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It’s time to document the build… This build started on August 2020. I came from a Honda Prelude, switched to an E46 M3, then back to my favorite high school car… the Honda Civic EG.
This was my Prelude back in the fast and furious days! 😜
The E46 M3…
With the Apex ARC8 Wheels and NT01 Tires
Work Meisters
With the CCW D11L Wheels
The interior
On to the build… The car has been with my family since brand new. It’s turning 26 years old this year. I was away and have been on the East Coast for 11 years while the car sat here in California. Now that I’m back in Cali, it’s time to build it the way I always envisioned it to be.
Picked up the car and had it towed to a mechanic to make it driveable.
After everything was running, I bought some super 13” hubcaps to make it look decent! 😂
BEFORE
AFTER
Drove it for a week like this…
and cleaned the engine bay…
BEFORE
AFTER
The plan was to drive it for a year then start modding it. But we all know how the story goes… You start with the small things first and then things start to blow out of proportion. And before you know it, you are in too deep!
I PROMISE THIS THREAD WILL KEEP GETTING BETTER! 😊
This is how it all started… Found a set of ROTAs on FB marketplace and some Koni Shocks and Ground Control Coilovers… Add that $50 duck bill that I found on Craigslist too! LOL
Then I looked at the body of the car closely and then started thinking to myself… Maybe I should have the dents fixed. Then the “repaint the car” idea came to mind…
September 16, 2020
Finally found a car paint shop that had a good reputation. Brought the car and decided to go with my favorite E46 M3 color “Laguna Seca Blue”.
The body work begins…
October 6, 2020
Body work is done and the car is ready for painting. I initially planned to just have the outside painted including the door jambs, but decided to paint the whole car inside and out anyways.
December 21, 2020
Finally brought the car home with just the outside and door jambs painted. I also had the Rotas painted bronze but those wheels got sold within a week of me getting the car back. Overall I think the car looks 1000x better from day 1.
Took some photos the next day to show the real color of the car during daytime. The $50 duck bill has been replaced with Osaka JDM Devil wing which was bought from ICBMotorsports. 💪
January 7, 2021
Sold my old door panels and replaced them with Aluminum LRB race panels. Here’s the link for anyone who would like to purchase them.
LRB Door Panels installed. I still wanted to have at least some 4.25” JL Audio Speakers in there for a little music while driving around. 🎶
January 8, 2021
Started gutting the car and the white color shows! Decided to bring it back to the paint shop and had it painted inside. If I ever have to do another project/build like this in the future, I’ll just gut the car out and have the engine taken out and do the whole car in one shot!
February 16, 2021
Inside got painted and I decided to go with a bed liner texture ( so it’s not easily scratched) and matched the body color.
February 9, 2021
Somewhere in between while the interior of the car was getting painted, I received my Autopower Race Roll Bar, the K24A engine (40k miles) and a K20Z3 6speed LSD Transmission that had 28k miles.
K24A Engine
K20z3 6 speed LSD Transmission
Feb 14, 2021
Some interior pieces arrived.
February 20, 2021
Had the old engine taken out. Sold it to a local guy. Engine still ran strong with 280k miles on it! Thank you Honda!
And off to the paint shop again! 😂😂😂
February 22-25, 2021
Engine Bay prep and paint.
Last edited by Busabos77; Aug 4, 2021 at 10:18 PM.
Really clean build. Looking forward to how it progresses.
Been thinking of some of the parts you got on their for my car at some point. Hows the visibility with the APR mirrors? Any rattling on the LRB door panels? And if you don't mind me asking, what bodyshop did the work?
Those tommy kaira recaros in the prelude are such a cool piece to have. Saw a set on yahoo auction when I'd started building my car and thought they'd be a neat centerpiece for my interior had I gotten a car with an interior worth keeping. I remember seeing pictures of their skylines on the internet and in games as a kid.
Really clean build. Looking forward to how it progresses.
Been thinking of some of the parts you got on their for my car at some point. Hows the visibility with the APR mirrors? Any rattling on the LRB door panels? And if you don't mind me asking, what bodyshop did the work?
Those tommy kaira recaros in the prelude are such a cool piece to have. Saw a set on yahoo auction when I'd started building my car and thought they'd be a neat centerpiece for my interior had I gotten a car with an interior worth keeping. I remember seeing pictures of their skylines on the internet and in games as a kid.
Thank you! The APR mirrors are okay. They are quite small compared to the stock or spoon ones. There’s a little bit of visibility issue but I’m sure it’s something that we can get used to. There’s still enough visibility to drive safely. The LRB panels are pretty solid. No rattles or whatsoever. I think you’ll like it. The paint shop is located in Central CA.
Finally had the Autopower Roll cage powder coated. The PLM cross bar also arrived. I was also able to buy some temporary wheels and tires to replace the bronze ones that I had. I got the set more for the Toyo R888s that came with it. 😉
Played around with the cluster. I saw this DIY spoon replica cluster mod on YouTube and decided to do it. It will be my temporary cluster until I get the AEM one in the future. I think it came out pretty cool!
Here’s the link to the DIY YouTube video:
[MEDIA=youtube]EO-EpxdRlLg[/MEDIA]
June 1, 2021
Had some bungs welded and some modifications on the valve cover and brought it to the powder coaters. Some burnt titanium items…
Shift Solutions Shift ****
Chasing Js Spark Plug Cover and Oil Cap
Valve cover
BEFORE
AFTER:
June 5, 2021
Engine internals done. Engine, Transmission and Radiator are finally installed. Red valve cover will be replaced with the new yellow one.
Engine bay is starting to look good!
Can’t wait to drive this thing!
to be continued…
Last edited by Busabos77; Aug 5, 2021 at 12:55 AM.
Thank you brother! Love your hatch too! I miss the old forum days when everyone was active! It’s all Instagram and Social Media stuff now. Keep in touch bro! 👊
I wonder if these aftermarket TBs have different cable pull ratios from size to size. The last car I drove with a larger TB felt like the throttle was an on/off switch.
90mm looks absolutely gigantic though. I'm sure that center feed intake manifold will be able to use every little bit of it.
I wonder if these aftermarket TBs have different cable pull ratios from size to size. The last car I drove with a larger TB felt like the throttle was an on/off switch.
90mm looks absolutely gigantic though. I'm sure that center feed intake manifold will be able to use every little bit of it.
Not sure about the pull ratios. I would imagine that they would feel the same. I’ll update once the car is done.
Busabos77 SMURF EG Hatch Build
