DEL SLO (technically DEL NO GO) never driven it!

[los02]

dude?? how many cars did you use

To get the white Del Sol to where it is NOW.... counting parts that I haven't installed yet. THREE CARS. But not as many parts as you may think.

1. I bought it w/o any seats. 1st pair were from the white Del Sol that I parted out. But then I sold/bought/bought/sold/bought to get the set in it now.
2. The suspension is off of the purple Del Sol. And miscellaneous engine bay parts.
3. The drive-train and ECU that will be going into it is from the Integra I parted out.

And everything else that I needed has been obtained mainly from junkyard hopping and searching for things online locally and buying them as they have popped up. Just as I bought the ECU conversion harness a few weeks ago from someone a half hour away.

Oh... and I can't forget my Honda dealer order!

[los02]

As I mentioned on my previous post I didn't think that I was going to get too much done this weekend. But,surprisingly, I was home tonight and decided to lock myself in the garage and turn the ipod up at 8PM.

When I walked in:


When I walked out:



It took me 2.5 hours. But I was taking my time and did extra things that weren't necessary to take out the motor. Such as removing the headers, AC system and removing the complete shift linkage before actually even touching anything like the harness, mounts etc. to actually take the motor out. Plus, since I had not planned on taking it out exactly when I did, I had to clean up the garage and move things around in order to get my cherry picker #1 out and #2 able to move it around and #3 give it enough space to drop the motor after removal.

I know if I had this planned I would have been well below 2 hours.

I look forward to seeing how much progress I will make tomorrow.

[mattmac2007]

good job so far. this really makes me want to get a project car (and a garage) lol

[los02]

good job so far. this really makes me want to get a project car (and a garage) lol

Thank you. And I want a bigger garage. With a lift....... or two.

[los02]

Well, I'm about to lock myself in the garage for a couple hours and see what I get done or undone. It's raining, so I'm going to be limited to taking parts off of the purple Del Sol and cleaning (moving stuff around) the garage.

I also bought an E30 today.

But I'll deal with that tomorrow.

[los02]

The purple Del Sol got evicted from the garage tonight!

It's funny seeing people slow down when they pass my house when they see the Del Sol carcass in my driveway! I'll take a pic tomorrow. LOL

Pulled my new E30 in to try to figure out why the hood wouldn't open. Now that that's figured out I have some parts to order from the dealer or search the junkyard. It's spending the night in the garage.

Tomorrow I will attempt to put the white Del Sol in the garage by myself! (it's low and the core support doesn't want to cooperate with my garage floor lip)

I will then swap out the steering rack for a manual one.

And then drop the motor right in!

[Hayden]

Props. I wouldn't have the patience.

[los02]

Props. I wouldn't have the patience.

Thank you. Ironically, I highly impatient. But I'm always on the go with work and I have multiple things going on at the same time. This is just one project that I chose to concentrate on because a friend said that I never finish anything.



So, early this morning my friend that I mentioned above helped me push the Del Sol into the garage:

Then I took him to the auction and we picked up an LS400 for him. It's CLEAN!!! I have to buy one now!

Came back and started jacking the Del Sol up:


My office for today:


First order of business was to tackle the removal of the power steering rack:

PS rack removed:


Now, I planned on taking a picture of the manual rack but I ran into a couple issue that I had to figure out and solve.

The first being that the PS rack has a bigger diameter tube than the manual. So the bracket on the left (facing car) off of the manual rack/sub frame did not bolt up to the white Del Sol PS sub frame. The holes are closer together because of the smaller diameter. And when I went to try the PS bracket it was too big to fit around the manual rack and allowed the manual rack to move freely. Unless I wanted to swap out the sub frame I have to use the PS bracket. There is a rubber bushing between the tubes and the brackets. It just so happens that the PS bushing fit snugly over the manual bushing. It overlapped on the ends where it bolts up with the subframe so I ended up cutting the overlap so that the bracket and rack fit flush against the subframe as they should. I don't think that SOB is going to move.

The second issue I ran into was connecting the rack to the steering column. The swivel joint would just not tighten onto the manual rack no matter how hard I tightened the bolt. Probably out of frustration from fighting the rack initially it took me a minute to think things through. And the fact that I was upside down with my head on the floor trying to get it to work. But I finally got out and looked at the PS rack and realized that the little grooved part (can't think of the name) was a bigger diameter. So I pulled the swivel joint off of the purple Del Sol (might have to keep that little fawker until the white one is 100% running) and hoped that the other end wasn't a bigger diameter as well because I didn't want to swap the steering column. It's wasn't, so when I changed the swivel joint everything lined up as it should. Tightened the two bolts down and put the couple of things I had to remove under the dash back together.

SO..........



....................... I DID THIS!



FINALLY PUT THE MOTOR IN!!!


I'm fighting trying to get the old right axle out. Broke my punch because it didn't budge. I sprayed it with PB blaster and hopefully it will give up it's fight tomorrow.

95% of the wiring is connected.

I have 1 heater hose to buy and connect.

I still have to bolt up the shift linkage, clutch slave cylinder and axles (once I get the old right one out)

I have to replace the fuel filter and connect the fuel lines. Install the radiator and hoses.

Then fill everything with fluids, bleed what needs to be bled.

..... turn the key and start! Right?

And this is how the car sits as of tonight:

[los02]

This is how the purple Del Sol sits as of tonight. Anyone need any Del Sol parts?

[JDOGG]

HMMMM Rusted plastic bumper ^ maybe you will start a new trend hahaha

[los02]

HMMMM Rusted plastic bumper ^ maybe you will start a new trend hahaha

It takes commitment! Not something that you can just throw some chemical on and make it happen. I have that authentic patina! I don't think too many people will be as dedicated!

[los02]

LONG READ UPDATE:

NO PICTURES DUE TO BEING STUMPED AND PURE FRUSTRATION!

So, for the last two weeks I have been trying to figure out why the motor didn't start. It cranked over but didn't start. I was getting no spark. I've been staring at wiring diagrams for two weeks and could probably tell you the color of every power wire and ground location in the car!

These are the issues that I've been having:

• no spark
• no radio or cigarette lighter (same fuse)
• no blower motor
• no power mirrors
• no rear defroster
• no recirculate button light
• no AC button light
• no rear window open (instrument cluster)
• no fuel gauge reading
• and some other things I'm probably forgetting or didn't notice

Up until a few days ago I was trying to figure out the no spark issue. Everything checked out correctly when tested. And I mean EVERYTHING!!! Then I said "EFF IT" and decided to try to figure out why the radio wasn't working as it seem easier to deal with. .... um....... How bout... NO!

I basically realized this... I had constant power everywhere I was suppose to but wasn't getting ACC power to the things that weren't working. I tried everything that I could think of an nothing worked. I switched things from the purple Del Sol and still had the same issues with the replaced pieces. Measured resistance, voltage, you name it I tried it. I now know more about a Honda wiring than I ever thought I would before!!!

So today while trying to figure out what was going on (why I was only getting power to some under dash fuses and not all of them even when the wires leading to it were hot) I decide to swap out the ignition switch again (did this before some time last week BUT, when I was trying to actually start the car) and when I went to disconnect it I glanced at the one I was about to put in and noticed that the wires were different on one of the connectors. So I switched the ignition switch anyway and VIOLA!!!! Everything above (that I hadn't taken apart while trying to diagnose) came on.

So this is what happen. The original ignition switch in the car was hacked up from the previous owner installing an alarm. So, a few months ago, I replaced it with a junkyard one from another year. But because it was from another year car there were certain wires that had to be removed and the biggest issue was that one of the connectors was the wrong shape. So I swapped and re-pinned the connector. When I did this I accidentally re-pinned it upside down. Which explains why it seemed like some things turned on one key click too early (which for the past two weeks I've been thinking was because of a short somewhere)

So I started the car but it has an open header and the timing is off because I removed the distributor and took it apart while diagnosing. So I had to shut it down because it was running rich and the fumes where unbearable in the garage.

So now that I know that it's running and the wiring is actually fine I'll go ahead and install the shift linkage, half shaft and exhaust tomorrow. I'll try to bleed the clutch and the brakes as well. I'll go get some axles and some cotter pins from the store and install those and then fill the transmission with fluid.

I should be able to drive it out of the garage after that. Which is what I was determined to do. So I hope to throw my tag on it, do a burnout in front of the house in celebration and have the car on the street by the weekend (weather permitting). And work out any kinks and bugs. Although, with all the stuff I have gone over in the past few weeks, I shouldn't have any!

[zxert]

I'm proud of you. You can do it son!

Love, Dad.

[MommysLittleMonster]

I wish my dad was on StanceWorks...


Wow man, you've gone above and beyond the call of rebuilding a car. Hats off to you for going the hard road and bringing it back from the dead. I'm glad to see a fellow Honda-head on here

Keep up the good work, I'm excited to see how this turns out.

[los02]

I'm proud of you. You can do it son!

Love, Dad.

I really LOL'ed when I read this!

I wish my father was alive to see this. Although I think he would be more so upset about the condition of the garage! I have to get the Del Sol out and clean the garage. SMH

I wish my dad was on StanceWorks...


Wow man, you've gone above and beyond the call of rebuilding a car. Hats off to you for going the hard road and bringing it back from the dead. I'm glad to see a fellow Honda-head on here

Keep up the good work, I'm excited to see how this turns out.

Thank you. Your screen name made me laugh. I have some big plans for it. But, right now, getting it on the road and driving safely is the main goal. Then I'll put an order in for my wheels and some suspension pieces to get it to the proper stance.

I already plan on pulling the motor in the future and some other major changes. But for now I'll be happy to have it driving it safely WITH HEAT!