Tipsss

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As was previously predicted in Oh, Danny Boy…, the simplest and quickest solution was to bolt on some exhaust tips. I have always preferred this style, with just the curved bit protruding:

But apparently, at only 1.5 inches diameter, choices are fairly limited. There are lots of terrible, TERRIBLE options for a ’93 Civic in 2004 available for super cheap:

There’s no accounting for taste. So, the smallest, straightest, solid-colorest/non-neon-rainbowest, single output tippest I came across was a pair of these (Amazon link). It still up-sized it to a 2 inch, but that’s the best option I could find.

Driver’s side, then both from above:

And finally from underneath:

I did straighten them out and even them up after taking the pictures.

Hopefully, this is enough to keep the exhaust fumes outside the passenger compartment. We’ll see. If not, it’s another $120+ for a decent muffler. It sounds pretty good without the pea shooters, I must say.

Oh, Danny Boy…

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…the tail, tail pipes are rust-yyyy.

Everything that I have seen and heard about changing rusty pea-shooters makes it sound like a major pain. So, why not give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen. I ordered a cheapo Empi replacement set, hoping for the best.

The clamps came off easy after I gave them the juice over the last couple of days.

I alternated between fire and penetrating oil multiple times over the course of two days, then further mangled the pipes with a pipe wrench and hammer.

Still no dice. So today, I put it up on ramps for easier access.

After a few more rounds of heat and juice today, they still wouldn’t budge. The smoke coming out of the exhaust in the picture above is a nice touch… The car wasn’t running, that was red hot exhaust gunk.

I’ve been mangling the fixed pipes coming out of the exhaust and knew I would only continue to make it worse. So, the decision was made for me.

Turns out I don’t have chisels, so the best I could find was a nail punch set and standard screw driver. At least I do have safety glasses. The reciprocating saw made quick and easy work of the pipes and I finished pulling the guts out with channel locks.

Same story on the passenger side.

Using the available tools I had, I further mangled the exhaust, while trying to get the rest of the old pea-shooter out. I ended up driving a hole through the side of it as a nail head setter went off course. That exhaust is pretty flimsy, rusty stuff at this point.

I decided to leave the passenger side alone while I figure out what to do next.

Honestly, it sounds pretty good as it is. Maybe I’ll just put some tips on it and send it down the road.

While I was at it, I took the door handles off and lubed up their internals, along with the door latch mechanism. It has been getting increasingly hard to open the doors. Hopefully, that fixed them up.

Is it time to sell her – again?

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Last summer, I started preparations to put the beetlebug up for sale, but didn’t have the heart to say goodbye. Now here we are, another Spring season passing, and another year that it sits outside in my driveway, hardly ever being driven or enjoyed. Once I get a couple more low-hanging-fruit projects taken care of, I think I’m going to have to let it go this time.

Again, obligatory post-wash and polish pics for the online listing…

The painted steelie is a nice touch.

Refilling the Transaxle Oil

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My dad always said if it’s still leaking, at least you know it still has oil in it. Since I (hopefully) figured out the problem with the leaking trans oil, I figured it would be a good time to top it off.

bAcK tHaT tHaNg uP, gIrl!

Between the little oil leak around the sump and drain plug and this transaxle oil leak, it has gotten pretty crusty up under here. Also, another dad-ism – that’s just rust prevention. There is one stud that is screwed almost all the way in on the sump cover. Not enough of a thread left for a nut to catch it.

I’ve been afraid to put pliers or a vise grip on it, worried about messing up the threads and still not being able to get it back out.

After tightening everything up that I could find, I hosed it all down with brake parts cleaner and then let it air out under there for a little while.

I noticed a couple of bent fins and carefully straightened them back out while I was at it.

Tightening the Axle Nuts

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Last time I had the rear brake drums apart, I noticed there was fluid seeping in. I haven’t lost any brake fluid – like, not even a drop. So I surmised it was transaxle oil flowing down the axle, past the boot, eventually finding its way into the brake drum.

So, I headed out, jacked it up, and went to work. I very likely just got lazy last time I had the axle nuts off and only torqued them on with the cordless impact. I should know better – and did know better – but I’m guessing that’s what happened. I have a 36 inch breaker bar and a 36 inch pipe on the end of that as a “persuader”.

I took the wheel off, to get the cotter pin out, then put the wheel back on and lowered the car back down, putting its weight on the tire. I gave it all I had and got maybe another 1/8 of a turn. I don’t know what that equates to, torque-wise, but I’m sure it’s not 300 ft. lbs. or whatever the spec is. The tire was still turning with the full weight of the car on it and digging down into the dirt below the gravel.

I repeated the process on the passenger side and had similar results.

Knowing that the brand new brake pads I installed had likely been soaking in transaxle oil for a year and would need replaced, as evidenced by the parking brake still not holding much, I packed it all up and ordered new brake shoes.

Checking back on it a few days later, there was a new puddle inside that wheel.

Of course, I don’t know if that is because it is still leaking or because I didn’t take the drums off and clean out the existing puddles. I am going to be optimistic and say that the problem will be fixed once I take it apart, clean everything up and install the new brake shoes.

Pineapple Tug Toy

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Jute Rope 1/2 Inch x 100Ft – Amazon link

Measure and cut two pieces of rope – 58 and 48 inches

Just so I don’t have to repeat it every time, tape both raw ends as soon as you make a cut. It will start unwinding otherwise.

Line up all four ends and tape the “handle”

Lay out the long rope horizontally

Line up the middle of the short rope with the base of the handle

and then straighten it out in a +

Loop the west end loosely over the south end

Loop the south end loosely over the east end

Loop the east end loosely over the north end

Bring the north end down through the original west end loop

Pull them tight gradually in diagonal pairs (south/east and north/west). The first knot rarely ever looks like a clean square.

So I don’t have to repeat it each time, rearrange so the west end has is the longest each time. It doesn’t affect the order.

Repeat

Clean square!

Repeat

Stick a thumb, marker, whatever in the square and tighten up around it

Repeat

aaaand repeat

and then repeat

There is usually one very short end by this point. Tuck it in

Cut off the next shortest one (and tape the end)

and tuck it in

It’s going to start getting tight in there now. Jam whatever you’ve got in there to rearrange its guts

Repeat

annnnd repeat

Cut the tape off the handle

The neatness of the first knot or two has a huge effect on the overall size. They have been getting shorter and shorter each one that I make.

Steelie Wheelies Get a Glow Up – Part 2

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Back in Part 1, I painted the first wheel, but apparently didn’t remember to take pictures or document the process. Apparently, I did a little better at that part in this installment.

After the first one, I reversed the process. After wire brushing and cleaning up with acetone, I sprayed primer, then black paint, then masked the middle and sprayed the white paint.

Probably works out to the same number of steps, but this way made more sense.

I’m not worried about any overspray that gets on the tires, since these are the dry rotted ones I replaced. It was nice of the tire shop to mount them and send them home with me, rather than disposing of them. At least I didn’t have to pay disposal fees. That’s the next guy’s problem, I guess.

Again, the paint and masking isn’t perfect, but from ten feet away, it’s an improvement over what was there before. Speaking of which, I’m down to the last wheel (aside from the one that’s in the car as a spare). I put this one off til last, because it is the roughest and rustiest. I’m going to have to spend some more time prepping this one.

Fuel Door Bumper Go Bye Bye

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At some point, the little black rubber bumper inside the fuel door disintegrated. It was suddenly VERY difficult to get the fuel door open.

I had a roll of adhesive-backed foam weatherstripping which seemed to be just the right thickness and squishiness.

Since I know this stuff doesn’t stick very well, I’m not worried about it being a permanent hack-fix.

But, for now, it’s doing just fine.

Raising the Roof (again-again)

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Back in Raising the Roof (again), I had tried holding the vinyl headliner up with rubber cement. It lasts less than a season before the edges are hanging down again. Since I had recently moved on to trying super glue for these types of nasty repeat interior offenders, I decided to give it a whirl up top as well.

As seen in that previous post, I was using magnetic parts dishes to try and hold the vinyl up while the glue set. This time, I picked up a pack of tiny super strong magnets (Amazon link), hoping they would be easier to handle and do a better job.

Time will tell if this holds any better than previous attempts. I’m not an optimistic person…