I've posted my car on here a few times, but I've not made an official build thread for it, so here it is. I actually have a thread going on another forum, but I'm not about to post four years worth of posts, so I'll try summarise everything.

A friend of mine passed away a few years ago. His family still had possession of his cars, this EM1 being one of them. I paid his father a sum of money for the car and I also made the promise the car would be brought back to life, in honour of my friend. This is how the Civic looked like, at day one.






It sat a good few years, even when my friend was alive. It needed A LOT of attention. Fast forward over a year... This is my EM1 at its second track day.




At this point, the car had:
OEM door visors
OEM armrest
OEM floor mats
EK9 coin pocket vent
USDM Si clocks
'96-'98 EK4 climate control
Thin side mouldings
USDM plate recess
EK9 front brake calipers
Odyssey PC680 battery
Converted back to facelift front end
Recaro RS-G ASM driver seat
Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel
All bulbs converted to LED
OEM front lip
Carrozzeria headunit
Brembo brake discs (Mini Cooper ones at the front)
EBC YellowStuff pads (Accord CL7 ones at the front)
Hardrace extended wheel studs
HEL braided brake lines
NGK iridium plugs
NGK blue plug leads
FET quick release hub
Baffled sump
Exedy stage 2 clutch
Fidanza lightened flywheel
Hardrace camber arms
Hardrace front lower balljoints
Hybrid Racing detent springs
Silver's coilovers
PLM Toda replica manifold
Custom 2.5" system with V bands
High flow cat
Kakimoto GT1.0Z muffler
Spoon thermostat
Spoon fan switch
Full size Koyorad radiator
Hybrid Racing radiator hoses

I'm not going to include service items because that's a given. Also any OEM replacement part. I'm probably missing a few parts, but thats because I've sold/replaced them.

Some rust prevented the car from passing annual inspection, so that got fixed.



Engine bay picture with Comptech icebox and Cusco strut brace.



The rear got the same treatment.



Did a tidy install with the Defi ZD gauge. Have oil pressure and oil temperature sensors going to a GReddy sandwich plate. Also outputs speed, RPM and volts because its spliced into the gauge cluster.



Converted the stalks to JDM ones. I prefer having the lights on the right side. Shortly after this I changed all the engine mounts to Hardrace ones.



Replaced the Enkeis from the previous photos with some SSR Type Cs, wrapped in Advan AD08RS'.

 

How she looked in September 2024.



Only two weeks later, someone broke into my car. They stuck a few things between the body and the top of the door, to pry the door open. Once they got a gap, they bent it. Slipped their arm down and opened the door.



Once inside, they busted the ignition barrel and tried cranking it with, what I assume were pliers. They couldn't start it because the car has a factory immobiliser. At this point in time, I didn't have an alarm and any cameras. Stupidly, I left my steering wheel inside the car too because I planned on going to a meet that morning. All this happened in a few hours, as in I went to bed at 4AM and woke up at 9AM.



They twisted the steering column too. I felt many emotions that morning...



Thankfully, a few people reached out to me, after seeing the aftermath, since I posted to Instagram. A friend donated a door. Another donated an ignition barrel. I managed to buy another column from an UK car, which is hard to get a hold of these days.

I rekeyed the new barrel, to accept my original key. Retained the immobiliser. Replaced the column and tidied the wiring while everything was apart.



Same friend who gave me the barrel had this EJ8. He gave me the opportunity to take anything I wanted, since it was being sold and being built into a hotrod. I took anything that was discontinued and coupe-specific, since coupes are very uncommon here in Ireland.



Silver bootlid from the EJ8.



New door fitted.



Another good friend of mine offered to paint the entire car, as soon as I had it back in one piece. He kept his promise and I'm forever grateful to him.





New emblems, including the Si one, since I already had the clocks to match. New VTEC decals. Bootlid was altered to utilise the USDM plate recess, since the European ones are completely flushed and don't have the holes for you to bolt a plate to. Had the spoiler holes flushed. Changed the headlights to JDM Stanleys. C-West eyelids. Mode Parfume mirrors. Tactical Art carbon bumper duct.

Just before a track day, the drop links, rear lower control arms, toe arms, and trailing arm bushes were upgraded to Hardrace items.



New slave cylinder and HEL braided clutch line.



Hybrid Racing shifter with titanium rod. Hardrace shifter bushings. Battlecraft ****.



Mugen suede wheel with Back Yard Special horn button.



Matching Recaro SR-VF ASM for the passenger side. It shares the same fabric and red stitch as the driver side seat.



I think these were my most recent purchase. Not much has happened since.



That's pretty much it, so from this point on I'll update the thread as I do on the other forum.

 

I won a set of EK9 calipers on auction. I only want the rears, but nothing was coming up for sale. When some did, guy wanted to sell entire rear hub assemblies... So when this set came up, I threw a bid in and won.



I'll pick up a few more things before I get them shipped from Japan. I do plan on upgrading the rears from 239mm to 260mm, from the MG ZR 160. I'll sell the front pair, to offset the cost. Also sell my current Type R calipers, since I plan on going to Spoons, when I find a secondhand pair for sale.

Moving onto a possible CV joint issue. I bought some replacements from J&R. Also some gearbox oil, just in case the shafts had to be popped out.



Straight to the point, they didn't fit. The spline count on the new J&R is 32. My original is 30. On the right of the picture is a D series CV joint.



I contacted J&R and they're the only ones they supply for B series. I'm looking into possibly buying CV joints from Japan. There's only Chinese crap for sale in Europe and I'm not taking any chances with those on track. If there's no choice, I'll buy entire shafts from J&R.

My Recaro plastic covers finally came. Not happy about the post situation. Irish customs are always a b***h, so in future, I'll have everything sent to Northern Ireland instead.



There are some differences, compared to the OG ones. The extra wording on the top right. Says "L/LX/LS" instead of "SR". The pins aren't textured.



I tried using the OG pins, but they don't fit. Holes on the new cover are ever so slightly smaller. Looks fine without them, so no complaints. Better than a 20 year old plastic part that's cracked and won't even click into place.

 

​Because there were no good options, I bought complete driveshafts from J&R. I did ask them and several people about fitment, but I was told to not worry. Dropped down to my friend's workplace and he helped fit the shafts. They fitted perfect. Very good quality for the price.



Took the Civic for a test drive and clunking noises were gone. While we were changing the shafts, we also changed the gearbox oil. I was running Motul's Motylgear 75W80. Now it's Honda MTF-3.

My friend started using his Integra as his daily again recently, so I grabbed a few pictures of our cars together.



My friend has been annoying me for ages, to put a sha-ken sticker on my car. My EM1 might be styled like a Japanese build, but it's still an American Civic haha, so I was against putting these types of stickers on. Anyway, he forced himself into my car and slapped it on~ It's a genuine sha-ken sticker too, since he gets a lot of fresh imports at his work.

 

Very nice. Lots of hard work, and it’s paying off. Keep it up.

 

Thanks dude. I'm lucky I know a lot of knowledgable people. Will be close to finishing the build this year

 

The calipers I mentioned before have arrived, thanks to First Joyce.



I bought a brand new 1" brake master cylinder, to accommodate the bigger brakes. Also some OEM pedal covers, since I'm a big fan of the Type RX. I'm currently looking for the correct black rivets for the pedals.

 

nice! I’ve been trying to decide on some pedal covers for my EK. I’m assuming these would fit on my pedals as well? Would you mind sharing a link, and also the black rivets when you find them. 🙏

 

I can't provide a link as I sourced these secondhand. Since you're in America, try your luck at a junkyard and find a S2000.

 

I'm from Ireland myself and have seen your EM1 a few times but never knew the history...great to see the attention to detail and willingness to stick with it. Funny enough my EK9 was also broken into by the same way outside the Uni of Limerick about 3 weeks after buying it in I think 2013. Hopefully we can get the two cars together at some stage over the summer!

 

A lot of people tell me they've seen my car, but it's hard for me to keep track of everyone There's some drama behind this car. It was formerly a full Mugen build. Thanks for the compliment I'll be at Mondello this Monday. Few events throughout the year, but I mostly stick to events where I know people, like the Juicebox ones for example. I won't be at Japfest. Been avoiding it since 2019 I think

My Instagram is linked on this. I leave all the technical stuff to forums. General posting goes on my stories.

 

Haha "Jap"fest in Mondello is mostly non-Jap these last few years! Just sub'd to your insta....wish you the best with the car and look forward to seeing it out soon

 

Brought my car down to Mondello not too long ago. I only went to spectate the lads, so no track driving as of yet, but I did book two days in August.

The Civic feels good, doing the speed limit haha. I'm not confident in the brakes mostly. I've compiled a list of what needs attention, before August rolls around.

• Brakes
• Differential
• Fuel system
• Cooling system
• Engine

I've generalised it because there's a lot... Less important parts are the exterior and interior. I want the car to look presentable at events this year. Right now, it's very rough.



I test fitted the pedal covers. They don't fit perfect, so that tells me the Type RX pedal assembly is completely different from the standard EK pedals. The accelerator is longer. The clutch and brake is slightly longer too, but it's barely noticeable.

I've asked a few people who have done this. The accelerator is my main concern. One guy riveted the aluminium cover to the stock plastic one. I've seen on Instagram, another guy riveted the cover the same way Honda would do it. I did message him for specifics, but he either hasn't seen my message or feels like gatekeeping. I feel like its the latter...

I'll figure it out! I'll also source the correct rivets, so it'll look as OEM as possible. My clutch pedal is really bent out of shape. I don't know what the previous owner did. The car did have Mugen pedals in the past. I'll either bend it back as best I can OR buy a replacement.