Civic (not integra!)

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Tue Aug 04, 2020 10:07 pm

Seriously, if you've got a dewalt battery/charger already for a drill etc, the impact driver is a good investment. I got mine from ebay, good price. got myself a full set of deep impact sockets and some extensions aswell. Bergen branded (now usa pro?) - also reasonably priced. Needed them as the halford kit only has 4 large impacts (not deep either).

The main benefit is at the end of the day, your hands aren't aching as much, or injured. Undoing 20+ fasteners to get the gearbox apart, it takes the effort out of the job. A bit noisy for stiff bolts, but 10/12mills only need 2 impacts then it whizzes off. Quite controllable so you can use them for doing it up just until it binds.

In some cases, you just cannot use a normal spanner/ratchet due to the lack of inertia. The ARB drop links made me realise where i had been struggling before. I whipped off an alternator pulley with it the other day, very happy with that. I seem to have lost my set of recessed ring spanners, but even then that probably wasn't going to end well.

Back to the civic - the engine and gearbox are fine thankfully, but the suspension knocking seems to be worse after I washed under the arches. Googling reveals a lot of front suspension issues being common. Perhaps where the shocks mount to the chassis, the mount is worn out (think this was an issue on the lude rear shocks?), perhaps some washers and a tighten up is all that's needed...

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Wed Aug 05, 2020 1:04 pm

Ah, the classic 'shock knock'...

Interesting is Civics get it on the front vice rear for ludes!

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Mon Aug 10, 2020 12:29 pm

Nearly sorted, I was able to borrow the lift somewhere and take a closer look at all bits and pieces. Makes life easy for sure - loads of room, easy access, can have your tools and bits nearby. Working outside the front of the house is a distant and poor cousin.

The new front ARB droplinks seemed to have come loose or weren't tightened up - easy fix. This is where the majority of the clonking came from which is now gone.

The rear ARB drop links were also replaced simply because they were cheap and possibly knocking. Hard to remove also, easier to brake the ball joint off with a stake and lump hammer, then remove the rear ARB brackets (4x 12mm) - then deal with it all off the car.

All engine mounts and bushes were fine, but found play in the drivers side balljoint. 2 new ones on order for 30quid, tool to press them in 45quid lol (glorified gclamp with various spacers/buckets), still cheaper than a garage. Bit annoying that the play wasn't detectable by hand without leverage, otherwise I wouldn't have waited a week for the boots to arrive, only for one to be damaged then 3 hour round trip to get new ones, only now to replace the whole thing. bah humbug.

Otherwise, car is driving fine after 160miles - the new rocker cover gasket isn't leaking, the gearbox oil is still in and not leaking and feels fine. Almost mission accomplished...

Post by **ek9sid** » Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:56 pm

Excellent news!!

Post by **tom023** » Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:12 pm

These are brilliant runaround cars IMO. I had an EP2 and I wish that I had kept it when I bought the Prelude
Decent handling, good mileage and reliable! When you finally pass it on to your mate he's going to have a cracking runaround, well done on the fix up!

I've just read what you wrote about the body roll... I don't remember my EP2 being that bad, not sure if it had different suspension to the SE exec. I could never really compare it to the Prelude either as I bought the Prelude with worn out shock absorbers.