My winter-beater/everyday car, soon to be on the road again. The goal is just an enjoyable everyday beater car. I'm not trying to build the world's fastest EG Civic, just something enjoyable and respectable for everyday use.



That's how it sits right now, about 295,000km on it, and it's autotragic
Paid $300, not bad.

What I've done so far:

• Distributor cap, rotor, coil
• Accel 300+ spark plug wires
• Front brake pads, rotors, calipers

Full MOOG front end. Kind of missing a tie rod in the picture, but I have it.

Soon to come:

• Integra front and rear control arms
• Sway bars
• Wheel bearings
• Maybe a Hardrace bushing set
• Maybe some 15x6 newer Civic rims
• Timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, seals
• A/C maybe
• Brake and fuel hard lines
• Quarter Panels

Just had it sitting around on some old VW rims I had with dead tires. Have 13" original Honda steelies with winter tires at home, 175/70/13 Hankook iPikes.

 

Installed everything but the tie rods. Ball joints (first time doing press in ball joints) seemed fairly easy. My originals did not have the lock ring. All it took was a 64oz hammer, some sockets, some wood, and a C-clamp.



What to do with these... Sell? Buy 15" white TE37's/RPF1's, or put it on the MK1 MR2? Decisions...

 

Ah, good work here, focusing on suspension first especially.
TE37's or RPF1's! Any photos of that MR2?

 

I gotta make it safe before anything. Surprisingly, not much underbody rust, if any.



Here ya go. As it sits, needs: clutch kit, rear brakes, tires and a windshield later (technically still safe, as it's not in the driver's swept area, thank you Ontario Highway Traffic Act!). Paid $1400 for it, two owners, last owner for 10 years was a 50-something year old woman near border of Buffalo. Immaculate condition, except some of the rear wheel arch rust. But after 26 years I can't complain. Everything's been undercoated and oil sprayed to no end.

 

Wheel studs were needed, and open ended lugs. Excellent service from Eric @ Teknotik.
Also got two front National (MOOG) bearings. needed anyway. Will be sticking with drum in the rear, or go disc if possible to fit in 13" steelies.

 

http://www.pacificcustoms.com/mm5/me...ct_Code=WHL005

Before anyone thinks I'll be running tuner lugs on stock steelies, should check this out.

 

Bit of a delay with Crappy Tire and Honda. Need open ended nuts and a drivers side rack and pinion bellows (old one torn).

For anyone getting rack and pinion bellows for any EG/EG or DC2, Canadian Tire has the incorrect part number. They list TRW 15071; big end that goes on the rack is too small. Either have to go to Hotspot Auto Parts or Honda (like I did for $30).

Also, since time is a bit of the essence, ordered CRX open ended lug nuts (90381-SV1-901). It is getting registered on a temp sticker today to get etest (only thing worried about) and safety (not worried about).

 

Thanks for being another builder that is thinking maturely and taking care of the important things first. I dont know how many times I've seen people have a car thats in need of work/overhaul...swap the motor and now have a quick car that rides like **** and is unsafe. :thumbup" to you sir.

I like where this is going!

 

Nice work so far. Going in the right direction.

 

$80 later, and good to go. Tomorrow will be renting the hub and wheel bearing kit from Partsource and installing extended studs on the front for now

If anyone is curious why I went with ARP extended studs, it's because Honda wanted like $6 a stud, Canadian Tire wanted like $4, so I decided may as well upgrade for the price I'd pay (like $5/each).

A small snag while bleeding the brakes, one of the bleeders snapped off (thankfully in the closed position) on the drivers rear drum. So now I may be upgrading to 97 Integra disc brakes. I don't plan to buy the full trailing arm, instead:

• Disc brake brackets
• Power Stop powdercoated Integra calipers
• Stoptech ceramic pads and plain rotors
• EG ABS rear hubs and bearings, install ARP studs and remove ABS ring
• Rotor screws
• Parking brake cables
• Either Integra proportioning valve or a Wilwood one
• 1" master cylinder
• Braided brake lines

Everything being done is out of necessity. The way I see it, is that if it's broken, I may as well upgrade rather than replace with the same. Kind of why I'm avoiding any motor replacement or manual swap for now, it's extra hassle I don't need at the moment.

The Timken part for the rear hub is the same for the drum and disc brakes on Rockauto, and in the description it says to remove ABS ring if not needed. At least it has the threaded holes for the rotor screws.

Avoiding swapping trailing arms due to downtime. If something like a seized bolt were to snap, I'd be royally screwed for a good week. So instead, taking the route of less risk. May be more expensive and take longer to get a hold of everything, but at least everything will be brand new and proper.

 

Excellent philosophy.

If you buy a MAP gas torch you won't snap bolts. Rust and metal have different thermal expansion rates. Just heat the crap out of them and then work the bolts slowly. Once you're able to break them loose, back them out a little then run them back in. Then back them out a little more and run them back in. This is, of course, assuming you have an impact gun to break them loose initially.

Good luck on the build!

 

O2 sensor installed, little bit of a pain. Did without a sensor socket, just cut the old wires and used a deep 22mm. I also curse Mastercraft for not including anything more than a deep 19mm in their socket sets.

Hit a bit of a snag with the fuel filter; flare nut is seized on. Been soaking for 2 days with penetrating oil, no success. Can't torch it either because that's gasoline...

 

What's wrong with disconnecting the plug and using a cresent wrench? Dont understand why you need a sensor socket or the need to cut wires to remove it....

 

I cut the wires on the old O2 sensor, it's being tossed out anyway. Wrench is a bit of a pain, only used it at the end to tighten it 3/4 past hand tight (as NGK spec recommends).

 

EEYYYYYY! Finished one wheel bearing and one set of ARP studs. I swear the instructions for the wheel bearing tool woulda been easier to understand in Mandarin.

All that work for rusty OEM 13" winter steelies :D

 

Got a 2 wheel alignment (did not touch rear as of yet, didn't want to snap the rear bolts). The rear is only so little out that it's negligible. I highly recommend Level Auto at 600 Danforth Road. I guess to add to the list are Hardrace rear toe arms. Also Koni STR.T shocks, mine are in god knows what condition. Haven't blown yet, but they're not the best. Springs, maybe OEM replacements by MOOG, or Neuspeed Sofsport if I can find for a decent price.

 

Cant wait to see this come along

 

That alignment is amazing!
Also, those front end bits from moog are going to be great, nice build so far.

 

Wednesday around 2AM in an apartment garage, this is how I work on it.
That was doing the wheel bearing and studs, meanwhile had 2 group projects to do the following day, and the Civic is my only means of transportation to and from university.

Currently contemplating shock replacements.

• Koni STR.T - $260
• Koni Yellow - $480
• Function and Form Type 1 Coilovers - $700

I am not going for KYB AGX or GR2 just because the price isn't worth the performance. AGX are gonna run $400, not worth it to me. Not even going to bother with Tokico. I've dealt with their warranty before, it's about as painless as the Dead Space 2 eye surgery.

Also trying to scout some Integra front lower and rear control arms. From what I've read, Integra and Civic trailing arms are identical except for the spindle. For the rear brakes, I'd like to try and get the spindle off, rather than swap trailing arms (extra cost and hassle).

 

If anyone would like to clarify this for me, I'd appreciate it. I have the chance to get 4 basically brand new doors with power windows and locks. However, just wondering if the wiring to the doors for it is already in the base interior harness.

 

I've only thought about doing this for my car so I can't speak from experience but I believe you WILL need the under dash harness from the donor car. Or, you could make your own. Maybe pick the doors up and store them somewhere until you have the time to make the harness?

Check this thread: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/92-95-civic-power-door-conversion-right-way-tons-pics-end-all-swap-2337026/

P.S. nice work so far. Way to get out there late at night.

 

Mini-update:
Fuel economy with a lot of city and some highway: 29MPG
99.9% highway @ 120-130km/h: 34.4MPG

Not bad. Definitely in need of an oil change (god knows how old it is in there) and ATF change (shifts like a bronco), and on winter tires too. It's getting a bit warmer, so maybe time to switch to all seasons or summmer tires in a few weeks.

 

Bad/Good news:

Will be doing an amp install. Preferably an Alpine 5 channel MRX-V70.

All the speakers were blown and the stock deck only worked with a few speaker depending what kind of speed bump you went over. Worse than that, some of the speaker wiring is fried; confirmed with a working Alpine deck. Whole right side speakers and wiring don't work. So new 16 gauge speaker wire, and 12 for the sub in the trunk. Using a slim Pioneer 10" in a slim stackable box.



That's how I'll probably run it. That's a pic from my old Mazda MX-3. Loved that car, first car I owned. 1.8L V6, good torque and amazing handling.

 

Bushings be damned. $120 for a 12 ton press. Should do the job nicely.

 

Should give an idea of what's to come.