dr_broon Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 On 10/9/2025 at 1:21 PM, btjtaylor said: Looking good if I do say so myself! Headlights definitely letting the side down, need a good polish and coating. Wheels suit it mate, 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btjtaylor Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 Had a few pics from my father in law today who has been doing a few bits on the car Anti roll bar is on - there was a bit of confusion because whilst the brackets themselves are shaped symmetrically they fit on the car asymmetrically. If you put the brackets on the same on each side the ARB sits at a strange angle and the drop links don't line up (Once its completely fitted I'll probably make a post listing out all the parts you need as it's not particularly well documented online) After a bit of back and forth I did eventually find a photo from an unrelated MG forum thread that cleared up the matter. Here's how it looks now (notice how the passenger side is towards the rear of the car and the drivers side is toward the front. Maybe this is common knowledge but it was not obvious to me! Next job - fit hardrace lower control arms as the poverty spec MB lower arms are missing the drop link attachment point (plus the bushes are shot anyway) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btjtaylor Posted October 16 Author Share Posted October 16 Hardrace rear lower control arms fitted and connected to the new ARB drop links - looking fresh! Although I do feel that the rear drums are shaming me! (They're on the very long list..) Next job for the weekend, drop the fuel tank to put a walbro in. (Not looking forward to this but then it's done). No idea why the pump couldn't be accessible through the cabin on these cars but never mind!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_broon Posted October 16 Share Posted October 16 Yeah, looking good, should make a big difference with the new bushes and arb.. It really made a difference when I fitted the MG arb to the deck (even the vti decks don't have one). Good luck with the tank, hope all the fittings are okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btjtaylor Posted October 23 Author Share Posted October 23 Managed to get the tank out and in at the weekend with surprisingly little drama. Plenty of WD40 and the impact gun on the nuts got them going. From there I just followed the instructions from the service manual without any major difficulties. Tank was very dirty with some surface rust but under all the grot it was in perfectly good condition. Gave it a quick clean off with some WD40 and a wire brush. I am lucky to have access to a 2 post lift.. I can't imagine trying to do this on axle stands. I the fitted the following walbro 255LPH fuel pump that I purchased from Tegiwa https://www.tegiwa.com/products/walbro-255-fuel-pump-kit-honda-civic-eg-ek-integra-dc2 Forgot to take photos of the important bit, the pump... But in summary, it's almost a "plug and play" swap - the electrical connector was the same, only thing I really had to do was trim a little bit off the rubber hose that fed the pump as the body of the walbro is longer. I also opted to use the original filter "bag" from the stock pump as it was a different size/shape to the new one that came with the walbro and I read an old post on here from someone saying they fitted one with the new bag and the car ran out of fuel at 1/4 tank so I didn't want to risk it! Tank reinstalled and the car fired right up with no signs of leaks, glad that job is off the list. It's still a complete mystery to me why there is no access hole especially as there's a hole on the other side to get to the level sender! I was almost tempted to break out the hole saw and make one.. Weve currently got an issue with the engine overheating, I am hoping it's just an air lock (I've heard k24 swaps can be notorious for this as the radiator fill point is lower than a lot of other components as the engine sits a bit higher than the d series would've done), and we have some funky shape hoses. I've tried massaging the hoses and jacking the front of the car in the air to no avail. I've bought cheap a vacuum coolant filling kit that you hook up to an air compressor from Amazon for £40 so will see how I get on with that... Fingers crossed that sorts it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan1 Posted October 25 Share Posted October 25 All looking good mate! Interesting to know about the fuel pump, been pondering a replacement for mine. Hope you manage to get the overheating sorted and its something simple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_broon Posted October 27 Share Posted October 27 Tank looks in decent nick for the age - my first one rotted through years ago. I tried using new parts from an my for mine, but with little success as they were all the wrong size as well. Could be a weak point for parts for the future. The b series in these can also be a pain to bleed - one trick with them is to either park uphill or jack the front up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btjtaylor Posted October 27 Author Share Posted October 27 Yes the whole car is very clean all things considered to be honest. Cosmetic condition was surprisingly bad (been sorted now for the most part) with lots of silly damage to the interior/exterior and low quality DIY repairs but the chassis has held up well. I think its just a combination of luck, low mileage, and lack of sunroof. There's not really any significant rot underneath but a lot of rubber parts are perished. I've fitted new rear lower arms which were the worst (had an repeated MOT advisory for about the last 7 years for them .. obviously lots of attention being paid to that !!). The main areas that still need attention are the rear trailing arm bushes are pretty rotten but as the rear is on drums anyway I plan to get some rear disc arms at some point, paint them and press in new bushes to kill two birds with one stone, so they'll do for now. Managed to get the cooling system bled with the aid of the vacuum bleeder (very cool thing, I can highly recommend one if you are having issues with bleeding). I just got a cheap VEVOR brand one off amazon for £55 but the quality seems totally acceptable for occasional use. Had a very brief first drive in the car on Sunday. It's incredibly loud inside (as the exhaust exits basically directly under the gearstick) and outside too so I didn't want to attract too much attention hooning it about (it's not mapped yet anyway so probably best not to) but it drives great apart from a few expected bits like needing a wheel alignment etc. Next port of call will be to have an exhaust made up at some point in the next couple of weeks VTI-S front lip painted and skirts on properly now! Just need to finish painting the side trims and I think that's about it for the exterior. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btjtaylor Posted October 27 Author Share Posted October 27 Also another thing I forgot to mention. I fitted MG ZS front calipers but it turns out that they were faulty, the piston was getting stuck. I did look at getting a rebuild kit and trying to sort them out but I found upon doing some research that certain models of Accord used the same front calipers. I found these for £60 a side which is very cheap but when they arrived, they are actually the original Lucas calipers but remanufactured (which is what I'd prefer anyway to a cheap Chinese copy in all honesty). NK 2126141 Brake Caliper NK 2126142 Brake Caliper They fit perfectly into the MG ZS carriers. The carrier brackets unfortunately seem to have to be bought used, luckily mine were OK with a bit of grease on the pins. Might help someone doing a similar brake upgrade - although it seems like I may have bought the last pair! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_broon Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 Coming along nicely. Looks ace in the shot. She's going to be a minter when you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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