Smoked Headlights

1. The Procedure

   • The lenses on a Civic are glass, so you will not need extra sheets for the oven to put them on. Start by removing all five metal clips around each headlight, along with all of the outside screws that were removed when removing the headlights from the car. After the metal pieces are removed from the headlight, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
     Heat the headlights for about 5 minutes, then pull them out of the oven and use a flathead screwdriver to gently pry the lens off of the headlight assembly. If the pieces feel difficult to pry apart, place the assembly back in the oven for a few more minutes until the glue has loosened up.
     There is one reflector on the inside of the assembly that is held on by two screws. The reflector will need to be unscrewed and removed before going any further.
     

   The Painting Process

   • Start by masking off the other reflectors on the inside that cannot be removed. Failure to do so will leave you unable to see in the dark after you are finished. After you have completed masking the remaining reflectors, you can begin painting. The preferred paint to perform this job is a black, high-gloss spray paint, however, any color in a high gloss will work. Begin by spraying one even layer over the entire interior of the headlight and continue to go over it until you have a nice, thick paint job.
     
   • 
     

   Re-assembly

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     After letting the paint on the headlights dry (usually 2 to 3 hours), apply silicone on the outside of the lens where the glue previously held it to the headlight interior. Once again pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and place the assembly in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until the silicone softens. Letting the silicone soften will allow it to spread out more. After letting both headlights sit in a cool place for 5 to 6 hours, the silicone will harden and more easily lock the two pieces back together.
     Reattach the five clips to their spots on the outside of the headlight assembly.
     When you are done reinstalling your headlights, you will have modified them to a thing of beauty. Congratulations.
     
     
     
     

12a Rotary Vacuum Schematic

How To Install an aftermarket steering wheel.

Have a new aftermarket wheel in your room you want to install, but don't know exactly how? Watch, Read, and Learn.

1. Locate steering wheel.


2. Take your small screwdriver and pop the H emblem off the wheel.


3. Locate the steering wheel nut. 19mm or 13/16".

4. Find the appropriate socket/extention


5. Zip it out with an impact gun if you've got one. The reason I say use this is because you don't have to worry about the wheel moving very much as you rip the nut off, as opposed to useing a hand-powered ratchet.


6. If the nut doesnt come out in the socket, it'll just sit there like yay:


7. Then go ahead and pull the wheel off.


8. *edited* nvm.


9. Slip on the new hub.


10. Bolt down the new steering wheel nut. Connect your horn wire, etc and line up the wheel.
*Note*. When you slide the new hub in, hold the steering wheel up to it(with the wheel in the appropriate position(i.e. vertical) and see if the hub is on right. look at your tires. make sure it's straight unless you wanna live with a crooked wheel...


11. After you've lined up the screw holes on the wheel/hub, and have made sure the hub, wheel, and screws are correctly lined up.


And there you have it. Youv'e completed your wheel install. Good for you! Now your car is more jDm than ever.


Look how much smaller my newly installed wheel is. FYI it's a 11" wheel.



Before:


After

Chassis reinforcement DIY

This is an old trick a lot of Japanese tuning companies use to stiffen the chassis of their circuit/ race cars... I'm gonna show you how to do it...

First is the list of things you'll need...

1 drill ( i prefer an electric with a cord other then one with a battery just to i don't need to worry about it dying on me)

2 ball-pen hammer (or any other hammer with a metal head)

3 center-punch (to mark a good start point for the drill)

4 drill bits ( i prefer a cobalt (the material of the bit not the lowes brand) drill bit because they last longer don't go cheap on this one or you'll know it

5 rivet gun (blind rivet fastener rivet tool..etc)

6 appropriate size rivet *** SEE NOTE *** ( i used short 3/16ths (#6) size they make steel and aluminum and some others i chose aluminum because its lighter)

after your interior is out the first thing to do is find the spot wields in the chassis



use a center punch and a hammer to make a divet between them..





drill a hole that is the same size diameter as the rivet you are using (keep in mind what could possibly be behind the metal like suspension, tires, etc don't drill into anything you need)







place the rivet inside the hole.. it should be a little snug



then use the rivet gun to expand the rivet until the end breaks off..(be careful as sometimes the end will shoot out of the back of the gun (not often but it can happen)



make sure that you press the head of the rivet flush against the metal



once the end breaks off you're done and ready to repeat until you are satisfied... also should mention that you should use a rivet slightly longer then the thickness of the metals you are joining together ( i used ones with a 1/4 inch grip length on all of mine because i don't think its important enough to measure each hole



what it should look like when finished (well kinda my bit isn't sharp enough to drill any more holes lol )


*** NOTE***

good point i should've mentioned this ONLY USE CHERRY MAX/ CHERRY LOCK RIVETS the other ones don't really do anything but hold things together.. they are hollow in the center when you are done with them and are not for anything structural


for sake of time and his post the rivets i used were pop rivets.. here is a comparison of the right (cherry max) rivet and the wrong (pop) rivet to use

the cherry max is the rivet on the left and correct one to use... don't use one like the one on the right

Fixing broken exhaust

STEP 1: Materials needed

Step 1Materials and tools.

This is a fairly simple job (it only took me half an hour), but you do need some specialist materials:

• Wheel ramps or axle stands. Do NOT attempt any jobs underneath a car supported just by a jack. People die like that.
• Eye protection _{(unless you enjoy rust, dirt and toxic chemicals being dropped in your eyes...?)}
• Metal snips.
• Jubilee clips.
• Screwdriver (flat-head, to match the jubilee clips).
• Assorted pliers, spanners and thumpy things.
• Exhaust repair paste (available from any car spares store).
• An empty tin can.

You should also wear appropriate clothing - spare a thought for whoever does the laundry in your home, and be aware that you could quite easily get un-removable gloop on your clothes. An old hat might help as well.

Step 2Find your problem.

Easy.

If your exhaust isn't snapped through, but is still blowing, then you will be able to hear it - your car will sound as if the engine gained an extra couple of litres.

If you can't see the hole, just move your hand along beside the exhaust until you feel the breeze of escaping fumes - feel along both sides, above (if you can) and below, but be careful, the exhaust pipe gets a lot hotter than you'd think.

Step 3Inside or outside?

Unfortunately, my exhaust broke at an odd-shaped bit which meant I had to fix it from the inside out.

I used the snips to turn the can into a sheet of steel, then rolled it up to be small enough to fit into the exhaust (be careful of sharp edges, both on the cut can and on the broken ends of the exhaust - tetanus jabs hurt).

I slid the rolled can most of the way into the steadier part of the exhaust, with only half an inch (1cm) or so sticking out.

I then pushed the other part of the exhaust into place, and slid the rolled can into that section as well, shuffling it a little at a time by grasping the rolled can with a wide-open plumber's wrench.

• If the break had been at a straight section, I could have wrapped the can around the outside of break, locking it in place with a pair of jubilee clips.

Step 4Fixing.

Although the rolled can completed the exhaust, and took the weight of the looser section, it was not secure enough to move the car, nor was it fume-tight.

I needed to pull the loose section up tight against the fixed section.

I put one jubilee clip around the loose section of exhaust, and threaded the second clip through the first, then around the protruding part of the fixed section.

Tightening the first clip provided a firm anchor point, then tightening the second clip pulled the broken ends tight together.

I then smeared the joint in copious quantities of exhaust fixing paste and left it to set.

Unfortunately, I have not found any tool more effective for getting the paste in the right place than the human finger. If you have sensitive or broken skin, you can either use a small spatula or stick, or wear gloves.

Once I was happy the whole thing was fixed, I snipped off the loose ends of the jubilee clips, to try and stop loose stuff getting caught under the car in future.

Step 5Caveat

This is a bodge job. It is not a long-lasting repair.

It's not great engineering, but it cost about five pounds ($10) for the paste and the clips, and I borrowed the ramps.

That's a twentieth the cost of a professional job, and even less should the garage decide you need a whole new exhaust.

Add to that the fact that the car only need to last another six months or so, and it's the perfect solution to a problem which would have kept the car off the road for a week, when I need to get to work again on Monday.

paint stripping for restoration

Instructions

 1:Lay a tarp out in your garage. Drive your car onto the tarp. This will catch any chemical spills and make your cleanup easier.

 2: Tape off areas of the car that don't need chemical stripping, using masking tape and newspaper. Cover the windshield, windows, tires, fender and other areas in this manner.

3:Apply a coat of chemical stripper to your car. using a paintbrush. Pour chemical stripper into a disposable container such as an old coffee can. Coat the car's body with the chemical stripper. Wait the recommended amount of time for your chemical stripper to work, following the manufacturer's recommendation.

 4:Scrape the chemical stripper and old paint off your car with a plastic scraper at the end of the waiting time. Drag the plastic scraper across your car, with your hand held at a 45- to 70-degree angle to the car. The paint and chemical stripper should flake off.

5:Scrub any areas that still have paint with 40-grit sandpaper. This should remove leftover paint.

6:Apply a coat of lacquer thinner to remove any traces of chemical stripper, using a fresh paintbrush. Remove the masking tape. Your car is ready for sanding and priming.

How to adjust coilovers

If you have a lower priced version (like JIC SF1's) then you should raise the springs as high as possible and then the proper way to adjust is to lower them. The reason for this is if you raise the car by the springs (how mine was done) then you will compress and pre-load them (wrong).

Rings are aluminum and spanner wrenches are steel, hence wrenches do not scratch. You can however scratch the rings if adjusted incorrectly.

1. figure out the height of your springs (mine are approximately 7 & 7/8th")
2. If springs were touched then you need to expand them. It's easy to tell, there should not be scratches on the metal rings from raising under pressure. You can unlock the bottom ring then loosen the top ring to lower the spring until it's loose. The tighten slightly. I tightened my springs to 7.75" height. This keeps them tought but no preload.
3. The coil over is adjusted by raising/lowering the threaded pipe (not springs). Unlock the steel purch (bottom part of damper that threaded pipe goes in to) by loosening the third/bottom ring and raise it up. You will adjust by turning the two locked rings under the spring (top one). Since there is no preload, it should turn very easily and you won't scratch the rings.
Tip: You can double stack the wrenches which gives you more torque to adjust height.
4. I adjusted mine to a total of 10" on the passenger side and 10.25" on the driver side. I weigh 200lbs and there is a 1/4" drop with me in the car. It will give you a floor to fender lip height of 26" which is perfect for street use (25" for track). Mine was previously adjusted to 24.5" which is way too low (yes, 1/2" was enough diff' to scrape speed bumps). You will want to measure from the top of the spring (under pillowball mount) to the top of the female perch.
Note: Different brands may have different measurements. Mine are Buddy Club Racing Spec but these are good numbers for you to start with..
5. Expect it to take some time if doing it by yourself as you will most likely need to adjust every corner several times. Make sure you lock the rings and torque the lug nuts properly.
Tip: You can determine your weight drop yourself with a measuring tape (metal retractable) and a business card. Open the door and measure from the floor to the X on the scuff plates. Then sit in it and measure again. Use a business card sticking outward to line up with the tape. Pinch the tape where the business card touches and read measurements. Make sure you measured at the same point the second time. This isn't as good as corner weight but pretty damn good for free and doing it yourself.