tell.



I had the actual cable prepared as pictured in the first post, but the issue was actually getting the stereo out, the clips are very stiff and wouldn't budge any more if I pulled by hands or plastic tools, so I'm kind of stuck in this situation until a set of metal hooks arrives from aliexpress:



This delay of course gave me just enough time to change the plan to the bluetooth option, but that should definitely make life much easier. Possibly good for resale value too lol.

That photo I found on GIS also gives me another minor to do item: my shift boot is torn at the top and the cap is missing. I didn't actually know how it was supposed to look, and now I know so I'll try 3d printing the cap and gluing it to what's left of the boot. Certainly not spending :10bux: for a new one from china!

Another one is adjusting the handbrake. It works but only at the very top of the lever motion, it's mildly annoying and might not actually pass inspection later on.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

mobby_6kl posted:

[*]Lights. Since they only draw 750mA each, I think I'll just hook them up to the existing foglight circuit if I can find it because the wiring diagram doesn't show it at all:

Look behind wherever you'd typically find foglights, you should find the plugs there, probably with caps on them. That's how they did it way back when, anyway - where drat near every car got the wiring for fogs (and other stuff base models didn't come with, like a tach, clock, etc). It's how I added fogs to both of my Civics (also had to add a dash switch, but again.. wiring already there).

Bulk Vanderhuge
May 2, 2009

womp womp womp womp
https://estore.honda.com/honda/accessories/installation-instructions/oui-list.asp?year=2008&model=Fit&modelName=Fit

The harnesses from the fuse panel should be there but you'll need to install the sub harnesses and switch. An OE style fog light kit would have all the parts you need.

As a fellow Fit owner (albeit 2nd gen) I've really enjoyed mine, it's been a great and reliable appliance.

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

STR posted:

Look behind wherever you'd typically find foglights, you should find the plugs there, probably with caps on them. That's how they did it way back when, anyway - where drat near every car got the wiring for fogs (and other stuff base models didn't come with, like a tach, clock, etc). It's how I added fogs to both of my Civics (also had to add a dash switch, but again.. wiring already there).

Bulk Vanderhuge posted:

https://estore.honda.com/honda/accessories/installation-instructions/oui-list.asp?year=2008&model=Fit&modelName=Fit

The harnesses from the fuse panel should be there but you'll need to install the sub harnesses and switch. An OE style fog light kit would have all the parts you need.

As a fellow Fit owner (albeit 2nd gen) I've really enjoyed mine, it's been a great and reliable appliance.
Thanks! Yeah unfortunately there aren't any plugs already in place, and I'd need a whole harness and switch which is kind of :effort:

But speaking of the lights, I finally made some progress on that front. First, to figure out the craigslist roofrack. It had these legs that are supposed to mount to an unknown old car:



Two minutes with a grinder and an hour of fabricating light mounts later, it's... somewhat less impressive than I expected. But for fifteen bucks total, that'll do for now. If we do a proper rally in the summer, I'd mount these lights on the bumper and put a larger light bar on the roof instead.




The shift boot situation's been rectified too. Just need a shitton of glue.


Finally, the all important bluetooth mod. Not my proudest moment but it works so:


It's an aliexpress bluetooth module and ST L78 5v linear regulator, cap, and some junk wires. Interestingly, the speaker wires on the stereo loom have already been spliced which is weird since this has the stock HU and speakers.


To offset the progress, I also discovered some new things. Some of the foamy insulation in the driver's footwell is missing and it feels kind of wet there. Hopefully it's just from the shoes and there isn't a hole in the floor, but considering the price I'm not too shocked if it is. Also the rear hatch handle seem to get stuck sometimes and makes it very difficult to open the door. A new one is like twenty bucks on ebay but it won't get here anytime soon so I won't bother for now.

Next week looks like it will be finally above freezing temp so I'll look into installing the lift kit. Rear should be easy enough but the front has some pretty rusty nuts and bolts so there's a decent chance that's going to fail, but we'll see.

meltie
Nov 9, 2003

Not a sodding fridge.

mobby_6kl posted:

driver's footwell [...] feels kind of wet there.

Has it got a roofrack? Check the drains aren't blocked. Is that a thing that happens on those?

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

meltie posted:

Has it got a roofrack? Check the drains aren't blocked. Is that a thing that happens on those?
These are notorious for leaking into the trunk, but that doesn't seem to happen on mine.

I do have the universal roof rack installed, the kind that attaches between the door frame and the roof. It causes the seal to deform a bit, but I didn't notice it leaking there. Good idea to check it though.

Wrar
Sep 9, 2002


Soiled Meat
Rally cars don't use roof lights. The new style LED bars are compact and can throw a ton of light.

Blue Footed Booby
Oct 4, 2006

got those happy feet

Previa_fun posted:

...we were robbed that we never got a Fit Type R or even Fit Si.

Word. And it's nuts to me that Honda stopped bringing new models years of Fit to the US. I see them all over the place, and everyone I know who has one likes it. I figure it has to be a smaller profit margin than crossovers but how hosed does the US market have to be that everyone is cutting their hatches and other small cars?

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Wrar posted:

Rally cars don't use roof lights. The new style LED bars are compact and can throw a ton of light.
I know, but it's not really a serious rally car (yet...) and since I'll probably need to use the roof rack to carry stuff around, I might as well mount them there for now and save the trouble of figuring out how to install them on the bumper or hood. If there's a next time, I'll definitely get a bigass light bar though!

Blue Footed Booby posted:

Word. And it's nuts to me that Honda stopped bringing new models years of Fit to the US. I see them all over the place, and everyone I know who has one likes it. I figure it has to be a smaller profit margin than crossovers but how hosed does the US market have to be that everyone is cutting their hatches and other small cars?
Apparently there was a Jazz Si in the UK but it looks pretty lame:

quote:

Under the skin there are new dampers, thicker anti-roll bars and a revised electric power-steering set-up.

On the move, the Si feels slightly sharper and more responsive than the standard car, plus it boasts better body control and there’s less roll in corners.

Its 98bhp 1.4-litre engine is carried over unchanged from the standard car, which means performance is lukewarm rather than hot. The 0-60mph sprint took 11.1 seconds – nearly two seconds slower than the turbo SEAT – while the Honda’s in-gear acceleration was even weaker.
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/jazz/59887/honda-jazz-si

Since this event's been downgraded somewhat I'm now fairly confident that that the car will make it back in one piece, so making a DIY Fit Type R isn't out of the question. Basically as far as upgrades there's a rear sway bar which should be possible to DIY, coilovers, alignment and wheels/tires. I can't legally put anything other than 175/65 on 14", but the wheels are compatible with the miata so for any event I could just pop my good wheels with AD08 on.

It's also impossible to legally swap in a K engine, but a junkyard turbo, intercooler, DIY manifold and Speeduino or SECU ECU could fly under the radar. No promises, but if covid is still around for a while and there's nothing else to do, I'll consider it. So far there are a few LeMons style road course events planned for this year so.


The new Fit is a weird hybrid only and at least here it costs as much as a Golf and more than a wagon Octavia so I'm sure everyone will go with those because bigger = better than. Not sure it'll be around for much longer in this situation.

E: small progress update for today. Printed a little case for my bluetooth hackjob



mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Feb 15, 2021

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

maybe its just the picture, but you might want to heatshrink over that LM7805. The mounting tab is electrically connected to the output pin, and it looks like it's dangerously close to being able to tap all sorts of stuff on the board if there's a bit of vibration or whatever

i assume the power draw is small enough that you wont have to worry about the diminished cooling from adding a layer

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Raluek posted:

maybe its just the picture, but you might want to heatshrink over that LM7805. The mounting tab is electrically connected to the output pin, and it looks like it's dangerously close to being able to tap all sorts of stuff on the board if there's a bit of vibration or whatever

i assume the power draw is small enough that you wont have to worry about the diminished cooling from adding a layer
poo poo you just made me go check if the car was on fire :)

Thankfully it wasn't, and I wasn't completely crazy because I remembered that the tab was supposed to be ground. You're probably right about the LM, but it's thankfully ground on this ST L78. It's not just the picture though, it is hanging just above a micro USB connector on the board.

It draws like 20 mA while playing so temperature isn't going to be an issue even with some extra insulation.



There's also this reassuring line in the datasheet: "Each type embeds internal current limiting, thermal shut-down and safe area protection, making it essentially indestructible"

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

mobby_6kl posted:

poo poo you just made me go check if the car was on fire :)

Thankfully it wasn't, and I wasn't completely crazy because I remembered that the tab was supposed to be ground. You're probably right about the LM, but it's thankfully ground on this ST L78. It's not just the picture though, it is hanging just above a micro USB connector on the board.

It draws like 20 mA while playing so temperature isn't going to be an issue even with some extra insulation.



There's also this reassuring line in the datasheet: "Each type embeds internal current limiting, thermal shut-down and safe area protection, making it essentially indestructible"

you're right, my bad, i was thinking of the LM317

sounds like you're good!

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Raluek posted:

you're right, my bad, i was thinking of the LM317

sounds like you're good!
It's good to have a second set of eyes on this stuff anyway, thanks!

Looks like the situation is changing and winter is suddenly over. So I probably wasted a ton of money on a winter sleeping bag. But on the other hand, I can now waste more money on new parts to install.




Since I'm more or less done with all the easy stuff, I'll look into installing the lift kit maybe on Friday if I can get off work early enough. As I mentioned, I watched this video on the strut situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrcmQSqP1RM
and while the top of mine was covered with a rubber condom, the nut wasn't so it's nice and rusty which might make it very fun since you can't use impact or nut buster on it. I also don't have spring compressors but I think I should be able to rig something up with a ratchet strap.




As a stretch goal there's also the input shaft. Although it mostly goes away once warmed up, it's quite a bit more noisy outside the car and I really don't like it. After checking out this videos below, I think definitely underestimated what a gigantic pain in the dick it would be on a FWD car. It should still be doable over a few days and that's less than 10 days I still have, but there's always a chance I won't be able to put it back together in time and DNS would be worse than DNF. I'll order the parts and we'll see depending on when everything arrives.

InitialDave posted:

Been a while since I was doing it, but if you pull the driveshafts, support the engine from above, and drop the front subframe, you can get the gearbox out from underneath.

I seem to remember one of the starter motor fasteners being a royal pain to get at, I think we removed the intake manifold to get more access from above.

But it's fundamentally a fairly standard fwd transverse box job.

Actually, I double checked, my mate filmed pretty much everything:
https://youtu.be/PcGiGw63hvo
Thanks again for this, very helpful. Any idea what these set rings are that are supposed to go on the driveshaft? There's no PN anywhere.

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.

mobby_6kl posted:

Thanks again for this, very helpful. Any idea what these set rings are that are supposed to go on the driveshaft? There's no PN anywhere.

They're a circlip/snap ring that retains the driveshaft in the gearbox, in theory they should be reusable, but if it seems like there's not much resistance to pullout when you put the shaft in, it's worth replacing them - if the driveshaft comes out too easily, it can do it just enough at full steering lock that you lose drive.

As to buying them, you can get a big old selection box of various sizes, or measure the existing one and buy another that size, though your original may just need a little persuading back into shape.

Russian Bear
Dec 26, 2007


Honda would rather sell the HRV instead of the Fit in the US which sucks. I hope my blue raspberry metallic 2013 lasts me another 10 years. I love my Fit.

Excited to follow this project!

sharkytm
Oct 9, 2003

Ba

By

Sharkytm doot doo do doot do doo


Fallen Rib
We're finally getting to the end of the Fit Army in my household. My wife and I both bought Fits in late '06, when they were finally released here in the US. Hers has 200k miles, mine has 97k. They've been excellent cars, and I fully endorse rallying one.

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mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

Can an admin change the thread title to $600 Jizz (for Jazz/Fit, you see. yes I just came up with that)

Sorry for the massive dump.

Russian Bear posted:

Honda would rather sell the HRV instead of the Fit in the US which sucks. I hope my blue raspberry metallic 2013 lasts me another 10 years. I love my Fit.

Excited to follow this project!
With the general trend towards CUVs that's not really surprising I suppose. It used to be Honda's most popular car in Europe but I'm sure it's shifting as well.

There's a guy on the fit forum who was up to like 550k miles when he hydrolocked his engine. His only repairs seemed to be replacing clutches every 150k or so for some reason.
:japan:

sharkytm posted:

We're finally getting to the end of the Fit Army in my household. My wife and I both bought Fits in late '06, when they were finally released here in the US. Hers has 200k miles, mine has 97k. They've been excellent cars, and I fully endorse rallying one.
Hmm that's a good idea, do I need a second one too? This one would be the offroad rally specialized, and the other for road courses :thunk:

But yeah it's actually really cool. Roomy, good visibility, great trick seats, probably reliable. Not that it matters but my fuel economy isn't great so far, averaging around 7l city and highway combined. I do treat the gas pedal as an on/off switch though and it's winter, my mom could probably get to 5 in the summer. It also spins at 4k on the highway like the miata, a bit annoying.

InitialDave posted:

They're a circlip/snap ring that retains the driveshaft in the gearbox, in theory they should be reusable, but if it seems like there's not much resistance to pullout when you put the shaft in, it's worth replacing them - if the driveshaft comes out too easily, it can do it just enough at full steering lock that you lose drive.

As to buying them, you can get a big old selection box of various sizes, or measure the existing one and buy another that size, though your original may just need a little persuading back into shape.
Thanks. The manual says to install a new one, though if they're in good shape I supposed it could be ok to reuse them. Because I asked the Honda dealership and they quoted me 8 bucks each.


As for the event, it's still in the air a bit. There's an ongoing state of emergency and some regions where it was supposed to take place are closed for visitors. But no official cancelation or rescheduling yet, so preparations are continuing.

Input shaft bearing
While searching for the parts, I tracked down that NTN makes the OEM bearing, as well as its number. :10bux: vs 40 from Honda. I got it today. Is it normal to be excited about a bearing? It's so smooth, like a shark. Mmmm.


The gear oil, seals and a bunch of other crap should arrive tomorrow. Still, considering I'm working full time now, that doesn't leave much time until the start on Friday. So I'll probably leave it alone and hope that nothing goes wrong.

The lift
I gave it a shot. The top strut mount came off without a big fight, I jammed a piece of wood for the allen wrench to sit on, so I didn't have to hold it by hand.



The two bottom bolts also gave in after a bit of impact action. The anti roll bar linkage though was a bastard. It's very tight, there's no room for a longer wrench, and when it does break loose, it seems like the nut is not actually coming off. Maybe the thread is damaged, I really didn't want to push my luck and end up without a drivable car because I broke it and all the stores are closed.

https://i.imgur.com/cQ5bcwJ.mp4


EGR Valve
Was the code really just P0403? Because when I checked now it was also P0404. And having the CEL on is annoying because you don't know if something else goes wrong. Previously I tested that it doesn't open if I give it power, so clearly that was at least one of the issues. It was a pain in the rear end to take apart because it was clearly not intended to be repaired, but it didn't stop me. I made a video of the process but even skipping repetitive parts it's over fifteen minutes, and I spend the morning editing it and it's not ready yet.

The main reason it's such a pain in the rear end is that the coil tabs are soldered to the cap and you have to break them to get it off. The left one tore out with the post and a bit of wire.


The valve was really stuck. Like I had to hit it with a hammer repeatedly to get it out. I don't have a good phot but I cleaned it up with sandpaper.


I couldn't find what are the correct values, but the pot responds fine:


Was it worth it? Not at all, considering you can get them in any junkyard. And certainly not after this came up after a test drive:

:negative:


Lights
The light situation is solved. Remember how I mentioned that the rear defogger doesn't work? It heating element is damaged, but the wiring is fine. And look what I found:


It works perfectly and it's great to have a proper button on the dash, even with an indicator LED:

https://i.imgur.com/DUMOqml.mp4

Decorations
I just noticed that the sticker is missing on the engine cover.

That's no good, so I quickly made one:


The duck went on, looked pretty good, and promptly fell off during a test drive. I'll have to make another one, but this time design a proper mount.


Bonus new issue
Saw this when taking off the rear wheel to check the spacer installation.



The pads were replaced last year but apparently nothing else was done. It actually seems to brake ok, but if I have some time I'll try to fix this.

mobby_6kl fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Feb 22, 2021

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