Been doing some of the cleaning inside ( pulled the seats and carpet to get things cleaned up) and just touched up, buffed and waxed the exterior. John's ( novanutcase) mechanic, Rueben did the Zetec swap ( with 25% UDP and headers) with an auto ( new upgraded TC) along with new poly bushings in the front end, escort GT rear swaybar ( with poly bushings) and rear disc brakes. Pulled my heavy duty KYB struts and progressive springs from my 93 to put in the new 98
Pulled those from the rear ended donor ZX2 Only 52,000 miles on the car, almost all highway in southern CA/Mexico. The wagon had about 70,000 on it and I've still got the engine/trans, struts etc hopefully to go into another car this spring on my next trip to CA.
Pulled the wheels from the donor 98 ZX2 with only 52,000 miles. With the suspension upgrades, however, the car desperately needs more tire. Hope to find some 15 or maybe 16 inch when getting new tires. Trying to find another 97 or 98 with a blown engine or trans to swap in the one that came out of this wagon.... it only has 70000 miles on it.
Aren't the poly bushings a crazy difference from stock? I was so impressed by the increased control on my 91.
I really didn't have a fair comparison..... My 93 was all original rubber except end links... but that rubber was going again too. However, the car is quite flat on turns, and the ride is not really harsh either. The bushings I used on the control arms were supposed to be a little softer than the Energy suspension bushing. The sway bars all got the stiff blue moog bushings that are a polyester I think..... they aren't supposed to squeak.
If you come across a 97 or 98 with a bad engine or trans with a good body for sale, that's what I'm looking for to swap in my spare drivetrain. I can store it at a friends house just north of SD until spring when I will do the changeout.
You can put some decent rubber under her. For me the widest I could go was 205/40/18 without it rubbing although I'm sure if I really worked at it I could fit a few more millimeters by fine tuning the offset. I really saw a difference in just changing out the end links. I'll probably do a bushing/ball joint change next year some time. I also need to find a strut tower brace that will fit the zetec swap. Looking good! I would love to see a set of clear corners on there. I think it would really compliment the color of the car. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fit-1997-2...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 John
Since the engine and trans lived in Southern CA until now, no one probably every noticed that the thermostat didn't work. I pulled off the housing ( wow that was easy) and the old thermostat came out in two pieces. A new gates thermostat and gasket and we're all good again. I did notice that the radiator is now leaking at the end tank to alluminum core seal. Probably also the cold weather here in Chicago. I have a spare so that will be part of a spring project to fix the power steering leak, remove the roof rack and install plain rails insulate the headliner and add soundproofing to the firewall and hood. The DOHC seems to really make the exhaust buzz and I'd like to quiet the engine noise.
I think it's probably just age why your radiator is failing. The aluminum and plastic rads seem to last about fifteen to twenty years in the Hondas and Fords I service. The climate here is pretty mild, similar to Seattle. I would think hot climates would be harder on them, due to higher underhood temperatures. The shop manual shows radiator repair by carefully un-bending the aluminum fingers away from the plastic tanks and replacing the O-ring type seal. I considered this at one time since I had a couple bad rads, one with a broken plastic outlet and another with a leak in the aluminum part. So I could conceivably make one good one out of two bad ones. It would have been an interesting exercise that I probably would have tried when younger, but I decided that the end result would most likely last only a few more years and take a lot of labour. And new ones are pretty cheap. A few years ago I was able to buy a brass radiator for my Escort at "Performance Radiator", but no one seems to carry brass rads for newer cars anymore. I like them because I can fix them.