Reyes

iTrader: (1)

This is part build thread. And part history of this car. After owning it for 14 years, I felt it was time to document everything in one place. I’ll start with a brief history, then I will begin updating with the current progress on the car.

HISTORY:
I purchased this car in the spring of 2002 for $2,500. It has always been a California car and has zero rust anywhere. Originally this was a commuter car that slowly began to get modified. Unfortunately many of my old photos have been lost over the years.

2002-2003
Single Cam, minor bolt-on pieces, commuter car.

2004
1.8LS Engine with B16 Trans. Minor bolt-on pieces and still being driven 90 miles a day.

2005-2006
B16 with 11:8 bottom end, ported head and all of the bolt on items that you would expect. 15” Sprint Hart CPR wheels, Cusco roll bar, SIR rear seats Apexi World Sport coilover’s.

2007/early 2008
This is when things start to get fun. In the spring of 2007 I purchased a 98 ITR and began attending HPDE events. Very soon after I decided that the Civic was going to be a track car. I soon began selling off most of the nicer parts and using the money to upgrade the suspension and brakes. The car was being stored at my dad’s house 80 miles away so work was limited.

2008
Laid off from job and everything was put on hold.

2009
Still out of work, moved back home and was able to work on the car a little bit. Took the car to the track for the first time. Regamaster wheels, Zeal coilovers

2010
As we were getting more Honda guys to the track. A few of us were asked to help create a Time Trial series for FWD cars. A few months later HFF Challenge was born. Rota wheels

2011
HFF Challenge had its first season and the car continued to change. Money was still very tight, so it was more about preventative maintenance. Later in the year was hired by Eibach Springs. Enkei RPF1 wheels

2012
The car continued to evolve, but the focus was on becoming a better driver. Changes to the car were minimal and I attended as many events as possible. 949 Racing Wheels. Changed to the Eibach Multi-Pro R2 coilovers

2013
After a lot of track days, I finally ditched the b16 block and stepped up to an ITR bottom end, along with a few other changes the car was really beginning to come together the way that I had wanted for a long time. The car had reached a point that I needed a truck and trailer, but didn’t have one yet. Kosei K1 wheels

2014
My track days were limited. But I continued to work on the car as much as possible. PCI Rear wing, 4” side skirts and front splitter were added. Sold my ITR and bought a truck and trailer. TE37SL wheels

2015
This was the year that I finally began to take everything a bit more serious. More safety equipment and data logging capabilities. And proper suspension setup so I could focus on hitting new goals (endurance racing). In July of 2015 an ignition issue sidelined the car for a bit. During this time my father was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and everything put aside to be with, and take care of him.

2016
In February of 2016 my father passed away from Pancreatic Cancer. This was a major reality check and while my life is forever changed. It has also been motivation to chase my goal of one day competing in a wheel to wheel environment with this car. The NASA Endurance series is where I would like to land with the hopes of one day making it to the 25 hour of Thunderhill. While that is still a bit away, all changes to the car are now being done with endurance racing in mind. I will continue to compete in HFF Challenge and hopefully attend a few Global Time Attack events, while working to get my NASA Competition license.2017 – Got the ITR motor re assembled with new ring/bearing and ended up going to with flat face Supertech valves. Had the car re-tuned and from the first day out, something just seemed “off” with the car. It was down on power and sometimes under load the ignition would break up and misfire like crazy.

2018 - Found a bad connection in the Coil on plug conversion. Found a new tuner that went through the entire car and spent almost 9 hours on and off the dyno. The car ended up making about 204hp. And have amazing since then.

2019 – just drove the car as much as my schedule would allow for. Changed to an AEM CD7 dash. And purchased the re-released 15x8 Spoon wheels. Intermittent issue with the car not wanting to start. Started putting together parts to build a B16.

2020 -began making a push to get the car ready for the new NASA TREC series. Then Covid happened... Most events in SoCal were cancelled for the first have of the year. My work schedule went crazy, and I took most of the year off.Had an axle fail that thrashed one of my spoon calipers. After a lot of sanding/grinding and new seals. The caliper is still being used today. Issue with the car randomly not starting continued.
New Damper
Front and rear roll center adjusters
New rear camber kitNew tie rods to reduce Bumpsteer
December 2020 was the final HFF Challenge event. It was merged with S2K Challenge to create HTAC. (Honda Time Attack Challenge)

2021 – I did the first few HTAC events of the year, but my work schedule didn’t allow for much free time. Plus, I just need to take a break from the car and figure out what I really wanted to do. Didn’t touch the car for almost 7 months. Went to get the car ready for a test day and it would start. You could jump start it and it ran fine. But would start on its own.
That brings us to a few months ago when things started getting good.
Got tired of chasing gremlins in what was left of the OEM chassis harness. So, I decided to go to a modern PDM to supply power. It has no fuses and programable channels to power whatever you need.

While I was rewiring the car, I decided to put back some of the things I’ll need for endurance races. (Headlights, Rain light, wipers etc.)

2022 - Finally got my B16 block back with Supertech internals. Should have the head back anytime, so now I’m gathering everything to swap the B16 back into the car and if all goes well, 3 of us will be driving a 15-hour endurance race at Willow Springs at the end of April with Lucky Dog Racing league.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry to hear about your father passing.

However, the car looks amazing, and it'll be awesome to see where you take it.

Bently_Coop

Car looks awesome. Great work so far.

Scott.

iTrader: (1)

in for this. That 2014 look is 10/10 sir.

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys!

Since the car is currently away having the roll cage done. I have been working to clean, organize and get everything ready so I can begin re-assembling the car as soon as it comes back.

All nuts and bolts have been re zinc coated. Putting a car back together with everything clean is a good feeling. As you will soon see, I have some OCD issues..

Scott.

iTrader: (1)

^ dats some SHG shiz right dare

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Working within the industry definitely has it's perks. Because Gram lights wheels is a sponsor of HFF Challenge, I was able to get my hands on a set of their new 57Trancend wheels. 15x8 +32

I am still keeping the TE37's though.

StreetLethaleg6

Sorry for your loss. Badass car, def in for this.

JoshTheJerk

Your car makes my pants move

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Thanks!



Initially I was not planning to replace the harness. But the age of the stock piece is beginning to show. The harness has been cut/modified and every so often gives me issues.
I was looking to purchase a new OEM harness, cut it open and unpin anything that I didn't need, but the OEM harness is discontinued and doing that would take a lot of time and cost more than going this route.

So I went for the other option of purchasing a Rywire harness. All of the wires and plugs are new. I will leave this as "un-tucked" as possible to allow access to wires when needed. I will also be using a Rywire charge harness and Ground wire set to ensure that everything is new and in good condition. I am not a fan of electrical issues. and with some of the other changes that are coming, it made sense to replace the harness now.

Jackson

Man, 2003 was an awkward year.

I know we talk all day at work but stoked to see you document your build. Subscribed!

scamp91ex

sub'd!

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Thank you. It's going to be good. It is going to be the way that I have always wanted it.

Thanks, I think? haha

HAHA!
2003 in Lancaster I should have had some 17" Tenzo wheels and Altezza tail lights.

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

I have started to disassemble and clean everything while the car is still gone. I will no longer be using the ported B16 head and recently picked up a 96 ITR head from a friend. This head will stay OEM, except for the Eibach valve springs

I had the head vacuum checked and resurfaced, then went through the chambers with a Dremel tool to clean out most of the old carbon build up. Since there is no heater core in the car, I have plugged the water port in the head.

Since the valve springs have been used, I had them tested to make sure they are still within the design specs before sending them out for WPC Treatment. The cams will also be sent out for WPC.

93allmotorcoupe

Keep doing your thing Reyes.

Looking forward to seeing the progress

njn63

Sorry to hear about your dad.

Car looks great. Looks like a Lotus Elise diffuser in the 2014 picture? Did you notice any difference with that? I have one of them hanging on my wall that I've debated putting on the car.

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Guys!

Yes it is a Lotus diffuser. I could not feel any difference whatsoever. In fact there is some information out there that actually show the design is surprisingly poor and can allow air to flow backwards and go underneath the car. The size is great and can be fitted to the car with very little work. So it is more of a cosmetic piece on these cars. A friend of mine had one on his CRX and after doing some homework he pulled it off of his car.

clayton bigsby

iTrader: (1)

nice, this may be the first build thread i follow on h-t in YEARS...

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

This part arrived today. More will come on this once the motor is back in and I get to the cooling system updates.

Very nice piece!

...esteban

Bizarre dinglehopper you got there. I assume mounts to cylinder head?

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, it replaces the stock water neck on the head to relocate the radiator fill point. I am going to be using a smaller radiator that is pushed forward and ducted. so this will give me more freedom up front so I don't have to worry about the cap being too low.

...esteban

Me likey. Be sure to document that process for us.

Eddie

Who moved this to GDD?

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

????
I thought I put in the right place since there are other track car builds here.

Reyes

iTrader: (1)

So staying on target with the updates.

It is common knowledge that the B-series Distributor is the weak point when doing any type of track driving. Since I have had no shortage of issues in the past few year, I decided to make the change to a coil on plug setup.

1. AEM Coil on Plug kit to bypass the weak point. This should help get a better spark too.
2. AEM adjustable cam gears. (the teeth on my old Spoon gears were worn an the belt jumped teeth)
3. AEM Fuel pressure regulator.