Wil Gets A New Daily Beater: 05 RSX base auto

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civicious

Buck Futter
VIP
So with the wagon out of the picture for about a year and a half now, and with a very unlikely chance of it ever being back on the road soon, as of late I've had the need for a good daily driver. Just before Pikes Peak, one of my best friends died from cancer, and left me his 01 BMW 325i - which I fixed all of the things on that needed fixin' and installed the BBS LM's from the wagon on, with the intent to drive it as a daily, and I did for a bit - but ultimately, it was just too...'weird'...for me to keep the car. It just didn't feel right. A long-time friend of mine's wife bought an 05 RSX automatic base model back in 2006, and kept it up until about a year ago when she sold it to their roommate; I was at their place recently, and he was talking about wanting to get another car. The RSX was pretty clapped out - check engine light was on, ran like shit, was dirty as shit, the driver headlight had a huge hole in it covered with packing tape, etc...the car was a complete mess.

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But there was something about it that I liked...almost like it was calling to me.

So I offered to trade him the BMW for the RSX and a grand, and he went for it! I had my detail guys go over the car inside and out, and got the interior looking 'holy shit' good - don't know if I mentioned this before, but the car has 229,000 miles! I flushed the engine and the fuel system/injectors, changed every fluid, filter, and maintenance item on the car with OEM parts and fluids, replaced the struts and springs with KYB's and Tein S-Techs, and put on new headlights. The check engine lights - for VTEC operation and intake manifold runner actuation - were easily rectified by putting oil in the car (it had less than a half quart) and reconnecting the vacuum line going to the manifold runner solenoid. I removed the intake manifold and throttle body and thoroughly cleaned them and the intake ports, and pulled the valve cover and adjusted the valves while I had everything apart - because, might as well! I put the Alpine CDA-117 from the wagon and my cute li'l JL Audio 6.5" sub and amp in the back, and even with the stock base-model speakers, the stereo sounds GREAT! While I had the dash apart, I went ahead and installed a hardwired Smart Cable for my Escort 9500ix (which, for the record, I absolutely LOVE).

I got a set of 25mm wheel adapters (spacers with a second set of wheel studs) for the stock 02-04 base model wheels that came on the car (they have brand new tires on them, so I initially felt inclined to keep them), and with the very moderate drop from the S-techs I feel like it sits pretty damn snazzy with the stock wheels (since I snapped that photo, I've installed a rear camber kit, for the record)...but when I came across a set of 17x8 +40 replica DC5 ITR wheels, I couldn't help myself - ESPECIALLY when my shop accounts allowed me to get a decent of 225/45's on them for less than $250! The wheels came to me rattle canned all to hell, so I sent them to my wheel refinishers and had them blasted and repainted silver - I'm extremely happy with how they came out!

Currently, I've got a new front bumper along with fender liners ordered, as this one is beat to shit and has crappy single-stage paint on it; I've also got a new pair of taillights as well as Acura OEM center caps on the way, and for the interior my Boomerang arm rest showed up this afternoon. I've got a set of OEM mud flaps on the way, along with longer wheel studs and 15mm spacers for the rear to put the ITR replicas out where I want them (already have 5mm spacers on the front and rear - just didn't have enough threads on the rear for any more spacer). I've got a good bit more small odds and ends - some trim pieces, new OEM steering wheel, etc - on the way...and at the moment, I'm actually considering ordering a Type-R wing for it. I don't know why, but for some reason I really, really, really like the way it looks...over the next few weeks I'll be having my paintless dent removal guy take care of the body, after which I'll be fixing all the scratches on the exterior and having my buddy Nick at Nick's Custom Detailing come do a badass detail and glasscoat job on her...

It's crazy. I legitimately think that, out of all the dailies I've had, this one is my favorite. Now that the engine is tuned up and running properly (it runs VERY well to the point that I think the motor may have been changed or the instrument cluster isn't accurate) and it's got all new suspension and a good alignment, along with the inside being cleaned up and nothing squeaking/rattling, this car is an absolute blasty-blast to drive. My original intention was to use this to put a K20 in the middle of the CRX, but now I think I'm just gonna keep this thing and drive it until the wheels fall off...after all, folks make mount kits for putting K20's in MR2's, and I can get an MR2 shell for $500...and it seems like putting a K20 in an MR2 and then swapping that rear subframe into the CRX would be just as easy and probably work better than the initial RSXurgery route...
















With the 25mm adapters:


And with the ITR knockoffs:







So, yeah. After all these years and spending so much time playing with fancy cars, Wil has a Honda daily driver again...and, on top of that, a Honda daily driver build thread!


Now that I'm older, wiser, and have a bit more of a budget now, I can't wait to do the things that I want to do to this :D
 
What's the logic behind that? Just because?

And I was going to text you, but since I'm here and you mentioned flushing the engine (so it's not a complete thread jack), what are your thoughts on Seafoam?
 
Seafoam sucks. Avoid that garbage.

This is how I flush engines. I came up with this method on my own a few years ago, after I realized that the 'engine flush' you can buy is nothing but red (untaxed) diesel that parts stores sell for $10/quart. Do this at your own risk, I take no responsibility for anything you fuck up, but I've done this exact method multiple times on cars that cost more than my house, and have never had any issues whatsoever. As with anything automotive, however, it's entirely possible that doing this will damage your engine. If you prefer to err on the side of caution, go with 25% diesel / 75 % oil - which would STILL be better than seafoam. Some engines (the RSX being one of them) I drain the oil and put 4.2 quarts of straight diesel in the crankcase for the first pass...but that should probably be reserved for professionals ;)


The most important thing is DO NOT DRIVE the vehicle, DO NOT PUT A LOAD ON THE ENGINE, and DO NOT REV THE ENGINE while you're doing this.

Get the engine up to operating temperature, shut it off, and drain the oil. Leave the original filter on. Whatever your engine's oil capacity is (4.2 quarts for the RSX), put half that much diesel in the crankcase, and the rest with fresh oil. Start the engine up, let it run for 5 minutes or so. Shut the engine off, drain the diesel, replace the oil filter, and put the proper amount of fresh oil in the engine. Start it up and let it idle for 20-30 minutes, then drive it around the block. Pull back into shop (or garage or driveway or yard), drain the oil again, and then put in fresh oil and put on a new filter one last time.

I've done this on high mileage engines, engines that the customer hasn't changed the oil for tens of thousands of miles and sludged the engine all to shit, engines that have literally had their crankcases filled up with water, etc. You fellas can keep sucking seafoam into the brake booster hose and doing absolutely nothing other than risking hydrolocking your engines all you want, heh.


Also worth noting that I used a 'real' fuel injection flush setup to flush my injectors - one that requires the fuel pump to be disconnected and then hooks up to the fuel rail and shop air, and puts pressurized industrial cleaner through the fuel rail and injectors - it'll clean the injectors out and clean the shit outta the intake valves, too :)
 
Honestly that isn't too hateful for 9 years old and 230k miles. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. These cars are getting CHEEEP around here, and they don't seem to have rust issues like the 90's Honda's. Might have to pick one up myself down the road.
 
The insurance on these things is still laughably high though. I've always liked them.
 
Last weekend my buddy Lesmy with Dents-R-Us came by the shop and went over the RSX front to back, and did an AMAZING job getting all of the dents/dings out...this guy never ceases to amaze me!

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From there, the car went to Dallas to spend some time with my buddy Nick at Nick's Custom Detailing. He's going over the car and leveling out the orange peel by sanding with 1500 grit, then polishing - it's coming out SWEET!

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The car will be back here this weekend, for me to put the new front & rear bumpers on as well as the OEM A-spec spoiler that's off being painted today. Nick has a few Porsches that he's going to be detailing for me here next week, and once he gets done with those he'll be finishing up the RSX; once he gets back from SEMA we'll be doing a full glass coating on the car, most likely using Modesta - super nice stuff!

Found myself browsing the internets today for a supercharger kit...kinda thinking about keeping the auto trans in and throwing on a supercharger - with my shop discount, I should be able to score one for under $4k...hmmm...
 
You have the OEM accessory trunk mat.

I am jelly.
 
Also, the drop and spacers looks nice. I still need to do that, although I think mine might be slightly lower to begin with since it's a Type-S(exy).
 
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