Drummerkid51

What’s up guys? I’ve been a member for a few years, but never got around to making a build thread for my hatch. I’ll try to summarize everything thus far, and I’ll try to be as detailed as possible once I get caught up to speed. First off, I want to thank everyone who has helped me these past few years to get the hatch where it’s at. I wouldn’t even have made it this far without the support of some awesome friends and my parents. My dad helped a ton with this thing, and my mom was very supportive, even though she told me many times how I was wasting my money. lol

So to start, I bought this in February of 2012. It had a spray painted black hood, some gnarly dents around the body, and a huge filter. Literally five minutes after pulling it into the driveway and turning it off, it wouldn’t start back up. That’s a pretty solid introduction to owning an 88-91 Civic, and I was stoked. Some info on the car. It’s a 1990 DX with a B18C1 engine and B17 trans running on a chipped (Crome) P72 ECU. The motor was rebuilt a few thousand miles before I bought the car. The only mods are some ARP head studs, an unknown intake, DC 4-2-1 header, and a custom straight-piped 2.25” exhaust that sounds worse than your weed-eater.

Some of you have probably seen my videos, but for anyone who hasn't and might be interested, here is my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/caseyhardman

Also, I apologize for the the photo quality. I had to steal some from Instagram.





A couple weeks later we decided to replace the rear drums.



After being tired of the nasty white paint in the trunk under the not-pictured box of two 10's (they're out, I promise) we went ahead and painted it black to try to clean it up. I'll eventually go back and repaint the interior.



As a graduation present from the pops, he got my car painted for me. (Spoiler alert: rust made a comeback)



I made the uneducated decision to buy Ebay coilover sleeves to replace the Skunk2 lowering springs that were on the car when I bought it. I corrected this once I realized how stupid that decision was.



At this point in time, I was running some hacked up Ebay-special shift linkage. It was move-in day for college and a bolt decided to make its way out of that linkage. Needless to say, 3rd wasn’t too happy with me. Once again, Dad saved the day and I was off to start my freshman year with the ol’ hatch.



After seeing a few with it, Dad and I threw on a Volkswagen MK3 lip. (I hit a stump later on and tore off the driver’s side, but it’s good again)



Found this dog toy at Walmart and hung it for fun. Hence the title.



Here is when things started getting ugly. I wanted to relocate the fuse box, so we figured it would be a simple task. Well, it ended up lasting all day and I quickly found out just how bad the wiring really was.



That one time I had green HIDs. It was cool at the time, but the tickets weren’t.



I saved up and bought myself some Hasport linkage. I always forget this is on there, but I’m so glad I got it when I did.



Around this time, we all had a local “guy” we would take our Honda work to, since we were still pretty new to everything. Well, I didn’t think much when he recommended a new starter, new clutch, and new linkage (I at least needed the last one..) but when this happened, it was time to stop putting so much trust in other people to work on the hatch. Ended up having a buddy replace the hub and studs, since those were shot.



Here are a couple wheel setups I went through. First is some plasti-dipped HXs, second is some Rota Group Ns (favorite setup so far), and some Konig Retracks.







Another sticky situation. I was up near school during the summer (two hours away from home) and heard a crack when doing a pull up a hill. Didn’t really know what to look for, but once I found it, I realized my sticky situation could’ve been much worse. I read about these cam gears breaking, but didn’t think twice. Luckily I was able to buy a cheap set locally that day so I could make it home. I snagged some clean OEM cam gears a few weeks later and haven’t had an issue since.





Remember my uneducated decision earlier? After doing a ton of research, I wanted to get something of quality, but something a little different than the standard Koni Yellows and Ground Control setup. While tried and tested, I had heard great things about Progress, so I went with their CSII coilover setup with a safe 350/350 front/rear spring rate.



Fast forward a month and I bought some shiny new Function7 lower control arms. The Blox ones were completely done. I did have an ASR subframe brace installed, but sold it for some reason. I plan to get another eventually and run a 24mm sway bar as well.





And here’s a shot on some Slips with huge tires that destroyed the horribly-ran headlight harnesses. (I’ll get back to that in a minute.)



Another issue I was running into was the pulley. Even at a respectable height, it would rub into the arm and just cut into it. One night I went down a small, steep hill and the pulley rubbed so bad, it shut the engine off. I thought it was about time for a CTR N1 pulley. No problems since.





I bought a rear disc swap off a friend and got around to finishing that little project a few months later. I had a daily by this time, so I didn’t have much motivation to work on it. After having some of the guys at work help me with some stubborn broken bolts, I got some new calipers, rotors, pads, and stainless steel braded brake lines for the front and rear. (Still need to put the front lines on though.) I also moved the headlight harnesses back into the engine bay and installed a new alternator. I recently replaced the battery as well. Long story short, this car has had some wiring/starting issues since day one, so I’ve been trying to eliminate as many variables as possible.









After owning an EP3, I got used to the shift **** being close to the wheel, so I bought an extension and a BWR weighted shift ****. I absolutely love it. I made the poor choice of buying a suede NRG wheel and short hub too, and quickly regretted that purchase.





A few months later, I got in a short kick of wanting to work on the hatch, so I upgraded the rear springs to 450lbs for some rotation. Feels amazing in the turns now.





Finally got around to installing the Innovative traction bar that had been sitting in my back seat for months, and I still need to get the car aligned. Pulls feel strong and solid now though.



As much as I liked the Acura steering wheel, it was way too big and bulky for such a small car. The solution? A 350mm leather Momo Monte Carlo. This wheel plus the suspension setup makes for a super fun car in the corners.



Here we are with where I’m currently at with this car. I bought a Level 1 harness from CJ’s Wiring, and my buddy is helping me fix and tuck the headlight harnesses as well as swap in the engine harness. Everything will be OBD1 and hopefully all wiring issues, as far as not starting/not holding a charge, will be eliminated. If not, we’ll have tackled a large majority of the possible issues. Along with the wiring, my other friend helped paint the valve cover and spark plug cover. I didn’t like the blue, sorry. I’m also trying to clean the bay as much as I can while there’s room. I’ll eventually paint the bay/under hood when I slap a turbo in there, but until then, this thing is being built for function.

sr20paisa

your youtube vids are effin sick !

Drummerkid51

Haha thank you! I've been slacking on those, but once I get the wiring fixed and it's running again, I'm going to get back to it.

Hasport

not bad for being in parkersburg

Drummerkid51

Hahaha well thank you!

Hasport

i say that because i know where parkersburg is and have been there many times

Drummerkid51

It's not a bad little town. Decent car scene. A lot of lifted trucks and Mustangs, so I'm trying to keep the old generation alive. lol My buddy Chase1Ratliff is down the road a few miles and has a pretty sweet CRX Si build going if you want to check his thread out!

Hasport

i remember parkersburg and marietta being decent places. the parkersburg mall ha ha memories

link to said thread?

EFvtec Yo!

I've enjoyed watching your youtube cruise vids for some time. Glad to see you posted a build thread on here.

Drummerkid51

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...-coco-3285581/

Drummerkid51

I figured it was about time. lol Thanks for watching! Should be some new content in the upcoming weeks!

Drummerkid51

Got a large chunk of the remaining original harness out and stripped last night. Ended up with a decent pile of excess crap.



Trying to go through the engine bay and remove any unused/unnecessary pieces to clean it up some. We also tried to hide a few vacuum lines on the driver side, as well as tucking the clutch cable under the intake manifold. Got almost all of the new harness plugged in. Only issue now is the thermostat housing doesn't have a sensor for the fan switch, so I'll have to find one that fits and get that working. Finishing up everything that we can tonight after work and other than the thermostat housing, we should be good to go. After we get it running and all of the electrical issues are taken care of, the engine and transmission are due for a much needed cleaning.

codybuRr

Nice build!

I have a 4 door and am going through a similar process, just finished a bunch of work.

Tucking the harness in an EF just seems like more of a pain than compared to newer vehicles.

Drummerkid51

Thanks! And right on! Yeah, it's been a long process going back through and fixing the mess that was in there. We've got everything but the pillar gauges hooked up. I let it run for a while last night. Now I'm running into my passenger outside corner/blinker not working, so we think it might be inside that socket. Also my reverse lights aren't working. Still a few things to get cleaned up, but she's almost there!

codybuRr

I just got back from test driving mine tonight.

Its amazing with all new suspension components.

The only issues I have left are a worn rubber intake mani plug that blocks coolant (manifold is from a b18b1, head is a b18a1) and the code 17 which is VSS. The VSS cable doesn't seem to want to seat all the way in the tranny because the tip has come out of the end of the cable.

The other two minor problems are the fan not kicking on which I think is a broken relay, and the dome light not coming on. I am not sure how to fix that issue since it's fuse is not blown but all the other components in the circuit work just fine.

I'll fix the manifold issue in the morning when the engine is cold.

Drummerkid51

Glad to hear you're enjoying it! My VSS plug is just hanging down since I'm still running a cable speedo. lol The previous fan setup on mine was a mess, and had a custom relay setup. I need to let mine run longer to see if mine kicks on as well. It might be wired in backwards, so I probably should do that soon. Not sure on the dome light issue. Electrical problems are a pain to begin with, but add in everything else working as it should in that circuit, and it becomes a hunt. Let me know what you find out on those issues!

kb8thekid

awesome build and if I can't find another 92 gsr, I would love to build a EF like this. in reading, I was glad you changed that pulley to the CTR one, almost lost my brother on the fwy when the stock one cut into the cross member arm and flung his EF into the wall. great build sir!

Drummerkid51

Holy crap, that's insane! Glad he's okay! And you should find an EF and build it. I'm sure it would've been easier to go with an EG or EK, but there's something about the older, square body styles I love. Thanks for checking it out!

codybuRr

Got a new rubber plug on the manifold this morning, filled the rad and now it is at the tire shop getting an alignment!

My buddy fixed the VSS i think, he was able to it to seat in just the right way with the clip holding in in place. I am just going to buy a new cable since they are cheap so that way i don't have it throwing a code.
Eventually, I am going hydro tyranny and hopefully electronic VSS

Drummerkid51

Right on! Sounds like it's coming together!

GreatWave

iTrader: (5)

Looking good man! If you ever get over to Athens you'll have to hit me up. I'm over here with my Teg and a buddy with a boosted ej hatch

Drummerkid51

Thanks! Feel free to add me on Facebook if you want. I don't really take the hatch too far out anymore, but once it's running reliably, I plan on going to some meets again and hitting up some fun roads, so I might make it your way!

codybuRr

So you got any updates for us???

Drummerkid51

Not much has changed, unfortunately. I started working a second job on top of my full time job, as well as keeping busy with both of my bands, so I haven't had much time to work on it. Although we did get the new harness installed and fixed the battery drain "issue". I'm an idiot and never had the alternator hooked up to actually charge the battery, which would in fact drain the battery pretty quick..

Here is how she sits right now. The reverse lights don't work and the outer passenger turn signal doesn't want to work, so we have a couple wires to mess with before I want to slave over the front bumper. Other than that and hooking up my pillar gauges, she starts right up and seems to be doing just fine. I do need to replace the IACV and the speedometer cable as well. It hasn't idled on its own since I bought the thing, and I'd like to know approximately how fast I'm going. I haven't forgot about the thread though. I've just been busy! Thanks for sticking around!

Drummerkid51

Sorry for the lack of posts guys. This two job thing is putting a damper on working on the hatch. Still haven't figured out why my right corner turn signal isn't working, and the reverse lights aren't working either. I have a couple things to try when I get some free time. I might be buying either wheels or some performance goodies soon, so this build is far from done. (Fixing rust, roof trim replacement, yada yada) So again, just want to let you guys know there will be more content. Life has just decided to get in the way a little bit. haha