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By Craig82
#3866328
Hi guys,

Since 2002, I'd owned an array of MR2 Turbos, and I sold my 5th and final one a while ago now.

I originally I bought this as a second car to keep the wintery crap off the MR2:

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2003 MK4 Golf GTi 2.0. Not worthy of a GTi badge by any stretch of the imagination:

2.0 8V, 115 bhp and 0-60 = 10.5s :mrgreen:

I sold the MR2 early on in the year, and had been left with the golf since then. And, as a means of transport only, I couldn't fault it. Rust free, well built and a great runner.

However, I craved a quick car again, and became addicted to Auto Trader :lol:

I went to have a look at a face lift 2005 Cosmic Grey EP3 Civic Type R.

I was always a bit weary of the Civic Type R, as VTEC is high in the rev range aka 'the scream machine' :lol:

1 owner from new, full service history and rust free. Took it out for a test drive and that was it, quick enough outside of VTEC, but awesome in it!

Got back to the garage and part exchanged the Golf and drove home in the Type R.

And here she is:

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So far, gave it a wash/wax and did a bit of work on the exhaust. Doubt it'd been cleaned since the car was new! Needed 800 grit wet and dry and metal polish. It's come up alright though:

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Since purchasing the car, I have done a few things to it:

These are the offending cheap ass floor mats that were in the car when I bought it:

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I found some brand new genuine Type R mats complete with the retaining bracket. I got these bought, and proceeded to remove the crap ones and hoover the car out.

rear one piece mat fitted:

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Passenger mat:

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And finally, the driver's mat. This car (I don't think) has ever had a retaining bracket fitted. The flap in the carpet was uncut, and there was no plastic insert for the screw to hold the bracket to the chassis.

Bracket fitted:

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And finally, drivers mat fitted. No more mat slipping under the pedals! Better than the MR2 effort that kept popping out of the ring in the carpet!

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I also went into Honda and ordered a replacement locking wheel nut key (as mine was missing when I bought the car) for the grand total of £15. It'll be available for collection tomorrow morning, service!! :D

In addition, the red 'R' on the boot lid had seen better days:

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I found on ebay, laser cut vinyl inserts for the badge for a couple of quid, so got one ordered. Cleaned the 'R' and got the sticker applied. Much better:

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Next, I turned my attention to the stock gearknob, which over 13 years, had been scratched by rings etc. I ordered a D1 spec replacement, which is almost identical, but smoked chrome. Old vs new:

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New gearknob fitted has really smartened up the interior:

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Nice and weighty at 350g, it's nice to drive with.

And finally, I was going to go for an induction kit, but due to the position of the filter, it would be heat soak central, so opted for a replacement air box filter:

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Air box dismantled, old filter removed and old vs new:

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Yes, the old filter came out with leaves stuck to it :lol:

Removed a few leaves from the airbox and fitted the K&N:

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I gave the air box lid a clean while it was off the car. And all back together, along with new genuine screws:

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I'll give the whole bay a clean at some point, as it needs freshening up.

And that's it for now. No massive plans for the car, other than a cat back exhaust, tidy the engine bay, improve the handling, maintain and enjoy it.

Further updates to come. 8-)

Long time ago I had and Ep3 for 220k kilometers in[…]