The EF9

[Afx31]

That would be amazing, thankyou!

[Afx31]

So since putting the drivers seat in, it has ruined the smell as the car as I'm assuming theres a mouldy smell on it. Before renting one of those fancy seat cleaners I decided to use some laundry soap + hot water and give the seat a good scrub, whilst doing passenger seat as I was there.

I contacted the previous owner to try find out what air fresheners he used as I really liked the smell of the car, reminded me of sitting in some Honda's at garages I've visited in Japan before. He reckons this was the last one he used, so I ordered a bunch on eBay and left them in the car for a few weeks. It somewhat smells like it used to, however I'm thinking the original smell was a mix of a few air fresheners.

(You may notice the replacement OEM EF9 steering wheel is already fitted however I hadn't fitted the horn button as I needed to check for the center of the column, I'll address the wheel fitted in the next post)

20201210_093502 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20201210_100205 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

Little fan to help air out the interior whilst I'm working inside..

20201210_100124 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

Recently I had to move one of my wagons, spare EF9 shell and a HEAP of parts from my dads old place as he moved, I came across a few OEM bits which I'll be swapping into the car to neaten it up, including the OEM gearknob too. So heres to a non cracked washer bottle lid.

20201210_101938 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20201210_102058 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

Few weekends ago I washed the EF9 and actually took it out for a drive for some breakkie/coffee with some oldschool Honda mates which we do every now and then. It was nice to cruise down the motorway in the EF9, seat reclined back pumping the tunes. I'm still suprised to how well the B16A goes compared to my B18C in the Civic (although it doesn't spin tyres into 3rd).

Was a good time to reflect on the car so far and think of what is to come of it. As I've mentioned before I plan to return it to OEM with a few mods (Restomod I think some call it), I definitely want to return to the original grey one day. I'm thinking of raising my wagon so I could move the GAB SS coilovers from that (which were originally in the Civic) into this, allowing me to adjust the height correctly and arn't completely blown. I'd like to get the leaking steering rack sorted and put PS back in, followed by fixing the non-blowing AC.

Would also like to hunt for some Honda Access OEM goodies, I really do like the Honda Access wooden steering wheel + gearknob, with the dark black interior I feel they are nice highlights. Also I plan to install my gathers rear speakers as well! Lets see how 2021 goes for the car!


20201230_221250 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20201230_221136 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

[Afx31]

Finally got around to putting on my new OEM EF8/9 steering wheel. At first I wasn't sure how I'd like it, but since driving it a few times it's definitely a nice touch. Bit thicker than the OEM ED civic wheels. As well as this, I added a old OEM ED civic gear knob. According to my sources, the ED and EF9 gearknobs were the same and going off the google images I can find that definitely seems true. If someone can confirm if this is true or not feel free.

I prefer the feeling of the OEM knob vs the Skunk2 type r metal one that was there, however you can notice a difference as it's not weighted, shifting feels a bit more clunky. Theres also a Skunk2 short shifter in there, I plan to get a DC2 VTiR OEM shifter as thats a dual bend but black.

Before:

20201210_095642 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

After:

20210116_162634 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20210116_162602 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

I also took this drivers sun visor from my spare EF9 shell as it has the Japanese writing on it, and the one in my current EF9 is plain. Definitely a nice touch to this specific car.

20210116_180135 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


Since buying the car I've had this issue where I could drive it for a short/long period of time, turn it off and then it won't start again for another few hours. After discussing with a few mates, it seemed the main relay was the first area to go to. Thinking some of the old solder had possibly cracked, with the heat affecting it. So the plan was to remove the old solder and lay down some new solder. Looking at the photos now, I feel like I could of done a better job of resoldering the relay however this was my first time soldering on a circuit board, so I think next time I'll pull it out and fix it up. Having said this, I then took it out the following day to a cars and coffee and it started every time, so I'd like to think I've fixed that non starting issue.


20210116_165126 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20210116_170402 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr


20210116_172702 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr

And heres a basic photo of it out and about at a cars and coffee at the Benzin Cafe in Dural, popular spot but limited parking so we were in the underground carpark.


20210117_114435 by Will Mitchell, on Flickr