Colin's EK Hatch

[99sidude]

So after month's of indecision, I finally came across a car to replace my venerable blown eg catch. After driving everything from Miata's, to e36 M3's, to c5 vettes, I settled on a 12 year old civic with no powersteering or a/c. Why would I do this with all these fantastic cars at my fingertips? Well for one, I am already "tooled up" to work on Hondas. I have all the tools, and the know-how. Hell I work for the company, and can get oem parts on the cheap. This lets me have fun working on a car while allowing me to save up for a house down the road.

So to get started. I picked up this rust free 97' ek hatch from a guy that assemble's CRV's for a living at one of the local plants. It came equipped with a jdm ITR swap from hmotors. I was hoping that someone who assembles cars for a living would know how to assemble a simple civic hatchback. I was wrong.

 

[99sidude]

The car as I got it:
110k miles. Rust Free
jdm b18c swap. lsd s80 trans
Busted 4-1 ebay header. The thing was all busted up from being bottomed out and leaks. Threw a stock gsr mani on there for the time being.
CTR lip kit
dropzone coilovers on blown OE struts
bald falken autox tires on flaking fat 5's
Camber kit in front, full assortment of stiffener bars, aftermarket lca's
Cheap ebay racing seats in front with teg rear seats (don't even fit in the car wtf)

The car was filthy. I removed the carpet from the car to scrub it and it still didn't cleap up. I ordered a set of OE Honda Access floormats. (one of 12 new sets left in the country btw) to cover the stains.

The CV's were clicking badly when I got the car, and the valve lash was wayy off.

 

[double0Si]

I thought you already picked this up a little while ago.

 

[99sidude]

My goal is to build this into a 400whp daily driver vehicle. It wont be my DD, but it will have a full interior, and can be driven long distances if nececary. It's replacing my jrsc gsr equipped eg hatch which has served me reliably for the past few years (SEE SIG). I'd in the process of converting that car to N/A and harvesting all the parts I can use on the new civic. IE hondata, guages/wideband, suspension. I'm then going to sell the teal one, and the jrsc kit seperate (way for $$$ in it that way and I can keep my tuning stuff).

Brother and Sister:

 

[99sidude]

I thought you already picked this up a little while ago.

I did. I'm just now getting around to making a build thread for it. Most of the major work so far started last weekend.

 

[double0Si]

Oh, ok. It looks like a great starting point. If its going to be as good as the last one (which I'm sure it will be) I'll definetly keep my eye on this thread.

 

[99sidude]

Last weekend a buddy of mine came to Columbus and helped me work on the new civ the entire weekend. Lots of work was done. I started by swapping the stereo's between the cars. The green civic had newer pioneer stuff in it while the black one came with walmart stereo stuff.

I then set out to cure one of the things I HATE about high hp cars with stiff motor mounts: Rattly interior panels. I removed every single panel, checked all the clips and screws, and put 3m adhesive foam stripping on all of the contact surfaces with the body. It was alot of work, but it sure paid off.

 

[Matts96HB]

Nice wheels, I have the exact same thing on my hatch. Gunmetal fat fives FTW. Car looks great.

 

[99sidude]

I could not get the original axle nuts off for the life of me. I tried every trick in the book, even snapped a breaker bar. I said fuck it and ended up cutting the nuts off.

Swapped new autozone CV's into the new hatch. Lifetime warantee FTW

 

[99sidude]

Nice wheels, I have the exact same thing on my hatch. Gunmetal fat fives FTW. Car looks great.

Thanks man. The paint job on the wheels is aweful and flaking really bad. While the motor is out later this summer I'm either going to repaint them or get them powdercoated. Painting seems more cost effective and a DIY project. I hope it's durable.

I may go for a set of aftermarket wheels so I can fit some wider tires on the thing.

 

[99sidude]

I swapped the suspension setups between the cars. The black one came with dropzone coilovers on blown oem struts. Made for a nice look, but a crappy ride. I swapped them for the eibach pro-kit/pro damper setup off my teal civ. The swap was a ton of work because the rear lca bolts like to freeze to the metal bushing insert. Thank God for a press.

All said and done, the black car rides way nicer now, and handles better. Unfortunately the car has lots of fender gap with the new setup. I forsee a coilover setup in the future.

You can see it rides higher now:

The teal civ looks slammed with the dropzone coils. Too bad it rides like ass.

 

[double0Si]

I said fuck it and ended up cutting the nuts off.

:eek2:You did what!? You just got the car and already have had it neutered!

 

[99sidude]

Oh. forgot to mention, I sold the ebay racing seats and replaced them with a set of 00' si seats. Anyways, the main goal was to do something about the rear seats. The teg seats looked like ass, used hatch rears were hard to come by, and hell, I never use them. I usually use the hatch for its utility with the seats folded flat. I decided to build a carpeted hatch deck with the help of a friend.

Using a large box from a dumpster as a precision tracing tool:

Cutting out the form from 1/2" plywood and assembing with screws and lotts of liquid nails (to prevent any creaking)

like a glove:

Carpeting like a pro:

Looks good...

Factory Fit n Finish

 

[TurboRex90]

hell yeah, love the carpet idea. Real clean.

 

[99sidude]

The carpeted deck is great for utility and keeping things clean. Mine definately added a few lb to the car compared to the seats. I used 1/2" plywood. It's extremely strong and doesn't flex much. If I did it agian I'd go for 3/8"

 

[efhondakid]

hell yeah, love the carpet idea. Real clean.

Looks really good.

 

[GlassHeadlights]

I don't understand. The teal one is blown or the 240 in the garage?

Also I may have skipped it but how much did you pay for the black one?

The whole car looks sick btw. Love the carpet idea.

 

[99sidude]

I don't understand. The teal one is blown or the 240 in the garage?

Also I may have skipped it but how much did you pay for the black one?

The whole car looks sick btw. Love the carpet idea.

The teal one is blown as in supercharged. The 240 in the garage has an sc61 going on it. I'm not saying how much I paid I think the prev. owner lurks here.

 

[Matts96HB]

Love the carpet idea. I just gutted my hatch from the front seats back, so something of the same style may be in order after seeing that. Nice.

 

[civhatch97]

that floor looks GREAT!!!!!!!!