CyborgGT : 1993 Accord EX wagon

[SSMAccord]

Sending you positive CB7Tuner vibes! Hope that this is the next step in getting the Aero-R on the road.

[owequitit]

Loving this build man.

[CyborgGT]

Attempt number 2 at finishing up the car...




With my luck, it couldn't happen without drama, of course. I hit another delay from that first appointment because the company I've worked for for 14 years updated their employee database software and I was one of the random unlucky people who accidentally got deleted from the system. I went three weeks without getting paid, my benefits were terminated as if I had left the company, and I couldn't even log into any of the computers at work. It was kinda scary, so I put the car on hold until they sorted it out. But I'm good now, so another appointment was made.

This shop is only doing the fabrication, welding up the intake and exhaust tubing. They usually offer tuning, but don't currently have someone with that skill on staff. I might get a performance-oriented alignment here as well, since building rally, road course, and autocross cars is what they do, but we'll see. I'm not looking forward to seeing the bill on the fab work alone, given how complex my exhaust system is. They had the car up on a lift Thursday to talk about how I wanted everything done, and already the passenger side FFC control arm was causing clearance issues. It was impressive to see how accurately bent the Kteller kit was, though. With stock control arms and some proper coilovers to keep the wheels from hanging too low at full droop, it probably would have been perfect.

[CyborgGT]

Still deciding if I really want to personalize the plate; I can't make up my mind on if I just think they're stupid altogether. Most of the ones I see are so dumb. Then there's also the fact that they're easier to remember if I happen to piss off someone in traffic, haha.

[SSMAccord]

This is a great license plate design! I can’t wait to see what your custom plate is.

[CyborgGT]

So I just emailed a second shop to schedule the fab/dyno (they advertise for European and the main turbocharged Japanese cars, but I believe they do have an RSX project currently going), hopefully for the end of next month, and Colorado just released these new plates for 2023 - right in time for my registration! I have an idea for a personalized plate, which means losing the center 'Race to the Clouds' logo, but still so cool! Gonna try to take the wagon to watch the race this year in June.






Though I will say, this plate's gotta be a bit of a sting for motorcyclists, considering bikes are no longer allowed to be raced in the event due to accidents.

[CyborgGT]

'Nother quickie. One silver lining to the delay in getting the car done is being able to upgrade little things I had regrets about. I addressed some details in the exhaust system:




- Rubber isolators. My stock ones weren't in too bad of shape, but new ones are cheap.

- Stainless hangers. The ones that came with the Kteller tubing kit were just kinda ugly, and the way they were bent (squared 'Js' instead of these 'Ls') looked like they'd be a pain to get in and out of the isolators.

- Summit stainless interlocking V-bands. I don't know if Summit didn't have interlocking bands way back when I ordered the non-interlocking style that I did, or I just didn't notice them. All I knew was that I wasn't going to pay for Vibrant's overpriced bands. But now Summit has interlocking bands, for a good price, and they even upgraded the nuts away from the nylocks that I was nervous about holding up to the exhaust heat.

[CyborgGT]

Quickie update, but I got the Hella horns working yesterday. I went to the junkyard to pull a couple clock springs thinking that was my problem, given that the horns were obviously new and the both of the buttons on the steering wheel were making the relay click (I could hear and feel it activate the contacts inside, and it wasn't feeling weak), and there was nothing else in the system to go wrong other than a possible break in the wiring. So I installed one of the 'new' clock springs, only for the horns to still not sound. I had a spare relay, which I should have tested sooner since it was so easy, and after swapping it in, the horns finally fired. Glad to have that out of the way. I don't know if the horn is part of Colorado's lax emissions inspection, but I'm pretty sure a working horn is technically a legal requirement and I didn't want that to be something to delay registration.

[Raf99]

More pics ...

[SSMAccord]

These will create a cool silhouette for the wagon!

[CyborgGT]

I was told 3-4 months for these to arrive, and they came in 3-4 weeks. Nice. What ViS Racing calls their "Evo Style" side skirts; the Evolution model in question being I guess the E36 M3 Evo, although even the 'base' M3 had the same skirts.




My dream skirts have always been Sigmas, but I think these Evos still match the shape of my front lip really well to maintain a consistent look. They're fiberglass, which I'm not a fan of. They feel heavier than they need to be for a side skirt, I'm afraid of them breaking (not that they're thin or anything, I just don't trust the material), and the mold isn't perfect. They're going to need some solid bodywork to flatten the slight waves out. But given the CB's lack of support, I'll take what I can get. I don't get why they couldn't have been made out of plastic. My biggest fear, however, is that these will make the car a pain to put on jack stands or a lift; we'll see. I'll try to get them test fitted soon; I'm excited to see the skirts on in combo with the new lowering springs.


I will be mounting them "backwards" like Ronald did. It just looks more correct that way, with how the skirts affect the visual front-to-rear 'weight balance' of the car. Kind of like how the traditional sports car silhouette has a long hood and stubbier rear end. Or maybe it's because the car's FWD vs the BMW's RWD, I don't know...

[Grumpys93]

I hate those two bolt with a passion. I was lucky to not have to deal with the fuel straps. I love that premium unleaded decal, nice touch like you said, only you will see.

[CyborgGT]

Even on cars that didn't have the rack, there are studs welded into the channels under the roof strips. Thankfully the rack came with its own set of shorter strips to cover the gaps between the posts, or I'd have been cutting mine up. I can see myself going back and forth with the cleaner 'slick top' look.

[Raf99]

For sure! But I'm curious how does it get installed? Bolts through the car?

[CyborgGT]

Boredom and curiosity led to me installing the roof rack tonight. I just wanted to see for sure how it all secured onto the roof; restoration will be a project for probably next summer/fall. But after it was all bolted in and I was yanking on it to see how rigid the whole thing is (it's pretty damn solid), it got me thinking about the underbody bracing that Ultra Racing offers for our cars... could this roof rack be secretly serving as a 6-point brace to help against unibody twist?! One can hope...