Full honesty, if I didn't own part of this car I'd be having an absolute blast. Time of my life. Sorting forgotten cars is one of my favorite things. My ideal world would have people dropping off old non-running race cars with a blank check for parts. I don't want to be paid for labor, I just want the satisfaction of this sort of work.
I enjoy watching this build more. Keep doing what you do, and keep documenting. The only exciting part about the Van is finding out what happened. The teardown will be rather typical, and no horrible splatter welds should surface along your way. At least I hope.
mazdeuce wrote: Full honesty, if I didn't own part of this car I'd be having an absolute blast. Time of my life. Sorting forgotten cars is one of my favorite things. My ideal world would have people dropping off old non-running race cars with a blank check for parts. I don't want to be paid for labor, I just want the satisfaction of this sort of work.
Mine too. Don't get me wrong, I don't get misty eyed parting out a car, but I do still have a huge passion for fixing/cleaning/sorting out cars that were neglected, abused, forgotten, and then sold off/cast off as worthless. My Silverado and now my Eclipse have been a lot of fun to fix and clean.
In reply to mazdeuce:
I have seen this kind of welding before. My guess is a novice welder trying to properly fill a gap then weld it with a flux core welder.
Aka- about where my welding skills are currently 
Can you cut off the existing bodge section, cut down your good new beam to be just a couple of mm narrower then refit it with either internal or external sleeves so you can safely re-weld around the circumference?
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Yes. Getting it all back together well won't be a huge task, just not completely necessary for right now. I can have the dash out and wiring stripped from the bar in 15 minutes. Now that I know exactly what I'm dealing with I'm not too concerned.
First one up this morning so out to the Grosh! Time to fix the steering/suspension.
This strut bolt was missing and I had ordered a new one. Finally put it on. Suspension fixed enough for testing.
There was one bad tie rod end. Easy fix except the strut geometry somehow forces you to use a cut down end to get the adjustment you need. I made a holder to clamp it in the vice and cut it down. 
Worked great so I put it all together. Still need to adjust toe once it's on the ground.
Put the lights back on. They all work. Buttoned up the cooling system. Installed main fan but left out the one controlled by the AC system since the control for that is all gone. Ready to fire it up and make sure there are no leaks and the fan comes on, but it's 51 and raining and they doesn't sound fun. At all.
One last attempt at the O2 sensor this morning has me ordering exhaust from eBay. I wish I could just order a new downpipe, but it's welded to the mid pipe, so a whole new system it is.
Small tasks taking time.
Pulled the passenger door panel and 'fixed' the window switch by plugging it in. Also reset the felt at the top so things run smoothly. The Hella map light has power so I'll grab another bulb and see if that doesn't fix it.
Installed the blower motor/box that I got from the junkyard. There are some very important wires missing. Time for wiring diagrams.
Used the cheap LED modules I bought and got the third brake light and license plate light working.
Replaced the plastic piece that stops the brake light switch and reset the distance so it works properly. I have a piece of aluminum cut to mount the license plate light but I need to get some longer rivets and backing washers tomorrow. Hooked back up the clutch switch so you have to push the clutch to start the car. Never sure who's going to drive the car in the future, so safety and what not.
Everything technically needed for safety inspection works. I'm happy about that.
The HVAC in the RSX is controlled by this. Three nobs. Should be simple, right? Except the back has a spot to hook in a 30 pin plug and said plug is one of the things cut off. Looks like three knobs, but it's really a brain.
All I want is the blower to work so I can blow air on the windshield or the driver or whatever needs more air than it is getting. I don't need 30 wires, I just need one, right? Sort of.
The relay for the blower is turned on with the ignition. This means that once I replace the wires to the blower motor, it just comes on. I've done this, it works. Now I need for it to not come on.
Origionally this was accomplished by interrupting the ground side of the motor with something called the power transistor. This is still in place, of course those wires have been cut too and the plug is missing, and it requires some of the logic in the climate control to work. I think. I can just put a switch in either the power or the ground, and things will be fine, but that means I'm flowing up to 40A through the switch. Normally I'd use a relay for this much power, but I already have a relay, which is why I have this much power in the first place. Not entirely sure how I want to attack this.
Get a switch rated for 40A continuous?
Easy.
Run a power wire from your distribution block to a relay. Use a switch to control said relay. Hook the power wire from the relay to the positive wire for the blower. Hook the other blower wire to ground.
In other words, throw out stock wiring. Add simple relay and switch to control blower.
In reply to wvumtnbkr:
I know HOW to do it, I'm just trying to come up with a solution that lets me use the stock wiring and relays. The car has more than enough wiring in place to handle all of my needs. It's high quality, reliable, and free if I can make it work. Perhaps I should search for a different unused relay?
Wow! We heard there was a bunch of shady work done on it by some shop in TX (possibly heard it from Texas Dave) but man this is more than i expected to see... Car has plenty potential though!
In reply to thewizard:
Dave said it was a good car. In our heads we focused on good. We should have focused on was.
Only a few minutes to work today. Sorted out the cooling fans. I only have the condenser side in but it comes on when I jump the fan switch. As long as the switch is good it should come on. The cut wiring for the other fan comes on at the same time, so getting both fans in and working is just a matter of sourcing the right plug and soldering it in. Seems like the easy button to add a manual switch to the system is to wire in a switch operated jump for the thermal fan switch.
Enjoying following your thread. Too bad that some of the work done by the PO is backed up so bad.
Looking forward to seeing the car get back rallying!
A small puddle developed under the car the other night. Freaked me out. Power steering return line developed a leak. This is only $40 so it will get replaced, but the plan is to do road testing this weekend.
Got out some copper tubing of the right diameter and my flaring tools and made a sleeve. Two hose clamps later and I think we're good.
Spent some (more) time cleaning under the hood and it doesn't disgust me any more. I could still spend another five hours at least cleaning.
Put the dash back in. Got the steering column bolted back in place using the bolts we got from the junkyard so now all four attachment points are used.
It's still horrible inside but not as bad as it was, which is kind of the theme so far.
Exhaust comes tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that the cheapest eBay exhaust fits and has everything it needs. Always the optimist.
The progress you are making on this car is staggering.
Mrs. Deuce asked me if something was wrong with the vacuum. I MAY be spending a bit more time than necessary getting this together. Dinner is still ready, clothes still washed, kids are picked up, but I need to get this done so I can reset.
Lots of work today and yesterday but few pictures. The only one I took was the rear wing that co-owner moved from one hatch to the other. Looks excellent.
Co-owner came over yesterday evening and we got the exhaust back on (old broken exhaust because the new one doesn't fit) seat bolted back down and a rough alignment done. We need to trim the tie rod ends a bit more, not quite enough adjustability.
Today I had to run kids around like crazy so I was in and out. He got the wing on and drove it around the block. No leaks, everything looks and runs great. He changed the oil. Changed the transmission fluid from mystery red fluid to proper factory Honda fluid. We bled the brakes again. Bled the clutch with fresh fluid. Drained the radiator and put coolant in. Added a couple gallons of gas and topped up the power steering fluid.
The car just works. I started it up and drove it around the block. Car felt nice and smooth to the 40mph speed limit. Brakes work but feel crappy with the booster unhooked. I think we decided to hook it back up and see how we like it.
That pretty much ends phase 1. Still working on a title. Still have a fairly substantial list of things to attend to, but it runs and drives and stops and I'm happy and ready to move it outside so I can get to work on the van.
There is a short stage rally coming up at the end of February here in Texas. 40 stage miles over two days is the rumor. The co-owner really wants to enter, the car needs a few things, and I don't have to time or energy to get the welder fixed and tend to them. We both realize that we came into this with different ideas about the end result for the car so we've decided to have him buy out my half and he can aggressivly work on the car the way only someone in their late 20's with no kids or girlfriend can.
Car on the trailer for tomorrow.
Big stack of parts I accumulated in the short time I had the car. Race cars should always trade hands with large stacks of parts.
I'm still going to be involved with the car and I'd be shocked if it doesn't end up back on the lift in the future.
Wow, wasn't expecting the sudden turn at the end. Sounds like a smart move though. Kuddos for doing so much to get this car back out there!
In reply to mazdeuce:
That skid plate got a home?
The skid plate went with the car, it is still a rally car. 
Test day at the Rally Ranch. I'm always too gentle in testing after I put a ton of effort into a car so having the owner drive it was the right thing. He spent over an hour driving around the rally school course (which is a lot like a smooth rallycross) and the stages for the upcoming rally. He never really drove the car 100%, more like 80%, but he came away super happy. The car handles well and ran like a top. We did have a tie rod end loosen up. Not sure if it's because I never did crank down the jam nut or if it's inherent to how the PO shortened the tie rods to get the correct geometry for the JVL struts.
I'm excited to still be involved with this car even if it's not as an owner. I think it has the potential to be properly fast and reliable which is about all you can ask for in a cheap rally car.
I hope you are going to keep this thread active, even though the car has moved on. Just an update when you can!
I will keep this alive as I stay involved. For instance, we figured out the proper solution to the tie rod issue is these shortened rods. Not a cheap solution, but one that will keep the car together for the duration of a rally, which is kind of important. The rally is four weeks out. More to come!
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