I am building my my 1992 Civic Hatch for the GRM $2011 challenge

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I picked up the car a few weeks ago and plan on using it as a daily driver after the competition (my original build a 1963 Morris Minor V8 I am putting on hold for next year).

I will do separate posts for different (hopefully this is helpful). Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

For those that DON'T want to have to search on Google, what is the GRM $2011? And what are the goals for the build and budget?

 

Goal is to build a car that will do well on autocross and drags, as well as a concourse section. The budget including car is $2011 ($2012 next year, etc). I am focusing on the autocross related part of the competition. My original build dragged out too long so I am putting this together to look nice and autocross well. I am working on posting pics now (having issues getting them to upload, but should have it figured out shortly).

 

Engine bolts ons will be a waste of time. Start with suspension. A set of Koni's/Ground controls with a good spring rate (450-4500F/R) with a nice hefty swaybar and a nice set of tires. $2011 won't get you much in the horsepower department even with a low budget turbo build.

Drag racing on 2k? Fuggedaboudit.

 

I have seen an 11.2 out of a Civic at the competition before, but I assume they gave themselves more then a month for their build. I am going to get some sticky tires and I am in the air on either the Eibach sport kit (struts and springs for $400) or if I can manage to buy a 1996 Integra (B18B) full car with Skunk2 SC2 coil overs for $400. I know the Koni/GC set up is the conventional wisdome, but with a total budget of $2011, and needing other items I think it is too rich for my budget. Also, since I plan on using this as a daily after, I was worried the spring rates that most people run might be a bumpy ride for a daily. I will look into spring rubbers and additional bumpstops if budget and time allows. The competition is October 6-8 and I am out of town the next 2 weekends.

This should be interesting pulling everything together. About to post pics....

 

I bought the car basically a stock 1992 DX hatchbach for $750 the only mod was an intake and some aftermarket 14" rims. It was also missing a muffler, the seats sliders did not align with the bold holes and the corner light was missing.

 

I am working on installing a 25mm front and 19mm rear sway bar set (I was told they are suspension techniques). I picked up the set for $100. I also purchased an ebay knock off ASR brace for $90 to mount the rear sway bar more securely. As well as front and rear control arms ($60 for front and $60 for rear) to allow the DX to mount the sway bars:

 

I replaced the seats in the car with early 90's Prelude DI seats (better bolsters, so for $45 and some time cutting and welding it was worth it in my mind).




First step of the installation was to remove the seat sliders from the seat cushions. This was just a matter of a few bolts and they were ready to be worked on:



To install the seats I needed to drill a new hole in one of the front brackets (I did the bracket closer to the center console as it did not align as well as the other bracket did):


To reinforce the hole drilled in the front bracket, I cut and drilled a backing plate and welded this to the slider:



Additionally, I needed to add a tab onto the rear bracket to allow it to bend around the raised portion of the floor and mount to the stock anchor point. This involved cutting a tab out of 1/8" steel, welding the tab onto the seat slider, bending it to fit and drilling a bolt hole

Tab welded:


Tab bent and drilled:
http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/...f/CIMG3251.jpg

I then painted the sliders, reinstalled them onto the seat cushions and installed them in the car:




One seat installed:


The second seat went much quicker. To allow the paint to dry, this ended up needing to be split up over a couple days. All in I spent probably 6 +/- hours, but should be able to be done in about half that if you have it planned out, and a good work-space (my garage was a bit messy to give me good room to work).

 

cool project, subscribed

 

If you're able to score parts so cheaply you can stretch that $2g a long way.

 

good luck with the build. Wish I had the time to do a challenge car Ive been following it for years now.

 

I've been wanting to take part in this for a while. Seems like a whole lot of fun. Whole new approach to a build. Good luck sir. Cant wait to see this unfold.

 

Damn... $2011 Suspension and turbo w/ tune. But you could have went with a Del Sol seat. That will hug you better with slight shoulder support as well as thigh. Since you have a EG, you can run ITR suspension for cheap but you have aftermarket LCAs that isn't fitted for ITR rear suspension. Also, your better off not putting on the front swaybar if your planning to auto cross. I believe the stock front sway will hold when it comes to drag. With the extra money, an Si/EX SOHC transmission and HX wheels will. I'm not sure about autocross, but a single HX wheel with tire should be around 13 pounds each, would definitely help with acceleration and a Si/EX transmission has shorter gear ratios than DX, CX transmission with a economical 5th gear

Good luck on your build. I'll be looking forward in what you'll be putting on your car and your results in this competition. And how much you get that knock off ASR brace for?

 

Prelude seats are FAR superior to those Del Sol seats. I had aBB4 Lude and there are Sol seats in the hatch. No comparison.

 

The faux-ASR brace was $90 shipped. I was thinking of making one, but time is too tight, I don't have a good cutter and it would have cost $40 still.

Regarding the seats, I asked for something with decent bolsters from a local place that parts Hondas and Acuras. He had the Prelude ones and for $45 I figured I can't go wrong. I need to adjust the hole closer to the doors, as the seat does not sit fully on the body at that bracket point but otherwise I am loving the seats.

I am hoping to post some pics of the body work we are doing (I recruited a friend who used to do body work) and some pics of the suspension as I swap it. I am still waiting to figure out if I can pick up that Integra with the B18B and suspension, if not, then I will be going with the Eibach sport kit.

If anyone knows someone selling some autox tires (with or without rims) cheap please send them my way.

Thanks for the support. The challenge is great, reminds me of why we all got into cars, being able to take something and make it work well on the cheap. I don't expect to win it, but I am happy to just show up and play. Next year, I have a much better shot with my V8 Morris (I will make a thread on that eventually, likely not until after the challenge this year though). I encourage anyone who has space and funds to build a $2000 car to get out and try the challenge. It is amazing what some people put together on that budget.

 

As promised, here are some more pics of the body work in process. I am following my buddy's lead since he used to do body work, but we are using weld on tacs and a slide hammer to pull the dents, then grinding and filling with bondo and fiberglass.








Who ever did the body work prior had gone bond happy:

 

We are also filling the holes for the door molding since I do not have a complete set and the passenger door holes are already filled.

To do this we are screwing in backing plates then filling with weld and grinding it back down. The final steps will be to bondo/fiberglass it then paint.

 

looking good

 

Looking good man!

 

cant wait to see the final product. looks great.

 

looks good, sounds like a fun project too. You better be keeping it aztec green though

 

Very sweet project, keep us updated!

 

sweet!

 

Keeping the origional paint color as best as I can order from the paint supply store

Hopefully I will post some pics of the ebay faux ASR install and dropping out the suspension tonight (already done, just need to post pics).

 

Bump for you! My buddy and I were planning on building a similar civic for the $2011 build challenge as well, up until I decided to move. Since I moved down to Florida, and I'll be a lot closer, I think I'm going to come watch the event. Sounds like a blast. GL with the build man!