So im 34 now and have been through many cars including 3-4 efs. I just bought a rust free shell (no motor,trans,interior,pretty much nothing) by some miracle dirt cheap. I want this to truly be a long term project car that I keep! Its a 89 civic hatch auto, previous owner started tearing it down and lost interest. I want it to be a drag car that I can take out for rides every once in awhile and maybe take to work and shows here and there. First thing im going to do is make sure its structurally sound. Then its going to the body shop to be looked at for a estimate to fix anything that needs to be fixed and to check out the bondo job somebody did (looks like they drilled holes to pull a dent then bondo'd it) that will probably have to ground out and fixed right. I just want to know the body wont rust and is sealed and straight. Might just leave it primer black if I cant afford a proper paint job right away or if i can get it painted original silver.
Im hoping and budgeting 1000.00-1500.00 to get the body work and primer done, I know a body shop owner pretty well and am gonna tell him im in no rush. Think that's a realistic number?

Next is the the motor ive always been a d series nut, was thinking maybe d series turbo. Junkyard style turbo first then build from there.
Also considering ls then ls turbo.
Really trying to keep the engine/turbo build reasonably priced but would like to see 12's or better. Also am worried about tranny issues, many a 2nd and 3rd gear grinds have pissed me off to the point of selling the car. How do these drag cars making big keep the trannys from failing?

Next issue is the fact that the car is very torn apart, a couple thoughts are get a donor 89 civic to swap everything over to this car so its back to stock and running then go from there. The car has no motor, tranny, dash , missing lots of stuff under the hood and obviously needs a auto to manual swap.

My other thought is if I can get a complete ls swap including mounts and obd 0 - obd 1 harness I would just need the pedals and some other things to make it work right? Im completely fine with the car not being back to stock and having gauges and switches to run.

I'd appreciate opinions and experience as im trying to do this right especially the motor/turbo setup. I want to do the most cost effective thing as far as horsepower , reliability, ecu tuning options and ease of getting it right. I have access to many knowledgeable people that are familiar with fabrication and straight drag car setups.
I'll post pics asap.
Thanks in advance from a old school head that's ready to build his dream ef.

 

I've never liked the idea of having a a bunch of missing peices in what you consider a 'finished' car, even if it is a race car. my vote is for picking up a rusted out parts car with a manny tranny. that way all the peices are there to make it look and work correctly. not to mention it's the cheapest way to acquire a bunch of parts you need and sell off the rest to recoup some cost.

you should buy my built turbo d it dyno'd at 265 hp at the wheels. there is more to be had, but now emissions laws changed in ontario so i HAVE to run OBD2 in this car which now means no turbo for me.

but yeah to keep it fun and cheap go with a d-series turbo.

considering it's fully stripped, your bodywork budget doesn't seem far fetched. it can look good but it won't be wearing the highest quality paint. really high end paint gets very very expensive.

as for tranny issues, there was a great article here: http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/t...n/viewall.html

 

I def agree and that's one train of thought I had! Thanks keep em coming

 

DOHC ZC with a twin scroll evo turbo set-up.
ZC trans professionally rebuilt with si final drive so you don't have to worry about trans issues.

 

car goes to body shop tomorrow to find out whether or not shes a keeper