When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hi, I'm Finch.
I'm a software engineer from the UK with a passion for fast cars, I own a couple of cars but I'm currently building two side-by-side D-Series cars; A 1.4 Civic Sport (D14Z4; Restamped A5 with updates) and a D16Y8 Civic Aerodeck.
The Civic Sport was the first M-chassis Civic I owned and picked up, before this I've owned EKs, EJs, EGs etc everything from 480whp B20C4 hybrids to 260whp D16z6 Coupes.
What some of you might not know is that the Civic M-chassis is nothing more than an a Honda Domani / EG Sedan / DC2 Sedan in disguise. The VTI/VTI-S came in B18C4 with various bits the other models didn't whereas all other M-Chassis cars came with a D-series motor. These cars were made until 2001 however due to the nature of their chassis I've put it in the EG section.
It was a joint venture between MG/Rover and Honda in the UK/European markets. Honda designed and licenced the production to Rover who produced their own variant the Rover 45/400 series cars (and their Sport model MG ZS)
The rear lights and front end of both MG/Rover and Honda are the body differences
Interiors are near identical, Clock clusters differ; Later MG's had a modified dash with digital display - This same display/buttons were later stolen by Pagani in the Zonda
Engine wise there are a few Rover's out there in 1.4-1.6 with Honda D-series engines (Whose rocker/valve covers look quite a bit like the Mugen D-series covers) but most of the time they are the dire Rover K-series engine or the MG ZS180 came with a KV6 (V6)
Introduction to Black Betty'
Betty - First day I got her with a whole lot of plans ahead of her.
Damp top-left corner of windscreen (missing/broken seal)
sagging headliner (due to damp)
Cloth on door cars peeling slightly
Rear
Back of the block/sump was Wet near the oil filter.
Saw it on a local sales page about 15mins drive away, Grabbed my buddy and we went and had a look. After negotiations I paid £425, Asking was £500 with 6 months MOT (Yearly emissions and safety inspection in the UK).
Got her home, ordered a service kit, Wind deflectors, Wheel hub (DC2).
Two days passed, I had serviced it and found out a leaky seal on the filter was the cause of the wetness on the block/sump, sorted.
The Rover 45 Wind deflectors were £25 on eBay... Compared to the Honda Civic ones being £67...
I spend a fair bit of time on the internet, I came across a seller on Civic5 selling the VTI-S lip-kit, The car is Knighthawk Black Pearl but the kit came in Pirates Black. I'm not really that bothered, I fitted the lip kit but as you can see there is a definitive difference in colour. I will be spraying the part later in time. I still have to fit the rest of the kit!
I bought a Vertex steering wheel while I was in Tokyo (for my S14A) a while back, as the car is currently in the garage I decided the Civic needed a better wheel. I bought a Mugen Formula style (unbranded) shifter and fitted that the same day (Note the saggy door card material)
Browsing various Facebook pages and groups I came across a guy selling a VTI-S strut Brace for £5! ($6.10) so I snapped him up on the offer, drove about 20minutes out of town and found him. Needed a coat of paint so I hit it with Honda Knighthawk Black Pearl to match the body.
I ran the car for a few months since purchasing back in March/April, slowly I started getting intermittent overheating issues. In September the top-rad hose blew spewing out hot steam and water all over the engine bay and road, I called a buddy who drove out and bought another pipe with him and some water so I could get home, I started checking waterpump, thermostat, rad, pressure test etc but nothing was showing any signs of issue, I replaced them all and had no issues for a few more weeks but then on the 16th September I got steam and pipes popped off, the guage ran red about 10minutes after light city driving.
On the 17th of September I pulled the head, I found the head was pretty well worn having done 191k (Yes that is a polymer intake manifold).
Head off at the side of the road, old gasket has seen better days but wasn't split or seperated (MLS)
I fitted the bolts and torqued to spec according to local Honda dealer, 1st and 2nd stages went smooth, 3rd stage was.. less smooth..
I torqued to 49ftlb and then heard a "Ping" noise like I'd dropped a wrench, my shoes were wet and I had cracked the block. Turned out the supplied bolts with the head gasket kit were for a 88-95 D14 and the block the car had was the later 95-02 style we have in the UK...
I was at a loss at this point, I needed my car for work by the Monday - I could either pull the S14 out, insure and tax stamp it or order another D-series off ebay. My neighbour mentioned they had an MB2 in stock at his work (breakers yard) I went and took a look, 26,000miles on the clock. The car was a rear-end write off, it was at the top of a stack so if I wanted the engine I needed to work for it. I later discovered that the cylinder liner of the 1st piston had actually cracked so a head gasket change would have been useless anyway!!
40 minutes later, 2 cups of coffee, a socket set, a knife and a forklift I had a new engine, £50!
Got the engine home, stripped the rocker off and any aux parts that would but swapped over from my own engine. Checked the head, near enough brand new, not even any carbon build up on the exhaust side of things.
The pulley was a little rusty but the car turned over, there was no stiffness, it had great compression and all the fluids were getting around. I brushed up the pulley with a wire brush and fitted my PAS and altenator back on ready to go back in.
I don't have a garage that I can use right now so I did everything at the side of the road in Rain, Wind and sun under a gazebo tent.. Don't do this. Though while the car was off the road I took time to order a few things that will make a bit of a difference in the future when I finally start making some progress, and some things that are purely for my own benefit while driving to-from work.
OEM Honda / Rover arm rest / cup holders
Pulled the Defi Advance ZD out of my S14 for now; (Image shot with my D3300)
I was in a panic at the end of september. I had two cars currently broken; A Civic with no engine and an S14 with its diff pulled waiting on an Nismo 1.5way LSD and a 40miles round trip to work every day.. to a factory in the middle of nowhere... What do I do?
I looked quickly on Gumtree, Autotrader and various facebook groups for something cheap and reliable I could buy use and flip when I was done fixing up Betty.. Enter "Blue" the Aerodeck; 1.6 D16Y8, 90k miles, £300 - 5 minutes away.
Dirty isn't the word when I picked her up, she was far from these original images the seller had put up. I bought it expecting to flip it once I was done but then I decided I was going to keep hold of it. I'm going to be doing the same path I'm doing with Betty, OEM+
The plan for both vehicles right now is to lower on YellowSpeed or BC coilovers, Function7 front/rear control arms and camber kits. I'll be upgrading both shifters to K-tuned circuit sport's with poly bushed linkages and a decent set of wheels for both cars. The 40hp difference between the D14z4 (89hp) and the 130hp the y8 puts out is noticable, even in a car that is significantly heavier than its 1.4 Sister.
Right now Blue is my work horse, I've put down 850miles since purchase with a tonne of time in VTEC, not one hiccup. I'll be updating as I can!
Finch's Daily Driven Double D's
