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VSS sensor top of gearbox, bet the plugs coming apart or corroded inside had a few play up easily fixed normally.

Same as CRV then had 2 of the sometimes its rot under the windscreen ive found that out, the step wagons very similar in design to the CRV. i would have one as a day van owned a Bongo 2.5TD and it was a rot box but i do miss the handy platform of a 4WD van, i dont miss the repair prices though LOL.

Yeah I had the windscreen one on the VTIS sealed back up last summer, most of the time it's undercover or under the carport at the side of the house.

Hi Simon we probably haven't spoken in 10 years mate but its the same VTI-S i have had since 2012 seems my account got orphaned in the transfer and i lost access, while the whole time the cars been off the road since 2016 take 3 years of welding and engine rebuilding to get it nearly ready for a return.

Hi everyone, after finally getting registered in this forum and lurking for a couple of years it's finally time to show my Aerodeck. It's a 1999 MC3 that my dad bought in 2019 as a temporary car, but since I've grown quite attached to it he decided to keep it so it can be my first car. It had 315 thousand kms when we first got it and it now sits at nearly 355 thousand (it was the second car in the family for most of the time it was with us, until I got my license) Here is how it looked like when my dad bought it, and as you can see it had some work done. MTS technik comfort coilovers, JR 5 mm spacers at the back, hardrace adjustable camber arms in the front and the back, retrofitted Rover rear ARB with custom brackets, slotted Brembo OEM size rotors up front and OEM Brembo pads (nothing special) and every bushing has been replaced with hardened Hardrace ones. I've also added a VTi fornt lip. It's sitting on Momo Corse 17×7.5 ET35 wheels and 205/40 Hankook Ventus tires. Since I am a bit of a rally fan the Deck gets used quite a lot for the longer journeys (the pic above is in Austria after New Year when the Jännerrallye took place, had the most fun sliding the car on snow covered roads when driving inbetween stages) This one was taken last year when the ERC was held in Croatia and some of the roads were really rough and unpaved but it was built to take it💪. I'm quite satisfied with the car as is mechanically. The next thing on my list would be the interior. Having only 4 speakers and not that good sound isolation you can't really muffle the sound of the diesel up front so I want to get it sorted in the summer. I was thinking about putting in Recaro SPJ seats and reupholstering them in the original seat pattern which i quite like. But seeing they are getting rarer and rarer that might have to wait. If anyone knows the name of the pattern or where it could be found I would very much appreciate it (I've got other options, but finding an OEM fabric would be best). I was also thinking of putting in an EP3 steering wheel but as far as I am aware that means putting in a different steering column which sounds like a bit of a job so I'll see how that turns out. So that is a short introduction to my pride and joy, I hope that you like it.

My Work Horse 1.6 SE daily again same as Paradox Fuel Prices keep me running this and reliability and keep the VTI-S on the back burner has all the standard leaks Ha Ha

Yeah i like a Volvo had a V70 T5 probably 12 years ago when i sold my 3rd MC2 missed the induction noise of Vtec so bought my VTI-S. Probably only thing id trust as much as a honda, alot more Juicy though 18MPG i averaged haha.

Mean while today i got the Aerodeck through its MOT with no advisory's i bought it 2023 for £800 had to do both Inner sills and outer as it was rotten and welded the boot floor in 2023 and fitted MB6 suspension, MGZS 180 Shocks and Brakes and spare VTI wheels i had laying about. Its still a 1.6 SOHC D16W4, it starts on the button every day and has never once let me down. Long Story over the last 10 years i have had many cars in between and they've all been terrible so i just decided back to Honda, Having owned about 5 MC2's VTI's since 2003 the first i had to find one that would just work, i have a B20Z1 i am rebuilding to dump in it but the VTI-S is priority to get on the road first. Shes an old Gal and a workhorse my Loyal Steed Like Arthur's from RDR2 horse LOL.

OK after 10 Years away from the Forum i have returned to get the VTI-S back on the road. I have Rebuilt the Engine again as the 2016 rebuild didn't go as planned but to be honest the main reason its been off the road for 5 years was due to many factors 1 being Money, 2 being Welding, 3 Mental and Physical health but ive done 75% of welding and just getting bits sorted. having a break while i help my mate rebuilding his Silvia S13 that's going on the ramps for its MOT next week.

Honestly I couldn't be happier with the engine. After blocking of the EGR it goes pretty well and it still returns great mileage. On my trips to the Czech republic and Austria it got 5.3/5.5 l/100km (50+ MPG) pretty easily without hypermiling. And I don't need to rev it to hell like the smaller petrol engines.

Welcome along mate. Start a member's car thread so we can see your car. 😎 I'm quite partial to an old volvo.. Do you have one at the minute?

Just thought I'd post so things aren't so dead. Thanks for the approval. I just got a 1.6 aerodeck a month or so ago since the fuel prices are keeping me out of the old volvos. I might just stay that way, the aerodeck is super cool.

Done quite a bit of reading and come to the conclusion that the handbrake cables I ordered were just crap quality. I can max out the adjustment nut on the handbrake handle, it seems like the cables are stretching or the wrong length. It looks like the Honda MB and Rover 45/MGZS handbrake cables are the same so i've ordered a replacement set from DRMGS (Rover 45 / MG ZS Handbrake Cables - SPB100720 / SPB100730 / SPB000580 – Discount MG Rover Spares - Tel 02380 001133 / Email sales@dmgrs.co.uk) - im hoping they are better made as i've good experiences from stuff i've bought there recently. Fingers crossed.

Yes - it's not bad really, i've definitely sat in much worse. The seat could possibly go a little lower but I will probably mess about with that once i've actually driven the thing in its current form (getting restless now 🤪). I can reach the controls comfortably, that'll do for now! Without the sliders in it could go REALLY low. The sliders add a tiny bit of height but you also can't mount the seat at the low position at the front as the locking bar fouls on the seat and you can't adjust it.

That's how I ended up tracking the leaks down myself Simon, stripped out the headliner & rear interior & had the hose pipe on to pin down where it was getting in, turned in to a huge lot of work, but well worth it in the long run, also did the headliner while it was out as like most it was not in great condition & on removing it, it just started peeling away, new skill learned though, but it's not a simple job with all the holes & countours on the deck headliner, I'm sure a regular MB withut a sunroof would be pretty easy in comparrison.

Well I did finally get her 100% water tight, there were several places where it was getting in, the biggest issues were the panel joints under the far ends of the roof rail flashing clip on bits, but also a coule near the sun roof drains, I want to do a write up when I have time to pinpoint all the areas with lots of photos as it may help others out with the issue in future.

Actually, here's the sms chat about the whole thing... How that helps. Let me know if you need any of the links in that chat

If it's the early Rover 400/MGZS (not the ugly fake Chinese one) the plugs and wiring should be the same. Post BMW take-over of Rover, the 400s etc had BMW wiring and connectors.

Yeah, liked the look of the Bongos, but they seem to rot like nothing I've ever seen before!

It's the passenger footwell on the stepwagon.. Think that's the windscreen as the gutter behind the scuttle panel wasn't just dry and clear, it was dusty 😂

I can't get away from honda... Since meeting the wife when she had a 106,we've been an all honda household for nearly 20 year 😁

There is just something about these Civic mate ay! Yours are looking superb, loving the deck but also love that you've still got the VTiS!

There was a guy from the US based in Germany who had one, but that's the only other deck I remember

So, it seems that admin notifications haven't been getting sent out by the system when new users have registered, meaning there's been 150 user registrations awaiting approval. A while ago we had to change the setup to require users to be approved manually because we were getting a ton of fake accounts with spam posts and dodgy links. Been working through approvals, with newest registrations first, with about 100 left to go. There'll be some older posts appear from new users who've posted but it's not appeared due to the approval being stuck. Apologies to anyone caught up in this.. Please take a moment to introduce yourself and start a project thread - everyone likes to see photos of your ride 😎 We'll be monitoring whether any of the new accounts are spammers, and do the best to keep the forum safe

There hasn't been any soak posts since approving the first batch.. Might be worth monitoring and maybe removing the manual approval?

Superb mate. Thank you for going through them, didn't realise there were so many! I'll have a look at the mail side when I get a chance and see if I can see whats causing the emails not to be sent out to newly registered members. Again, apologies to any members caught up in the fault, we'll do our best to get this sorted. Kind regards Dave

So, as most will probably know I rather foolishly put DD up for sale recently. Decided I wanted a change, into an old Triumph Dolomite or something similar. DD has been sat for around a year and a half in the garage, so took her for her MOT so she'd be ready should she sell. Was fully prepared for a fail, just hoped it wouldn't be too much. Low and behold, she sailed through! Driving her back from the MOT, had a change of heart! Was never sure if I'd even be able to sell her tbh, and did have a couple of buyers wanting to come see her. But she tugged at my heart strings once again and provered herself worthy of staying in the family. Both Gayle and our daughter Faith knew I wouldn't sell her, but apparently I needed to go through the process before coming to my senses!😄

Finally finished the last piece of the brake upgrade today. MB6 master cylinder and ZS180 brake booster (seems to be the same as the MB6 one but I found a good deal on a ZS180 unit. One of those parts that people are asking stupid money on ebay for but if you put in the time on FB groups etc you can get one for a more reasonable price.) Unfortunately the MB6 master cylinder has the brake line fitting slightly further away from the prop valve than the MB2 does so I had to remove the line from the car and bend it in the vice to straighten it out which resulted in the below. I'm not particularly proud of myself and I should probably remake it properly at some point or maybe get an MB6 pre-bent line but it does work! Need to sort out a problem with the handbrake (it's not working very well - unsure why at the moment) and give it a wheel alignment before it can go for an MOT. I'm going to have a go at doing a string alignment in the garage next weekend. I've not done one before but if I can get it 95% of the way there then at least it avoids me destroying the tyres until I can get a proper alignment setup. That being said, many professionals do string alignments in the pits, so they can't be that bad!

Welcome along mate, and sorry for the delay in getting you approved. That's a nice looking deck, and very rare as the diesel. 😎

Hi Pedro. Is it like a groaning sound?b if so it could be the lower ball joints. Are you able to get someone to turn the steering while you listen to try and see where the noise is coming from?

Spent a (very hot and sticky!) bank holiday in the garage fitting seats and harnesses Thanks to a very helpful poster (above) I found out that the Planted USDM Accord 94-97 seat bases fit the bolt pattern of the MB chassis. Much easier than having to modify the factory seat or have something new fabricated. I then fitted Sparco sliders and side mounts. I got away with only having to drill 1x extra hole in the seat base which by all accounts is a lot better than most manage! Without the sliders the job would've been much easier but i'm glad I persevered and fitted them as I wanted different people to be able to drive the car, and it's much easier to get in and out if you can slide the seat back. The seats are Mirco RTS fibreglass buckets. I picked them up pretty cheap used as the FIA certification had expired on them (they came out of a competition rally car) but other than some general scuffs and scrapes they're in good nick, and totally suitable for track days. Much better than what I could've got new in the same price range. Still lots of adjustments to make on the harnesses as I didn't really know what I was doing but at least it all fits!

@Dave After the MOT do you fancy a bit of a mini meet before the old girl goes?

Fingers crossed mate 💪 Did you get all the gremlins sorted?

She's mint mate! Got DDs mot next week, hoping she passes!

I REALLY want one for mine after this AI mock up (where it also decided the car is in 2 places at once 🤪) I was not able to find any off the shelf options, past or present I had a look into it and basically you have to have a mould made from the original bonnet, estimated cost around £2000-3000 apparently :( I am tempted to get a spare bonnet and try a carbon wrap and see what it looks like

Yeah, I know that from experience unfortunately (along with ploughing through salty slushy snow years ago). There's not much getting in, but still need to try and track it down. Think it's going to need someone in the boot with all the trim out and a hosepipe job.

Be good to see that mate, and well done for getting it sorted. A few weeks back I resealed my roof seam, but as I was cleaning the channel out before I started, I was pouring water straight into the channel and there wasn't any water getting in. Still had a bit of water in since, so now suspect the rear window seal.

Hope you're doing better now mate.

The easiest way is to get a bar that mounts into the top mount studs of the suspension, like this However, I have been given an MB6 strut bar for free so I wanted to attempt this install. According to the internet I should do as follows: Offer up the bar Mark and drill 8.5mm holes into the strut towers Use M8 bolts (grade 10.9) with penny washers through from the underside and tighten it down I have all the parts ready to go and will report back soon ...

Totally agree mate. It's a nightmare trying to find stuff out about the stepwagon. There is a UK forum but there's hardly any content on it...everything seems to be on Facebook, but as you say it's rubbish for finding stuff unless you spend hours searching and stumble on something relevant. I'm keeping away from Facebook again nowadays.. Find it a real waste of energy.

Water leaks are a nightmare.. It just goes where it wants and it's so hard to track down. Hope you get it figured out. I can see where mine is running down into the spare wheel well, it's just down the side, in the same place I had it on my other shell, so it'll be running down the panel under the rear quarter window.

Cracked window trims - how to get them off without damage question, so as per the title, I have 3 civics now MB2/MB9 & MC1, 2 of them have the usual cracked window trims, the ones at the base of the side windows & I would like to take them off, de moss them & get them stripped & painted as they are an eye saw. I read another thread in the how to section which suggested facing the car, gripping them & pulling back toward yourself & not to loose the clips in the process, but I can't seem to find any useful guides with photos or videos. From what I have read on here so far, this is not quite as simple as one would like & it's quite easy to damage/bend them in the process, any pointers would be very greatly appreciated before I go f$$k s**t up

I should have updated this a little Simon, but with no traffic at all I've been asking on some of the FB groups, you are spot on though as I had all the roof rails & weather strips off the roof & found an area rigth at the back of one on the drivers side where the seal had given way, this has been dealt with & it's reduced the leak from a torrent to a trickle, but there's still water getting in, I suspect from the top panel join behind the tail lights, I did seal up the bottom joint with tiger seal, but soon as the weather lets up I want to do the top ones as I suspect they are my culprit, I suspect it's getting in there & trickling down to the inside near where the rear sunroof drain exit pipes are located, well a little further back directly behind the lights. But I'm also getting it coming through very slowly in the spare wheel well at either end of the top panel joint/seal, someones already been quite happy with mastic sealing it all up from the inside already (before I get her) but that's not solving the problem just delaying it, I want to tackle the cause not the symtom & get her water tight the right way as water inside the panels you can't see will as we know not end well. I really hope it's just as said water coming in from the tail light top joint & making it's way down to this join in the panels in the well, god knows I've plugged enough leaks now, at least I'm moving in the right direction, I'm not doing any other jobs on this one till I get her 100% water tight as would be throwing good money after bad.

Thanks Simon, warm weather eh, that's a distant memory, looking forward to seeing the sun again, these are on the list for my older 2 as both are suffering with the plastic coating on them craking & peeling quie badly, maybe a job for later in the year then, I'm just worried about breaking them when removing, after reading others on here have had problems. I think I'm just going to sprey them with Hammerite if I get them off ok

It's been a while since I did it, but I think I just used some plastic trim pry tools to ease them off.. As always warm weather is your friend when old plastic clips are involved....

Just seen this - there's a good chance that the culprit is the seam sealer on the roof joint under the trims where the roof rails are. The seal dries and cracks, letting water in. I've got to check mine as well tbh

and then MOT day came was confident of a pass.......... And it passed with flying colours not one advisory so all my hard work paid off and its still running sweet today had no issues what so ever I have had my laptop hooked up to freelog with the hulog and all is working perfectly on the map I'm using so I'm happy once again the car now