Dave

A quick one, are the switches on the doors for the interior lights on our civics negative switch signal or positive switch signal? Can't find my good old haynes book of bollocks for the wiring diagram

Deffo up for that mate!! Be great to see you guys again!

Yes, even the youngest Civic M's are 20 years old now, so all are getting on a bit. It's heartbreaking when you find the rust, but (especially recently) seeing them being repaired in the forum like they have been recently and seeing the rust cut out and replaced by shiney new metal is inspiring. To think, when we started Civic5, these cars were the butt of the honda communities jokes, and not many folk were interested in them. Now they're being lovingly restored as they reach modern classic status. Good luck with the welding mate, another one i'm looking forward to watching being brought back to life.

Loving all these b18'd Mb's and Mc's getting restored on civic5 lately, it's epic!! Great to see your deck getting the resto treatment it deserves mate, will be well worth it! Keeps us posted!! Looking forward to seeing her come together!

yeah, looks like inner sill at that area is gone too, possibly needing fabricating as I doubt the inners will be available. It's a tough call tbh, cos if the rest of the car is sound then would be a shame to see her go if the welding can be done cost effectively.

Yeah, thought about them sunroof drains maybe being blocked, but thought that would usually make the headlining wet at the front corner? Gayle and I tested it tonight with a watering can. Started at the scuttle area, and worked our way slowly bit by bit up the A pillar. Then went along top of windscreen. Next went along the rain rail at front next to roof rails. Nada, not a thing! Tried around the drivers door to check the seals, nope not there. We've now got no idea where its getting in. Floor is dry today, but carpet is still pulled backa s its still wet (Have left her running with the hot air on full whack to the floor to try and get that proplery dried out. We're thinking now that it may have got in some of the areas we checked when i was washing her.....maybe the force (it isnt that powerful tbh) of the hose was enough to get the water past whatever bit of seal is failing?

I like the side stripes and thought they were standard/optional from the factory? Deffo go for them mate, they look so much nicer with them in my opinion, and the car being white it will carry them off perfectly.

Sooo, it finally happened! DD has sprung a leak! Went out and washed her today as she was filthy, and then jumped in to hear Squelching. Thought this can't be good. Drivers side footwell completely soaking, carpet and mats dripping wet. Gutted! I removed all the trim and got the carpets pulled back and the drain bung removed. Was one hell of a puddle under the carpet. Had to wring the carpet/underlay out to get the water out, was absolutley soaking. Fired her up, heaters of full whack to the floor and also got my heat gun in to get her dried out. Took ages but shes near enough dry now. Got no idea where its getting in though Gayle and me are gonna investigate further once shes home, see if we can pin point it. I'm almost certain it'll be the windscreen around the bulkhead, the bonding eventually breaks down on them and stops forming a seal. Will need to strip out all the scuttle panel trim and wipers etc to get a good look. Don't think its the usual place at the top of the windscreen these normally go at as the roof lining is all nice and dry. The good news is the floor under the carpets is like brand new, still got factory still in her original blue so hopefully can nip this in the bud before it causes any damage. Did notice the past week whilst she was parked up that the windows were all steamed up so this is obviously the cause. Downside is I dont yet have a garage that I can work in and we're getting really crap weather here so not looking forward to working on her out doors

Worrying times, but if it's just the sills then you should be ok. I'm not sure where the mgzs/Rover 400/45 owners get them from, think I've geard them mention Rimmer Brothers? Could be wrong. Might be worth signing up to https://www.mg-rover.org/forums/mg-zs-rover-45-400.102/MG and pop a question up see if they know. Be prepared for the usual ridicule though (why not buy a Rover cos they're better etc) although some of the members are ok. I was banned from it many many moons ago because I run the site for the Civic version of the car! They took umbridge when I pointed out the that the "Rover Aerodecks" of which there were originally 2, but now theres 3 (3rd which appeared years after rover went out of production so obviously a member redressed civic aerodeck!) that there were never any rover decks. It's a long story but rover never put them into production but a lot of members there swear blind they did, hence I got banned! lol Might sign back up as I'm sure moods and opinions have mellowed now both cars are into modern classic territory.

That doesn't sound good mate. I'd be inclined to give the whole car a good digging over just in case there's more rust elsewhere too. Simon (Dr Broon) had welding done to his aerodeck, and then when he took it to another garage, the catalog of horrors found meant it wasn't viable to get any more welding done, hence he decided to reshell the car with a rust free shell. Hopefully you won't find the same horrors and its just contained to the sills, but worth keeping the above in mind mate.

Not sure on the civic ones still being availabe but I'm 99% sure you can still order the Rover 400/mgs ones new, which are the exact same as our civic ones.

my brother has the original Volvo T5 estate (same as cops used to have and same engine as yours) and can't believe how scary quick that thing is!! Can remember the day I took him to Glasgow to buy it, was in my FN2, and we had a "play" on the way home. Bloody thing was up Roxy's chuff all the way home! His has the auto box in it, which I thought would spoil it, but bloody hell, he puts it in sport mode and hits the kick-down and it honestly tries to rip your head off your neck! Its brutal fast. He's now had it remapped/tuned and its I think not far off 300 brake (think he said its just over 300bhp at the flywheel). can see why you likey the ST!

Nice! Only thing I don't like about Fords from that era are the remote controls for the radio....rather than putting them on the steering wheel like everyone else they kept them on a wee stalk on the column that came from the 80's lol How you getting on with that, as I kept banging my knee off it in Gayles Focus and changing the channels/volume If I had one its the first thing I'd remove. Had one in my then works van (Transit connect) and had same issue. Good job getting the light switch replaced, wee details like that getting fixed always make a big difference. Got any other interior shots yet?

It'll be just a wee bulb..............that will probs be an absolute pig to get to! lol Shock seeing the Beemer go, but didn't realize just how long you'd had it mate. Where the hell does time go?! Always liked that style of Focus (same as Gayle had although hers was just a diesel) and they look awesome in white. Looking forward to seeing where you go with this!

Have you got the link to the website so we can have a look? The early Rover mirrors were mostly non electric unless you went for one of the models high up the range. They are a slightly (hardly noticeable) shape to the civics mirrors. Think they weren't as deep as our mirror casings either. The later rover 400/45/MGZS had most of the wiring changed to BMW wiring and connectors, so that could be for the later ones?

lmao, that reminds me of me and my mate "customizing" his mk3 Cortina in the 80's! We fitted mirror tint to all the windows (wasnt illegal then) and stood back to admire our handy work, looked awesome. Went up to Edinburgh that Saturday night (used to be ahem, street racing on private roads the last saturday of every month, lots of modded cars/classics etc) we couldnt see jack out of the car at night!! The tint lasted one night and we took it off the fronts next day lol. Even found that during the day, it was still hard to see out of!

Could be a number of things but two that I would check are the following: Air lock in the coolant system. Thermostat The airlock is the first to check as this doesn't cost anything. You need to make sure the coolant system has been properly bled after the head/water pump was changed. Does the heater give good heat when turned onto hot? Does it maintain good heat when turned to hot, even when on the move? The thermostat can be problematic. I have seen even brand new ones that are faulty It may be worth swapping it to see if another resolves the issue. Can I ask why the head was changed in the first place? These D series engines are not known for blowing head gaskets so be interested to hear why the garage/mechanic replaced it. Were the head/block checked before a new gasket was fitted? Did the car have any temp issues before the mechanic worked on the car? I would deffo check the cooling fans are kicking in. Leave the car stationary and ticking over, the fan should come on after around 5 to 10 mins, depending on the outside temp. If it doesn't come on you need to test the fan is actually working, if it is then next check would be the sensor for it. Last thing you want is the fan not to kick ion and the car overheating. The D series engines are pretty bulletproof so hopefully whatever the fault is it should be easy to fix. Let us know how you get on

I liked the tint on them bud, although that does look better as you can really see they have the typeR mod to the headlights. They cleaned good eh!

Shes pretty much future proof mate, all nicely sealed and not rust at all. Id have her over a new car any day!!

shes looking amazing mate!! Bet youre getting super excited now!!! Those guys have done a cracking job, so glad you found a decent garage to do it in the end.

Welcome Dan, really sweet MB2 you've got. Reminds me of Ruby my MB6! Loving the mods so far, and the bigger front fogs are rare as hell! Nice MB this!

Priced up a brand new yuasa from Yuasa themselves....£109 + delivery (for the 5000 model which is more amps/heavier duty) Got the 5000 model from Halfords....£91. It was the 3000 that was in her so hoping this one will do better. Hoping to fit it tomorrow.

Right, decided deffo needs a new battery. Has been sitting for around 4 days, went to start her and she turned over slowly (didn't think she was going to start!) She did start and then ran fine, went for a drive, stopped at a petrol station, got back in and she started like she normally does. So shows alternator is doing it's job, so hoping a new battery will cure it. Sure I only bought this a few years ago and its a proper Yuasa battery from Honda.

lol trust me, we have lots and lots of speed bumps in the UK, with usually a few pot holed roads in between them!

Not 100% sure the D14 manifold will fit, although I think it does? Be aware that a lot of the ebay manifolds are prone to cracking though.