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Post by Volktales on Mar 25, 2018 20:39:25 GMT -8
It is that time of year again... Out of storage, and soon to be his permanently. He even remembered how to drive a standard, too! First thing to do was to fit the 17 inch rims that Grandpa refinished for him and supplied the new tires as a Christmas gift. These rims were very used and Dad did a lot of work to repair and refinish them. One had a crack properly welded up as well. Victor chose the shiny black colour, and it suits the car well. Even Dad thought it looked OK as well, and he is a fan of lots of chrome! The kid is finally showing signs of wanting to get that driver's license after all... Meanwhile, the mighty Acura successfully completed its six months of daily use without issue. It will get a deserved rest for the next six months, then take over from the Civic in the fall and become Victor's winter driver. I am going to be missing those heated seats!!!
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Post by PICTUP on Mar 26, 2018 18:24:43 GMT -8
That looks really good! Are you gonna lower it now?
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Post by Volktales on Apr 15, 2018 20:48:35 GMT -8
The kid just turned 17! If he had have got his crap together and booked a road test in advance, then he could be driving the Civic by himself now... Instead he will have to wait until June to do the test. Maybe if he spent less time fooling around on that damn phone!!! But the good news is I still get to drive the car everyday until June...
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Post by Brenticon on Apr 15, 2018 21:01:25 GMT -8
Oh crap, it was his birthday today Happy birthday Victor
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Post by tony on Apr 16, 2018 7:08:35 GMT -8
Oh no it looks like he's sleeping and the phone is still glued to his hand lol
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Post by PICTUP on Apr 16, 2018 11:54:42 GMT -8
The Testing Facility number wasn't in his Contacts List and he hadn't set his iCalendar to remind him with some sort of Pop-Up?.... Oh well, I guess it will be like having 2 birthdays this year then. At his age he can handle it. Psssst, pass it on.... Happy Birthday Victor! Russ, I still want to see your face when Victor first asks to borrow a super-cool-groovy-Camper Bus because his girlfriend just found out there are two in the stable...
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Post by Volktales on Apr 16, 2018 18:35:48 GMT -8
He ain't cool enough to drive a bus...
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Post by Brenticon on Jun 6, 2018 6:03:59 GMT -8
Well, it's time
Congrats to Victor for passing his road test on the first attempt
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Post by Volktales on Jun 6, 2018 7:24:32 GMT -8
Little bugger took my Civic to school today. Not even his yet!!!
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Post by PICTUP on Jun 6, 2018 21:34:12 GMT -8
Little bugger took my Civic to school today. Not even his yet!!! You mean his name isn't on the reggie? Isn't that a point? Congratulations Victor! You must've had good teachers
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Post by Volktales on Jun 14, 2018 20:35:29 GMT -8
It has finally happened. After about 5 1/2 years and close to 35,000 km, I have given up my favourite daily driver to the kid. Victor is bolting on his new Parks plates as the car is now officially his! Lots of things were done to this car over the years, but it basically did its job of providing reliable and fun transport on a daily basis. And despite the 386,000 km on the clock, I am sure it will continue to do so for years to come. I miss it already...
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Post by Volktales on Jul 28, 2018 19:47:16 GMT -8
So a sucker for punishment I am. This was a customer car that was towed into the shop because it died while driving. In these situations I always check the coolant and oil first before attempting a startup. Coolant was fine, oil didn't register on the dipstick. Adding two litres brought it up to the add line, which is not good because these engines only hold 3.5 L. It started right up and ran smoothly, but a rod or two is going to exit the block any moment... Owner didn't seem to care much and elected to scrap the car. For $150, it was mine. Why would I want this? Because I am getting soft in my old age and enjoyed driving the Acura as a winter car with it's powerful heater, and heated seats, which are both things the Tercel lacks. Plus the Tercel is being naughty, which we will talk about later... Fender needs a bit 'O' work... Interior is absolutely filthy and has some damage to radio surround and door panel. Seats look fine under the grime, and surprisingly it has low km (167,000) for a 2000 model year. Have already got the replacement engine, as well as every other part I needed from South Island Imports. The cars only mechanical issue was the engine and window regulator. Came with recent Michelin tires, one year old battery, brand new front brakes, and 3/4 tank of gas, so you can see why I bought it. Needless to say the kid will get this as his winter beater and I will keep the mighty Acura. The kid is going to be helping on this one for sure, but it will be a very short term project... Now about the naughty Tercel...
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Post by PICTUP on Jul 28, 2018 20:27:13 GMT -8
So a sucker for punishment I am. I'm starting to think Russ is really a VW Yoda.
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Post by Volktales on Aug 26, 2018 21:59:12 GMT -8
Sooo, for a wide variety of reasons, I have not posted very much lately... And this is one of the reasons why... I really needed to get this quicky project out of the way and move onto other things in life. So on Sunday of last week it was time to yank that old motor out of its resting place. These things are a bit more complex than your average VW flat four in terms of removal, but no particular snags occurred and everything unbolted nicely without breaking... I finally bought a new folding engine crane to do the job from Canadian Tire. This was on sale, and worked out ok, BUT if you have a tiny working shop like me, you really need a model with castors on all wheels, unlike this one. But it worked... Now that compartment needs a good cleaning. Winter beater or not, its going to be clean under the hood.... Victor reluctantly got this job... Replacement engine installed, and everything clean. This took a few evenings to complete this aspect, but was straight forward. The trickiest part on modern-ish cars like this, is rerouting all the wiring harnesses correctly. I did take some before pictures, which helped somewhat. At least all those connectors are much easier to click together than separate apart... The replacement engine was given new plugs, a valve adjustment, and new timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. The clutch was worn enough to warrant replacement as well, and was the usual three piece kit. The kid helped with some of that too... Headlights were polished up with new higher output bulbs added as well. Grill was faded and repainted as well. This did not make my day however. Installing the left headlight revealed that the replacement fender turned out to be for a slightly earlier car, and the profile near the headlight is different. This will be dealt with once the car is roadworthy, although Victor felt putting a sticker over there would be just fine. Is he really my kid??? We are currently servicing the rear brakes, and replacing the brake and clutch fluid as well. That will be completed tomorrow, than it is time to remove the complete interior for a very deep clean. Victor has already managed to replace the driver's side window regulator all by himself. He did take days to complete it however... There is a reason why these non-VW projects are taking up my time, and this will be revealed later...
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Post by Volktales on Sept 22, 2018 19:58:06 GMT -8
So not much has been happening on the VW front lately for several reasons. We have a new batch of international students living with us this year, and our tenant above the suite has also returned. Victor is back in hockey as well. Other family related stuff has been going on too, so any car activities have been taking a back seat lately. But I did find the time to finish this project... The $150 Civic is complete and on the road again. Came out decently, especially after the complete removal and a very deep clean of the interior. Victor is happy as the aftermarket deck, amp, and sub-woofer the car came with were fixed up and now work great. He even fixed the sub-box himself with restored the sound quality. Funny how kids biggest concern about the car is the quality of the tunes. Hmmm. This car will be his soon as I am now keeping the $100 Acura for myself as my own winter driver. How did this happen! The kid was supposed to get the Acura as his winter beater to preserve the restored red Civic, and I was intending to drive the old Tercel as my winter car. Then the Tercel decided it didn't want that treatment, and decided self destruction was in order... But before we get to that, it is time to do some Acura maintenance before it returns to the road... Rust bubbles around the windshield were bothering me, and they were not getting any smaller. Grinding out the rust and getting back to bare metal is taking some time. I will be properly coating this area, as I don't want the rust to get any worse. This is the only rust on the body, and is a direct result of the auto glass people damaging the paint under the window when the glass was replaced in the past. Unfortunately an all too common problem.... Anyway this is all I need to do on this car right now, so soon we will be into a much more involved project....
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