New to the old Aerodeck

[T799]

Hi all,

 

My name is Twan, 26 years old. I'm an automotive student. I've bought this Aerodeck a month ago and i'm having fun working on it. Wondering if this forum is still active and if there are perhaps other Dutch members. Glad I found the forum though, it has already proved helpful in a few research occasions.

 

When I started studying I sold my car (used to own a BMW 3-series) because I was sure I wouldn't be able to afford that car anymore. Soon enough though my hands were itching and I wanted a car that was easy to work on and parts should be inexpensive and readily available. Hello Honda!

As a tall person I wasn't digging the EK's but the 5 door hatchbacks seemed more my thing.

 

 

My aim is to learn about the car and to have a more practical approach to some of the classes I study at school. I like the engineering part but I also love getting my hands dirty. I bought myself an Aerodeck with around 220.000 km on the D15Z8. It had a little work to be done and I've made pretty good progress in the past month.

 

First thing was thorough inspection and treatment of rust. The car has little to no rust in the rear, just some surface spots up front. The underside had a couple small holes in it which I cut out and welded some new material in place. Upon removing left front panel there was a tonne of dirt coming out which made me wonder if the previous owner was into offroading. The wiring harness from car to door was also unfortunately cut by one of the previous owners.

 

After the rust was taken care of I gave the car a brakes refresh front and back. Last but not least all fluids and filters were refreshed. I looked into the engine through the spark plug holes with an endoscope and the cylinder and walls looked pretty good.

 

I've also managed to rearrange some of the wiring in my door to get the speaker to work again, the central locking mechanism for the drivers side seems stuck so I'll have to fix that.

Only other thing to find out is a humming/droning noise i hear when driving 70-120 km/h so I suspect a wheel bearing might be going out.

 

Today I found some OEM rear roof speakers for the car and installed those and I've replaced the door moldings which should keep as much water as possible out of my doors.

 

If the car proves to be trustworthy I'm going to save up for some coilovers, rims and alignment. In the meantime there is enough crap the previous owners messed up that I'm planning to fix and clean the inside of the car thoroughly. 

 

[Dave]

Welcome to the club! Yes the forums still going all these years after starting (started back in 2009!), got our regular members who keep it ticking over. We also have quite a few members from the Netherlands here, and infact a lot of members from all over Europe.

Looks like you've been busy with your aerodeck! They are brilliant cars, and just seem to go on forever. The 1.5's are getting quite rare now (can't remember the last time i actually saw one) so good choice.

The change in suspension transforms these cars, check out our members cars for ideas. Simple swaps the the MGZS suspension makes a big difference to the handling (and lowers it a bit too) and is a cheap and easy way to improve them. MeisterR make coilovers specific to the Civic M's (I bought them for my MB6 5 door vti and also my Aerodeck) and are fully adjustable. Again, the difference in handling is amazing, no more understeer!!

 

Enjoy the club and forum mate!

[T799]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the warm welcome and tip for the MGZS suspension. I will look into those. Would MGZS supsension from a 2007 model fit the vic?

 

Yesterday I also picked up a lip from a Laguna. I'll figure out how i'm going to fit it to the bumper in the next weeks. First the interior needs a good cleaning. I'm going to try and get as much stains out of the roof and rear seats. The previous owner had a dog who liked mud a lot.

 

[powerofdreams]

along mate 

[dr_broon]

Welcome mate. Good to see you giving her a good going over

[snakey135]

Welcome to the forum bud, good things to get done early on, and looks like your progressing pretty fast with it all so good work!

 

i can vouch for the MGZS suspension... adds a bit of low (can modify them for a bit more if wanted, it’s all on the forum somewhere) and is probably the best balance between value and performance... obviously the miester R’s are the ultimate option but are mega bucks lol...

 

good of luck moving forward mate, keep us posted  

[T799]

Thanks everyone! I feel like I'm making good progress indeed. Googled the Meisterr and daaaaamn those are expensive.

Talking about MGZS suspension.. picked up a set yesterday.

Fixing up some surface rust on the coils in the next days and slapping them on in the coming week. Hoping for a little low while maintaining functionality. Now I gotta save a while for wheels and an alignment so I think progress will be a bit slow for the next month or two. Thinking of buying some Japan racing wheels as they're not too expensive and I'm a bit worried second hand rims might be bad/crooked or bent.

 

One question for you fellas, my car had real s**tty door window moldings that should keep rain from pouring into my doors. I've replaced mine with junkyard ones but cant get them to fit snugly like they used to.. any advice or know where to get those online?

[Gel]

Hi Twan and welcome ,  you've picked a brilliant bullet proof car to rejuvenate....enjoy the experience.

[T799]

Thanks mate. I'm surely enjoying the experience.

 

The MGZS suspension had some rust on the bottom coils and the tops. Scuffed it up and painted them. Probably will chip off in a couple weeks but I hope the lowest rings will stay protected.

Update: 2 months later no chips on the paint and still drive great.

 

On the left is the painted suspension from the MGZS. On the right you see the comparison between MGZS vs stock shocks/coils.

 

I've installed the MGZS suspension yesterday and I'm loving it. The deck used to handle like a boat. With the new suspension she's planted on the road.

 

Finished up the lip and installed that one while the wheels were off for the suspension install.

 

At first I thought there wasn't that much difference in height. But after a day maybe the suspension has settled a little and the stance is pretty good. Might like an inch or two lower, especially the front. But the car is already scraping on the steep driveway of the missus' parking lot.

 

Here's some pictures of the beast on the MG ZS suspension with the added lip.

 

 

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day. I'm going to pick up a stainless steel header. After that i'm headed for the junkyard looking for a lambda and maybe a twin pipe muffler off an accord. When I have some free time me and a mate are going to fab up a full exhaust.

[Dave]

That's deffo lower mate. Even with coil overs it takes a few miles for everything to settle down to the final height. That's looking good on yours, big improvement! Liking the progress on this one!