While not completely Fit related, my new helmet arrived yesterday. It was time to retire the old HJC AR-10 (SA2005) and after some shopping around and trying on the latest and greatest (and some crap), I purchased the Sparco Air Pro RF-5W. I absolutely loved the fit of the Bell GTX.3 (and a $1000 Stilo... Ooof) but the went with the Sparco as it was equally as comfortable, offers more ventilation, a taller viewing port, front locking visor, pre-drilled drink port and installed HANS posts, removable and washable padding, plus it was ~$150 cheaper. All things that are critical, price aside, for staying cool and comfortable in the heat. Both are SA2015 and FIA8859-2015, making the all important safety aspect a wash. Time to go karting and try it out.

 

Over the past month I've been working with SuperPro on developing polyurethane bushings for our USDM GD Fit. We aren't quite there for plug-and-play installation just yet, but yesterday I fitted the latest of what they sent over, front control arm bushings. The rears (SPF4261K, 2* offset caster) took a bit of work on the lathe to get sized correctly, though the fronts (SPF3460K) went straight in. I did split the front bushings in half to ease installation, which makes no difference on performance once installed as they fit within the subframe. The plan and hope is that in the coming weeks SuperPro will have a corrected rear control arm bushing dedicated to the USDM model that is available to everyone (without needing a lathe). And I will create a dedicated thread announcing such.

So, how do they feel? Was it worth it? Is there a noticeable difference behind the wheel vs stock? Yes! Steering and suspension feel is greatly improved and the car feels much more planted than before. This is without mentioning that bushing replacement negates replacing the entire control arm assembly, which is currently the only other option and at a 3-4x higher cost. If you have access to a lathe, or know someone that does, I highly recommend upgrading now. If not, hold on.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking about when I was inspecting my compliance bushings the other day. Keep me posted on this.

 

What lathe is that?

 

If I read Chinese I could tell you. It's a lathe/mill combo that's probably 20-30 years old. Still works well and performs without a hitch.

 

im confused you had to machine the front bushings to fit in or the rear?

 

Small update - Fit progress has been fairly slow lately, more important life stuff and other toys have taken precedence. I recently purchased a Creality CR-10 FDM printer and have been spending time teaching myself Autodesk's Fusion 360 and ReMake, as well as Cura, in order to use it. Like others who have reviewed the printer, I'm floored with the value and how well this $400 Chinese-made unit works! My first sample print was the Ultimaker test robot, printed with Creality's 1.75mm PLA and recommended factory settings with a 0.2mm print layer height, the quality is damn impressive right out of the box! The print shown is directly after printing with no touch ups or working and only took 29 minutes to complete. Height is just 34mm - very small. Minimal effort is needed to have the model be flawless.

So why did I buy a 3D printer and what are my plans for it? Will I design and make car parts with it? He he... I've always wanted to own a printer but have been incredibly leery of FDM units, so my interests have been in SLA or SLS units. Unfortunately I couldn't justify the price just yet on something to play with for either of the later and the quality/value of FDM printers have risen high enough lately that it became a no-brainer. Especially as a first purchase.

 

Seeing as Honda doesn't list a part number for our torsion beam bushings (they recommend replacing the entire beam...), I recently took a flier and picked up these:
Since mine were shot and I'm waiting on something poly to materialize I figured I couldn't go wrong for $24 each. The plan was to poly fill the Febest's but after un-boxing I found that they're pretty solid as-is (for being rubber) and decided to leave them be for now. Initial impressions are very positive, I can actually feel the rear end now and handling has been improved with some inside rear wheel pickup noticed under hard cornering. Can't wait for the next auto-x!

The Febest bushings were purchased in the States but they are made for the JDM/ROW GD Fit, not our USDM models. Somewhat unsurprisingly there are differences. While both rear torsion beams have a 65mm ID for the bushing, the USDM Fit uses a 14mm cross bolt and the JDM uses a 12mm cross bolt. Thus the Febest bushings had to be drilled out with a 9/16" drill bit to accommodate the 14mm cross bolt. FYI for anyone looking to take on the task.

Replacing the bushings was fairly straightforward. Drop the fuel fill tube, remove both beam mount cross bolts, remove the rear springs, unhook the exhaust hanger just ahead of the torsion beam and remove the two bolts at the rear most exhaust joint. That provides enough room to articulate the beam up and down to access the bushings without having to unhook the brake lines. I used an air hammer to drive out the shitty old bushings then used a cup and die to draw in the new ones, then put it all back together.

 

Here's some perspective... I put a set of BFG Sport Comp 2 tires on the Fit today and while rolling them across the shop couldn't pass up a photo showing the differences between the 195/55r15 BFG and the set of Hoosiers off of the early '90s IMSA GTO Camaro it was parked next to. Talk about mechanical grip!

 

wow crazy would have never thought about changing that lol

 

The torsion beam bushings? You should take a look at yours, they're pretty important.

 

Finally found the time to string up the Fit this morning, albeit not in an ideal location and with some makeshift slip plates but at least it's done! With my single car garage it was a tight squeeze and turned out to be more alignment yoga than anticipated. If anyone is curious that is S-bent 1/4"-20 all-thread and two small chains used to hold the bar in place.

 

any new updates?

 

Sorry to hear about your trouble with the c pillar bar. I also wanted to say thank you for the picture of the CDV delete, it will very helpful when I go to do that. 😀

 

Sorry for the delay guys, I've been elsewhere! I still have the Fit although it's been relegated to DD duties only lately. I did add a dead pedal some time ago, but that's about it... I think.

Dev - no worries, the bar has been sitting in a corner in my garage. Maybe I'll get to it soon? I should, it's on my mind now. And you're welcome on the CDV delete info, hopefully it comes in handy!

 

May I ask where you got the dead pedal from? I thought Zeta had the only option out there and it was discontinued?

 

It's a used Zeta that I bought from another member on here.

 

Thanks - unfortunately doesn't look like many Fit owners in Toronto have this (or are willing to sell it).
Will just have to keep an eye out!

 

Not much to update lately other than picking up a used Thule roof rack and kayak racks now that the Fit has been relegated to "catch all" duty. I waxed the roof and put down a few strips of 3M clear bra under the foot pad and latch areas in the effort to help the paint last a bit longer. We'll see how well it helped when winter rolls around and the rack comes off.

 

Now that the weather has started to turn and the mornings are colder, I have been hearing more and more valve noise on start up- time for a service. The rockers weren't terribly out of spec and oddly enough I found the exhaust valves to be too tight. Someone had adjusted them to 0.15 mm, not the 0.25 - 0.30 mm spec. So everything got properly dialed in and buttoned back up. It was nice to see that the top end and timing chain guides are clean after 152k miles, no signs of abuse or PCV issues. With having not received any service history with the car when I bought it (in spite of it being a one-owner...), I also replaced the spark plugs, serpentine belt, changed the transmission fluid, cleaned the throttle body, and cleaned the K&N air filter. Should be good for another 100k!