The death of a D16Z6

I received the Honda in sad condition.  It had been hit in the driver’s side twice once by a deer and once by a doctor.  The passenger side had received damage from the second accident as well.  The damaged part list is as follows: Both headlamps, both corner lenses, both front fenders, front bumper cover, drivers side door, drivers side rear quarter panel, driver side spindle, driver side upper control arm, drivers side lower control arm, diver side outer tie rod and driver side rim.

I disassembled the car removing all parts that were broken and began to pile them in a corner in my shop.  It took about two weeks to find everything that was bent and broken, but through trial and error I am almost certain that all damaged parts have been removed.

Once I had a shopping list I purchased as many suspension parts as I could from K-Sport as well as new one piece headlights, replacement fenders and bumper, inner and outer tie rods, a manual rack and pinion with quick ratio gears, Prothane mounts, and a new spindle. I bought some fenders and bumper off craigslist and they were for an EK so I sourced some factory replacements from a local parts store and on top of that both of the outer tie rods were for the left side. At this point the car was drivable.

I now focused my attention on the braking.  With the intention of upgrading to K-Sport 12" big brake kit front and rear I kept the brake package mild.  I opted for EBC Rotors and pads and GoddRidge stainless steel lines.  The EBC Green Stuff pads I received were incorrect because my car is built in Canada and the calipers are apparently different, so I went to AutoZone and purchased the best pads they have along with new caliper sliders and bolts to keep things smooth.

Now that the car was running straight and stopping well I began to notice the problems with the engine and electrics.  The speedometer worked, but only intermittently and this was the same for the crankshaft sensor.  I found this out by running the codes but along with the crankshaft sensor code was an O2 sensor code.  Being savvy I bought an O2 sensor that was universal but had to be wired in by hand.  As I was removing the O2 sensor I noticed a crack in the Exhaust manifold. I installed the O2 sensor and no more O2 code.

At this point I began to purchase exhaust components.  I found a high flow cat, a Magnaflow muffler, and a 4-2-1 Header.  These items are to be installed once I finish the rack and pinion install and get the car aligned.  The car came back from the alignment shop with bad news the tie rods were stripped out and the rear adjustment bolts were rusted tight.

The car now going mostly straight and but with the horrible feeling that at any moment the tie rods could give out.  On a trip back from Sheboygan I made my way back in hast and parked my car. The next morning I woke only to find a pool of antifreeze under my car.  I filled it with fluid replace the thermostat and ran it.  It sounded a little off, but not terrible.  I checked the oil and it was a little low, so while it was running I removed the fill cap and felt a large amount of blow by.  The engine had finally died.

To be continued...