DanielJames' DC2


Right guys. I realise the last update was at Impact in June.

In early July I was told I would be made redundant from my job. It was a long process, that has only just been finalised a few weeks ago.

Despite having around 7 weeks out of work I had the motivation of a growing fingernail, nothing was going to get done quickly. I spent most of my time looking for jobs and working out, I knew I had jobs to do on the car but couldn't really be bothered doing them. Being inbetween relationships didn't help either...

I sold my much loved E36 328i, which some of you will be familiar with.

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This wasn't really to do with the job, I was always going to sell it in the summer. I was actually supposed to be buying an E46 M3 before losing my job.

Instead of the M3, I got a diesel VAG.

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Honestly, it's a nice car. I've always wanted to own something with a PD130 too to see what the hype was about.

Anyway, fast forward to a week ago, back on my feet with a new job and back with t'bird. Time to book a trackday, Blyton on the 4th of October.... not good enough? Okay then we'll go to the ring the weekend after, the 10th-14th.

So I needed to get cracking getting the car ready for these two outings. Made a few purchases which I'll initially list:
[*]Spoon Sports Brake Calipers (YESSSS!!! 8) )
[*]Skunk 2 Alpha Header Exhaust Manifold
[*]Spoon Sports Roll Centre Adjusters (extended ball joints)
[*]New track rod ends both sides
[*]Millers 10w-40 Fully Synthetic Engine Oil
[*]Feels low drivers seat rail (thanks to Lew)

I was also going to gut out the interior properly for Blyton, but I think I'll keep it until after the 'ring trip.

I was also going to be getting some buckets, when these popped up round the corner from me on eBay for £400 I had to have them, though I didn't expect the price to go quite so high :lol: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141414866765?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I think I'll probably buy a new set of Pole Positions over the Winter. I might even go for the NSX-R replicas if I can find a set.

Anyway, to the work. I'm going to break the rules of the title of this thread due to working in a garage... I asked my grandad if I could borrow his for a few days as I couldn't risk letting weather/daytime slow me down.

Loaded up the van with my tools, note the new toolbox 8)

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Up to gramps. He's a very proud man my grandad, so I'm going to have to try and not make a mess in here:
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Tools in:
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Car in:
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I didn't really take many photos on the first night, I didn't have a great deal of time to get much done, but I got the car setup on the ramps and began disassembling the hubs, until the breaker bar snapped:
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To cheer myself up, I had a test fit of the new babies:
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My rega's are 16x7 ET45, which as you can see gives you just enough clearance :)

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Anyway, that day was done. Onto the next one...
 
DAY 2

Unfortunately, this wasn't a very productive day either.

I returned from Halfords with a new breaker bar, clutching my receipt should this bar have the same fate as the last. I did the same as last time, making sure the nut had plenty of heat in it and was soaked in WD40 but it still wouldn't budge.

I did think about going and buying an impact gun at this point, but I had one more go at it with a bit of pipe from the trolley jack over the breaker bar and luckily it finally gave way.

Then came a new challenge - the driveshaft was seized into the hub.

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"hit in harder"
"warm it up"
"go super saiyan"

Nothing would budge it. I need to say one thing too. For years I've been using the hub nut to tap the driveshaft out with. I'll slide the nut on about half the threads then hammer the **** out of it with a socket on. I know lots of you do this too... DONT DO IT. If the shaft is proper seized, like mine was, YOU WILL **** THE THREADS.

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After realising I'd ****** the threads, I just went HAM (hard as a motherfucker) on theshaft with the biggest hammer I could find. Still wouldn't budge.

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The good thing about making mistakes though, is that you learn lessons. What have I learnt? Copper is king . I'll be investing in a copper hammer, and will be copper greasing the **** out of the splines before they go back in.

I was pretty pissed off here, so decided to call it a day.
 
DAY 3

With my dummy back in my mouth, the toys back in the pram, I realised I'd need to remove the hub with the driveshaft still attached, and take it to a shop to sort out with a press or a bigger hammer...

Fortunately, I have a full set of spare driveshafts in the garage.

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Removing the shafts are pretty simple as most of you will know, but the hard part is the circlip that holds the shaft into the gearbox.

I had a right job on getting the shaft out, I think in the end I had to jack the car up high enough to get a pry bar underneath to coax the shaft out of the box.

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I got the shaft and hub out, and slotted my spare shaft in to hold the gearbox oil in place:
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So this was how Friday night ended, 2 hubs, 2 discs and a drive shaft.

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These RCAs better be worth it!

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DAY 4

First things first, driveshaft out.

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All it took was a big vice, a big hammer, and a big lad. Thanks Lee!

Old balljoints:
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Honda OEM balljoints vs Spoon RCA
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Gape:
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Spoon RCA in!:
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Now all that was easy, run of the mill stuff. But getting the collar on that spaces the balljoint safely? That's a right bastard.

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Spoon instructions state that you should use a vice to press the collar over the RCA, but that is not at all easy. There is not even the slightest bit of clearance. Getting the collar even started is bloody difficult and ended up taking us quite a long time indeed.

I didn't take any more pics, due to the stress that was involved in doing that job. Total **** about, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Once sorted, I went home for a quick rest then headed back up to my grandparents. Grandad was at the pub, but my gran was on hand to keep me topped up with toasties and beverages:
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First job for me on Saturday night was to get the track rod ends swapped out. I've had these parts for nearly 2 years now but never fitted them as I knew it would be a twat to do. Seen as the hub was out of the way it was in fact fairly easy.

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My tracking was out slightly before, but I used the existing arms as a guide and mimic'd there position. I'll be getting the toe sorted properly before Saturday though of course...

Now, what's an exciting thing to do on a Saturday afternoon?

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.
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Thats right, a rear engine mount!!
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(if anyones wondering about the wood - having a carbon bonnet lifted from one side for too long can cause it to warp, so best to keep it lifted at the middle)

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I've filled an old rear engine mount with Tiger Seal. Presentation has never been a strong point of mine....

I had forgotten what a pig of a job this is. I seriously thought about removing so many of the OEM functions such as the heater matrix just to give myself some clearance, but I got it out in the end.

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More toasties.
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Got there in the end, I packed up just after midnight after getting the mount out. I think it took me around 3 hours to get to this stage lol.
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Comaprison:
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Anyone else think the OEM mount looks like an unhappy sloth?

Bonnet laid to rest for a day:
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Phew, Saturday was a long day!
 
Day 5

I ended up sleeping in on Sunday until 11am, something I haven't done for years! Must have been tired :lol:

I didn't get a lot of time to do stuff due to having plans in the evening, but managed to get the engine mount back together and the drivers side hub back on!

Firstly I extended my coilovers 20mm to compensate the RCAs:
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(thats a before pic btw)

Hub time:
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With the hub back in I was going to get on with the other side, but I remembered I need to nip up the rear torque mount bracket bolts.

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As you can see the bolt is stuck out about 3mm. It was mega tight at this point, and I was scared I was going to snap the bolt with my man hands. I posted on help for Hondas Facebook group and got mixed responses, some people stated the bolts are different length (they aren't), some stated I should just keep turning as it was an impossible bolt to snap...

Then some proper advice landed via a phone call from pwizzzle
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I don't know why I didn't think to grease the bolt up initially but it worked, using some Castrol stuff grandad had in the garage (presumably from 1964)
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After that had done, I had to leave the car alone for the evening which was hard. Until I fell asleep, at 8pm. Lol.

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Tonight I plan to get the other hub together and get the brakes on, then hopefully get them bled as long as my fluid has arrived. Hopefully my exhaust manifold will turn up too so I can get that on!

Cheers,
Dan
 
Okay so I started last night putting the last pieces together. I was hoping to have the hub assembly finished, but ran into a slight problem.

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First of all, I started on the drivers side hub, getting the brakes back together and the lines connected:

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I also copper greased the **** out of the splines for the driveshaft hoping to prevent another seized shaft should I need to remove this one again:
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One thing I errrr, kinda didn't plan for was the fluid from the old caliper emptying itself onto the garage floor :oops:

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Anyway with that cleaned up I looked at getting my Russel braided lines fitted back to the hub:
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All done and dusted, well as far as I can go until the new driveshaft nuts show up, I moved onto the other side. This is where things went a bit pear shaped:
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As you can see, the calipers thread has been replaced with that of a helicoil. At first I was very pissed off, as you would be finding this.

The most annoying thing is, is that the OEM Bolts do not match the thread. Honda OEM bolts for the brake caliper are a M12x1.25 thread. After a bit of testing I believe this thread is standard M12, which is M12x1.75. I'm going to head down to Bapps Bolts in Barnsley on my lunch today to test the theory, and purchase a few high tensile bolts.

So, once that's done I'm kinda running out of things to do, awaiting delivery of items. I'm still waiting for my Skunk2 Alpha Header, my extra brake fluid, my driveshaft nuts and my lower seat rail (LEW!). Hopefully they will all arrive in time for Blyton on Saturday.

Cheers,
Dan
 
I'm not sure if you got my PM Dan but the Spoon twinblock all come with the helicoils fitted from the factory. Have a look online and you will be able to confirm this

They use the standard caliper mounting bolts too so unless your bolts had been changed it shouldn't have been a problem

Also, what happened to the start of the helicoil in the picture sticking out a bit? It shouldn't cause a problem but it wasn't like that before I sent them

Cheers
 
I'm not sure if you got my PM Dan but the Spoon twinblock all come with the helicoils fitted from the factory. Have a look online and you will be able to confirm this

They use the standard caliper mounting bolts too so unless your bolts had been changed it shouldn't have been a problem

Also, what happened to the start of the helicoil in the picture sticking out a bit? It shouldn't cause a problem but it wasn't like that before I sent them

Cheers

I think it's possible it might have undone itself as you were removing it then. The bolt wouldn't even begin to take the thread unfortunately. You are right in one of them being clearly damaged, but neither take the bolt. Very odd!

I'm looking into replacing the coil with these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M12-x-1-2...260?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item19f302a154
 
So tonights pics.

My main concern tonight was getting the Spoon helicoil sorted. My uncle said he'd be able to sort it no problem but not until around 9pm, so I cracked on with some other jobs.

Luckily waiting for me at the garage were a few parcels:
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I picked up this bargain Skunk2 Alpha Header from a Facebook group, couldn't believe the condition it was in when it arrived. It's clearly not very old at all.

I also received a 1L can of ATE Super Blue to make sure I had plenty when bleeding my new brakes up, modelled here by Wee Jock the Westie.

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So I cracked on with removing the old cast iron UKDM/96 spec header.

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Most of the nuts cracked off easily, but two were a bit too tough for my liking so gave them a blast with the blow torch. This is one of the best things I've bought...

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It didn't take a long time to get it off:
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Unfortunately my bodge repair of the lambda sensor wiring hadn't survived my fight with the rear engine mount at the weekend. Later in the evening I got my uncle to solder the wires properly.

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Still waiting for the call I jacked the rear of the car up and started removing noisy heatshields.

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Then the call came so I whipped round to get the caliper fixed. I only took the one pic but there's a video of the garage on my Instagram @dannydc2 - if you like road racing motorbikes you'll love it.

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After getting back home and topping up on coffee I got the caliper and nearside suspension all back together, though my phone was flat so didn't get any pictures.

Next job was to inspect an oil leak whilst the exhaust manifold was removed. With the exhaust manifold being off removal of the flywheel inspection cover is possible, which is where the oil leak area seemed to be.

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I was very anxious that the leak was gearbox, as my input shaft isn't the quietest, I feared the seal might have given out.

Luckily it was clearly coming from the sump gasket area.

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I nipped up a few of the bolts passed their torque setting to see if it would settle the leak, wiped down the surface and refitted the flywheel cover.

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Once that was back together I fitted the exhaust manifold, making sure to put a tiny bit of copper grease on the bolts. I think the bolts let the manifold down slightly, so going to look into getting some stainless ones.
 
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All done:
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One thing I noticed, and forget to get a pic of, was that the OEM manifold support bracket that comes from the rear of the engine isn't even close to lining up with the one Skunk2 have on the manifold. I think with how much lighter the manifold is anyway, that this bracket is pretty pointless so I ended up just removing it, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem?

Tomorrow, so long as my new driveshaft nuts turn up, I should have the car out of the garage for the first time in a week. Can't wait!!

thanks for reading.
Dan
 
The mani brace helps support the weight of the exhaust system aswell dan. Otherwise it's got **** load of leverage against the bend as it comes down and under the sump.
I had a feels manifold crack because it was run without a brace on it.
 
Looks like a lot of effort has gone in to this, I had the same issue with one of my drive shafts (mega tight nut and seized shaft) made a quick job take for ever!

I think you need a 98 spec or maybe a usdm manifold bracket or just cut and weld the old one
 
The mani brace helps support the weight of the exhaust system aswell dan. Otherwise it's got **** load of leverage against the bend as it comes down and under the sump.
I had a feels manifold crack because it was run without a brace on it.

Don't worry mate, I'm gonna get a metal tie wrap on it.


:megusta:
 
Well good and bad news.

Good news is the car is now back on the road.

Bad news is I've already had to take the manifold off and refit my OEM one.

As you can clearly see here the manifold is a good few inches longer than OEM. This is just what US manifolds are so I've heard.

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Easy enough to fix, I'll just get my decat shortened. It's not something I'm going to do before I go to the 'ring now though, so it will just have to wait.

First task for tonight was to fit the new driveshaft nuts that I'd ordered since I mashed an old one up. These were £2 each delivered on ebay.
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Bleeding the brakes was interesting. It's the first time I've bled 4 pots or any caliper with 2 bleed nipples. I was told by 2 people I respect greatly 2 different methods - one said inside out one said outside in. I opted for inside then out, as it made more sense in the tiny part of my brain reserved for engineering logic. Thanks to Saint Matt (the oracle).

(also aplogies Nez for using an IRN BRU bottle, there was also about 10ml in the bottom of the bottle I couldn't be bothered to get out before hand so it went to waste :p )

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After that was done I got the car jacked up to get the exhaust manifold changed and remove the heat shields:
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What I had hoped would be possible, is that the exhaust would be able to be pushed back the extra inch to accomodate for the extra length of the headers, but unfortunately that wasn't going to be possible.

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Car nearly done:
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I wanted to double check the gearbox oil was topped up before going on track at the weekend - luckily it was still seeping slightly from the fill plug indicating it needed no more fluid.

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Damn that exhaust manifold is ugly :(

I then took the car for a spin, here are my initial thoughts that I posted on Instagram (@dannydc2):
"The car feels amazing. New balljoints have transformed the steering feel, I never thought it was bad before but wow. With the new poly fillled engine mount too the car feels so tight. The brakes? Well first impressions are positive, but I'm concerned at how they aren't that progressive compared to OEM. Even on used discs and pads, they're so ******* sharp. Bring on Blyton Park on Saturday for some real testing!"

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Going to get the tracking sorted tomorrow. Anyone recommend a toe number to aim for?
 
With toe it all depends on how you want the car to behave, understeer/oversteer etc

I have tried a few different alignment settings and I have always found that setting the toe to zero front and rear works best for my driving style. I run about -2.5 camber front and -2.2 rear, with 16k front and 10k rear springs, 225 wide front tyres and 195 rear tyres and it works very well....if I was to add a stiffer spring at the rear or reduce the rear negative camber the car starts to oversteer far too much so I have found a good balance the way I have it setup now and imo thats what is important

Also with the energy trailing arm bushes I found the car too unstable at the rear under hard braking with my settings
 
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