[89HondaLegend]

About that time... (Update with video clip)

Good Evening to all,
I thought I had better give a bit of an update as to what's been going on as of late.
After I finished converting the turbo Legend to manual I had to take it to an exhaust shop to get the exhaust modified to accomodate the clutch fork and slave cylinder. Long story short he out an all new exhaust on (which I did not want as my Uncle had lined me up to get a dual exhaust system put on for next to nothing) and charged me about $650... wasn't all that happy. Since then, I moved the clutch line as it was getting too hot and the clutch was fluid was overheating. Sort of solved the problem by moving it to the otherside of the engine bay however it still get's too hot so I will have to buy a new fluid line or something.
Nice to finally drive a manual Legend but the turbo side of things isn't happy. Still got a code 28, the idle is randomly high (about 1250 RPM) and it smells a bit rich. The turbo doesn't even come on (being a wing turbo) it just sits in it's idle position unless I take the vacuum hose off and then it is pretty much on full boost so I can't really do that either.

Anyway, I am just driving it around until it runs out of registration at the end of January and then I will park it and do a bit of work on it here and there as I get time, money and inspiration.

So I decided to get the master cylinder fixed on my normal Legend as it leaks and I sort of got a bit carried away....

I decided while I have a second car I may as well get to it and fix everything up which has been bugging me and get it ready for another 100K. Below is a list of what I intend to do. I have started a few of these things and ordered most of the parts but I will be absolutely flat out getting it all done before the end of January.

Remanufacture steering rack
Need to look into getting a new HP power steering hose
New tie rod ends - inner & outer
New ball joints - upper & lower
New springs & shocks
New wheel bearings
New CV boots - inner & outer (CV's were remanufactured a couple of years back)
Recondition master cylinder
New brake lines
New mounts - front, back, side and transmission
New heater/coolant hoses
New oil, air & fuel filter
New oil
New cap and rotor
New ignition leads
New spark plugs
New O2 sensors
New gaskets, top & side valve covers, oil sump and fig 8 O ring
Tested and cleaned transmission solenoids
Re-gass A/C
Genuine Honda ATF, PS Fluid, Coolant
New dual exhaust
New timing belt, tensioner & water pump
Re-manufacture radiator (discovered a crack in the top tank)
Replace speed sensor with a second hand one
Lubricate speedo cable

I was thinking about replacing the valve stem seals but You've got to take the head off for that right? They will have to wait a bit longer I think.

Alternator was replaced with a new unit about 5K ago)
Transmission was replaced about 80K ago

Here's how it looks after 3 nights work

This is straight out of the car, boot has been broken for a few years...

Just realised the length of this thread... a very good update thread if I don't say so myself :bigok:

 

[Jimbob22]

Ahh I see someone's doing some winter cleaning...

Looks good! keep it up!

 

[l4zy415]

Very cool Steve, I see your Legend is getting back to normal. For the valve stems, some people can remove them with the heads attached, but it's a lot better removing the heads. Keep up the good job man :thumbsup:.

 

[pnoye2]

Above image concerns me Steve, tell tale signs; brown dust on your rotor could indicate failing distributor.

Just a heads up... be very careful re-attaching the steering linkage, especially on the Rack&Pinion gear linkage side, take your time on this one and try NOT to pull on it too much as it CAN be easily cross tread.

Good work :bigok: ...and please do keep us posted on your progress!

 

[legendturbo]

Wow that dizzy cap is absolutely wasted. Good luck with the project you will be really happy once all that stuff is taken care of. Are you replacing the brake rotors?

 

[stock legend]

wow thats a lot of work! keep us updated

 

[NuclearSymphony]

Hey Steve, just when I thought you'd gotten eaten by a very rare Carnivorous Kangaroo :lol: I will cancel my plans to fly over and deed your Legends to me on the sly.

If you're serious about redoing the steering rack, you may wish to consider swapping in a coupe steering rack -- the ratio is quicker. :thumbsup:

 

[89HondaLegend]

Ahh I see someone's doing some winter cleaning...

Looks good! keep it up!

Summer cleaning actually... it is getting hot, not looking forward to it at all

Very cool Steve, I see your Legend is getting back to normal. For the valve stems, some people can remove them with the heads attached, but it's a lot better removing the heads. Keep up the good job man :thumbsup:.

Yeah, I found out the heads can be left on the car but as you say it is no doubt easier to do the job off the car. I'm still not sure if I will do them yet or not.

Above image concerns me Steve, tell tale signs; brown dust on your rotor could indicate failing distributor.

Just a heads up... be very careful re-attaching the steering linkage, especially on the Rack&Pinion gear linkage side, take your time on this one and try NOT to pull on it too much as it CAN be easily cross tread.

Good work :bigok: ...and please do keep us posted on your progress!

Hey thanks for hte heads up, I was concerned about it a few years ago as well. I suspect the rotor is actually red. I guess the easiest way to see if the bearing is bad is to pull the distributor off and see if it spins freely?
As for the linkage, are you talking about where the it connects to the steering collumn? I think it will be a pain in the bottom but like most things I will get there. The shop is putting new tie rods (inner & outer) with the rack so I don't have to worry about doing those up.

Wow that dizzy cap is absolutely wasted. Good luck with the project you will be really happy once all that stuff is taken care of. Are you replacing the brake rotors?

Brake rotors were only just replaced with those slotted ones pictured, they look a bit shabby as the dog marked it's territory on them.

Hey Steve, just when I thought you'd gotten eaten by a very rare Carnivorous Kangaroo :lol: I will cancel my plans to fly over and deed your Legends to me on the sly.

If you're serious about redoing the steering rack, you may wish to consider swapping in a coupe steering rack -- the ratio is quicker. :thumbsup:

As for you funny man...
Good to know that my Legends wouldn't head straight to the scrap heap in the case of an unexpected animal related death.
I already took the steering rack in to have it remanufactured. I did glance at a post the other day about the Coupe having a quicker steering rack however I didn't look into it. Nevermind, as long as I actually have some power steering I will be as happy as Larry. :bigok:

Thanks for the replies gents, I will keep you updated with progress (hoping to have it done before the end of January, except for some of the bigger things)
What do people think about the valve stem seals, is it a must or should I just put up with some smoke for a while longer?

 

[pnoye2]

As for the linkage, are you talking about where the it connects to the steering collumn?

This linkage Steve... be gentle re-tightening that clamping bolt you see in the picture :yes:

Rack&Pinion installation isn't so bad... unit removal is a wee bit harder IMHO!

 

[89HondaLegend]

Will do, I guess it is just luck if you get it spot on straight?

I pulled the rack out Sunday night, I actually thought it was pretty easy. I tried to manoeuvre it out without taking the exhaust off but that just wasn't going to happen. Pulled the exhaust off and down it came. The passenger side tie rod was so loose it just unscrewed by hand. Might see about getting that high pressure hose replaced in the next couple of weeks when people come back from Christmas. (You would think they would stay open for a Legend restoration project, but apparently not.)

Thanks for the info and I will update when I get some parts back :thumbsup:

 

[legendturbo]

I personally would wait and remove the engine and replace all the gaskets at once. If you want to do just the seals you can do it on a lot of engines without removing the heads. I am not sure about the legend engines. In general you can use something called valvotool or something like that. It removes retainers etc with one push.

 

[89HondaLegend]

Well I have decided against the valve stem seals for the time being, if I get really excited one day I will pull the motor out and have the whole thing reconditioned, right now though it should be right for a while longer.

Got the steering rack back today, apparently the steering rod inside the rack was bent which explains why the power steering got slow and hard. Anyway the whole thing has been redone, new tie rods and the rod was straightened out so it should be good as new.

 

[l4zy415]

Cool, I need to fix my steering. It's pretty much bad lol.

 

[89HondaLegend]

Well I decided that the valve seals really do need doing so I attempted to do it myself. The only problem is nobody here stocks a tool which will work with our valves. I am going to contact snap on tools tomorrow to see if I can order a part over the phone.
So basically, this is where i am up to...

Had a play with a couple of the tappets but couldn't understand how they work. I could barely sqeeeze any of them and the ones that did move, only moved about 2mm. Don't know how much they are meant to move? BTW would it be ok to soak these in degreaser or should I use something else?

Here is our lawn mower

 

[l4zy415]

:rofl: Nice lawn mower.

 

[fallenanjl]

wow so thats what an aussie mower looks like lol. Hey while your into your motor that deep can you take a pic of where the turbo is located and some of the things its attached to?

 

[1stgen5spd]

^^ he is working on one of his other legends

 

[89HondaLegend]

Check out my photobucket account if you like. There are pictures of all the cars and for the entire process of swapping from automatic to manual on the Turbo Legend.

waldo78 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Turbo Legend Engine Starting

0-100 Km/h Turbo Legend

 

[scythe]

How can you show us a vid of a 0-100km/hr if the speed-o is not working??

Car looks good tho, i'm amazed that they (Honda) were able to fit all the turbo gear in the engine bay, as its crowded enough as it is (that might even be the real reason for only doing the 2.0L turbo).


Cheers
scythe

 

[89HondaLegend]

What's up people? Everybody must be asleep this time of day

Got news from Honda that my valve stem seals and fig.8 O ring has arrived so I will be putting them in this weekend with any luck. Unfortunately the rubber line which runs from the power steering rack up to the oil cooler isn't available any more so hopefully mine won't develope any leaks over the coming years.

I am going to the wrecker tomorrow to pick up the black lower lip on the front bumper (mine went missing a few years ago), some headlights (mine have chips in them), the secondary diaphragm and some spare hydraulic tappets. If anybody wants anything (not too big) let me know I may be able to get some parts.

Just wondering if putting the tappets in the dishwasher is a good idea? If I pulled them out straight after it had finished and put them into some solvent or oil would they still be ok? When I get some spares from the wrecker I might try it anyway to see what happens.