89 civic wagovan 5spd (very slow build: power + ecomods & lots of pics!)

[vrmouseyd15b]

Originally Posted by Gasoline Fumes

I don't think I made a thread about it. I just installed a switch that interrupts the ignition power going to the main relay. It's the black wire with the yellow stripe. I used a defroster switch from a 3rd gen Civic, but almost any switch will work. My switch is just simply on/off, but you could also use a normally-closed momentary switch. The way I've wired it, the ECU just thinks you've turned the key off. Except you still have wipers, turn signals and other accessories. And you're not wearing out the ignition switch. I did it this way because I didn't like other methods of interrupting sensors or injectors. I suppose you could interrupt the ECU power after the relay to reduce wear on the main relay. I'm not too worried about it, plus I carry a few spares!

Gasoline Fumes has been a real help with Skiddy so far, even behind the scenes!

Great having people who know EXACTLY what you're talking about - Thanks Gasoline Fumes! This is another nice and cheap idea to keep things moving along, and to keep the mpg's coming. This will also need to happen soon!!

Thanks,
Victor

[vrmouseyd15b]

It was nasty cold out yesterday afternoon, and before I went out to get stuff for a hand throttle and kill switch I turned Skiddy on. Came out 2 minutes later, and as she was coming down from a cold fast idle, it sounded like it was knocking

Got under the hood, looked around, no knock!! Found the noise coming from the driver's side motor mount! Took it apart and got an idea! Put it back together to show how it sat before. The top view really shows the bad angle where the noise came from. It looks like I should have heard this a long time ago!! The second view is more of an elevation view, it will make more sense after I show my solution...



Read around online and found out that the block has different mounting points from OBD0 - OBD1/2. HASPORT makes very pretty/expensive solution that I'm not ready to buy yet like this:


Like I said, I'm not ready to buy the motor mount yet, but I'm sure ready to drive so I made the motor mount sit at a new angle with 2 washers:


now looking down from the top it looks pretty straight:


That should get me by for a few weeks until I can afford the sexy mount
Drove to work today in Skiddy, and no scary noises

unless the old lady's got big plans this weekend, I'll be doing the hand throttle for skiddy!


Thanks,
Victor

[OG VX]

Nice fix! Man, Hasport is killing you this month!

[vrmouseyd15b]

Originally Posted by OG VX

Nice fix! Man, Hasport is killing you this month!

Yeah. They will have to be my period and wait till next month if the quality is the same as the tranny mounts and cable clutch conversion, it'll be worth the wait!

Thanks,
Victor

[vrmouseyd15b]

got a nasty case of the lazies and took some time off from the garage..

UPDATE:

Found an ugly set of speaker pods online (the guy selling them wasn't cool either) and couldn't make a deal
Kept looking around and found a set listed as 91 hatchback speaker pods that looked pretty decent from what the ONE picture online showed. The seller said it would come with the mounting brackets, bolts, and factory wire extensions - for $15 more than the ugly ones!

My buddy OG VX said I could make it fit, so I bought them

This is what came in the mail:


First thoughts - man, these things are tiny! But It fits the look, the color is spot - on, Stock connections and brackets, and IF THEY WERE FOR A 91 HATCH, THEY FIT MY 89 WAGON PERFECTLY So I basically followed this write - up from civicwagon: [EE/EY/EF] Installation of OEM Rear Optional Speaker Pods

I followed the directions enough to get the general idea anyway Once I got the pods mounted (top halves) you got to check this out (wally-world sony speakers 5 1/4 inch) - very cool stuff




Tied the wires on and soldered / heat shrunk connections inside the pods:


Put the bottoms on the pods and ready for some tunes!!



the picture above is looking thru the rear side window. see the remote in the back? YUP. new (old) stereo went into Skiddy as well. I'll share more on that one tomorrow, since it's only about 90% finished. Remember, I plan to keep this car forever so what the heck right?

The next one (radio) is pretty hard- core, and I'll only tell you now that I've been dreaming of this next mod for YEARS, that it's CRAZY and makes no sense. It is, however, insanely cool and my 5 year old girl and I will enjoy it as much as possible within the limits of the law until this "dream seutp" is totally done. Then the little one can enjoy whenever, or we can enjoy after the "old lady" learns how to drive a stick....

I'll let you guys stew on that until tomorrow night at the earliest! good night!

Thanks,
Victor

[vrmouseyd15b]

Just filled Skiddy up after a trip into Chicago complete with crappy traffic and SERIOUS SNOW! Our normal 2.5 hour trip took about 4.5 hours to complete! Real slow cruising thru some slop!
Go Skiddy! Moving on up towards that 35 mpg mark!


I've still got to take some more pics and get them on photobucket so I can share the radio and the secret!

Thanks,
Victor

[vrmouseyd15b]

This is the remote I mentioned last night (for my car stereo) It's one of those "oh god, we're going to crash" remotes!!


- more than enough buttons to hit a tree, lady with a baby, light pole, etc... while trying to adjust the volume!
chicks dig it.

So, getting to the radio, it's a Jensen like this:


Ive got the media module hooked up, Ipod connected thru the radio's touch screen - just can't see paying for radio so no satellite hookup (at this time)

Did the fancy trick so you don't have to hit the "e-brake" to watch dvd's years ago on this head unit. DVD's and CD / MP3 / WMA files no problem!

Then for the really fancy stuff - I wanted to do this since I first got this radio, and Mechita's still got all the extra coaxial cables run (originally this would have went into Mechita's trunk) but since Skiddy's the new family cruiser, here we go!

The something special here is a PS3 Yes, a Playstation3. In my wagon. Yes.
The PS3 sits under the front passenger seat (seat slid all the way back to show - otherwise it's totally hidden)



120v power comes from an inverter (also mounted under passenger seat) Inverter is switched on by a relay when key is in ACC (if Mr. Honda only knew) or ON position:


Controllers are factory wireless - perfect! Keep them in the glovebox with the Ipod (hardwired to the media module) and radio remote...


This is where the "limits of the law" take over - for now we can't play or watch movies while the car is in motion, but I can fix that with a drop - down rear monitor in the future but for now it's like this

Too bad I can't pick a Honda wagon, this Integra will have to do:


Then, of course, the PS3 has WIFI and apps and what not (Most oasis and Mc Nasty's have wifi you can reach from your car)


Can't forget blue ray - yup got that too!

IF I EVER HEAR "ARE WE THERE YET?" I'LL THROW YOU OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO EXCUSES

I'll get back to the ECO part of the modding real soon, just thought I'd share my insanity with all you good people!

By the way I do have a security system as well, but you won't see any pictures of that
Ok, I'll show you the "backup" security system with "automatic threat mastication"


OK, my secret's out - don't tell anybody!

Thanks,
Victor

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by vrmouseyd15b

This is the remote I mentioned last night (for my car stereo) It's one of those "oh god, we're going to crash" remotes!!


- more than enough buttons to hit a tree, lady with a baby, light pole, etc... while trying to adjust the volume!
chicks dig it.

So, getting to the radio, it's a Jensen like this:


Ive got the media module hooked up, Ipod connected thru the radio's touch screen - just can't see paying for radio so no satellite hookup (at this time)

Did the fancy trick so you don't have to hit the "e-brake" to watch dvd's years ago on this head unit. DVD's and CD / MP3 / WMA files no problem!

Then for the really fancy stuff - I wanted to do this since I first got this radio, and Mechita's still got all the extra coaxial cables run (originally this would have went into Mechita's trunk) but since Skiddy's the new family cruiser, here we go!

The something special here is a PS3 Yes, a Playstation3. In my wagon. Yes.
The PS3 sits under the front passenger seat (seat slid all the way back to show - otherwise it's totally hidden)

120v power comes from an inverter (also mounted under passenger seat) Inverter is switched on by a relay when key is in ACC (if Mr. Honda only knew) or ON position:


Controllers are factory wireless - perfect! Keep them in the glovebox with the Ipod (hardwired to the media module) and radio remote...


This is where the "limits of the law" take over - for now we can't play or watch movies while the car is in motion, but I can fix that with a drop - down rear monitor in the future but for now it's like this

Too bad I can't pick a Honda wagon, this Integra will have to do:


Then, of course, the PS3 has WIFI and apps and what not (Most oasis and Mc Nasty's have wifi you can reach from your car)


Can't forget blue ray - yup got that too!

IF I EVER HEAR "ARE WE THERE YET?" I'LL THROW YOU OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO EXCUSES

I'll get back to the ECO part of the modding real soon, just thought I'd share my insanity with all you good people!

By the way I do have a security system as well, but you won't see any pictures of that
Ok, I'll show you the "backup" security system with "automatic threat mastication"


OK, my secret's out - don't tell anybody!

Thanks,
Victor

Omg those dogs are SO CUTE!!! I want one!!

Anyway, how did you hook up a PS3 to that screen? That's pretty cool!

[awcook]

Dang man, that looks sick! We were thinking about doing the same with my mom's minivan back when we had a PS2, except it would only work in the backseat (no front driving distractions).

How are you running it without draining all of the battery's power? My mom's minivan has lost all battery power (Odyssey, I think with deep cycle battery) if you just left a light in the back seat on, I'm not sure how that would work if it was running a full on gaming system!

[vrmouseyd15b]

Originally Posted by awcook

Dang man, that looks sick! We were thinking about doing the same with my mom's minivan back when we had a PS2, except it would only work in the backseat (no front driving distractions).

How are you running it without draining all of the battery's power? My mom's minivan has lost all battery power (Odyssey, I think with deep cycle battery) if you just left a light in the back seat on, I'm not sure how that would work if it was running a full on gaming system!

Thanks! Ive got a relay that only lets power to the inverter when the key is on, so key off = inverter and playstation unplugged

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Omg those dogs are SO CUTE!!! I want one!!

Anyway, how did you hook up a PS3 to that screen? That's pretty cool!

Thanks Balto! That's Killer on the left (he's about 14) and Abby on the right (about 9 - Killer likes younger ladies!) Both dogs were adopted and both are fixed sorry no puppies - can't have one

The ps3 has a component output as well as an hdmi. I ran the component's RCA cables directly to the head unit's AUX IN ports. Plug and play, really!

The hard part was figuring out that the playstation wanted hdmi when I first turned it on. The trick was to "long press" the power button until the second beepon first power up. that forces the output to 480p thru the components (then I could see enough to set the video proper)



Thanks,
Victor