[EFB055]

Finally decided to give the wagon it's own thread.

Anyway, i flew interstate to pick this up a few months back now off a mechanic who told me it had a blown motor. It's one of the tidiest original wagons i've seen in Australia. They're super rare here, and only came in one trim spec (the RTX - 4wd twin carb, manual only and all came with manual mirrors/steering/windows but an electric sunroof) and were only sold between 88 and 89. Some pics from a friend who went to look at it for me before i flew down:

When me and my mate arrived, the thing damn fired right up. I checked over it and the oil level was really high, but apart from that everything else looked really well serviced. So we took off heading back north on our 12 hour drive home.

We made it about 15 minutes in before it started pumping bulk oil smoke out the back. Not a good start, haha. So i pulled into a local parts shop and did a kerbside oil change, I was banking on the culprit being the oil level causing it to burn:

Luckily it ran mint after that, and it was literally smooth sailing for the remaining 11hrs and 45mins haha.

I haven't bought licence plates for it yet, but i'm thinking EEP055 to match the theme i've got going with my other ED/EF's haha. It's a shame that i'll lose the originally issued licence plate because it's registered interstate.

 

[EFB055]

I've lived with the wago for a few months now and got to know it's flaws and figure out what my goals are with it. I've decided i want to spec it similarly to a RTI trim (same spec as my white sedan) which means EFI, 1.6L and electric everything. The factory carb setup is suffering from the typical cold start issues that are starting to plague ED's over here, and it really needs the extra displacement of the 1.6 (currently 1.5) to get it moving.

So i've started hoarding parts and will dive into the conversion in the coming weeks/months. So far i found a set of CRX alloys for it, which were actually a factory option for the wagon, and i think they look mint:

Over the christmas break me and my mate road tripped back down interstate to pick up a motor from a Concerto that another mate was wrecking (pictured here in his shed... only pic i have of it lol):

These come with a d16z3 which is basically a D16a6 but with a unique head casting that has provisions for a mechanical fuel pump which is left unmachined (because they're EFI). They're good for 88kw/120hp, which i think is a little higher rated compared to the US d16's because they came with a high flowing 4-2-1 header. Trouble is, my wagon has the 4-1 header which would mean it would be rated the same as the US's D16a6 108hp, because Concertos high flow header does not clear the RT transfer case. Luck was on my side however, as an RT specific 4-2-1 factory header popped up on Yahoo auction japan which shifts the 2-1 assymetrically to one side to clear the gearbox and boost power by +12hp.

I borrowed a trailer and we hit the road, of course it felt poetic to take the wagon on the adventure to pick up it's new heart:

Before we left i checked over the coolant lines, the timing belt and water pump and everything looked mint. Despite being nearly 40°C it did the 7 hour trip down without a hiccup. I parked it up next to another mates ED sedan that he bought for 100 bucks haha:

Wasn't long after that we pulled all the bits out of the Concerto:

Having a hoist certainly makes short work of things. It's a shame these Concerto's are mostly used as parts cars here, they're actually quite well built compared to the ED. Far more solid feeling, and unique. Anyway, loaded UP:

Tell you what, loaded up with 2 people on board and a boot full of parts, this little 1.5 was working HARD hahaha.

Also there is SO MUCH GLASS in these little things, you can literally not escape from the sun. I brought along a bunch of rags to use while we were ripping the motor out, and we ended up wearing the rags because they were long sleeves and protected our arms from the sun lol. AC + tint is going to be a must when this thing gets back on the road.

Anyhow, watch this space as i start cleaning up the motor and getting the bits together to swap her in.

 

[drtalon123]

You keep the coolest damn cars alive, great stuff! Good luck with the work, ill be following along!

 

[Oldcivicjoe]

That wagon is AWESOME! Can't wait to see how everything goes, ill be following along. 😁