PaulS

Hi Stu, I sent you a PM with bits list

AFT arrived & I filled up just past minimum to test. All gears used up & down lots of times. Drive & reverse seem to work fine with no issues. Park & neutral also seem to work fine and changes between all are fine. Structure straight enough now and ready to weld - broken washing machine (which I had to fix before car work according to she who must be obeyed...) got in the way of welding this week..... Time to have a word with Stu about the rebuild bits needed....and arange collection....

Are you using the same original jets or have you replaced them, perhaps with narrower jets? If OK, disconnect the pipework from each of the jets in turn and observe the pressure feeding the jets. If that pressure looks equal (and good) to each jet, the problem must be in teh jets themselves, but more likely you will find that you have unequal pressure. Check any low pressure tubing lines have not been kinked or trapped - and that they are fully connected throughout with no leaks/

New fuse gingerly fitted, but no problems. Car starts and runs, no further leaks from anywhere that I can see or hear. No noises (once replacement power steering fluid got through the pump). The gearbox seems to work fine - goes into all gears forward & back with all normal function (observed by the jacked up front hubs spinning only as expected) but no noises, rattles etc - in fact it sounds as smooth as normal pre-accident.. Not enough ATF now it has been through the gears and my replacement supply has not yet arrived. So, it is now parked up awaiting more AFT-U to arrive before I try further gearbox use. I reckon that I will give it at least 50 re-starts and 150 gearbox movements but assuming it is all OK, I will do the welding next week and if that is OK, a trip to Honda HQ for bits beckons.... Looking good...... but still a long way to go with everything crossed......

Further progress in the last couple of days: I have now looped back the power steering pipes & refilled (to min level!) - no leaks, auto transmission lines are looped back - strangely the ATF level - despite loosing fluid - now looks fuller than before. However there is air in the pipes that needs to be worked out when I eventually start it. I have now also mounted my spare Mitsubishi rad & fan and connected that up - no water as yet as I still have not started the car. But I did find the cause of no electrics earlier this evening - I have blown the 100Amp fusable link so will find another tomorrow. Somehow I forgot to disconnect the battery before starting pulling wires to disconnect stuff....dumbo! Still some way to go, but assuming I can start up the car tomorrow, I should soon be able to determine whether the original fault is still there (and what it is) or whether it has disappeared as miraculously as it appeared ...

Progress today. Although it still does not look overly pretty underneath at present (if it ever will again....), the somewhat mangled rad support bar is now bent back into more or less the correct place and almost ready to weld up. But a dry fit with the front crash bar in place shows that I need to pull in the RH front chassis leg around 5mm. Can't work out how it moved as the crash bar came off cleanly and I had a heavy duty pull bar attached in its place the whole time I was bending & stretching metal. Must have been when I was using the heavy duty hydraulic spreader.... I will have a good go with my power puller tomorrow (or next dry day...). Not yet looked again at the electrics however although nothing else seems to work, the horn does (found that out accidentally!). How come??? Next time I will also fix / block / bupass all broken hoses and refil fluids, then lash up a temp rad & fan - and assuming it will start, see what happens! It will remain jacked up with wheels off. If all that works out , I will be calling at Honda 6 HQ for replacement bits....

Got the 10 ton spreader & pullers I was promised, plus a few mechanical gadgets and a farm jack, and although I have 2 x 10 ton pumps and a double pump from hydraulic car ramps, none of the newly borrowed stuff connects to any pump as the fittings are different. Spent time at Hydraulics places looking for adaptors but with no joy as yet. I have an old style Clarke pump (unidentified thread / connector as yet) and a new style Chinese pump (American fittings), both working fine but not compatable with the medium aged (industrial) spreaders. Will try further "hydraulics specialists" and a couple more friends tomorrow. Also I found a vertical kink in the bent support bar, just at a reinforced part, so I also rummaged around & found a decent sized length of scaffolding type tube that fits into one of teh ram ends I have (that end is almost made for this job as it fits nicely on upfolded bends) and a big sledgehammer to bend it back down (supported underneath by blocks of some sort either side of the bit to be bashed down).... Hopefully I will get the connectors I need tomorrow, or hire something - than have another good go with my hammering & ramming...

Thanks Pete. I guess you prove right in the unknown stakes.... I think the thing I thought was an oil leak from the rediator pipe is in fact a transmission cooler so I may have lost transmission fluid which will need a top up. Also need to repair teh power steering pipe and fill up again else I will be running a dry pump & will screw that up.... Also, although the battery is fine, it now seems that absolutely no electrics work.... guess I have disturbed some essential wiring or blown a major fuse that now also needs sorting. Guess I should have disconnected teh battery before unplugging connectors.... Off to get some more hydraulics pushers, pullers and adaptors tomorrow from a (fairly) local friend who used to have a body shop.... Lets get the structure straight else fixing mechanicals etc will be a waste of time ...

Still work in progress... I finally managed to get the broken radiators off today and cleared all the debris from the front of the engine so I could see what I need to do for a fix. Only a 7hr job due to nothing on the engine side being available to get at.... Surprisingly the aircon rad still held pressure until I undid a pipe connection. Most of the hose clips (type that spring together) had tabs missing so very difficult to move, but perseverance paid off. Luckily the oil leak was due to a damaged pipe to the broken oil cooler in the bottom of the rad. Only 1 bolt snapped off too! I had a good go at straightening out the rad support crossmember and have now got it 75% of the way back but still around an inch or so to go and then a lot of straightening needed. Need extra hydraulic bits.... But there is now enough space to start lashing stuff up to see what the remaining damage is. Jobs for next week: bypass the oil cooler, bypass the power steering, and put a spare Mitsubishi rad in temporarily, refill oil & water, and hopefuilly try starting & running to see what other problems might have occurred and whether the sudden drive problem is still there. No fan though unless I find a Kenlow hidden amongst my bits.... When I know the limit of the damage, and the root cause, and my ability to repair it (or not) I will make the decision to fix it or reluctantly scrap it... Can anyone think of anything I have missed??

Excellent job for small cost - well done!

As they are squashed,they are wedged against bits on the frontof the engine,. Pulling very hard upwards willl no doubt work - but I do not want to do damage to the things they are squashed against. I guess I will have to try the hydraulic separater / pry bar to move the rad crossmember away from the engine cross,member to give a bit of space to get the rads out.... Looking at the front structure, the very front bar behind the bumper seems to bolt in place so I will probably remove that and attach a solid piece of 4x2" steel box (or a RSJ) section as a strong point to mount the puller (and perhaps a winch or 2 if still struggling to bend back the rad crossmember), then use that puller in conjunction with the hydraulic seperator to yank forward the bent crossmember. Ongoing thoughts at present - things not to be done in the current rainstorms....

If I could find bolts to undo, I would think it a subframe and then simply change it. But as yet, I have found no bolts.... will know more when I have found a way to remove the mangled mess of rads that is greatly restricting view and access....

Got a power puller but first I have to remove the bent up rads so that I can see where to best attach the puller. I have removed the top 2 rad mounts but cannot see what if anything else needs undoing. A good tug does not pull the rad up.... or indeed move it at all, seems something(s) hidden down below is holding firm. How would one normally remove undamaged rads from an undamaged car? I can start mega heaving or butchery if needed but would like to simply undo stuff where I can... Guidance please. Thanks

It would suit a lot of people if the powers that be simply made each parking space at least 1.5 times larger - simultaneously reducing the floor loading....

I took my coupe in around 2 years ago to teh Honda dealer in Stockport but I am convinced they did nothing. No sign of anything being disturbed, no extra marks and none of the existing marks seemed altered....

I am just jealous....

I had a good look at the mess today. Bumper off, undertray plastic off (both a bit of a challenge with clips hidden by bent bits & other bits broken...), will put some pictures on whatsapp Still not sure about a fix due to the crossmember under the rads being well bent up and at least 3 spot welds ripped out on the RH side, Rads & fans stuck on front of engine! Known broken bits: Bumper, possibly fixable with some plastic welding Undertray, as above LH wheel arch liner, as above RH wheel arch liner - replacement needed Washer bottle with electrics Power steering bottom hose Power steering cooler piping water rad Aircon rad T piece on water hose going to jets on front bumper Serpentine belt shredding Unknown issues still to bottom out: Oil leak Chassis damage ??? Both fans jammed into front of engine so cannot check until free Using pry bars, I had a good go at bending back the rail under the rads but without any discernable movement. Need to work out how to remove the rads so I can get a good pull on that crossmenber with some heavy duty hydraulic puller.... Then, if feasible, see if the crossmember can be welded back in place...

Great job there Matt

Indeed I did have to put the brake on to engage Drive. There is another very solid wall behind so reverse was not an option (yes it is a tight parking space!) After much investigation, it appears there is a condition called "sudden unexpected accelleration" the cause of which seems still unexplained by anyone but I have now spoken to 2 other people who have experienced this problem, one in a Honda and one in a Mondeo. There was also a big issue with some Jeeps in the USA. However as the F1 start was immediately after I took my foot off the brake (normally a slight creep forward at this stage and all that I expected) and before I touched the accelleartor, I suspect the torque converter was locked up. I was unaware of raised RPM, but did not look at the rev gauge as the F1 start happened all to quickly, leaving twin wheel spin marks on my path!. Maybe I am wrong, but is there a solenoid of some sort which gives a signal telling the torque converter to lock? If there is, it could be that this signal was erroneously generated. When I finally managed to drive the car back up the scaffolding planks and back to its initial starting place, there was no issue with either noise or harsh accelleration, it drove normally (as normal as usual apart from spewing various fluids...) I have now rebuilt the wall (although some tidying up is required) and I need to replace the lomg overdue bottom ball joint on the Merc (now I need to use it!), then I will start looking at the damage on my Coupe in the hope that it is salvageable and that I can conclusively identify & remedy the cause of the issue along with all the other as yet unidentified damage. The bar under the radiator is badly bent back and I can see at least 3 spot welds that have ripped open. Guess this is what really hit the wall hard...

Would any of those suggestions for high RPM actually increase the RPM to above 3000? Such would be needed to give instant acceleration & wheel spinning I suffered... And what about the source of the loudish rumbling scraping sounds on tickover before putting it in gear - these noises still need identification (no - I do not have any recordings and they have now gone and the engine ran quietly normal again - oil spills out through broken pipe though, so I have not run it again since backing out of the broken wall. Would any ofthe suggestion account for the noises?

Most definitely much more than choke - ther is a 6ft streak of spinning tyre mark on my paving!. It was more like a full throttle take off.giving me less than 1 sec to react before hitting the wall. A definite WTF is happening moment.... Apart from shock (and sad about the damage to car & wall) , I am fine and unhurt.

Last used, yesterday, with no noticed issues, the coupe had a refuel & clean ready for a day out today. This morning, I started my coupe and heard a strange loudish rumbling scraping type noise but no other noticed symptoms. I cautiously put it in drive, foot on brake to see if the noise went away or not. It did not.... Took my foot off the brake and the car took off like a scalded cat wheel spinning along about 6 feet where it kindly attacked and pushed through my 4 brick high garden wall before I (and the wall) stopped it, both front wheels overhanging the drop into my rear garden with lots of broken bricks and dripping fluids. And no, I did not knowingly stamp on the accelerator.... As can be imagined, the front of my car suffered somewhat and it was beached with the longitudinal chassis rails sat on the strong remnants of my wall. 2 hrs later with the help of 3 strong neighbours, 2 trolley jacks, 2 scaffold planks, and a lot of heaving, I managed to gingerly drive the car back into its original parking spot - now no strange noises! But the bumper took a big hit, along with the lower front rail under the now V shaped rad. I have not done much investigating of the damage to front of the car as it was pouring down most of the day. However a cursory look showns the rad and lower rail pushed back at least 6 inches, with the fans now touching the engine, the top rail bent down around 45 degrees (made it difficult to open the bonnet), power steering gone with fuid leaking out through no doubt wrecked pipework. Will have to take off the bumper / grill to see more and assess the damage. Not that I feel lucky, but had that F1 start happened in a multi-story car park or near a bus queue etc, the outcome could have been disasterous. Now I have to assess the damage and consider fixing it all. But I really, really need to understand what happened to cause the initial noises and work out why the unintended F1 start... Any ideas anyone? I do not want to fix the damage only to have the same thing happen again with much more serious consequences elsewhere. Salvaging & rebuilding the garden wall will take priority (or so I am told!!!), followed by replanting the debris area.... But I have permission to take off the bumper and assess the car damage...

does the nail position count as sidewall damage or not?

Are you sure the thermostat is not stuck open - ie does the heater get warm quickly?

what a sad end though...