First and foremost, I didn't start this journey as a way to make people feel bad or stupid or inadequate. I'm not a trained mechanic, I'm not even that much of a gear head. All I've learned has been through trial and error. I'm just sharing my experience with you on this on-going journey to restore and build a decent ride without breaking the bank and any laws or at least with minimal law breaking.
The Search:
Honestly, I will begin with where most car builds start off with, I had a job but no car or no daily driver. My beautiful girlfriend was allowing me to borrow her car to get to and from work. And this arrangement was working for a little while and then it started to sour our relationship. I was starting to infringe on her independence by using her car, and like most guys I didn't realize it. But I did quickly enough to salvage our relationship and luckily for us it didn't affect our relationship negatively.
So there I was home alone, with my tablet sitting on the couch digging through what seemed like an endless supply of cars for under the $1700 mark. All I kept finding was a bunch of delusional idiots selling cars that have dead engines, dead transmissions, or working engines or transmisions but with the other 1/2 of the drive train dead as a door-nail. Or with no drive train altogether as if people in my shoes are going to pay over $600 for a car that needs to be towed. And then there are the ones that do run and are drive-able however there's something wrong with it. It's trivial but I live in Central Florida, and in the summer months it can get up to the triple digits with weather coupled with 80% humidity and now you've got a convection oven of an atmosphere.
Who in their right minds tries to sell a car in this state without one of the two following items in working order: Air Conditioning or Windows. When I was looking for cars, I must have run across 20-25 of them that didn't have working windows. I mean I grew up without having AC in my cars as a teenager and most of my adult life. And I can handle the Florida heat, but I will not bake in my car along with the tray of muffins in the passenger seat without working windows.
The Car:
As of the first half August 2014, I had a list of 10 cars that I wanted without hesitation, but just as soon as I started calling the owners back to go take a second look and a test drive. Most of my list dwindled down due to competition, but then I found it.
The car, the one car I'd wager my money on. It came 2nd, 3rd, 4th, maybe 10th hand me down. I found it a 97 Honda Civic LX, it had (still not painted to what I want) a primer gray with lightly rusted hood, a (still) unpainted front bumper, a (painted but wrong shade of color) passenger fender, and a crappy yet passable OEM original paint job. The tires with mix-matched between the front two 14" steel rims and the two 17" badly plasti-dipped by a teenager aluminum alloy rims. Granted the car did come with a full sized 14" spare tire that's saved my bacon more times than I can care to count along with the other two badly plasti-dipped 17" rims.
Let's call the previous owner, Dork; for the lack of a better name. I met Dork at his parent's house, he was quick to state that she's ugly but dependable. Dork started to attempt to start the car, he had to reconnect the battery and try again. Dork made mention that the battery was on its last legs (actually it made it about 7 months before it died). Dork also said he hadn't driven the car in a few months. The first test drive was a bit shakey, the car performed as you'd expect of a car that sat undriven for a few months.
The Deal:
Dork wanted $1500 for the car, originally. No, I didn't pay that much for it, and in fact I should've paid less for it in retrospect. After the test drive, I went through with an objective mindset and started diagnosing the car's issues while I was on my way home. Once I got home I started shopping the parts I would need if I had to fix the issues I found in it. The brakes system was shot, the locks were bad, the engine leaked/burned oil, leaked transmission fluid, pulled hard to the right, the headliner is bad, and the list went on and on and on.
So I put $950 on the table on Monday, thinking Dork would jump at it after he "lowered" the price to $1100. By Wednesday, Dork decided that the other offers were higher. But after the other potential buyers had flaked out on him enough and wanted $950 plus some computer work, so I counter offered him to $750 cash in hand, no trades, no bull and gave him a 5 o'clock deadline to respond. I guess it took him all day to decide, I didn't get a text or reply until just before 5 that day. And he agreed, to sell me the car with its dysfunctional glory for my paying price if I would get it out of his driveway that night.
The Steal:
A 97 Honda Civic LX that came with SOHC 4 Cyl with 4 Spd transmission with non-working power locks, working power windows, working power steering, Air bags, Sony XPlod CD player, working AC, set of 17" rims, decent for its age interior (headliner excluded), window tints, and that's about it. I drove the car home for the first time and it was a smooth journey. Don't get me wrong, I've owned my fair share of clunkers, putt-putts, daily drivers, and the like in my lifetime. And this Honda was like getting close to a decent car, though a badly maintained car. But still its a Honda, my girlfriend still doesn't understand what its like for a guy to have a car that we want to work on and make better just to show it off.
Repairs:
Oh here it comes the ugly parts. Spending hours, sweating my nads off and getting this car road worthy.
Mechanical:
Brakes: Replaced both rear brake cylinders, rear brake hoses, power brake booster, master cylinder, and flushed the brake fluid.
Engine: Replaced distributor gasket, oil change and filter.
Transmission: Added transmission fluid, and Lucas Transmission Treatment.
Suspension: After-Market (eBay) complete Camber kit, lower control arm, inner and outer tie rods, alignment and set of tires.
Interior:
Electrical: Re-wired the radio, installed new speakers, new 12v outlet, replaced torn driver's seatbelt, installed new locks and ignition switch, new headlight switch, new dimmer switch, door actuators, gauge cluster light bulbs.
Asthetics: Replaced steering wheel, glove box handle, console bezel.
Overall, I think that having access to the service manual in PDF form has helped me out alot.
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