Month: April 2026

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 difficult 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.