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well time to start a thread and not be lazy. try to help others as ive been helped so much on h-t. had this 96 civic dx since 2010. Bought from some one who had the right idea on the build but used cheap parts. auto converted to manual. b20/b16 with gsr tranny. on some sweet chopped springs. What i did before it was stolen in colorado. b20/b16 stock internals dc header victor x mani chipped on chrome(now hondata) apexi exhaust tein full race coilovers eibach front sway and asr 32 mm rear sway integra rear discs skunk front/rear camber si seats.
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 04:12 AM.
car was stolen. amazingly recovered a month later. Minor damage or parts stolen. guys were idiots or kids. took the car to get fixed as I was at school at the time and didn't have a garage. They stole the ecu and chopped the engine harness when they pulled the rc injectors. Some shop in Colorado "fixed it" kind of crappy and was having problems after having a hondata installed with new injectors. Was not liking it and I felt like the car was tainted, so decide to start something ive never done. tear everything apart and geez what was i thinking. First thing I wanted was a better paint job, the owner before had it painted white (championship?) but from MAACO. Low quality some runs here and there, other places felt textured, and some places were flaking off. Began sanding to remove a vast majority of the white paint back to the factory black. LOTS of sanding and time on that one. Used orbitals, blocks, wheels, everything. Wasn't very fun especially the door jambs. Used 120 then stepped up to 220.
a little shaving or smoothing
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 04:25 AM.
Once I had removed most of the white paint and finished some filler work, I mixed up epoxy primer to shoot over the filler and some of the areas I went a lil too far down on and exposed metal.
then my ceiling decided to fall one day while I was at work
Once the epoxy cured I sanded with 220, then 320
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 04:29 AM.
since i did some body i dug deeper pulled the engine and found awesome stuff in there!!
after the engine was removed saw all the mounts were destroyed, oh well getting upgraded with hasport or innovative, not sure which route Im going or if there is really any big difference
not pictured but after all the rest of the components were removed (subframe, brake booster, etc) I degreased and began sanding the entire engine bay with 220
and picked up a si cluster and steering wheel. ex one is lame. and im not about 300 plus cluster for a sir or type r when all its for is aesthetics.
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 04:34 AM.
After the epoxy and I sanded the entire car again with 320 I prepped for surface. I used a surfacer primer from Eastwood. Very thick stuff. Used a 1.8 tip to shoot and was still having trouble flowing even after reducing. Bought a DevilBiss FLG4 paint gun, wayyy nicer than the Harbor Freight one I was using for the epoxy. Right before I used the surfacer I wiped with window cleaner, not windex, the foam style. Then I used a wax degreaser from O'Reilly's, called Prep Wipe. I think it works good. Evaporates quick and is only $16 for a gallon. Once that was wiped I let evaporate for a few minutes. Mixed the primer up. Just prior to shooting I went over the car with a tack cloth then laid the surfacer.
The following day I wet sanded the entire car again with 400, to remove any orange peel or defects
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 04:58 AM.
made a positive pressure booth in the garage with pvc piping and 7 mil plastic sheeting. two fans blowing in on high and one on high blowing out. filters all around. actually worked much better than I thought. oh and the color. went with midori. between that and thunder metallic grey. but when this car is done its time to work on the 91 civ sedan. eco car. will never paint that one midori, soooooo thunder grey for that one! Bought the paint from tcp global. Actually not too bad priced. Mixes 2:1 with reducer no activator.
Nice and air tight. Inflated like a balloon. Helped move the overspray out of your face quickly and not turn into a cloud in there.
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 05:13 AM.
and here we are today. finally got some paint down. still working out some high low spots on the body and making sure its flat all the way around.
Prepped for basecoat. Same as primer, degreased then tacked. Used a 1.5 tip for the base and clear. First I shot a tack coat and let flash 10-15 min. Then I laid on my two coats till color was achieved. Paint did some weird stuff on me. Im guessing because it a bronze pearl in it, if I laid it too thick it would make a weird defect. Not a run, but would look like falling sand. Hard to explain. So I just shot light coats. After and hour of drying and cleaning my gun I went back over the car with a tack cloth to wipe away overspray and get ready for clear. I went with Southern Polyurethane Industries Universal Clearcoat. Its mixed 1:1 and not reduced. Used a 1.5 tip for this as well and turned the air up a lil more than the base. Laid down pretty well on some days that were cooler. But in Texas that's rare. First time painting and had a bit of orange peel. Figured I would so I used 5 coats of clear after I laid the base down.
so was pretty stoked about the color. i like how the lighting can change the effects. so thats it for now. so now ill be working on the body over the next couple weeks to get ready to spray. if anyone has questions about body work ask! i did and read more on paint then i did in high school total.
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 05:44 AM.
A bit more work been going on. Painted the rest of the car. First time painting and had a bit of orange peel. Figured I would so I used 5 coats of clear after I laid the base down.
Then I began the sanding, this sucked. Been sanding for months. Started with 1000 grit wet, blocked, to flatten and remove the orange peel, then I stepped up to take scratches out. 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 grit. I used 3m paper from O'reillys except the 2500 and 3000. That stuff is made by Kovax in Japan. About a dollar a sheet but cut my buff down tremendously.
Also worked on some other parts to accent the car. Picked up a subframe as my welded nuts that hold the lower control arm had snapped off inside. Had a bit or corrosion in the areas between the car and sub, so did a little reworking. Started with 100 grit then stepped up to 220. After that used a self etching blueing material to treat the bare metal.
Then I used a PPG epoxy primer that is used to seal out moisture.
Then sanded with 320 to level and prep for the next coats.
Used a metallic orange with a silver flake.
Then installed with a couple other pieces.
Don't have pictures but installed the rack and pinion. I used the integra pinion how to and depowered the system. Also installed energy suspension bushings on the lower control arms and surrounding components. Painted the knuckles and control arms. Pulled junkyard ex knuckles and changed wheel bearings, installed BC extended ball joints and extended lugs. Skunk2 upper control arms back installed.
Reinstalled some of the interior. Re did the headliner with a black suede and painted the rear quarter window trim pieces trim black. Also wrapped the forward pillars with some ninja turtle action. For the headliner and ninja turle stuff I lightly sanded with 320 the degreased. Used the 3M headliner adhesive. This stuff is a weaker version of Bostik 1400L they use on a lot of planes. You shoot it on both the objects you are going to stick together and let tack up for 1-5 min then press the two firmly together. For the parts I used the SEM trim black I sanded with 400 degreased then used a plastic adhesion promoter and sprayed 2-3 medium coats. Dries smooth with no orange peel. real easy stuff to use.
Put the dash in with the harness as well as the cluster. Am currently relocating the fuse box to the glove box and the battery under the passenger seat. Will need to take pics. Running 2 gauge wire from the battery to the distribution block then 4 gauge to starter and 6 gauge to fuse box. The power wire will have an inline circuit breaker. No fuses. Also, can anyone tell me what the length of the ground cable should be from the battery to the chassis. Plan on running two 2 gauge wires from the terminal to the seat mount and the second to a bolt I will install through the floor with a nut plate. That's it for now will probably be taking a break for a minute as I kind of bought another car.
Had some boo boo springs on it lowered with the stock struts. A bit of a stiff bouncy ride if that makes sense. So decided to go with a mild setup for a few months. Then transfer these over to the 91 sedan build that is a eco car. Future plans putting a VX engine in that guy
And a lil pic of the playground so far. Have to stop buying Hondas. Running out of garage. And no way Im leaving those outside.
Last edited by hondacurious; 10-28-2016 at 05:54 AM.
Got around to do some work, but not much. Pulled the GSR cable from the CRX and installed a 93 XSi trans in its place as I needed the hydro for this build. Solid trans. Mfactory lsd, changed all bearings and seals, new carbon Synchrotech synchros, and new 1st 2nd and 3rd gear
Installed a couple of the front end pieces for working on the wire tucking
Front end put back together, sort of. Having issues with aligning everything up right now.
Got around to ordering 949 wheels, charcoal 15x8 Havent decided on tires yet Also, picked up some black Hasport mounts
Will be rebuilding rta's next week. Have my wheel bearings, HAWK pads OEM rotors, ARP studs, and OEM Si e-brake cables. Still trying to decide on RTA bushing. ASR, Hardrace, energy, etc.
I was going to ask the same question, but figured I would Sub to the thread and wait for someone else to ask it haha
New toy happened. Bought a bone stock 91 crx base model on some chopped springs, 260k miles on the d15b2. Took the b20/b16 that was in the 96 had it bored machined all new bearings seals, rods, 12:1, CTR cams, BC springs retainers, HUSH conversion, DA conversion on the spindles and RTA's, and now spending too much money on EDM parts, seats reupholstery, wheels, and next week JDM front end.
Just burnt my self on the Civic after all the painting and wet sanding. But just purchased a sleeved b18/b16 that I plan on getting a Autoworks turbo kit and shooting for about 500hp. Don't don't want anything too crazy for autocross, maybe two tunes, even though the block is rated at 900. I just have noooo idea on what is needed to achieve this goal reliably. Ive never done any type of forced induction builds. Have questions on whether I should go e85, if stock ignition will work, injectors, everything!! As of right now i have the engine AEBS sleeves, manley rods, arias 10:1 pistons, head is stock port and cams, with ferrera valves, springs, and retainers, victor x intake manifold, stg 4 cc clutch, haven't decided flywheel. Also have the GSR trans with Mfactory lsd. Am possibly going to just get the car done with the built engine, get running, work the kinks out then boost. ECU program Hondata, all my cars
Last edited by hondacurious; 11-01-2018 at 01:09 PM.
Reason: typo
not too hard i used guitar string to cut away, I cracked it towards the end as I got impatient but didn't care as it was starting to spider web in a couple spots. New window should be going in soon
Tony, do you work or know good places there in Austin? I'm originally from the Houston area and live in San Antonio now. The scene seems pretty dead here. Not a lot of options and keep hearing shady stories from people at work that have Subarus and SRT4's
also what doesn't help me is I have a soft spot for older cleaner Hondas and purchased this last week to mayyybe get rid of my 91 civic sedan that is having all sorts of problems. 91 accord ex with 160k miles. Just way too clean. I have 5 Hondas now and just get sidetracked too easy. Squirrel!!!
Last edited by hondacurious; 11-01-2018 at 01:16 PM.
Reason: typo
02-17-2016, 04:38 PM
autox/show car hybrid build
