Cibaru

What is the project? Take a Subaru WRX 2004 and put a Honda Civic 1992 SI body "on top of it". I've done this project from January to April 2010 with a budget of 5500$ CAD.

Start



Cost: 1950$ CAD


Subaru up and running


Why the body swap and not the mechanical swap? For the geometry and the strength of the Subaru chassis. All the measurement was done to respect a tolerance up to 1/16 everywhere.




New rocker panel and door jam. This is stronger than the original one, there is a 1x1 (1/8) square tube inside and an angle bar 2x1 (1/8) to complete the box of the rocker panel.


The reinforcement was necessary since the Honda is weaker than the Subaru. I made it with 2x1 (1/8) steel tubes. *This was the most discussed thing about this build. With more than 15 years of experience in bodywork and I’ve done a lot of wrecked car over the year, I can still tell you the same thing as when it was build, it’s very strong. If you don’t believe me, go find the number about how much pressure is needed to bent a 2x1 (1/8) tube. I’m not here to convince you but if you can read facts, you should have no problem about it.




The original wheels of the Subaru were too bent to be repaired. I buy these for 200$ with new tires.


I was looking to use the Honda interior, the time needed to do it was not worth it.


Front fender work. The Subaru have a wheelbase shorter than the Civic, exactly 1.9 inch.


Orignal Subaru.




I was looking to NOT install the scoop but all the piping will be a nightmare and I’ll never remove the reinforcement beam bumper to install a FMIC. *Talk about safety, people remove these and after say to me that my 2x1 (1/8) interior reinforcement is not enough… go figure!


I decide not to pay for the paint shop because I don't care about the small imperfection. The paint is urethane with a flattening agent.

























Video, sorry about the music, it’s too loud; I wasn’t the one who mixed it so put your volume down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMj-vqR_4is

I have done 4600 km with the car and sold it in July 2010.

Yannick

93egSLEEPER

im impressed with this... will definately keep up on the progress.

riS.I.R

This is awsome man, now you got that suby rumble in a hatch. Kudos to u for attempting it and it actually looks good.

D16SiHatch

wow. just wow. that thing is 100% mother*uckin awesome. this is the type of thread many of us dream about at night lol.

so you just dropped a civic shell on top of what was left of the suby's running gear? is that fairly accurate? nifty that you decided to put the civic dash back in it, but wouldn't it almost be cooler, not to mention easier, if you just used the suby dash. i mean then it would interface with the cabin harness and everything with no trouble.

and are you doing like all this work yourself or what? i just can't believe with all that's going on there you were able to have such nice lines and gaps with the doors. you'd really never know from the exterior that it was anything other than a stock civic. but i mean i'm sure that was the plan right lol. either way, mad props dude. wish i had the ***** to try somethin like this.

anywho, i will most definitely be keeping an eye on this thread

raidacaipo

wow just amazing! cant wait for updates

D3vin

I have subscribed to this thread. ^_^ Can't wait for the results! And something I don't understand, the car is going to be AWD right?

DVDr

iTrader: (2)

Awesome work. Only out of Quebec.

Anon51

wow thats all i can say.

TylerB

My dyslexia saw "Civic powered Subaru". Glad it wasn't, nice build

Cibaru

Thanks all!

D16SiHatch, i use the orignal Subaru dash. The reason why I was thinking about the Honda is to have the most realistic Honda look... That right about the shell, all the frame is subaru including the firewall and the rear shock tower. And yes I've done 99,9% of the work by myself! My dad help with to put the windsheild and that it!

D3vin Yes AWD and of course powered by the flat 4 turbo, 227 hp stock! To be more easy to understand, imagine a Subaru WRX 2004 with a different look and some weight lost and this is my project!

DVDr We have maple sirop too, but we also have an unusual Civic

ek_jap

that is amazeing bro i am subscribing to this thread

acake em1

... do work son!

BIGHONDA1

DAM THAT CAR IS SICK!!! what gave you the idea for this build, BIG TIME PROPS, now that a hybrid hahaha good **** i cant wait to see more pics

D16SiHatch

just noticed your name, how clever lol. you and civette will get along nicely lol

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/corvette-powered-ls1-civic-h-b-my-project-i-thought-i-would-share-2004368/

shocker911

looks nasty as hell man :TU:

eghatch420

OMFG, this is a dream come true! Can you post more pictures and info?!?!

Cibaru

BIGHONDA1 I don't know when or why exactly, I’m always thinking about stuff. I've done other project in my past and this one was challenging since is more body swap than mechanical. For me it was easy since my father own a body shop for the past 35 years and I've be working on car for nearly 15 years already. The reason why I’ve done this project at this time is because I was needed to focus my mind on something specific for a while. Why the Civic 1992-1995? Since I saw it in TV in 1991, I fall in love with the shape of the car. I had 5 already! Why a Subaru, only the name is enough to persuade you! When I had finished all the planning, the measurement and all the body part was in place, I've got bored!

D16SiHatch I saw that thread a long time ago, nice build! I find that Cibaru was the most significant word to describe my project.

Cibaru

D16SiHatch I put one picture for the gap! All the car is like this picture!

eghatch420 I put 2 pictures for answering your question!

D16SiHatch

curious, did you measure the wheelbase before going through with this? cause i imagine if the wheels were even an inch closer together or further apart it probably wouldn't look right within the wheel wells. either way, you lucked out cause they seem to fit in there quite nicely.

Always_BROKE

My mind is blown!

Cibaru

D16SiHatch Good point! Look closely at the front fender! (I put 4 pictures) In fact, I had to use two front fenders and I had 10 different pieces welded together! The wheelbase of the Subaru is shorter than 1.9 inch. The front bumper will be longer to match the wheelbase. Two numbers was important, the wheelbase and the wide of the car. It's not the same but hey, that was the challenge in the project!

-Gambit-

amazing work

Koopa Troopa

Does it have DCCD?
It's be all that is awesome if it did.

D16SiHatch

that's just incredible. i never even noticed anything odd about the fenders. if you hadn't posted pictures and mentioned it was actually numerous pieces welded together i would have never known. now maybe they're not but from the pics they sure seem to be pretty flawless. kudos man. very well done.

Cibaru

Koopa Troopa No, this option is for the STI model with the 6 speed and has a different system. If I wanted a STI, my budget will get more like 12000 than the 5300 I put in it! The STI models are very rare and pricy here in Québec! Maybe later I will put the STI drivetrain but for now, I just want to enjoy my project!

D16SiHatch If it can fool the Honda fan, I happy! The bodywork is very good, If I'm happy with it and I work on bodywork for the past 15 years, it's mean straight!