1989 EF7 Restoration

[C-Rex]

Savage work done Ken! Really nice job done on the exhaust too it's looking like it's perfect to enjoy driving now...


And Ruairi, welcome back!!

[kdevitt]

Back to slow progress on this one - Christmas being an expensive time of year hasn't helped, but should begin to ramp up again now. This is a boring update, but its actually the job I kind of love - getting something out of the way which I've been putting off for ages for some reason.

First up was the nightmare of trying to get parts in with the new customs processes in place - I received an order from Japan almost 6 months after initially purchasing it (it arrived here - then got sent back - then the company who sold it to me said it didn't arrive back, then I needed to file a paypal claim - and then I had to order the exact same parts again, using the cash refunded to me!) Does highlight that second hand parts on eBay aren't always the best option. Needed lots of small bits - one of which was the battery clamp. This was no longer available apparently, and a pretty rusty one was looking tempting on eBay for close to €50.

Managed to pick up a brand new one for about €13 -



Main problem is that I've now ordered a heap of other bits, and generally have no idea what I needed them for -



What should have been in here were a variety of bits for tidying up the washer fluid hosing - but there were no sign of the cable ties I was certain I'd bought.

Thankfully my shed full of brand new BMW parts came in handy - I' generally buy way more bolts / trim clips etc than I need, just in case I damaged any - so these E30 washer hose clips came to the rescue. More obnoxious BMW design - these used to be in a nice discreet colour



Fit perfectly too -



Routed the rest of the hosing, and that was a job almost done -



One of the clips for holding the new Honda Jazz washer jets in place didn't arrive - so have had to place another order from Japan for a clip thats worth €2. Quite irritating to say the least.

In a further blow, the IACV I needed is no longer made at all - so it looks like a spurious one will be needed. Have had bad results with aftermarket idle valves on BMW's in the past, so a bit concerned that it might not work as expected - but don't have any other option really.

[kdevitt]

Getting to the last few jobs now - one of which was wiring in the rear fog light. The car arrived to me with a crappy fog light hanging off the rear bumper - I made a decision early on that I'd use the EDM rear light panel, and wire up the fog light to the correct switch.

When I was putting the car back together, I ran the wire for the light up to the cabin, which would give me one less tedious job to do. The fog light on these only needs 12v going to it - the earth is contained within the unit.

Took a while for the switch to pop up on eBay - but eventually got it in Germany.



Used a bit of CQuartz on it to get rid of the faded plastic look



These should be wired up so that the fog light is only functional when the headlights are on - so the 12v+ was tapped into the headlight switch.

[video]https://youtu.be/FDRQDw15piM[/video]

Used a relay setup for it - some people run it straight off the switch, but I'd rather not set the car on fire -



After initial setup, nothing worked. Took the switch back inside to test it - and I'd reversed positive and negative. This doesn't impact the switch light from working, but the trigger pin for the relay was grounding when the light was on, instead of sending out 12v.

This of course would have meant that the fog light was on when I switched it off and vice versa - which led me to discover the second issue - I'd only actually led the wire from the fog light to the cabin - I hadn't connected it in.

That was quickly resolved and a quick test was successful -

[video]https://youtu.be/AYLFnh_mrTo[/video]

Putting it back together probably took just as long - but it also meant I could get some trim bits in place. The drivers side sill cover was ruined when I went to put the car back together - someone obviously got tired figured out how it was held in, and just ripped it out.

This turned out to be a pain to source - because they're usually connected to the carpet, and no one wants to sell separately. Bought a pair from Malta, and he sent me two passenger side ones (so I then had three passenger side ones) and eventually got a pair from Japan. Anyone need three passenger side sill covers?



Also got the grab handles in place - again I'd been meaning to get them for ages, but they weren't urgent.







And finally got round to fitting the new corner lights - these were brand new, old stock - and cost roughly half of what the actual car did. Since the headlights were also brand new, and didn't cost me anywhere near that, it made sense to get them.

[kdevitt]

Bit of a mini update - put the order through for the new IACV from AKR Performance. They're based in the Netherlands - hold quite a lot of Honda stock, so have been using them a good bit. Added a few other bits while I was there.

This is the sock for the fuel pickup - I'm guessing my current one is blocked off, of floating around the fuel tank - which is causing the car not to start up once it gets down to 1/4 of a tank.



Made sense to order a new genuine fuel filter while I was there - and also ended up buying a first aid kit! Genuine Honda, so you know it won't break



When I ordered the new sill trim - it came with the bracket for an emergency flare



This fits in by the passenger footwell -



The original Honda flare is classified as an explosive I think - so you have zero chance of getting one in through the post. They also work once, and then they're done - so figured I'd update it. Went with a battery powered version from MCG in Kells - its actually a pretty useful thing to have in the car, so happier with going this route that with putting a dummy flare case in.



Fitted -

[C-Rex]

Some really nice bits, the light/flare makes a lot of sense too I might order one myself instead of the 30year old one in it#128556;

[Mcandmar]

This just brings a tear to my eye, hard to believe its been 21 years since my EF7 was stolen, and these photos brought it all back to me. Nicest rex i have seen in a long time, great work!

[kdevitt]

Cheers Mark. Just about finished it off today actually - will hopefully get an update up during the week.

[kdevitt]

I keep saying that there's only a few small jobs left, which is what was firmly in my head when I went to complete a few small things and wrap this up.

First issue - the temperature control for the air con wasn't right - twist it to cold and it bounced back toward warm - all the way to hot and it bounced back towards cold. The adjustment arm in the engine bay was moving freely, so had to be the controls themselves. Once I'd taken the centre console out and then the air con controls - I could see the two bowden cables for controlling the temperature weren't fitted in where they should be. Simple fix.

Or not. To say this was a frustrating problem to find it an understatement. The control unit was expensive enough - but was crumbling as you could see from an earlier post. It was then all fitted up to a brand new 3D printed case. However, the only piece that could possibly be damaged was completely shagged and unfixable.



Probably not immediately obvious from the pictures - but that black plastic at the centre of the picture is meant to hold the bowden cable sleeve in place - and was completely snapped off. This put a downer on my weekend, as it meant I couldn't put anything back together until I had a solution.

Thankfully - a search on eBay showed the exact unit I needed - in Killarney of all places. The new one had slight damage to the back of the case, but was in very good condition otherwise. Even had the little Honda logo under the AC button which my other one didn't have.



It did arrive with some sections of bowden cable attached - turns out most people break the clips because they're actually a pain to remove. A bit of time with a sharp blade to remove the sleeve made it easy to remove, and the clips remained intact thankfully. It fitted with minimal fuss back into the car - and full cold and full hot are now available to me.



Another minor update I was wanting to do at the same time was to replace the headunit. The old Pioneer unit I had in it was pretty cool - but the orange illumination didn't look right against the rest of the console, and the lack of any modern features was beginning to grate. I spent ages finding a headunit which would allow me to use the iPhone, but also give me white illumination - and settled for a new Pioneer unit I got in Halfords.

Like most modern units, they come with a microphone for the handsfree bit - so I needed to find a home for that. I'd already been planning to fit a new centre vent unit as mine was damaged. The alarm warning LED had been fitted to the vents recently - and I moved it further down the centre console, but it gave me the idea to stick the microphone in the vent unit itself. (yes - I have club thumbs!)





Drilled a pilot hole into the vent - I was able to use the old vent with teh alarm LED to check for the best position.



Step drill bit a necessity for a neat finish on this sort of thing -





Then to stop the microphone just popping itself out through the hole, I used my 3D printing pen to put a collar of hot pink plastic around it.



Fitment was perfect - used hot glue to keep it firmly in place.



Final results were great (imo) - no hot pink plastic on show either. Headunit sounds great and I can stream music now too. Unfortunately though, Halfords messed up their listing on their site for this - there is no way to adjust the illumination (I want white buttons). Currently back and forth with them on it as I can't supply the full unit for a refund (the microphone is obviously NOT being removed) but their incorrect listing means I bought a unit I never would have otherwise.



The car also made its way back over to Icetronix for some more necessary updates - first up was to fit the new idle control valve. This has fixed the idling issues perfectly - its like a different car. Secondly, and probably more importantly was the non starting issue - if the car had a quarter of a tank or less it just wouldn't start. This is by all accounts a very common issue when the fuel filter sock isn't in the best shape.

I had to drive over with more or less exactly a quarter tank of petrol as they wouldn't want to be working on it with the tank any more full than that, so its was a nerve wracking experience - especially when it cut out due to the idling issue just as I approached a busy roundabout in Rathcoole. Thankfully it started back up for me - but the lads in Icetronix weren't as lucky. They got it started when I arrived, but from then on had to push it around.

Thankfully the new fuel filter sock did the trick - so no more starting issues. I also supplied a new Honda fuel filter to be fitted, as I'd imagine the old one had around 32 years of service. Spent yesterday clearing crap out and fitting up some loose pieces of trim, before giving it a proper wash. Mondello on Saturday!

[kdevitt]

Brought this down to the Speed Meet in Mondello today. Literally had the tracking sorted yesterday, so this was its first proper spin out. The track day was advertised as a performance and classics day, so figured it would be ok to mingle with some of the older classic stuff. There was a lot of fast machinery out on track, so did my best to stay out of everyones way. Conditions weren't exactly ideal - was wet and cold - and its been years since I did any laps out in Mondello.

Either way - was very enjoyable to get a few laps put in - ended up being called in when my arch liner made an attempt to escape. There was no obvious way to secure it, and I was happy enough with getting a half day in anyway, so called it a day.

Managed to capture some laps on video - will hopefully take it out again in the not too distant future and start adhering to some proper racing lines!

https://youtu.be/c-PsgmUgjcA

[kdevitt]

This is a major milestone kind of update - but first some properly taken photos from the Mondello Speedmeet. Yes, the helmet makes me look Toad from Marios Brothers.





Anyway - next up was some minor paintwork. Had bought brand new aftermarket wings for this when it first went into paint, but I wasn't 100% happy with the fitment. They also would have required me to cut out the holes for the side markers - and given the slightly awkward shape, I really didn't fancy it. I bought a set of decent used wings and dropped them into Carcraft who did a great job on painting them up.

Then came its first NCT - was expecting a few issues to pop up, but it only failed on the headlight alignment. The lads were a bit confused - suggesting the light pattern looked like the bulbs were fitted upside down. Obviously that wasn't possible - but me messing up the wiring was entirely possible!

Turns out the high beams were wired to come on with the dipped headlights - I switched the connectors around when I got to the NCT centre and saw the full beams were on - initially thinking Carcraft had mixed up the connections when doing the paintwork.

Quick bit of investigation and re-wiring when I got home resolved the issue, and Discount Tyres did the headlight alignment again for me. So a quick trip out to the NCT centre yesterday, and the car was full legal with a cert until late 2023.



Should be able to venture a bit further in it now without fear of hitting any checkpoints!