Butcher

Cheers Broon. I think that's one of the threads I looked at before, just went to a dead link. Anyway, found this one, which looks just the ticket. Shall give it a go tomorrow.

Engine light came on today. No apparent problems with the car. Just the light of ever-lasting uncertainty in the dash. How do I check for fault codes and stuff? Had a quick look but I can't see any guides on here.

Looks good. I'm jealous! Rare to hear a bov on a Stagea. On the autos they normally do just recirculate back through the filter I think, and sound nothing like that! Just a hiss...

I don't think that's an astronomical figure for an importer, and I definitely wouldn't expect JM Imports to be any cheaper (I think they're at the upper end of the market, and some of the cars they bring in are crazy money). I think it costs them about 1k to get the car over here. Then there's all the admin fees, the guys that need paid over in Japan... And take the mileages with a pinch of salt, every JDM import seems to come with 60k miles... You could possibly try the owners club. Brian, who runs it imports a few cars, and has good experience of manuals too, he owns both an RS Four S and a silly fast RS260 himself. In fact he's a big fan of the RS Four S and has imported a few, so if anything he'll be able to tell you a lot about them. No idea how involved he is these days mind, I'm a bit out of the loop.

Leather was an optional extra in the Stagea. I had it in mine. Much, much nicer than the cloth interior. Full electrics too. Seats don't hold you well though. Slide all over the place. That said, I don't think the interior is quite so bad in the S2. And the RS Four S may have had different interior again, I can't remember.

Yes. That's my optimistic thinking.

When I say S, I mean Series 1 and Series 2. S1 runs on the same stuff as the R33 Skyline, and the Series 2 the R34 respectively. Like Krzys says, there's little in it. Aside from a slight increase in performance, it's just a slightly different trim. A facelift model rather than a completely different car. But the S2 is newer, a little more refined. There wasn't many of them about when I had mine to be honest. RS Four S is a Series 2 car, and the only factory manual other than the RS260. Series 2 RS Four V is the only turbo RWD car. All others only really differ in trim. Understated.

Bulb come in the post today. I daren't really touch it tbh. If it's not working in the first place, you can't really break it. But if it is working, it'll be pretty much guaranteed that I break it.

S1 and S2 are virtually the same. S2 just has a slightly more refined version of the RB25 in the S1, so I think it comes with about 20 or 30bhp more as standard. They're both easily tunable to over 300bhp though. Exhaust, decat, intercooler, remap, and you're pretty much there. Manual will be a bit quicker too because there's less lost through the transmission.

Well, I ordered a bulb on eBay last night, and today it started working again by itself... Must be a loose connection.

Yup, 260RS is the Autech. Only 500 made in Japan. There's maybe 5 in this country, at a guess. Usually set you back about 8-10k for a standard one. RS Four S is the one to go for if you want a manual. Though there's a handful of converted manuals about. There's definitely a couple in the country with the GTR kit too. A few simple mods will see about 315bhp, which is about what the 260RS is standard. Auto box is not really good for more than 370bhp. You could get a manual over 400bhp before you start putting mental money into it.

I used to have Stagea. Still miss it. Highly recommended. Expect to pay premium rates for one with a GTR kit though. Circa 5k (which I think is about what the kit is worth in itself). Going rate for a S1 used to be around 1.5-2.5k depending on condition. S2 a bit more. For a rare factory manual S2 (RS Four S), again you'd pay about 4-5k. All others are auto (apart from the Autech with full GTR spec - about 10k!) It'll rape you at the Shell garage.

Meh. I've broken every other panel on the car already. No point stopping now.

Where can I find one of these then? My clock gone kaput. Searching through the forum it seems likely to be the bulb and I need very tiny hands to fit it. But where do I get one? (Bulb. Not a tiny hand).

I did fancy the 2.4. What mpg are you getting simpo?

That's very generous Broon. You not selling yours yet? You're just round the corner.

Got to be an estate, or a cavernous hatch at the very least. Otherwise I don't think I'd find my search much of a problem. Noticed a load of cheap Preludes out there.. This is the thing though, the Aerodeck is the perfect size, with nippy but not massive engines. There doesn't seem to be a lot of alternatives like it. Yeah, would prefer to find something standard really. Plus you're at the other end of the country.

Been keeping one eye on eBay for a good while now. The Aerodeck has been good to me, but the 1.6, whilst nice to drive could offer a bit more. The perfect alternative would be the VTI. Cheap to buy. cheap to run. Simple enough to fix. But they don't seem to exist anywhere. The odd one pops up every few months, miles from home, but given the age, and the fact that few are any longer owned by the pensioners that once drove them, I'm reluctant to take a punt on travelling miles to get one. The thing is, I'm struggling for alternatives. Accord would be the obvious choice, and it's high on the list. But having started a new job and commuting 50 miles a day, mpg is an issue... Something that can at least hold 35mpg in the real world would be ideal. And old diesel Accords look to be fraught with issues (clutch, timing chain, dpf, etc). Some say the 2.4 petrol can return 35mpg........plenty of others seem to be getting no more than 25mpg in the 2.0.... I refuse to buy a Ford. Octavia vRS, maybe. But why oh why did they put half white leather seats in them. There's something tacky I find about the Skodas. One of the things I like about the Aerodeck is that it's understated. Even a bit agricultural. I like that. I need to find something. It's driving me nuts. I don't think I have a big list of requirements. Just something a little bit fun. Not too thirsty (30mpg is very borderline, and a lot of the big engine motors are gonna slip below that). And reliable. I don't give much of a toss what it looks like, or how cool it is. Agricultural is good! Oh, and the air con must work. Cup-holder would be bonus. Any ideas?

Thanks for the help. I've done the brake pads, but now my good caliper is really, REALLY tight. To the point where it's difficult to turn the wheel by hand. Does this mean I have to bleed the caliper? And how much? Piston was all the way back as far as it would go. Only protruding by 1 or 2 mm. There's no shims on the pads.

Thanks Dave. I just wish I knew everything the first time I did this... Or even the second....or third It's been a learning experience if anything. With the copper grease, I mean where the pad sits at the top and bottom. First time I changed the pads and re-greased the sliders, I thought that would fix it. I looked past the fact that I had to hammer out the brake pads because the build-up of rust meant they had zero room to move. Not having much experience doing brakes I didn't see what else I could do. Because of this they still had issues sticking. The next time I removed all of the rust so we were back to a smooth surface. Re-fitted, and I've had no issues since, other than this one calliper which I think may be the piston. But like I say, I'm not sure if I should have added a little grease too, to help the pads slide freely, and prevent rust building up again. Can the handbrake mech be removed with the calliper still fitted?

Approximately 4 years I've had this car now, and every year without fail I've had to change pads. To put it into perspective I do about 10k miles each year! I think one set lasted 6 months. Brake issues are near constant. Does everyone have this, or do you all do the sensible thing and fit new calipers? I would do exactly that if I had a nice Civic like most of you guys, but this is a battered old SOHC 1.6 workhorse. And to be perfectly honest, going into the new year, I think I'm probably going to be buying a new motor. Maybe an Accord. Anyway. Pads are knackered again. Handbrake has consistently being having issues for the past year. I have serviced all of the calipers on the car (more than once), regreasing sliders (which work perfectly) and removing build-up of rust which was stopping pads from sliding freely. I just wanted to check if there's anything else I can do before I go ahead and get my hands dirty. They are mostly working fine, apart from the OS rear, which is binding a bit. This seems to be what is causing the handbrake issues (and obviously the premature wear), as the handbrake is getting stuck in the on position, and it throws them out of balance. I have lubed up the spring several times, and it works great for a few months, then back to stuck. I also read somewhere ages ago that there should be grease on the surface of the calipers to help the pads slide and prevent build-up of rust. Typical that I should read this after the fact. But as it's got to be done again, can I use copper grease for this? Since I serviced them all the last time I've only had issue with this one calliper. I honestly don't know that much about the inner workings, so I'm wondering if it's likely to be the piston that is seizing and causing the issues? Bit of a ranty post, but these things will drive me mad. Any help is appreciated. Also, if anyone has am easy and foolproof way of removing half rounded calliper bolts, please let me know. It's not a job I'm looking forward to.

I'm not entirely sure how the auto balancing on the handbrake is supposed to work. But if it looks well balanced as it is (i.e. if the junction where it splits to two cables isn't wonky and looks to have equal tension on each) I'd be tempted to just go ahead and tighten it up. Do make sure it's balanced though, as if it isn't, and all the force is going to one wheel, then you're losing 50% of your stopping power straight away. As Krzys says, both wheels off the ground to do it properly, and that will help you test how well balanced they are too.

Could be some grit, but it's usually the pads down to the metal in my experience. As said already, rust often appears on the surface of the discs if the car's been standing for a little while, especially with the wet weather we've been having, and will usually clear up when well used again, unless it's really bad. Parts are dirt cheap. You could do all four pads and discs for under £100 DIY. But it can be a pain of a job if you come across any stubborn to remove parts (which is likely, in my experience). If you do do the discs DIY, take note that the Hondas have a retaining screw to hold them in place, which is made of cheese. There are various techniques to remove it (Impact driver for example), but after several hours of trying them all I just drilled mine out. Took 5 minutes.

Took the cable off today, and it was rough to say the least. Obviously no lubricant in there whatsoever, and possibly lots of filth as it kept sticking at different points, and those points seemed to keep moving. So it's had copious amounts of brake cleaner and wd40 down there, to disperse any crap, followed by s**t loads of oil until it was running smooth. Thought I'd try it out. First junction I came to, I touched the accelerator and almost shot out into the traffic! So it seems my heavy pedal issue is fixed, and I now need to relearn how to drive my car. Only time will tell if the sticking is fixed, but I'm optimistic.

It doesn't feel massively heavy to me now I'm used to it, but it did when I first drove it. Really difficult to drive to begin with.