Cousin Eddie buys yet another car

Last project for today was to finish up the stereo speaker upgrade.

I don't often complain about working on cars, but changing the rear speakers was misery. My back is hurting today so climbing in and out repeatedly surely affected my outlook on the job.

The effort paid off handsomely though. The front speakers are now Polk Audio 6.5 and the rear are Kicker 6x9. I'm pretty stunned at the sound I have now. I've put a lot of speakers in over the years, but nothing compared to what these sound like.

That ought to be a great commuting appliance.  

Man I need to take underhood detailing lessons from you.

In reply to The0retical :

Me too, I'm nervous about getting things too wet and damaging electronics.  i'm assuming you spray the cleaner on and scrub but what do you do to remove it?  is a hose ok or is it wiped of with towels?

Wally said:

In reply to The0retical :

Me too, I'm nervous about getting things too wet and damaging electronics.  i'm assuming you spray the cleaner on and scrub but what do you do to remove it?  is a hose ok or is it wiped of with towels?

Thank you, but I have no secrets. I literally only used Simple Green in a spray bottle and a Harbor Freight 1" paint brush. That's it in it's entirety.

I did get more serious on my Miata engine bay, but not this one yet. Later this week I'll run through it again with some more effort.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie :

I hope to get MazdaFace close to the Miata level while I have it torn apart 

Wally said:

In reply to The0retical :

Me too, I'm nervous about getting things too wet and damaging electronics.  i'm assuming you spray the cleaner on and scrub but what do you do to remove it?  is a hose ok or is it wiped of with towels?

I use a low pressure garden hose for rinsing the Simple Green. After you start it up, the engine heat will evaporate any residual water. I'm also a nut about dielectric grease on my electrical connections too.

Much Simple Green was sacrificed today.

Still waiting on

Rockauto

• upper radiator hose
• lower radiator hose
• radiator cap

HondaParts Now

• molded coolant hoses (5)

Still need to source and purchase

• floor mats
• steering wheel cover
• wheels and tires ?
• title/register/insurance

Then, miles of commuting

A neat collage picture I made of the engine makeover.

Holy crap that's a lot of hail damage. 

But thank god its white.

Dusterbd13 said:

Holy crap that's a lot of hail damage. 

But thank god its white.

(A story unrelated to this particular car)

Texas suffers from pretty severe hail storms. We had a storm here locally about 25 years ago that totaled a lot of cars.....cars that were in their garages. As in, the hail went through the roofs of the houses and totaled the cars within. When your car is tucked away in the garage and it still gets all it's windows blown out by hail, that's saying something.

Holy crap. How many people injured in their own homes by that?????

Dusterbd13 said:

Holy crap. How many people injured in their own homes by that?????

I don't remember the specifics exactly. It does have it's own Wikipedia page. How many hail storms can make that claim ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Mayfest_Storm

• 2 Billion worth of damage
• 100+ injuries
• 13 deaths
• Cousin Eddie's 1994 Silverado took 12k of damage

Note to self: If you move to Texas install quarter inch ballistic armor plate in between the trusses.

I believe in brake fluid flushing, even for a mundane commuter appliance. The old fluid was skanky.

Im blow away with how nice it is cleaning up. damn you northern cars. 

Rockauto order with radiator hoses, thermostat, and radiator cap arrived today.

Hondapartsnow molded coolant hoses arrive tomorrow.

Just now placed an order for rolling stock from the Tire Rack. That is estimated to arrive Wednesday.

It looks like I have a bit of a job ahead of me tomorrow with changing all those hoses. I'll get started on it early. Skinned knuckles surely to follow.

new license plate idea: GOLFBAL :)

Amazing detailing work.

This morning while waiting for parts delivery I did a little project. The outer window wipers are deteoriated and flaky. New ones are pretty pricey and that's not a path I want to go down with this particular car. This is a beater. I keep telling myself that.

Then the mail truck came by and I had more stuff to do.

I replaced the hoses, thermostat, and radiator cap and topped it all off with proper Honda blue coolant.

Those heater hoses down low on the firewall, behind the engine, brought a little bit of pain. But, it's done now.

And it passed inspection today. 

I'm still amazed one can buy such a car for 500$.  That's easily a 3500 dollar car in Michigan now that its clean, and even in the condition you bought it, 2500.  

I'm a little jealous, to be honest. 

TGMF said:

I'm still amazed one can buy such a car for 500$.  That's easily a 3500 dollar car in Michigan now that its clean, and even in the condition you bought it, 2500.  

I'm a little jealous, to be honest. 

We are swimming in rust free Civics in the 1k-2k price range here. A cheap Southwest Airlines one way ticket and a tool bag, and you could do an epic fly-n-drive and get a rust free car,

Today's project is a little bit off scope, but when the iron is hot, strike.

I found this on the book of Faces.

Dude was parting out a 2000 Civic. He wanted 50 for the hood. I offered 25. We settled at 37.50. Valerie thought it was strange that today on the way over there I stopped at a convenience store and got exact change down to the two quarters.

But, like any good wife, she's always down for an adventure. So I grabbed a cordless impact and we jumped in the Yota and made an adventure of it.

Much better than what I had before.

Every time I order wheels/tires from The Tire Rack they get separated in transit and arrive over multiple days.

And I accidentally ordered some front end parts from Rockauto this morning, and if my Craigslist sale goes through this afternoon, which I think it will, I will accidentally order some suspension parts tonight.

Accidents like those are how i wound up building an amc.

God help you.

Honest, I am almost done with this car. It's still to be a true daily driver. I just like my daily's to be a little bit fixed up (and I don't have the patience to live with rattly 180k mile suspension).

jonesin' fer a PU yet????