Author Topic: Cheap and Fun Honda Si Project - New Engine Time (part deux)  (Read 19740 times)

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Offline YvanF

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My buddy Zac and I bought (so yes, we co-own it) this 1992-1993 (made in Aug 1992) Honda Civic Si hatchback back in october last year and just never picked it up until last week.

We both own subaru wagons that we daily drive and we both wanted a second car to beat on at the track / autox and not care if it broke down....
so we went dutch on this cheap civic...

Here we are the day we picked it up.


Getting it towed to my place:



As per my previous car.... its red. Not on purpose. Really don't know why every car I get is red since i just narrow down my search for a vehicle as make and model and grab whatever is available.

Body is in poor shape. Rust. Dings. More rust, Chunks missing out of her. Perfect for our needs. Something cheap that is fun to drive and that we wont car if we wreck it.

The car itself apparently needed a clutch (according to the previous owner who drove it until the clutch was completely dead and left it for dead... for 1 maybe two years. lol)
Boosted it and it started up right away as if it had been ran as a daily driver for years.
GOD I LOVE HONDAS!!!!!!!!

More to come later.

Offline 05LGT

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2015, 12:41:44 pm »
I am beginning to think Honda hatchbacks only came in red.
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Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2015, 12:41:51 pm »
My buddy and I bought this Honda Civic Si hatchback back in october last year....
....We both own subarus...
...that we daily drive and we both wanted a second car to beat on at the track / autox and not care if it broke down....
...so we went dutch on this cheap civic...
As per my previous car.... its red. Not on purpose.

Are you literally me?



Good choice, you guys are gonna have a blast!
Is illmotion's sunday school where you learn about how Stance Jesus scraped for your sins?
Roxanne - 2015 WRX Ginger - 1990 Civic Si
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Offline YvanF

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #3 on: May 14, 2015, 12:43:34 pm »
Yes, we are twins!!!
Separated at birth!!

Yes, she is gonna be a gooder!

Offline RedBimmer93

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #4 on: May 14, 2015, 12:48:15 pm »
Are you literally me?

Good choice, you guys are gonna have a blast!
It's great to be rathburn!

I can attest to how owning a beater is amazingly fun, congrats!

Offline seat safety switch

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2015, 12:54:04 pm »
That's a handsome Honda. Now I have to buy a Honda if I want to be cool :(

It's just like high school all over again

Offline RedBimmer93

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2015, 12:57:19 pm »
That's a handsome Honda. Now I have to buy a Honda if I want to be cool :(

It's just like high school all over again
The rt4wd is still for sale!! Buy it and you will be ultra cool!!

Offline ultimatt

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2015, 01:14:23 pm »
You should have bought GrantC's. I bet he is sick of moving it around.
<+  Hurrbie> becuase ultimasshole

Offline Cagare

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2015, 01:52:16 pm »
Wrong year, should have found an 89.  Well, you are probably 50 lbs lighter than Rathburn and I so there are your weight savings.

So, building it to be in STS class or going to muck around in stock?

Offline LilDrunkenSmurf

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #9 on: May 14, 2015, 01:58:24 pm »
I miss my old EG hatch.
If the sea was vodka, and I was a duck.
I would swim to the bottom, and drink my way up.
But the sea isn't vodka, and I'm not a duck.
So give me the vodka, and stfu.
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Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2015, 02:01:44 pm »
I think we need to start a new section or something: Honda orewhays.
Is illmotion's sunday school where you learn about how Stance Jesus scraped for your sins?
Roxanne - 2015 WRX Ginger - 1990 Civic Si
Avatar courtesy of Wong Photography

rith

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2015, 02:04:00 pm »
Yeah, you can call the forum  "wtb: torque"

Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2015, 02:24:49 pm »
Yeah, you can call the forum  "wtb: torque"

Yeah, either that or FS: engines that are properly engineered and don't blow up all the time and cars that don't have terrible reliability issues.

I've still got my Subaru.
#twinscroll4torque #turbo #hashtag
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Offline Asstuna

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2015, 02:30:47 pm »
#uckyfay
oh wait, wrong thread

Offline 05LGT

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2015, 02:34:15 pm »
#uckyfay
oh wait, wrong thread

Always the right thread for that hashtag...
I don't name things I know I'm going to sell eventually. Hence why I'd never name any kids I had.

If you can't go fast with 90HP, 900HP won't help you. - Bob Hall

Offline YvanF

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2015, 03:07:32 pm »
Some pics....


Initial thoughts / initial inspection showed:

Car has 283k kms.
Needs new clutch. As it stands, you can"t even engage gears.
So we bought a new oem clutch for it.
It seems to be puffing white smoke when you get up in the revs. Signs of an old tired engine? Head gasket?
Owner wants his old rims back (condition of sale), so need a new set of rims/tires.
Probably will need new brakes/suspension.

I've been scouring kijiji and snapping up parts when they come up.

Initial impressions:
- Good thing about owning a honda is... parts (new/used) are readily and cheaply available. ;D
- Bad thing about owning a honda is... you have to deal with kijiji honda yo punks. >:(

#1 rule of this project is, cut all corners, fix everything on the cheap. We are keeping it in stock class and racing it as is. We already have Subaru money pits, this is not another one. Famous last words... i know i know.

So off I go on kijiji hoping to find a good strong and lightweight 14inch racing rim. Looked for a while, hoping to find something similar to RPF1's.
But being on a tight budget and wanting to keep it cheap, I found the closest thing to RPF1's....

Oh they are Enkei's alright..... made in Malaysia. LOL.
They come with cheap Walmart brand All seasons. Terrible for autox but oh well. This project is all about cheap and fun and seat time. Wear the tires down then upgrade next season / whenever these blow. Then grab some tires that will be stikier then.

So we started with opening the hood and finding this little guy.


So I says to myself, how do I pull a honda engine... its sidewayz and FWD and confuses me.
Start uckfaying around disconnecting fuel, coolant, clutch slave cylinder, power steering, brake stuf, electrical stuff.
Great, all the easy stuff is done. Now just need to disconnect the axles.
Guess you take off the wheels and hubs and stuff...



Yep, these rotors are done.

Brake pads look new. Bonus.
In fact, this car seems to have been well maintained by the previous owner. Everything had antiseize on it and came off great. Zac and I were blown away how easy everything was coming off. YAY!!

Exhaust is disconnected with little effort. WOW. Thats a first.


Now here is where I am stuck... Shifter linking.
uckfaying split pin wont come out. Google tells me to use a punch and ram it out. Being on my back under the car offers very little thrust power, so im getting nowhere fast.
The uckfaying pin in question:


Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2015, 03:20:07 pm »
It seems to be puffing white smoke when you get up in the revs. Signs of an old tired engine? Head gasket?

Dat Honda life, yo.
Seems like this happens to every Honda. Also, "up in the revs"? That's the only place you should be with a car like this. Anything under 5k is sacrilege. It's suspected and been surmised that it's the piston rings in our car causing this. Our car also spits a tremendous amount of soot/carbon/black stuff out of its shorty side pipe. Watch your pant legs!

#1 rule of this project is, cut all corners, fix everything on the cheap. We are keeping it in stock class and racing it as is. We already have Subaru money pits, this is not another one. Famous last words... i know i know

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Ahahahahahahahahahahaa

Ahahahahahahahha

Hahaha

Ha

Sure...

We were initially planning on staying stock too...

Is that half rad stock?
Is illmotion's sunday school where you learn about how Stance Jesus scraped for your sins?
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Offline LilDrunkenSmurf

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2015, 03:29:20 pm »
The half rad is stock, yes. From '92-00, both the EK and EG. Same with the DA2 and DC2 Integras IIRC.
If the sea was vodka, and I was a duck.
I would swim to the bottom, and drink my way up.
But the sea isn't vodka, and I'm not a duck.
So give me the vodka, and stfu.
If you're having forum problems, I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but your post ain't one.

Offline YvanF

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2015, 03:46:51 pm »
So the plan is to pull the engine and replace the clutch. And replace the brakes (rotors). Oh and the windshield, its uckfayed. Suspension looks good still. As we dig into it more, we will replace everything and anything that needs to be replaced for it to pass inspection. We will replace  flush all fluids. Then ship it off to get inspected so we can get it on the road, and hope half the uckfaying autox season hasn't come and gone. :(

With regards to the white puffs of smoke, if it needs a headgasket, whatever, we will drive it till she blows. Just want to get this thing up and running asap. These engines are plentyful on kijiji anyway. I think there was 4 for sale in edmonton alone when we picked up the civic.

That was the plan anyway....till I started looking at Grant's Honda.... and told myself, honda reliability is great, i mean, i wont ever have to replace my engine 5 times like my Subie, but.... maybe its not a bad idea to keep searching kijiji and grab spare of whatever I can find so we can easily swap it in if anything breaks.

So off I go on kijiji.... hunting for spare parts... dealing with honda bro/yo teenagers/punks. ughhh.

Heck, grant blew an engine, a diff and axles. I should just grab whatever I can find. Just in case.

So after dealing with a bunch of time wasters aka people that put up stuff on kijiji to sell and dont seem very motivated/ want to make any real efforts to make themselves available to sell the itshay they uckfaying posted for sale!!!!
I stumbled upon the mother of gawd...... a jackpot..... a stockpile of spare parts that should last us for quite some time.
So I consult my buddy and says to him, "Zac, theres a engine, transmission, axle, ecu, couple of alternators and starters, distributor and a spare set of vtech heads (to name some of the parts) on kijiji. Should I grab them./ Says OBO, dont know what any of this hoda itshay is worth, what should I offer him?"
Zac says to me "its probably one of those jdm yo teenage punks, just offer him a case of 24 and see what happens"
Thinking this would be a very low lowball, i ignored zac's excellent people skills and negotiation expertise and I simply emailed the fella and asked if we could meet up and come to an agreement.
Thank god I did that because moments later I get a response from this mysterious kijiji fella saying, "do you own a red WRX wagon?"
I was like WAAAAAAAAAAAA
Turns out, its AJ. LMFAO.
Thank god I didn't listen to zacs advise and lowball him with a case of beer. hahaha.
We came to a gentlemans agreement on the value of the parts, exchanged moneys for partrs, talked subaru, hondas, racing.
Small world.

Anyhow, here is our "because... in case" spare parts pile. Axles, heads, ecu, distributor, etc.


Spare vtech engine and transmission.


So now were thinking, uckfay having to deal with a potential tired / blown headgasket engine, lets just swap AJ's engine in since we know it works, and take our time rebuilding the current engine.

Then, we will have two engines that we can easily swap out in case one decides to puke its guts out and not miss much for autox season. Whats left of it anyway. :(

Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #19 on: May 14, 2015, 04:22:28 pm »
Are... Are you just copying everything from our thread? ;)

Can't have a race car without a spare motor, and drive shafts, and transmission, and....

Have you guys come up with a name yet?
Is illmotion's sunday school where you learn about how Stance Jesus scraped for your sins?
Roxanne - 2015 WRX Ginger - 1990 Civic Si
Avatar courtesy of Wong Photography

Offline Cagare

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #20 on: May 14, 2015, 04:34:42 pm »
Are... Are you just copying everything from our thread? ;)

Can't have a race car without a spare motor, and drive shafts, and transmission, and....

Have you guys come up with a name yet?

I know, like looking in a mirror


Offline Rathburn

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #21 on: May 14, 2015, 04:47:41 pm »
I know, like looking in a mirror



Is illmotion's sunday school where you learn about how Stance Jesus scraped for your sins?
Roxanne - 2015 WRX Ginger - 1990 Civic Si
Avatar courtesy of Wong Photography

Offline YvanF

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2015, 04:55:50 pm »
Are... Are you just copying everything from our thread? ;)

Can't have a race car without a spare motor, and drive shafts, and transmission, and....

Have you guys come up with a name yet?

I am not up to date with your guys build thread. Sorry. But I'm sure its all good stuff worthy of copying. :)

We are really just buying whatever we see on kijiji. Lol. Copying would involve premeditation... Which is definetly too much brain work for us. Lol.

Fun project so far though. It's so nice to work on something that isn't your daily driver. It drastically lowers the stress and increases the fun/enjoyment aspect of it.
Plus, lots of good beer and pizza nights

No name yet.

Offline Cagare

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #23 on: May 14, 2015, 04:59:29 pm »
Will you be building to a specific class or are you just staying stock?

I understand you are not planning, but I am wondering if you are building and racing for fun or to be competitive?  The spare motor you purchased, is it the same motor that came with your car originally or is it different?  That would affect your classing.

Offline A.J.

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Re: Since everyone has a honda project... cheap autox project
« Reply #24 on: May 14, 2015, 05:11:29 pm »
Now here is where I am stuck... Shifter linking.
uckfaying split pin wont come out. Google tells me to use a punch and ram it out. Being on my back under the car offers very little thrust power, so im getting nowhere fast.
The uckfaying pin in question:

There's a reason they call it the itchbay Pin.

I have a punch set that I got at princess auto that has one sized good enough for it. The problem is that you don't have much room to swing the hammer to bash it out. I have one of these: and it works awesome for that job. Be careful once you get it out though, it'll go flying once it's free of its home.
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