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By samco77on
#3376255
Thought i best start a blog on here.

Copied from another forum.
I suppose i better start a little blog for my civic, as things are going to start happening pretty soon.

Here is a Pic of how it was pretty much when i bought it.
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Spec was pretty standard pre facelift, 66000 miles, paint not very good, (bit faded/pinky), and a K+N airfilter.

A few months after owning it the mounts snapped off the backbox so i bought this.

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Japspeed 421, and HKS Hi-Power 409.

As I used to work at HKS I got the exhaust for less than half price as the director needed some cash for their xmas party.

Sounds good and I like the angle of the rear box under the bumper. very jap y0. sometimes i do think the 4inch exit is a bit big though. may change that in the future.

also made a lambda spacer for the rear lambda, so the engine management light stays off.

With the new year on its way and a track day booked for the 23rd of feb, things have started moving.

serviced it the other day. and gave the engine bay a little clean and a general checkover. also, had noticed the engine moved quite a lot meaning the backbox touches the rear bumper. From what i could find the ep3's are known for breaking the flexis on the aftermarket manifolds. so with all of this in mind i set about dropping the front subframe to remove the front and rear lower engine mounts and firm them up.

I was going to turn some nylon ones on the lathe, but thought they would be too hard as it is my road car, so i got some new ones and filled them with polyurethane to stiffen them up.

Fitted, they have made a great difference better throttle response, and next to no engine movement. and pretty much free.

Pic of engine bay.
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also picked up these, meaning i can remove the shitty camber bolts.
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They are BC coilovers.

should be pretty good. I was going to get nitrons, as we are sponsored by them so would get a good discount, but for what its used for at the moment, there isnt much point. and for the £300 i paid for these. thought they were worth the punt, even for the short term.

So. during January I will be doing the following.
  • Buy rear camber arms
  • Buy roll centre adjusters
  • Make Front wishbone bushes
  • Fit all suspension bits and do a full setup
  • Fit Hispec calipers
  • Maybe get some new wheels
busy month.
Last edited by samco77on on Fri Dec 07, 2012 9:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3376259
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Then got these from America. :)
Little update.

Fitted my super pro caster bushes. Have made a difference. Should be doing coilovers and geo this week.

Gave her a wash today and took some pics.

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Paint isnt too bad. Needs some Tlc as some parts are faded. Andrea has bought some special pads for the orbital so will sort it for me when the weather warms up.

Really need some different wheels. Hate mine. Would look so much better silver but cba to paint them. Would rather have rpf1's.
Ahh finally some more progress.

Fitted my rear camber arms and coilovers. and gave it a full setup.

Camber arms and dirty springs (im not enough of a whore to wash them before they went on.)
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Max rear camber, 6.5 deg was a little too much.
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Top mounts and adjusters
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And the final setup.
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I gave it a pretty generic setup to begin with. im just going to make changes and see what it reacts well to once we get some dry weather.

So to start with it has 2 deg of neg camber all around, 1mm of toe out per side on the front, and parallel at the rear. All shocks 5 off full soft.

First thoughts are that it is MUCH better than before. still doesnt seem very keen to oversteer, but much less understeer. When I sling the diff and the 24mm arb on it should make a world of difference.

Ill keep you updated.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3376264
Well after my first trackday in the civic at Cadwell park yesterday (FEB). I am very impressed.

It was awesome. The only thing it struggled with was brakes after 10 laps or so.

So I have just bought these.

Here are some pics of them mocked up on a spare hub.

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Not bad
Small update no pics yet though.

Fitted some buddy club roll centre adjuster ball joints last night. Took about an hour a side which isn't bad. My balljoints were flip after Cadwell. So an upgrade seemed logical.

They have made quite a lot of difference. Car feels a lot more pointy now, and the front seems more responsive. Need to check geo before I make a proper decision though.

Also bought some facelift type front headlights, so along with the brakes and the diff I have a fair bit to fit. But start of the race season now. So it's just as and when, certainly for the next week or so.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3376267
Well, While I was at Brands this weekend with the GTR, Andrea decided to give my car some attention. Took her a day and a half. She wasnt entirely happy with it as it turns out its been supagaurded, with dirt and over spray underneath. so she needs something to get a bit more heat into the paint to remove it.

But Im very happy with the result for now. looks 1000 times better.

Here are some pics i took this morning.

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User avatar
By samco77on
#3376270
Haven't put any pictures for a while although things have been happening.

Cleaned it at the weekend, so here are the pics.

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Nothing special, just some iphone shots.

Not sure i like the wheels, but needed some with enough offset to clear my brakes. And got them for the bargain price of £100 from a mate.

The extra tyre width has made a considerable difference to performance though. I have fitted 225 45 17 michelin ps3's, they are the best all round tyres I have ever had, very nearly as good in the wet as in the dry. well worth the money.

More stuff to come, bought some new badges as mine are worn, and i have some facelift front lights to fit when i can be arsed.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3376276
Well this is all for now.
Made my loom for the HID's in my facelift front lights, so they will be in soon.

currently searching for a front engine mount, light flywheel, clutch, and baffled sump. so i can do it all while im fitting my diff.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3382596
Still no pics of the lights. Car is filthy. I'm a bit ashamed.

Going to order my clutch and flywheel tomorrow. Going to get competition clutches stage 4 sprung clutch, and matching flywheel. This will be fitted the same time as my LSD and baffled sump.
User avatar
By samco77on
#3382848
I have changed my mind about selling up. Unless I get a very good offer.

Have been looking at turbos.

I don't think they are monster 6's as they are lug mounted. I think they are from the race kit. I have a spare set of calipers that I will probably sell. They will fit under stock rims with a spacer and longer studs. The corners of the caliper have been ground off so tha the would fit under the 15's on our race car.
User avatar
By pulpmelon_r
#3455374
Hi - you wont reach high duty cycles on your OEM injectors until running over 260hp, IMO its not woth re-clipping the loom to run the RC's

Edit: just spotted the turbo manifold [smilie=karls_thumb.gif]

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