btjtaylor

Speaking of "bangs on the dyno..." (subtle foreshadowing) What a day! Day started well with my 160 mile trip without any issues, with a half way pit stop to check for leaks. On to the Dyno, car seemed happy: It all seemed to be going well, then about half way through the session the engine coolant temperature started to climb so Jesse aborted the run. At first we thought it was just low coolant but then we noticed coolant all over the Dyno cell... Turns out this pipe had managed to push itself out of the water neck. I had no idea they could even be detached until that happened! Fortunately the owner of the workshop had another K24 water neck in his stash so we managed to get it sorted, refill the coolant, and finish the session. The car made just shy of 250hp at the crank, which is about right for this setup with stock camshafts, but I'm most impressed with how flat the torque curve is - the car definitely has a lot of grunt in all gears! Unfortunately, whilst this got the job done, there was still air in the cooling system and when I started by drive back the temperature reading was going all over the place, so I found a local Halfords and bought some coolant and attempted to bleed it in the car park, which wasn't particularly successful (I didnt think it would be as I had such a painful time bleeding it initially and had to invest in a vac bleeder). However, after getting a lot of strange looks from passer by, I did manage to get enough air out for the heaters to start blowing warm, and this let me get the car home with no overheating. Due to losing a bit of confidence in the car, I didn't drive it home particularly hard, although I'm looking forward to having a proper ride out in it once the system is bled properly...

Ive been test driving the car and noticed a pool of oil underneath. Inititally I thought it was power steering as i'd been making a lot of changes there but on closer inspection I found a pool of oil on the gearbox - uh oh! It turns out i'd installed the driver's side gearbox oil seal completely wrong and it had been chewed up by the intermediate driveshaft it SHOULD look like this (after installing a new one, this time installed flush with a seal driver) Topped up the gearbox oil and so far so good (or more like refilled... it had lost over a litre which could've ended badly. At least I found it after only doing about 30 miles in the car) It's going on the dyno on Monday ... fingers crossed there's no more issues and it makes good numbers!

Thanks both - exactly - i've already found loads of little things wrong but I was expecting that considering how much has changed! I've managed to move it to my place now (it was stuck at the in laws before) so I can do a few jobs on the driveway as and when Tidied up some wiring under the dash that I wasn't really happy with and mounted a fire extinguisher in front of the passenger seat - hopefully it'll never be needed but better safe than sorry! The bracket I used ("The Bracketeer") wasn't really the best fit for this car, It's a bit wonky as I could only get one adjustment bolt in on the right hand side as it's a bit too short, but I managed to make it work and it doesn't foul on the seat moving back and forth (And yes the entire car needs a clean both inside and out. It was parked in a garage with a large german shepherd for 18 months and I swear half of her is still in the car!)

I used this conversion harness on my 2001 MB2 so it should work for you. BWE Civic EG 92-95 Integra 94-01 K Series Swap Harness k20 Narrowband EU Version | eBay UK The ECU pinout for my car was somewhat mysterious but I managed to figure it out using wire colours. I did manage to get everything working properly - MIL light works as expected etc. Speedo and RPM works although the MPH is badly out, reading 40mph at 30mph, and so on - i'm going to try a "speedo healer" device at some point. I can't remember 100% as it was over a year ago now I did that part of the swap but here are some notes I had: The main one you need to find is the wire for the fuel pump relay, here is the extract from the service manual Wiring for MIL: Cooling fan: Driveshafts I used OEM EP3 ones and swapped the inners joints side-to-side, knocked off the 36mm CV joints and used blueprint outer CV joints suitable for civic EG6 (32mm). No issues yet... Do NOT buy cheap aftermarket ones, you cant use them as the splines don't accept replacement CV joints.

Passed!!! 🥳🥳 A few very minor things picked up: A couple of tyres were mounted backwards on the rim... that was the guy in the tyre shop not paying attention not me. Easy fix just need to take them somewhere A very minor leak from one of the power steering lines (I have replaced them all and had the rack out so hopefully just something just needs tightening up) But considering the entire car has basically been rebuilt by two complete amateurs in a garage and on a driveway, I'll take that as a massive win 😂 The ECU tune definitely needs work as the throttle response is all over the place, but I was only able to tune it for idle and low speed driving up until this point (by driving very slowly around the driveway!). It's booked on for a Dyno session with Jesse (J-Cal) on 10th August so really looking forward to seeing what it makes but going to put some fairly gentle miles on it locally to give it a shakedown before the big day

Gear issue sorted - the culprit was some badly made shifter cables (they were cheap ones from Aliexpress - you'd think I'd know better by now...) The cable was too long and not allowing the selector to engage fully. I removed this locknut and wound the cable eyelet further down the shaft and this resolved the issue. Whilst I would rather have the locknut in place as i'm sure there's a reason for its existence, the cables work fine without them and can't unscrew anyway as they're held on to the gearbox with a cotter pin. I've found since buying them that these are actually a cheap copy of a K-tuned cable design so it would not surprise me if the quality control was lacking, or they were actually copied wrongly in the first place A few small minor issues to knock off and then MOT time!! 🤪

My first time trying a string alignment at home - no expense spared alignment rig built out of 2x curtain poles, 2x builders chalk lines, 4x axle stands, and some rubble bags with white grease in between to act as turnplates! 🤣 It did seem to do the job though. At the very least, it means my tyres won't get shredded on the way to get an MOT and then on any test drives. Stance looking bang on now! I went to go for a VERY quick test drive and quickly found I couldnt select 2/4/6 gear .. oops. It was working until I swapped the shifter so I think it's nothing serious just a shifter cable adjustment issue. One of these days it will leave the driveway!!

Managed to get the car out into the sunshine today for the first time since October! I set up the ride height as best I could following some online guides (trying to give maximum "bump" travel) and adjusted the camber using a fairly cheap magnetic gauge, which wasn't the easiest thing to read but did the job, -1.75 degrees at the rear and -2.75 degrees at the front which seems to be a good starting point according to people on the internet who are much cleverer than me! Visually it looks about right comparing to other builds i've seen at least. Next time i'll adjust the front and rear toe using strings to try and at least get it somewhat in the ballpark. After replacing the steering rack the front wheels somewhat resemble this GIF currently!

According to the list below "Front wings....All different" so I think you will need to get an MB front end. Ones from a lower spec MB should be cheaper though - the main differences I've seen are headlight washers and the lower lips are different on VTI and VTIS models.

Turns out the handbrake problem was actually user error I found a post here that showed me I hadn't followed the correct procedure! Once I did that it was all fine and I didnt need to swap the cables in the end (so I can't comment on the MG Rover ones i'm afraid) What I can tell you is these parts are the correct length and and do work, but the quality control was a bit suspect (I had to file open the hole in the handbrake cable bracket slightly and file off a bit of badly machined cable that was hang out the end of the pin) 92.10.5233 COFLE 10.5233 Handbrake cable 1655, 1469mm, Disc Brake | AUTODOC price and review 92.10.5234 COFLE 10.5234 Handbrake cable 1636/1449, 1636, 1449mm, Disc Brake | AUTODOC price and review

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.

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!

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.

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!

Fuel sender there's an access hatch under the back seat so it might be worth having a look there to see if something obvious is wrong with it. Pump is on the other side and tank out (it's not as bad a job as it sounds as long as you can get the car high enough). I replaced mine with a Walbro 255 (The warning about not smoking while working on the fuel system is rather 90s isn't it!)