I do enjoy working on my own car, gives you a buzz when you look back and think I did that. Either that or you look back and think WTF have I done.lol

Regarding the wrap at first I wanted to go gloss black as in the picture, but having had cars with wraps on before they do dull down and not a lot can be done to get them looking decent again expect reapplying. So as this car is going to be my daily I think satin will look better for longer.

Got some more work done on the car yesterday. The front splitter is pretty much there now.

The front splitter and rear spoiler fit was surprisingly good for reproduction parts, however the grille is becoming a big battle. Not just because of having to cut out the old grille, but it just doesn't want to sit flush against the bumper meaning I'm having to cut more and more away.

There is going to be a lot of filling involved once everything is fitted to get it looking right.

And here it all is finally mocked up on the car.

 

Its coming on really nice. i may have missed it but you thinking of keeping the same colour or going for a colour change?

 

Thanks very much. I'm hoping to get the fitting all finished this week and hopefully all the parts that need painting over to the bodyshop by the end of the week, at least that's the plan.

No not going for a colour change, although reckon it would look nice in a pearlescent white one day maybe, instead getting half the car wrapped in a satin black car wrap. Going to get the bonnet tapering down to the grille including the grille, the whole roof and the centre of the Mugen spoiler wrapped. At the same time I'll probably get the windows tinted as well.

 

Sounds like a great plan to me. i need to defo see the finished product even though I'll keep a eye on the process

 

Project is looking very well mate :thumbup: the front lower Mugen spoiler sure looks good. I wonder how the car would look if you satin wrapped the front lower spoiler, side-skirts, and rear lower spoiler. Too Much :think:

 

Cheers fellas.

Think I'm going to stick with just the grille, bonnet, roof and spoiler wrapped.

I do really like the look of the Mugen front, looks quite aggressive, can't wait to see it on once painted.

Edit: Been working out my dates for working on the car as well as getting to the paint shop and it seems that the parts won't be getting paint until next Friday/weekend (12th, 13th, 14th).

I'm planning on going Mimms for the first time this year, but am getting confused with the date, is it the 14th or 21st of April?

If it's the 14th I may be going in the Pug.

 

Been doing a lot of work on the car recently with not a lot to show it seems.

Got the final coat of red on the front callipers, meaning I could get the car down on all four wheels again.

Cleaned and touched up my CTR side skirt. Also got another on order, but hasn't yet been delivered.

Removed the original airbox and started building up my custom induction kit.

Don't worry the cable ties are just temporary whilst I'm waiting for my jubilee clips to arrive.

My CTR backbox finally came through the post. It was given a well needed clean.

And the old backbox was removed.

Sheared a bolt.

The old exhaust flange is going to be welded onto the new backbox because of the difference in size between the EP2 and EP3 boxes.

I finally got around to buying a file so I could elongate the hole so that the rear spoiler could be bolted down properly.

I also got my rear bumper lip through the post so trial fitted this.

It's going to be painted the same time as the front bumper etc.

With all this done I could start on the front bumper modifying, and it's bloody hard work.

I repaired the old crack in the bumper by heating and pushing the damage back into the bumper. Once it was fairly flat I sanded it down to get a smooth finish, it's just waiting on a skim of filler now.

The front splitter was glued/fibreglassed in place.

And then I could start work on the grille again, it's a right bugger to fit.

The top of the grille is at the wrong angle compared with the bumper meaning that it sits too far in.

It's not looking great at the moment and is needing a lot of filler but hopefully once it is done it'll look respectable.

My plan was to get all the bodywork preped and down to the bodyshop to be painted this weekend. However this hasn't happened and it doesn't look as if the car will be making Mimms next weekend.

 

Got both the backboxes down to my welder who swapped the flanges over for some beer tokens.:thumbup:

Here it is fitted up.

It's given the car a nicer tone, but it isn't really loud enough to hear and at low revs doesn't sound much different at all. Because of this I'm going to remove one of the central silencers to see what impact this has on the noise levels.

As well as getting the backbox fitted up I've been doing more bodywork.

Here's the progress.

The rear bumper lip had some damage so that was filled and smoothed as well.

Hopefully one more skim of filler on the bumper and the job should be a good'un.

 

I really hate to say this but there's no such thing as a universal grille, they are specific fits to pre-face or facelift bumpers.

Also I'd watch that exhaust flange, that's a pretty shit fit tbh and may see some grief come MOT time. Looks like the welder spent the beer tokens before he did the job! Exhaust gum is NOT for filling shonky welds.

Not sure about using a number plate as filler, sounds like a bodge job and asking for cracking or peeling when it inevitably shifts.

Sorry to come across so negative, everything else is looking good but these things are better sorting sooner rather than later! Keep up the good work

 

I'm liking this mate nice to see your taking it in your own ands lol once done should look well will be keeping a eye out to see it finished

 

Squirrelking, yep faux pas on my part there. Reread the eBay listing and it says to confirm your year of car before purchasing, I can't remember ever doing this and can only think I've got the wrong grille now.

It also mentions the seller offers a fitting service for £10! Wish I had taken up that offer, it's cost me more than that in filler! :lolno:

Don't worry about the exhaust flange, it's a better fit than it looks in the picture. As we tightened the bolts some exhaust assembly paste was squeezed out and I didn't bother cleaning it off.

Not sure whether I'm going to bother with smoothing the number plate recess now, not sure it's worth the hassle. Fed up with bodywork if I'm honest.

John, thanks for the encouragement. Looking forward to seeing it painted myself but still a lot left to do after that. :thumbup:

 

Whilst most people have been enjoying Japfest this weekend I've been doing more work on the Civic.

Haven't got any pictures at current but more filling and sanding has been undertaken on the front bumper. I got it to the best standard I could then handed it over to my uncle who's finished it off. He use to be a professional SMART repairer and has done a fantastic job. It seamless blend into the bumper now as if its all one piece.

The bumper, spoiler and rear bumper lip are all being painted this week and I should have them back ready to fit, the middle to the end of this week.

After the disappointment of the EP3 back box alone I decided to remove the central silencer. A new piece of straight pipe has been welded in.

It has made the car louder, but still not loud enough or a deep enough tone! And now I'm not quite sure where to go with the exhaust as there isn't a lot more I can do to make it louder without changing the rear box, which I don't want to do.

I may open up the EP3 box, remove some of the sound deadening and weld it back up, but for the time being it'll do.

My jubilee clips came through the post so these were fitted to my induction kit.

It's nearly there, just waiting on some custom brackets to be made now. The cable tie is defiantly a temporary measure.

Thought I'd get a bit showy with the gold.

I've decided on a colour theme for the car which is going to be red, black and gold. Slowly I'll replace all the little bolts, washers, nuts etc. to suit this theme.

I've also received my passengers side skirt through the post as well. This meant I could trial fit both, mark out where the holes need drilling and then cross my fingers I'd got it right!

I also removed the type R decals seeing as its not a type R and I don't want anyone thinking it is.

I've also just been doing some general tidying.

The front wiper arms were looking a bit tatty so these were given quick a blow over with some satin black.

I think little touches like this really smarten a car.

And then the whole car was given a good clean. I was going to wait until I receive the painted parts back but was too impatient.

 

Here's a short video I took a while back when I first removed the old air box to show the difference in sound between an induction kit and the standard air box.

In the video you can't hear a lot of difference (well at least I can't) but in person there is a definitive difference especially when the car is under load.

For anyone that is interested the dimensions for the kit are.

A 90 degree bend which exits from the throttle body, purchased from here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400315901...00315901000?var=670040095042&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Then a 200mm metal pipe joins onto another 90 degree bend which connects to a 50mm metal pipe and a short reducer to take the 2.5" pipe into the 3" K&N filter.

The last bit isn't needed if the filter is a 2.5" diameter.

All in so far the kit has cost me just over £85, and it could be done cheaper if you didn't bother with fancy colour pipes/clips etc. so a big saving on a ready made kit.

Whether you'll see any power gains, I don't know, mine is simply there for looks and noise.

 

Looking good m8, cant wait to see it finished. I've just got a EU8 and I'm planning on changing most of parts you have exterior wise. For front end though I'm getting a whole new bumper so grill and lip fits a bit easy, mot as good with filler, lol. What engine is it? D16V1?

 

Cheers, bumper was dropped off at the sprayers today, should have it back by Wednesday or Thursday, fingers crossed!

Can't remember the engine code off the top of my head but D16V1 sounds about right, D16V2 comes to mind though could be wrong.

 

Don't think there is a V2, just V1 and W7 I think for 1.6 engines.

 

She's been painted!

After refitting the bumper and spoiler I also finally got around to fitting up the rear lip and side skirts. I'm really pleased with the whole effect.

I bought a red H badge for the front grille, but I fear I may have bought a facelift badge (if there is one?) as it curves the opposite way to the grille and doesn't sit flush.

As a temporary measure I sprayed the old H badge satin black and stuck that on.

I got insured on the car from Monday and have already found a fair few niggles. First of which is pictured above and really my fault.

When removing the plastic under tray to remove the bumper I broke some of the plastic rivets as they were quite corroded. I ordered some more but they didn't come through the post in time so instead made a temporary solution of plastic rivets that didn't quite fit and cable ties.

Going down the local bypast the plastic under tray decided to exit the car at 80mph. Bollocks.

Another niggle is that my exhaust scraps somewhere, not sure where yet. My drivers seat squeaks and my passengers side rear door card rattles a lot!

Apart from that she's a good'un, even passed the MOT Saturday morning with no advisories.

 

A few more jobs have been jobbed on the Civic since the last update. I still need to buy a new plastic undertray as mine has completely had it. However it has been bodged in placed more securely this time and hasn't exited from the car yet. From the outside it can't be seen unless you're laying on the floor so it isn't much of a priority at the moment.

Sorted out my drivers seat squeak, it was the seat belt holder rubbing on the seat. Adjusted so that doesn't happen anymore.

Took the rear door card off to find that 2 of the 3 screws that hold the rear speaker in place weren't there. With these replaced no more rattle.

My cigarette lighter wasn't working but simply replacing the fuse cured this.

I got fed up with my black H badge on the front so replaced it with a red one to match the rear.

Finally got a filter to fit the breather on the engine, it had been smelling a bit oily.

With all this done I was feeling quite happy with the car, that was until the driveshaft snapped.

It did half go with a bang.

A new one was purchased the next morning after being towed to a mates house and replaced. Took just under an hour, it wasn't too bad a job.

Although the £120 hit wasn't what I needed. The guy at All Parts had a good laugh when I told him the reason I couldn't bring back my old shaft to get my £30 surcharge back. lol

And finally a few pictures of the car in all its glory.

 

Looks very smart bud.
Some brave moves made mod wise, but i think they have paid off, very pleasing to the eye.
Looks much more poised and aggressive with the kit installed, and a k20 to follow i understand, will be fearsome then!
Oh, and quality detailing too !
Ta!
James.

 

Thanks for the compliments buddy.

I think the Mugen parts really suit the EP shape. I just need some lows and some decent wheels to finish it all off now.

 

Compliments well deserved, looks a million miles better than the standard appearance.
At least your wheels are clean, mine are totally battered, previous ownersalm:
Ah well, look forward to seeing more.
Take care.
James.

 

Some really great work. Love the outcome but WOW how did the drive-shaft snap?

 

The standard wheels are likely to be up for sale soon (if I win my eBay auction that is) first refusal to yourself.

Many plans for this but don't want to give too much away, and I seem to change my mind a lot so not everything I say I'm going to do gets done!

At the moment I want to get some lowering springs, wheels, ICE and tint the windows.

Then I can focus on the K20 conversion before doing anything else.

 

The standard wheels are likely to be up for sale soon (if I win my eBay auction that is) first refusal to yourself.

Much appreciated sir! Unfortunately im post facelift 5 stud, are you going for five stud after the K swap?

 

Just not had time to list them but i have the full 5 stud EP3 hubs with disc / callipers up for grabs and i can let them go for cheap as they are not costing me much from my donor EP3