What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter Perfect Balance
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Keef
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- 25,126
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
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It "should" never be difficult to get off, but things aren't always that easy. I've done literally hundreds of oil changes at work, and I've taken off maybe 50 or so by hand. When pressed for time, we usually just end up spinning the thing on until it touches and just giving it a good twist. Better too tight and have to use an oil filter wrench than have one not tight enough.
Lots of times it's more the fact that the oil filter is blazing hot/covered in oil so you aren't able to get a good grip on it. Some are on so tight you make big dents in the thing before it comes off. Recently I broke my oil filter wrench on one.
- 4,728
- ferrari_chris
Japanese? What parts are you after?ouch!
recently on mine, originally thought i just had to replace the manifold gaskets...should have realised it wouldnt be that simple by the stories the previous owner told of the cowboy mechanics he took it to before i got it. i presume they had tried to sort out the gaskets before but gave up, out of 6 studs on one side, the manifold was held on by three, and another that was a bolt too long and spaced out with washers, the missing studs were broken off in the block, hurrah!
gaskets looked like this: naw i was hoping for all six but four will do..
took out the radiator, spotted a leak in the side so knew i had to get that sorted, then discovered on all pipes someone had used wire clamp thingos that had cut the pipe at each point and the bodgers had taped up. got the hose off the expansion tank and no water came out...took it off and shoved it up a tap and discovered the bodgers had used bar's leak instead of fixing the holes and thus it had all plugged up the smallest point. stuck a hose in the coolant system and washed out all the brown water and black/brown lumps of crap
so now iv started, might as well have a poke and a clean up all around, and a bit of a scrub with a wire brush and some paint, just so i can be sure the bodgers havnt messed anything else up, id hook up the cruise control that they had 'accidentally' cut but thats for another day
now fun part of phoning around for someone to import bits for me!
PM me. I can source some stuff.
- 11,127
- Bromley
- V16T91
- E0nLeader
I got a kickass racing stripe for my car.
, you can tell that's been put in something like permanent marker, look at the squiggles on it!! Nice try, though. 
Eric.
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- 8,515
- GTP_Eric
- Ebiggs
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- P_Balance
Only if you had leaks before and the dino oil sludged everything up, effectively stopping the leaks.
Then when you switch to synthetic, it clears out the sludge and you get leaks. Basically, the leaks weren't caused by synthetic, just exposed by it.
Then when you switch to synthetic, it clears out the sludge and you get leaks. Basically, the leaks weren't caused by synthetic, just exposed by it.
- 894
- Michigan US
- Steele_obsidion
- LinksTriforce
today i added some of this to an empty tank of gas because i have NO acceleration due to lack of fuel making it inside.
.
THEN added a Full tank of premium (my car runs best on premium. 15 bucks at $2.05 a gallon, i know i have a small tank)
I need a new Fuel Filter. but i cant afford to get it changed myself and im so low i need a hoist, and its an 86 so i doubt its EVER been changed lol
Right after i added it i noticed a HUGE change, im not 100% but i know once i do fix my filter ill be back to good again unless i sell it by then.
.
THEN added a Full tank of premium (my car runs best on premium. 15 bucks at $2.05 a gallon, i know i have a small tank)
I need a new Fuel Filter. but i cant afford to get it changed myself and im so low i need a hoist, and its an 86 so i doubt its EVER been changed lol
Right after i added it i noticed a HUGE change, im not 100% but i know once i do fix my filter ill be back to good again unless i sell it by then.
ExigeEvan
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- 17,192
Yeah, that's what I had heard previous.
- 3,603
RE: K&N Oil Filter
I've had one on my car before - I will attest that the nut welded to the end of the filter is handy, but most people can usually get by without it. My oil filter is easy to get at (Remote mouting FTW!), so an ordinary Wix does the job for me.
On Wednesday, I picked up a third set of wheels for the Talon... 16*8, split five spoke design. They've got three good tires on them, but they're 205/40-16 and basically no good to me. I think I'm giving two of them to my brother, as they're the right size for his Mk. II GTI.
I'm thinking I'll paint them black or gunmetal-ish, and mount the Azenis on them (rather than the 6.5" wide wheels they're currently on).
Saturday, I changed the oil. Mobil 1 10-30 Synthetic, and a new Wix filter. No Fram crap to be found on my car...
I also degreased the front half of the undercarriage - I've got something leaking, but it's a bit hard to isolate when everything's wet from a combination of current and former leaks.
And just a few minutes ago I filled a $280 order for detailing supplies and equipment, although only some of them will end up on my car.
I've had one on my car before - I will attest that the nut welded to the end of the filter is handy, but most people can usually get by without it. My oil filter is easy to get at (Remote mouting FTW!), so an ordinary Wix does the job for me.
On Wednesday, I picked up a third set of wheels for the Talon... 16*8, split five spoke design. They've got three good tires on them, but they're 205/40-16 and basically no good to me. I think I'm giving two of them to my brother, as they're the right size for his Mk. II GTI.
I'm thinking I'll paint them black or gunmetal-ish, and mount the Azenis on them (rather than the 6.5" wide wheels they're currently on).
Saturday, I changed the oil. Mobil 1 10-30 Synthetic, and a new Wix filter. No Fram crap to be found on my car...
I also degreased the front half of the undercarriage - I've got something leaking, but it's a bit hard to isolate when everything's wet from a combination of current and former leaks.
And just a few minutes ago I filled a $280 order for detailing supplies and equipment, although only some of them will end up on my car.
- 1,035
Got this done. Basically swapped the airbox and battery over, so the box can pull colder air in. Butt dyno says it works good. Hitting 1.1 bar now.
- 27,219
- United Kingdom
So, as I promised in Moglet's cleaning thread... a start to the interior.
This is what I had to contend with:
Shown above, the passenger seat and the driver's doorcard. The passenger doorcard is equally bad but I couldn't get a good photo of it, and the driver's seat is worse as it spends much more time occupied. That said, the driver's seat doesn't have as many water marks on, nor the little blobs of chocolate which a passenger managed to leave behind...
For the record, the interior is supposed to be light blue. Ford have a thing for blue interiors.
Much scrubbing ensued, thanks to a few tips from Moglet. I bought a soft brush, a bucket, some all purpose cleaner which I then diluted (1 part) with very warm water (ten parts). I attacked the doorcard first. No photos yet, as it was still quite damp and it's also covered in little fibres from the brush, which I wanna vacuum off first. The passenger seat is looking pretty good though - here shown with the driver's perch:
It's a little darker because it's still damp, but that's the colour it's supposed to be, rather than the slightly yellowed look of the driver seat. As for the rumpled fabric on the driver seat, I expect cleaning should tighten it up a little, but it's cheap fabric in a cheap car and I doubt anybody expects it to be perfect.
I then tackled the dashboard with an interior cleaning wipe... yeah, I've not cleaned it in a while...
And witness what came off the steering wheel - note the slightly sweaty-looking left side of the wipe compared to the clean, unused right side. Lavvly.
And my nice clean dash/wheel instruments, all of which got a going over with wipes (all that stuff in the footwell is cleaning garb, it's not normally that messy!):
I also gave the windscreen a thorough clean on the inside, and I've finally removed the gaffa tape from around the sunroof. The paint is absolutely fine below, but there's a lot of glue stuck to it so I could do with removing it somehow. Any tips?
I checked my sunroof seals too (after asking about it in this thread) and to be honest, the rubber seems fine and I'm not sure how water is leaking into the actual car - though the seal around the glass itself has degraded a bit so I can see how water would get past that. It's just it then has to go past a second rubber seal and that one seems to be absolutely fine. I haven't checked the seals at the front because I'll need to remove the glass to do so, but I'm gonna do that tomorrow when I have more time.
- 23,999
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Lighter fluid.
- 27,219
- United Kingdom
Ooh, I shall try that, thanks 👍
Oh, I also checked the oil today. My car just doesn't use any. The oil always seems to be in perfect condition too.
Oh, I also checked the oil today. My car just doesn't use any. The oil always seems to be in perfect condition too.
- 23,999
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
A dab of petrol will work almost as well.
- 20,145
- Australia
- VIPERGTS01
- 2,266
- GTP_Thatman/Thatmanthere
- A Man Hamster
Hmmm, not so much of what I did to my car(s) today...but more like over a couple of weeks. SO what is not pictured is:My Buick Electra Park Avenue got Royal Purple, New spark plugs and a K&N oil+air filter and also a new Fuel filter was installed. Then for the Talon the new smaller sub box I put in, my rear seats and belts I ripped out, the Royal Purple and K&N Oil filter I put in and a junkyard starter. ALSO Why I changed the Gaskets I have not A CLUE!!!
I really dumped a bunch of money into it
...... Only to have it smoke coolant.
Hopefully more sealant will fix that but at time of typing, only a wee bit still leaks out. SOoooo, What it did before:Leak oil and not start.
What it does now:Spurts coolant, NOT leak oil, starts.👍 What it did before(Buick):Sputter every now and then. What it does now:Sputters after getting hot(I think its the injectors) IDK could have going 120mph in it advance the problem? (yeah I think so
) RIGHT so As I mentioned I changed the head gasket...I learned A LOT. Like not to trust so many people. Just yourself and perhaps a few suggestions from a friend. To tighten 🤬 down as much as possible. AND not let other people touch your car unless you are paying a lot of money to not have it not 🤬 up. Also to check if a thermostat is bad cook water and put it in, don't use microwaved water(no I didn't put the thing in there I'm talking about the water) OKAY onto the pics, first I cleaned my light covers...
Before
After
These are when I was dismantling my engine and bring hardship upon myself
Sprayed it with engine cleaner and Brake cleaner
And this is the kinda stuff that came off:
In this picture you will notice I DO NOT have cylinder 1 at TDC, Good and bad for 2 reasons GOOD:I didnt drain the coolant before taking the head off BAD:Leads to many problems
Finally I cleaned stuff and started to put it back together
Now believe it or not, that head was not warped in any way shape or form even after 207k!
that looks much better....
That belt was tough to get on and I would hate it if I had to do that on the 4G63
Right Everything was back together but all was not well, Somebody said to take the Distributor out and then "TRY" to get it back in EXACTLY the way it came out
That didn't work, I then took it to the junkyard to fix it, that way if the thing was junk, It could stay there!
Unfortunately when my Buick was pushing the talon up on the trailer it totally got the grille crushed.
But there was a crack in it before anyhow
SO here is the finish product as of now :
and the NEW steering wheel:
That about sums up what I have done to my car "today". Sorry if I seemed to do some stupid mistakes but alas it was my first time... I can do brakes real easy though
Then for the Talon the new smaller sub box I put in, my rear seats and belts I ripped out, the Royal Purple and K&N Oil filter I put in and a junkyard starter. ALSO Why I changed the Gaskets I have not A CLUE!!! I really dumped a bunch of money into it...... Only to have it smoke coolant. Hopefully more sealant will fix that but at time of typing, only a wee bit still leaks out. SOoooo, What it did before:Leak oil and not start. What it does now:Spurts coolant, NOT leak oil, starts.👍 What it did before(Buick):Sputter every now and then. What it does now:Sputters after getting hot(I think its the injectors) IDK could have going 120mph in it advance the problem? (yeah I think so) RIGHT so As I mentioned I changed the head gasket...I learned A LOT. Like not to trust so many people. Just yourself and perhaps a few suggestions from a friend. To tighten 🤬 down as much as possible. AND not let other people touch your car unless you are paying a lot of money to not have it not 🤬 up. Also to check if a thermostat is bad cook water and put it in, don't use microwaved water(no I didn't put the thing in there I'm talking about the water) OKAY onto the pics, first I cleaned my light covers...Before
These are when I was dismantling my engine and bring hardship upon myself
Right Everything was back together but all was not well, Somebody said to take the Distributor out and then "TRY" to get it back in EXACTLY the way it came out
That didn't work, I then took it to the junkyard to fix it, that way if the thing was junk, It could stay there! Unfortunately when my Buick was pushing the talon up on the trailer it totally got the grille crushed. But there was a crack in it before anyhow SO here is the finish product as of now :
Keef
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- 25,126
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
Haha! That's the same steering wheel my buddy just got. Fifty dollars beats $200 I suppose...
My cousin and I went to work on his Civic's window seals and plastic whatnots on the exterior with some Mother's Back to Black...
It worked even better than it did on my newer seals. The mud flaps, side moldings, side skirts, window seals, windshield cowl, and grilles are now, well, back to black. Not as good as new, but light years ahead of what they were. It looks much better.
Speaking of black, we also repainted his windshield wiper arms flat black. Gotta love fresh black wiper arms. It makes a fantastic difference in the look of the car up close, it's easy, cheap, and kinda fun to do also. The Sherwin Williams gray primer and flat black spray paint have turned out to be a very sturdy, weatherproof combination. Screw Rustoleum!
He also finally finished painting his HX wheels. I'll have to get a picture of them. They went white a few months ago, and he finally got around to painting the "H" in the center caps red. They're like mini ITR wheels at 14 inches, and look really good on just about any pre-EK Civic.
- 8,480
- P_Balance
Considering what you get for the money, it doesn't beat it at all.
I prefer semi-gloss black myself, flat black just tend to look dusty/dirty.Keef
Mine used to be painted white when I got them, except they were all peeling and stuff. I won't be able to use them though once I get my brakes on.Keef
Keef
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- 25,126
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
His EJ1 has GSR front calipers, and the wheel's diameter is big enough. We found out that 5mm spacers take care of the spoke clearance issues. He was going to spring for the 15mm spacers with built-in studs but at the moment he's not ready to spring that much. It would give it a much wider stance. The 5mm ones still allow him to use his stock studs safely, too. It was a great deal for $30. They'll eventually be replaced with the 15mm parts.
So yeah, snag you some little spacers and you'll be able to rock the HXs just fine.
- 8,480
- P_Balance
- 2,266
- GTP_Thatman/Thatmanthere
- A Man Hamster
I would have to disagree, Unless its going to disintegrate while im driving and or fade to a grey color(which would match anyway) I am VERY happy with it!
- 8,480
- P_Balance
When's the last time you wrapped your hands around a sturdy racing wheel wrapped in suede?I would have to disagree, Unless its going to disintegrate while im driving and or fade to a grey color(which would match anyway) I am VERY happy with it!
Then you might understand what I'm getting at.
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