Soft-spoken Scratchy Now Screeming with a Spoon N1 Muffler

The legendary Spoon N1 Muffler. A dream part for the inner child in every Honda lover.

I got one at a somewhat cheap price: P9,500 for a slightly modified original 1st Generation Spoon N1.
This particular one is for a sedan, but the owner modified (shortened) the pipe to fit the hatch.

The Gen 1 Spoon N1 Muffler features a matte/flat steel finished body and polished tip -- different from the succeeding generations that have a Spoon badge and 100% polished body.

Here it is when I bought it:

And moments before installing, a closer look. Notice the clean welds? That's what sets it apart from copies/fakes.

Installation time!

Remove the rear bumper so you can easily see what you're doing.

This is an OEM JDM EG6 B16A muffler and pipe set BTW.

OEM vs. Spoon N1

Take off two bolts that connect the muff to the midpipe, then install the Spoon muff. Pretty straightforward if you ask me.

Done!

Looking at the pics, you would say that it is a perfect fit. However, due to the fact that this just a modified part, a portion of the pipe is hitting my LCA whenever I hit bumps on the road so further modification is needed.

Now on to Brodeth. A trusted muffler and pipe fabricator of many car enthusiasts.

The muffler and car while waiting for them to start work:

This is the fit I'm looking at:

I decided to replace the pipe altogether. It hurts to see them cut the pipe, but it's all for the better.

Ouch!

All its glory exposed.

TIG welding it and the finished product.

Now, fitting it into the car:

Finished work!

I don't care whether it lost its value by doing this since I don't plan to sell the muffler anytime soon.

I paid Brodeth a total of P2,500 for everything.

What do you guys think?

Update: Bought a Spoon N1 Gen3. Click here.

The DIY EG Civic Hatch Power Windows Install

When I begin a project, I always make sure to get all the information I need -- wiring diagrams, pictures, possible problems to encounter, and other stuff that you need to remember.

The site that helped me the most is this: http://repo.jackmoves.com/v/erik/albun31/albun42/
This is more detailed, but I didn't follow everything like the relay and other stuff.

This is the first time I'm taking the fenders off Scratchy so it's a bit challenging. Besides that, the wiring and the installation itself is a breeze especially when you connect/assemble the harness beforehand. By doing so, you will be able to test its functionality first before taking your car apart.

Here are the parts I used and the steps I took to install.

1. JDM Window riser with motor, bought for P3,500 with switch and pigtail harness. Motors should be swapped so that the right motor will be at the left to make the auto up and down function work.

2. Left and right door covers. This is part of the black bricks Gathers interior I bought in 2010 for P19,000. 

...look, a Honda Primo maintenance badge!

3. Window switch to motor harness which should be assembled before hand for easy installation. The best way to assemble this is to match the colors of the wires. I reiterate, you don't need a Honda power window relay for this to work. The gray connector is for the switch, the white is for the motor. You just need to connect all the wires together and the two extra wires are for 12v positive and ground. I used normal automotive wires to connect the two sides.

If you fancy reading diagrams:

4. Take of the fenders of the car. You need to remove the skirts by removing the clips and a screw at the front part, then for the fender you need to remove three bolts on top, and three at the side. You need these off the car run the wires through from the door.

5. Take the interior covers off the doors and you can see the mounting holes. The doors are ready to accept power or manual windows.

6. You need to remove the glass first, use duct tape to hold it while you work on the riser. No need to take the glass off the door. Unscrew and remove the manual riser from the door through the biggest hole.

7. Run all the wires from one side to the other. I used a normal 16ga automotive wire to do this.
Ground the harness to the driver side door, no need to ground the passenger side since + and - signals (2 wires) will come from the driver side wiring.

8. Connect the power wire of the harness directly to a vacant slot in your fusebox. I used a vacant one that turns on only when you turn the key to the "ON" position. You can also choose a slot that turns on at "ACC" position. You can choose any of the two depending on your preference.

You can see here that the option connector C917 for "ON", you can use C919 for "ACC".

9.  Test if it works!

Since this is a JDM power window, driver side switch for left and right are reversed. A good thing is that the auto up and down feature works as it should so I could live with it. You can also wire it as such that you have the correct orientation, but of course, you'll lose the auto up and down with it.

I'll post pictures of the finished install soon.

Timing Belt Change Turn-out

After calling-up shops to find the best price, I decided to bring my Scratchy to Blacksheep along Imelda Avenue. Their labor price is quite reasonable -- for P2,000, they will change my timing belt, tensioner bearing, cam shaft and crank shaft oil seals, water pump, clutch master, and fix my leaking brake master.

Here are some pics while they tinker with Scratchy:

Here are some pics of the parts I used:

Now, first time opening the valve cover, the sight just made tear -- tears of joy! This is indeed a very fresh engine!

Finished in 4 hours. Work is satisfactory. One thing I'm not happy with is that my brake master still leaks. I suspect they didn't even touch it -- but still billed me for it. :(

Lesson learned is to never leave your car in the shop.

I will still come back to this shop though. I just need to keep a close eye to make sure they do what they are paid to do.

Getting Ready for a Timing Belt Replacement

I've used my engine for more than a year now and it has served me well without any problems aside from the distributor oil leak which I already fixed. I'm the first owner of this engine in the Philippines, and I have no idea how far this engine has traveled in Japan.

So after a year of using it or about 10K kilometers, I'm now getting ready to embark on one of, if not, the most important preventive maintenance procedure in an engine -- TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT. This is done every 70K kilometers.

Since replacing the timing belt requires unbolting the valve cover and removing the timing belt cover, it is also a good idea to replace parts that are connected with the belt you are replacing.

Normally, these parts are the water pump, timing belt tensioner bearing, camshaft and crankshaft oil seals. Optional parts to be installed are new valve cover gasket and an adjustable cam gear.

For my use, I'll stick with the basics by replacing all life limited parts + all the seals and gaskets.

Here are the parts for the VTi's PH16A VTEC engine I bought with its corresponding prices (as I was told, all are compatible with D16A):

1. Timing Belt (Honda Q.Ave) - 14400-P2E-004 - P1,492.29

2. Crankshaft and Crankshaft oil seals (Honda Q.Ave) - 91212-P01-003/91213-PD2-004 - P257.25/P246.51

3. Valve Cover Gasket (Honda Q.Ave) - 12341-P2A-000 - P515.95

4. GMB Water Pump (Levin Auto Parts) - VTi - P1,500

I'm quite worried about the size of the gear. Too tall that I might need to cut the timing belt cover? (UPDATE: Jan 30) - I bought the wrong part! Darn!

5. Koyo Tensioner Bearing (Levin Auto Parts) - VTi - P600

With all these parts, I now have the task to look for a shop to install these for me. Labor for this job ranges from P1,500 to P1,800. 

Hang around until I find one a nice shop to bring Scratchy to and while you're at it, hit the comments if there's something I bought that's not compatible.

New Year, New Plans for Scratchy

It's new year!

With the year of the dragon closing in, let me lay out my plans for Scratchy for next year. Treat this as my wish list for the year. If you want to donate anything, you are most welcome! ;)

1. Have the leaking distributor fixed (leaking from inside).
2. Have my extra P91 ECU chipped.
3. Replace timing belt and all necessary stuff before its too late. (February 25, 2012)
4. Have the tappets and timing adjusted (darn 8Km/L!!!)
5. Have my car tuned by a pro (using my chipped P91 ECU).
6. Have my power windows installed (motors, switches, and sidings waiting for more than a year now).
7. Have my 20yr old battery terminals replaced with something more elegant + battery tie down.
8. Front tower strut bar. (February 18, 2012)
9. Rear lower tie bar.
10. Rear disk brakes (March 24, 2012) + proportioning valve
11. Have my leaking brake master fixed (minor fluid leak) (Supposedly done February 25, but still leaks.)
12. Have my 20yr old clutch master replaced. (February 25, 2012)
13. Replace my transmission oil.

Thirteen things to do/buy for Scatchy. Why 13 you ask?
Well, that's one for a month's salary including 13th month pay! :)

Do you suggest anything more? Hit the comments and let me know.

New Wheels for the New Year (and Christmas!)

At long last!

I finally found a set of Spoon copy wheels. Bought from "Autobat" from HCP, the same guy I bought my doors and front bumper from. Had it installed for P65 per wheel and also bought Kyo-ei Steel Black Lugnuts for P850.

Here are some pics:

Unmounting tires from the steelies

Out with the old

In with the new

Installing

New Look!

The Distributor Leak That Makes Me Sick

There's a leak below where the distributor meets the engine.

Well, don't worry, it's a cheap and easy fix -- a P60 OEM part called distributor o-ring is the answer.

Step 1: Mark your timing by using a ruler and pencil.
Step 2: Unplug all electrical connection to distributor and high tension wires (make sure you remember which hole the wire you unplugged belongs).
Step 3: Loosen the bolts holding your distributor to the engine.
Step 4: Pull out the distributor.
Step 5: Look for the short shaft and look for the small circular rubber ring. Take it off by cutting or pulling. It would easily snap due to age.
Step 6: Put clean oil onto the new o-ring. Slide in to install. (just like how slide in your favorite "rubber" LOL)
Step 7: Put everything back reverse of how you took them off. Clean the mess you made.

Enjoy!