[sagarpadaki]

Great progress on the restoration. Suggest you replace all 4 shock absorbers and the associated rubber bits. They would have gone hard. Also, replace the stabilizer bar bush and check the lower arm bush and boot for cracks.
Keep all the old harness that you have replaced with a new one. You never know when you might need it

[rachitagarwal]

Awesome progress and dedication. Many of us think about restoring old family cars but it's easier said than done.

[mod_freak]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Great progress on the restoration. Suggest you replace all 4 shock absorbers and the associated rubber bits. They would have gone hard. Also, replace the stabilizer bar bush and check the lower arm bush and boot for cracks.
Keep all the old harness that you have replaced with a new one. You never know when you might need it

The front 2 are good as they were refurbished last year but never driven after that. All the lower arm bushes, lower arms, stabilizer and bush kits will be replaced. Will be doing it once I complete the wiring and engine bay work.. Yes all old spares will be restored and saved for future use

Originally Posted by rachitagarwal

Awesome progress and dedication. Many of us think about restoring old family cars but it's easier said than done.

Thanks brother, this project in particular is very close to my heart for many reasons.

[mod_freak]

Moving on to next steps here what has happened so far.

Indicator/light stalks
Old one was removed and I fixed a brand new OEM set. The old one was too loose as the inner gears of the stalks were worn out and it wouldn't stay in place.



Ignition Lock set assembly

After serving for ages, the old key has given up. It would come loose in all positions even when the vehicle was on. I bought a new assembly that came with 2 keys and replaced it. Now it feels like a new car with the key properly clicking and locking with every turn.



Well this might look easy but hold on my friends there is the "kahaani mey twist" in all this.

The OEM set that is available is no longer the dual plug set. Turns out, MPFI type has a single plug and the carb models had the dual plugs. To my horror the one I received and the old one were different in terms of the plugs/connector that goes into fuse box. You thought I would give up? No way!
I sat for hours observing the 2 sets with one thing on my mind, how do I make this possible.

I opened the plastic part of the cylinder and pulled out the assembly. Compared them. Guess what?
The only thing that was extra was this small little plug and the internal assembly held its secret, there is an extra copper plate which had 2 contacts on the chip that gave this old assembly an extra plug. Everything else was the same. Let me show you how they look.



Do you guys see the difference. Observe the middle copper plate. The old one on left had it while the new one was missing that.

Pulling these plates one by one I landed here


Pulling out the brown plastic casing threw out 2 metal ball bearings and some springs. 2 springs per plate. So I realized the metal bearings let the turn to positions and the springs let the plates push in and out touching the designated contacts based on key position.



I swapped each part carefully and refit it inside the new cylinder. "Its a success"

Since I was working inside the cabin and the paint was pending for the door inner parts I went ahead with it.

Originally the plan was to paint it black but I later decided chocolate shade suits better and would not make it look dusty in future like black would do. ( who would care anyway. No one gets to see these except me when I open the door pads )



Engine bay

The first thing to come out and get a new life was the valve cover and the gasket.



I could not stand this grease and dirt. It had to go immediately.

My secret - Dish cleaning liquid + vinegar + tooth brush and sand paper + plain water.



Masked and painted



To match the look, engine bay and under side of the hood was painted to chocolate brown and the valve cover was refit.


Refinished some parts In the bay. I was always fascinated with the colorful ignition wires that I have been seeing in Japanese / Honda street racing cars in lot of posts and videos from many years.

Beautiful and colorful ignition cables


I'm working on the distributor right now and many updates are on the way.
Stay tuned for more coming soon.

[SA-G13B]

Originally Posted by mod_freak

I'm working on the distributor right now and many updates are on the way.
Stay tuned for more coming soon.

Hey Mod_Freak, this was an amazing restoration. While we’ve moved on to times where having a 20-30L sedan/SUV is common, seeing someone restore a car which played a big role in defining the domestic car scene is a happy sight.

Your relentless drive to restore ‘EVERY’ part was fun to read about

I don’t understand why this thread didn’t get more attention, especially since Esteem was the first love of many!

Cheers.