Hey HT. Thought I would share my on going sol project with you guys on here. The photos will be transfered over from another forum so bare with me. Hope you all enjoy the build as much as I am.

After several debates about making a build which would be kept privately other than the few close friends that had a sneak peak, I thought I would share this to you guys on here. Why hide the build if this website was the start of many enthusiast that inspired me to pursue this build.

This is a 1995 Honda Civic Del Sol Si. Reason for the title Project Tristan(c), which was chosen by the wife, is named after our future son. The build started since this past Christmas or so the these first few pictures are not the most recent, there's too many pictures to upload.

Many thanks to:
My wife for letting this happen
My brothers and family
My Brother in Law for all the paint work
Bisimoto Engineering
Stewart (JDM Stu_Rat)
Herbert and Kevin (Kevin Xiong)
Tang (Pls2202)
Noah (Yaknowit11)
Adam (Revn9k)
Austin (TwentyOne)
Greg (88hybrid)
Deal_Slow
All in Fabrication
Oskarverac
Advance Auto Parts in Conover
Napa in Conover
Auto Zone in Newton
energysuspensionparts.com
People off honda-tech.com and nwp4life.com
ThomasBridges
Intense Motorsport
Dan (blk92_d16)
d-series.org
honda-tech.com
Alfa
a+ auto salvage in Maiden
CxRacing
Beavers Honda Car Salvage
Honda of Hickory
Frank and his team at Downstarinc
SummitRacing
jhpusa
JFBoots

..list will be updated as the build progresses..

for all the parts and help that I purchased from.

All positive and negative comments/opinions are accepted.

Onto the pictures:

Every receipt, information, and diagram used is kept together nicely:


The car:








And yes this is an auto which is being converted to manual.


Pulling out the engine along with transmission:




After a fresh wash:


And finally the bay is stripped along with semi-shave and tuck:


Dash is out:


MASSIVE amount of rust I found under the driver seat which I almost could not take off due to letting the car sit outside for years. Picture was after I have already neutralized the rust along with a new patch (first time welding attempt there).


Started the work on the bay, spot welded the holes and filled:










Bro lending a hand:


Me sanding the strut top:




Primered to check for flaws


Damage on the driver side:


Automatic frame mount:


Finally came in the mail:


Mock up:




Welded:






Trans frame mount:


Done for that night:




Tucked brake lines:


Upgraded 15/16" brake master cylinder:






Automatic Main harness is out:


Manual harness in for the mock up and installation:




Driver side before and after completion:




Passenger side is complete but forgot to snap a picture:


Finished the main harness:


Masked the interior to prevent overspray into the cabin:


Engine bay as of 6-20-11


Passenger side fender well with the undercoating:


Driver side under coated with wiring finished and ready for installation:


Front sub frame off and washed:


An attempt at spraying the sub frame and misc parts to prevent further rust (hopefully this all doesn't chip off, if so, I guess it will have to be redone with powder coating):










Front subframe assembled minus sway bar:

 

Engine Build:
D16Y8 Bisimoto lvl 2 cam


Custom lightened flywheel done by Tang and balanced/resurfaced by Carolina Machine




Re-padded clutch and PP


Supertech Valve springs


Cometic HG-0.74"


P&P Head done by Tang






Del sol d-series linkage, purchased from 88hybrid.


New stem seals and springs installed:


New set of carbide tool for porting added to the collection:


Custom Ported intake manifold:








Attempted to clay the motor but had the wrong set of head stud, so purchasing ARP head studs in the process:

 

Parts purchased:
93' Dash without pass. airbag, purchased from yaknowit11


Fittings from summit:




real jdm one piece head lights:


Rear garnish with fillers:


Under dash cover:


rear trunk latch with release off 97' del sol


stanley Side markers:


Pepsi :thumb:


Another rear garnish with the EDM fog lights :thumb:

 

Haven't been keeping up with the pace of the build since I had to work around the house for the wife.

But a few snap shots of more parts:

EP3 Steering wheel purchased from Twentyone:


Noticed I did not post a picture of the block with the pistons and set up which is:
Standard bore PM7 Pistons
ARP Rod bolts
Kings Main/Rod Bearings
Cometic HG
Custom Ported and Shimmed Oil pump done by me (forgot to snap pictures of the process)



Waiting on the ARP headstud to finish checking the clearance:

 

More updates for tonight:

Wife snapped a picture while I was prepping the bay:


Engine bay of 6-23-11


laying down the filler:




Passenger side:


Driver side:


Found the original owners manual: :thumb:




Random shot of the hood, I guess a before picture:


Younger brothers ride which I ended my night helping him weld the front (work in progress):

 

Passenger side of the engine bay seems almost complete! Such a pain with all this sanding.


Brake booster ready for paint


Newest purchase as of tonight to help aid the build more. Jack stands that I can call my own HAh..



Here are some updates as of 7-5-11








More work needed on the driver side:


Finally after a month of waiting and back orders, I received the bisimoto cam gear and intake mani. gasket. Picking up fresh oe head studs from honda tomorrow to finish the assembly.


Thanks again bisi engineering for the gifts.

 

Updates of last night:

Finished porting the intake manifold:




OE head stud:


Checking Piston to valve clearance:


Surprised me how much clearance I still have, couldn't get the measurements since the damn clay sticks onto the piston every time. haha


Setting the cam gear 4degrees retard for the y8, neat how bisimoto eng. has a subscript line for the marking :thumb:


Got into a bind with the timing cover...realized I have a z6 timing cover which will not clear the water pump, crank sensor nor oil pump. :nutkick:
Now I have to find a y8 timing cover first.

More updates:
New waterpump and thermostat:


New plugs:


Finished the valve adjustment and assembled:


good stuff:thumb:


front subframe brace off a integra:


Cleaned out the windsheild cowl which will be freshly painted with the bay:


Filled the driver side brace again, should be done soon which I am extremely excited about:


Dropped off the intake manifold at Tang to be welded back together. Have not decided on the header/exhaust set up yet and picking up a transmission from a buddy tomorrow. New timing cover should be picked up from Honda tomorrow morning as well. Will have updates up asap. cheers

 

D16Y8 timing cover:


Long Block assembled:


Engine bay is almost finished!


Two P20 B000 trans, one from a cousin and one I had laying around. Rebuilding just one others for parts:


one has a bad shift fork:




Bad bearing:


Mfactory final drive is on the list:




My Matco tool cart came in today :thumb:


Engine bay is finished and ready for paint. Painting the bay tomorrow:

 

Started on the painting earlier than I expected. Thanks to Tang for the equipment and my brother in law Sou for the help. Bay looks better than before, could of been better but regardless I am happy/satisfied with it.

Onto the pictures:
Paint purchased from Sherwin Williams, Single Stage Urethane Paint


Color of choice is Rosso Corsa:


In the light:


Adding the reducer and hardner:


Broinlaw spraying the reinforcement bar:


Started on the bay:




Painted under the cowl:


Finished product with flash on:


Reinforcement bar done:


Outcome looks good:


Painting the brake booster with Single stage Urethane Black:


Respraying the subframe:


Finished booster:


Good picture:


The reflection is mirror:


End of the day as of 7-16-11:


Updates on Monday since tomorrows Sunday and I am taking the day off from everything..hopefully. HAHA :thumb:


Wife added a new sticker to the tool cart:


Brake lines are permanently in:


Wife helped tape up the bay for the undercoat:


Booster and MC are in, cleaned the reservoir and cap:


Tucked wiper motor harness and BMC harness(not finished):


Fender wells undercoated:



Had some time today:
Painted the cowl with bumper coating and tucked the wiring's:


Pedals are in and clears the harness and brake lines:


Sub frame is in with some grommets, looking better:



Interior carpet is in and permantely. Forgot to snap a picture of the battery wire and fuse box relocation.


Rear garnish is off and ready for drilling and test fitting of the EDM/JDM rear garnish.


More parts is in and soon enough the manual brand spanking new rack and pinion.

 

Noah, this picture will probably help you out on where the holes and screws are located: *edited for grammar ownage*




S2000 Clutch Master Cylinder :thumb:


Tie rod Ends:


Relocated fuse box under pass kick panel:


Battery relocation in the trunk. 2gauge battery wire and 8 gauge battery to fuse box wire:


Where the battery wire leads to the starter:


Bad news is that the new rack and pinion (R&P) did not arrive as expected from Canada since the inventory was out. Instead I went ahead and purchased new parts to rebuild an old R&P I had laying around. Price of all the parts, I could almost buy two new complete R&P.

Old R&P:


New parts, Inner tie rods and bellows:




Sad to say it but the project will have to sit for a week or so since school is starting soon and I am back to Charlotte until next weekend, maybe. Bought a new car cover to protect it.

 

Received this in the mail before I left the house:
All-in fab s2k spacer and misc.


This build of mine is starting to lag. Sucks how I do not have enough time or am I close enough to work on it every day again. Got little things done and a few misc parts in today.

All-in fab CMC spacer is in along with s2k CMC.


Pedals are in but I am in a bind with the left front brake line, gotta make some clearance.


Rear brake rotors, little surprise:


New brass terminals for the tucked battery:


This is it for this weekend, hopefully I will have more time this upcoming weekend.

Picked up some temp/winter shoes for the project (Thanks oskarverac):

 

Little bit of updates hence work came first. Did not plan to stay and work on the project since I am loaded with school work.

Manual steering rack with new parts:


Installed into subframe, but there is a lot of gap and parts needed to complete:


5 lug rear hubs:


Before pictures of rear trailing arm and wells:


I hope to get more done once I get back.

Received my AEM Fuel Rail:


Sketched a rough picture of all the fittings and lines needed to complete the tuck.

ES bushing for replacing the important and worned out bushings on Tristan.


So its been almost a month and finally small updates. Such a lag. Bought a few items here and there and haven't had the time to post them up. Fall break rolled around which gave me time to head back home to work on the car. Bought a set of side skirts and shifter boot and misc stuff which isn't pictured.

Here is the trailing arm off and painted along with the es trailing arm bushing installed:


The pass rear wells are washed, cleaned and undercoated:


After that I tested out my hubs on the trailing arm which was a big fail. Ordered a new pair of hubs for the rear so hopefully they arrive by Tuesday.

Copied right off honda-tech which I posted earlier, will make a HOW-To thread once I am finish with the results:

First off the 98' Acura TL rear hub:


Compared to the del sol/civic si:


Depth of TL hub:

*I am guessing that this fitment issue is probably the ABS ring.*


Depth of delsol/civic hub:


Length of axle:


How far of depth issue there is with the TL Hub on the delsol/civic trailing arm axle:






*This is not with the spacer/washer.*

Delsol/civic si hub with spacer/washer:


Spacer/washer:


Not sure if I should run the TL hubs. Seems to be running on the bearing <50% which barely touches the outer race/bearing. Just ordered me a set of 97' Prelude SH hubs so I will use whichever gives me the best results and would be "safer".

Will update more tomorrow. Break ends Tuesday for me so I will be heading back to Charlotte soon.

 

New hub is in. Apparently one was only ordered so the other will be in tomorrow so I will install it once I head back. Worked most of my fall break and made minimum time for the project. Other things had to come first but comment and enjoy the pictures.

97' Honda Prelude SH rear hubs:


Height:


Depth of bearing:


Prelude hubs on the delsol/civic trailing arm:


Beside the 97' TL hub(right) 97' Prelude SH hub(left):


Stock delsol/civic hub(left) Prelude SH hub(right):


Prelude hub installed along with rotor. Axle nut is locktighted and over torqued:




Driver side is almost there, trailing arm es bushing installed:


03' Acura RSX base- front hubs (32mm):

*testing fitment in process*



Rsx front hubs test fitted on d-series axles:





*Will have more updates on clearance with 94-01 Integra bearings soon*

Came all the way back for just one day of classes. :thumbsdown:

 

VTi sun visors from Germany.


Had a few hours with the project today when I went back for some errands. Found out that the 03' Acura RSX base front hubs will not work. So....wallet smasher. Other option is the dealer. Onto some recent pictures!

97' Acura TL Dual pod front calipers.




28T Calipers which were included. In need of 23T front brake caliper brackets so soon enough I will have to buy them from a local junkyard.


Front 03' Acura Rsx Type-S Rotors:


Clearance with the 28T brackets:


95' Acura Integra front spindles:


New 95' Acura Integra front wheel bearing:


Driver rear wells cleaning up better:


Measurements of 03' Acura RSX base front hubs, Axle fits in perfect:


To 95' Acura integra front wheel bearing:


Hub does not fit because the outter part, diameter wise, which is pressed into the bearing is too big.

Thanks to Intense Motorsports for installing in the ES bushings on my front suspension:



Installed along with ES front swap bar end links:


Went to pull a part and got a hold of few little parts I needed to complete my manual steering rack conversion. This is with the power steering subframe:


Passenger side front brake line is complete:


Driver side front brake line is complete:


As of 10-30-2011


Wrapped up for the weekend:


I will have to come back and tackle this again this upcoming weekend.

 

Small update:
First thing was I went ahead and picked up my intake manifold from my cousin who welded it back together for me. pls2202 does wonders :thumb:




Look at the welds.


Painted with aluminum cast hi temp paint:


Cut out on the for the rear garnish:


Mock up of the garnish:


Finished painting the rear:


New tools that I purchased to finish my porting job:


I will polish the intake manifold once I have the time this week. More update will posted soon.


Moog ball joints:


Installed the intake manifold:


Waiting to order fuel fittings to finish the line tuck.

Spindles cleaned, striped and painted.


Wiring harness which I am going to deloom and re wire:


Spindles completed:




Can't install front hubs on yet until ARP studs are here and installed.

Next plans are to finish the engine harness, get the ARP studs install, get the calipers for the front and rear. Still a long list to do.


Off for roughly three weeks for Christmas break which means more time for the project. It's been weeks since I had any time to do any work on Tristan.

Bought some 98' Honda CRV front brake calipers w/ brackets from a local junkyard, thanks to A Plus Auto Salvage. Plus my ITR rear calipers are on order from Advance Auto Parts.

Here is the CRV calipers:


23T:


Beside the Acura Legend Calipers:


In order to use the Acura Legend front calipers the right "R" caliper must be installed on the left, vice versa:


Legend calipers on crv brackets:


ITR hubs installed, decided to ditch the ARP wheel stud, and go a different route:


97' Prelude SH Front rotors installed:

 

Well the wife decided that red would look better and after painting the calipers and installation. The idea of usdm ITR wheels will not fit anymore. If the s2k wheels do not sale, I would just buy another two front wheels to finish and use them as planned. Some jdm ITR wheels would definitely be an option as well. Now onto some updates:

Finished calipers:


With flash:


Without flash:


Clearance from rotors:


Found out that I will need spacers, hence the rotors comes into contat with the bracket:


Clearance with the front s2k wheels:




Don't mind all the mess. I will finally clean up once the car is on the ground LOL hopefully soon.

Wiring mess I started tonight. Planning to redo the whole engine harness and maybe dash harness too:


Received the ITR rear calipers today. Went ahead and torn them down and painted them. Found out that if i heated up the calipers after my last coat, the finish on the caliper turns out even better. Hope the paint holds up once the car hits the road. Still gotta find out how I will be wrapping the wiring.

Onto some pictures:
ITR rear calipers:




Washers/spacers I bought to gap the brake caliper brackets:


Washers installed:


Rear calipers drying for tomorrow:



ITR rear calipers:


Installed on the car:




Tore apart the visors and seals:

 

Looking good so far! Lots of work gone into this car. What are you planning on for suspension and rims etc?

 

I currently am running the Kosei K1's. I will be getting Koni yellows and GC coilovers.

 

Wow... nice work so far! I love the research done to provide a 5-lug swap to the car.

 

Thanks toyo. It was certainly a trail and error to get it all right.

 

Got a couple things done this past weekend. Planning to install and get the car running so that I could work out some paperwork on the car. Long story. But on a good note, I got a few more goodies in today.

Set of eg2 front fogs from New Zealand. Always had these in mind ever since I started the build and finally scooped up the set for a decent price.






Bought some misc. bearings and seals to replace a worn out trans. Still waiting to save up enough to purchase a mfactory lsd and final drive:



Walboro 255l intank fuel pump:


Avid torque mounts:



Transmission pieced back together:


Stop-Tech SS brake lines:


Rear driver is ready:


Rear pass. is ready:


Fitting back together the rear:






Took old axles apart to use as a prop to hold the wheel bearing in place while the car is pushed around:


Piecing together the pass front suspension:






Engine harness is close to being complete:


Transmission is finished being stripped and ready for paint:


Covered up for the night:


Found out that the Stop Tech SS brake lines does not work with the Earl fittings, so now I will have to re do the front brake lines with OE fittings. Will have more updates soon. Reasoning for installing the stock suspensions back on is so that I can push the car around after I get a new set of wheels. Years later the sol will be on wheels again.

 

I put some more work on the project this weekend:

Picked up the Kosei K1 Racing from cr89x locally.

15" +38offset 5x114.3 hard to find :thumb:


How it looks on the front:


How it looks on the rear:


Finish redoing the brake lines on the driver side, ran out of time and didn't finish the pass front side. Soon enough I can start bleeding the brake system. Still undecided on tire brand but definitely 205/50/R15.




Finally bled my brake lines with the new ATE Super blue brake fluid and BOY! do I suck at tightening down some bolts and nuts. Brake fluid was leaking all over the place haha. The first few days that I got back from spring break, I forgot to take my camera with me to work so I continued my build without any detailed pictures. I sat inside the sol astound at how much I have really accomplished these few months.

I didn't have much time to work on the car today since the wife comes first. Which is true lol. I stopped half way on completing the steering column which will be in along with the steering wheel I purchased from, Twentyone, a member on here.

Dashboard is finally in! Along with jdm sun visors.




EDM SiR cluster in:


Under dash wiring is clearing up:


Brake system is COMPLETE! for now:


Swapping steering column parts:


Will have more updates tomorrow night. Thanks all for staying tuned on the build.

Came across some obstacles. The 96-98 civic steering column is too short! My dad and I came up with a neat idea to make the EH and EJ columns into one. We shall see how it goes. I thought that the column would easily interchange with one another but I guess I was wrong? The EJ steering column came off a four door civic.

96-98 civic steering column measures 26":


92-95 sol steering column measures 27":


Laying beside one another, before picture:


Picked up beater tires for the Kosei K1's. These will be my DD wheels. Maxxis MAV-1:


Installed and on the sol:


Front:


Rear:


Will have more updates asap. Sucks that Spring Break is almost over for me. Working, managing time for the family, and including working on the Project is not easy at all.

I have been MIA for awhile due to the cold weather couple weeks ago and school work load which has been hitting me hard. Finally had time to come back home and work on P. Tristan.

Got held up by the welder not working properly so I had to purchase new parts to fix it.
-feed line
-gun tips
-gas tips
-shield welding wires


Well this might not be some peoples cup of tea, but what I have decided to do was take two steering column and weld them into one. The welds should hold up great and the column shall be tested once the car is fully functional.
Top picture is the finished product and the bottom column is the old del sol steering column:


Still trying to master my welds using flux core:


Steering wheel is in! Still have to wire up the horn though which I will start on once the battery is in and functioning:


I am planning to drop the motor in this Sunday! Along with the gas tank. Hope this can be achieved before the weekend ends.

page 20

 

DAMN. IN FOR THE BUILD. GOOD LUCK

 

great build so far......

 

Thank you Jaydm EK. Will post more once I get back home.