My Civic modding thread (2000 Civic Dx Coupe)

[MetroMPG]

How cold is it supposed to get?

Have you been doing all these repairs in a heated space? I've been tinkering with my new-to-me winter beater Echo for the last couple of weeks, sitting/laying on cold concrete. Fun!

Today was the last big push - it was a couple of degrees above freezing at the end of the day, so I went for it. Still had to come in and warm the fingers a couple of times.

PS: I love your sliding license plate grille block. James Bond-ish ecomodding.

[pletby]

Lows below -20 starting Thursday. High -18 Friday. We're not used to it so it'll feel colder. We've been hovering near freezing the last week or so.

So far all my repairs have been on a gravel parking pad covered in snow, so not ideal. At least I was lying on a sheet of waxed cardboard and wearing an old parka.

I will secure a garage to do the clutch job!

Grille block: thanks!

[Daox]

I had a Marinco plug on my Matrix. It was great and held up just fine in the couple of winters I had it.

[pletby]

Tomorrow I get to use a heated garage to work on the rear suspension of the car! I can finally melt the car after managing to push a fair amount of snow and ice into every nook and cranny this last snow storm. It's mighty cold out now: -15F or -26C without the wind chill.

I want 2 days without need of the car to do the clutch job as I'm not a mechanic and will be slower. Though having done the suspension work on the front has me confident about removing the axles in short order. I've also learned about applying too much force to fasteners, both tightening and loosening. Ha ha. Don't want to drill out bolts holding the bell housing, or replace expensive speedo gearing, so glad the lesson has hopefully been learned.

[MetroMPG]

Yuck... winter cold is a lousy time to be learning car repair! Hope it's toasty in the shop.

(I've never done a clutch myself.)

[MetroMPG]

Yuck... winter cold is a lousy time to be learning car repair! Hope it's toasty in the shop.

(I've never done a clutch myself.)

[pletby]

Shop wasn't toasty but it was above freezing.

The rear upper control arms both had a bolt that had fused to the inside of the bushing. That meant I had to replace the bolt, nut and add two washers each side after I ground off the old ones. Sweet. Spark shower emanating from your car while you work on it makes you look tough.

With nearly 400,000km on the odo and nearly 17 years of service I suppose I'll run into some serious rust and have to deal with it.

Now all funny noises from the suspension and steering system have ceased. Yay!