The coolant and brake fluids looked recent so we left them in. We were tempted to change pads, rotors, and shoes, but there is plenty of meat on them so we’ll live with old brakes for an autocross or four. We did remove the front calipers and made sure the sliding pins were moving freely. Finally, we checked the torque on every single suspension member. With our new tires mounted we were ready to race.My buddy Tom joined me and we took the Civic out for its first shakedown event. I towed the car 100 miles to autocross with the Susquehanna Region SCCA. It was brutally hot but we were excited to see how the car performed.Unfortunately the shakedown was short lived. Tom and I each got one lap before we discovered a severe oil leak. In just 2 miles enough oil had leaked from the head that the block and transmission were coated. We decided to call it quits rather than oil down the course. All we really learned in that single lap was that the Civic was very loud and very stiff.In the pits, we discovered my attempt at preventing an oil leak caused an oil leak. When I installed the new valve cover gasket I used RTV in the corners where the cam is captured at each end of the head. Using RTV in the 90 degree corner is common to help the gasket seal. Apparently it just prevented the gasket from sitting flush and created a leak path. Honda designs their stuff well.Back at home, we ordered a new gasket set and also replaced the old valve cover with this one we found on eBay. It had been powder coated in a handsome coat of Spoon Sports yellow and also came with a nice vintage Mugen oil fill cap. This may seem like a purely cosmetic upgrade but the factory crinkle coat finish was peeling on the old valve cover and with this one we won’t have to worry about any bits falling in our engine. It’s not rice if it’s practical.
Glad you’re enjoying! There will be a lot more actual racecar content coming soon. I’ve driven the car, I love it, and now it’s time to give it the TLC it really deserves. I’ve got a big pile of parts that are starting to go in and you’ll be reading about that early next year. Thanks for reading.
2 comments
Really enjoy this content! Looking forward to see how the car progresses.
Glad you’re enjoying! There will be a lot more actual racecar content coming soon. I’ve driven the car, I love it, and now it’s time to give it the TLC it really deserves. I’ve got a big pile of parts that are starting to go in and you’ll be reading about that early next year. Thanks for reading.