The MBackup car that could - a daily and a project

[Primo107]

Greetings from Bulgaria guys,

 

Here is the story of the MB I'm currently driving.

 

About an year ago I was still trying to win over my girl so I helped her find a car - after some looking around she settled on a Civic and we started looking - my mechanic then said he had a customer/friend that was selling one and it was supposed to be in perfect condition. We went around and around looking at everything was pretty much over 1500 euros and beat down no registration and the one he had was like 1200 euros with registration and everything paid for an year which is like another 150 euros. Car was a Sedan like Hatch - didn't know anything about those variants before - for me the Civic was a 2/3 door hatch.

 

So the car comes along - its hit by a hail storm (there was a pretty big one here in the capital that ruined a big % of the cars)

It was not so bad but it did have small dents here and there and one on the windscreen, when we drove it it was like a Cadillac going smooth over everything (little did I know that the shocks were done), the clutch I did not like as it was slow to grab and was high but the mechanic told me its supposed to be like that or they changed it to suit the driver or something - I was not taking any of it but the car was solid otherwise. A/C was working could but only speeds 3 and 4. It had a lot of small hits and dents from the woman that was driving it. They kept telling me it was very well cared for with OEM parts and stuff. At the time I was thinking it was a 90 horses car and the plan was to use it on the highway. Turned out it was 75 but at the time I had a 54 hp car and though it was good to go. Drove it some more - had her drive it and she bought it - took about 2 weeks of waiting for the guy to have time to settle the documentation and since she was from another town the car had to go to that towns county to get registered. The day she got it the car started wobbling - her ex was driving it a few days and a tire popped - it had a balloon on it and that was causing the wobble. I had decided to not let her drive anywhere with those tires as they were already s**t and old - my plan was to buy four new ones as a new car present. After a few talks about it her ex decided to pitch in and we split the bill. All new Vredestein Sports 5s 185/60 R14 - summer was just starting so those were perfect.

After a few months I needed a car for a while and she gave me the Civic - the front was severely worn - knuckles, control arms, bushings etc. Fast forward few months I started fixing the car, refurbished the control arms, changed knuckles and needed bushings and it was solid again. Then I got my Audi and the Honda started sitting around - since it was almost winter the car was not very usable on summer tires, one morning I found it damaged, someone had crashed into the right side several times - assuming cause I had like 4 cars on a parking lot in front of the building I live in for quite a while (after 4pm you can't find a place). Even found some clues as to who might be but I had no time to fix it. Car was frozen solid at some point.

Winter ended - I bought two doors with the idea to fix it.

Drove it for a while again - it runs on petrol and does like 31 mpg which is not good compared to LPG cars.

Anyway the front was starting to rattle again - Car had done like 3000 miles after she bought it.

No service was done to it whatsoever besides the previous repair.

Oil was old AF

Changed oil and filter

Changed the stereo

Then I was again driving my own car and the Honda was sitting there waiting

Crashed my 2nd Audi and there we go back to the Honda - since im broke AF its gonna be this or my old ford which I will not even comment, better walk

So after getting stuck with the Honda (our main car as im now living with my gf) it started again

Changed several suspension parts in the front, did an alignment

Cleaned the intake 

Did a brake fluid and front pad change + calliper cleanup

The windscreen started to crack - had that replaced

Did the exhaust middle part as it had holes in it already

Saved some cash for an old fashioned LPG system - went to get it done - intake is not metal - double up on the money for an LPG injection system - borrowed some money and doing the LPG now

Did the intake gasket mod that supposedly unlocks 15hp as there is a restriction plate there - I can feel a difference only at 2.5-3.5 rpm.

And now after the LPG gets done ill be looking to:

- fix the A/C speeds

- change air and pollen filter

- get new shocks and springs ( will need help from you guys as I want a stiffer set ) 

- change the doors that I already have

- change two door cards as they are worn AF (got 4 spares)

- check why the gear switching is hard and why it gets harder after warm up

- change the front right fender as it was also very damaged (have found one very cheap same color)

- possible do the clutch (looking into a lighter flywheel)

- do a very very quiet exhaust

- fix the power steering/power brakes as there seems to be a problem

 

 

In the DIY section I found out how to fix the A/C speeds and change the pollen filter - thanks for that

Things I need advice on:

Shocks and springs - I dont want to lower it as we have holes on every street but I do want it to be stiffer. We do not have any MGs here so most options are from another Civic or Rover - looking for any suggestions on this - budged it tight as well.

The steering is a bit heavy and the brake has no feel - it stops but sometimes it overstops sometimes it does not stop enough - disks are very shiny so the pads must be hitting right. If someone has seen this or heard about the same issue.

Gear changes are hard and stiff - I will do an oil change but looking for other ideas as well.

What mods can I do to the engine - read about Z6 intake, 4-2-1 exhaust manifold, different ECU - looking to get some power out of it as I have no option of trading up for a bigger engine.

Looking for ideas to put strut / sway bars

 

Any and all help will be appreciated.

Pictures coming soon as I have the chance to shoot it.

It is an MB2 I think - D14A3 engine

 

Regards

[dr_broon]

Some read indeed! 

 

Welcome along mate. 

[Gel]

Welcome aboard .......hope your labour of love continues to flourish

[Primo107]

Just fitted the LPG system:

 

[Primo107]

Some updates:

First day on LPG - not very good, fuel mixture felt poor and the car would only run good on lower rpm.

Second day did a short drive parked and came back two hours later, started - the car was very sensitive to any input, check engine went on, the revs started moving up and down and it started stalling. Called the guy that installed it, he didn't really know what was wrong told me to take off the battery plus and wait a minute, after that the check went away, the car was runing good (overall it felt better at idle than petrol).

Day Four - heading to work cold start, bout a minute later switched to LPG, stalled and ran rough, later same story but when it warmed up it was fine.

Day Five - I've booked a tuning session with another garage as the installer guy is not good with the computer part. Went to the place, they pointed out some installation issues and we started driving around and tuning the lpg control unit. An hour later the car was accelerating like mad with the AC on even. Money well spent.