1992 Civic DX Hatch - BUILD THREAD - Update 14 DEC
1992 HONDA CIVIC DX HATCHBACK
As most of you know I just got back from Iraq due to medical reasons. I bought a wrx and a f150 parts hauler. I got run off the road about a week ago and insurance totaled it. I had some interest in a trade from a guy with a hatch and took the offer. The first part of the information below was sent to me from the previous owner and after I retyped most of his dyslexia I think it is readable. I will try and put the pictures in order but for the most part I think you will get the idea.
The original color of the car was white, but when i bought it was painted
burgundy. Then on top of all of that some bad kids spray painted the roof
and the hood of the car yellow. So from there i ordered brand a new hood and brand new
fenders. I searched for a factory front bumper, but unfortunately i couldnt
find a factory rear. The rear bumper has one tiny little crack which i will send a picture of so that u can see. The headlights, taillights, signals, hazard lights and everything
work. The clip for the side markers have snapped so they do not stay on. i just didnt really worry about the side makers because i was going to order the one piece headlights by tyc.
INTERIOR
98 gsr seats front and rear
97 honda civic center console (so I could put a 7 inch tv screen at the bottom.)
EXTERIOR
New hood
New fenders
Ex front bumper so that the jdm front fog lights can fit
97 gsr limited edition wheels
98 gsr complete front suspension- shocks, upper and lower control arms
98 gsr complete rear suspension(converted from drums to disc/ gsr hand brake
and cables / complete gsr shocks/ arms)
eibach adjustable lowering springs ( In the pictures you can see the car can go extremely low)
First step
JDM b16 swap complete (had it sitting in my garage until i found the right car)
when i bought the swap it had 40xxx mile on it. The car has not been driven for more than a thousand miles since the swap was performed.
I drove the car for a little when i first performed the swap. Since then I have added cam gears. i removed the tranny and installed a stage two ceramic clutch and new release bearing. Then I replaced the b16 tranny with a 97 gsr tranny and new axles. I also installed a new gsr stabilizer bar, Big tach guage, and an aftermarket fuel rail and pressure regulator. I installed a performance air filter straight through to the fender. I installed a header and a super sport msd system as well. And last but not least I installed a vtec p28 virgin computer which is dying to be chipped.
SPECS:
Jdm b16 Engine w/ approx. 40,XXX miles
Stage two built racing cluth with new release bearing
cam gears
fuel rail
pressure regulator
msd system- the only thing i want to keep along with the air filter pipe
gsr tranny
new axles
gsr front suspension
gsr rear suspension
gsr limited edition wheels
adjustable lowering coilovers
new hood
new fenders
ex front bumber
gsr front seats
gsr rear seats
civic center console
big TAchometer guage
gsr stabilizer bar
A/C WORKS
manual windows
manual doors
DX model
Three tires are perfect and the other two cud change 5 rims
So after reading all that I started typing some of my own stuff to keep a log on this project. My intentions are not a show car. I am going to do a mini tuck under the hood with some basic upgrades to the motor. Some itr/ctr cams and valve springs. Whale penis intake and a good tune. This car is going to be a clean little daily to keep miles off the wrx. I am going to slap some full coilovers on it and some larger sways. Slap on some descent strut bars and call that a day. I plan on having the outside painted black. I am going to need a new windshield and have someone help me take off all the old tint and overspray on the rest of the windows. I already sourced a lip and jdm fogs. I will get a knockoff rear lip spoiler. Other than that I just want something clean looking and fun to drive. Well.. on to the madness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Update Dec. 08, 2007
Well I picked the car up on trade and honestly it is a little rougher than I was hoping. The front bumper and roof look as hideous as possible. That’s easily fixable. The under hood looks like ass and it looks like a three year old did the wiring. The hack job will be fixed. The interior is in better shape than I expected I just need to dye the roof and b pillars and pick up some misc pieces. The brakes are not bad but I have to fix his ghetto paint job on all the brakes and misc stuff under the hood. THE CAR IS SSSOOOO SLOW!
Update Dec. 09, 2007
After soaking the underhood of the car last night in degreaser I figured I better start tackling the wiring and cleaning under the hood. I pulled the distributor apart and rebuilt the wiring. It runs again! STILL SLOW AS BALLS! I scrubbed and soaked and scrubbed again. This will be an on going process for the next two weeks or so. I am going to buy some stiffer brushes to help. I started cleaning up all the wiring and taking off all the misc. brackets that are not needed. I adjusted the throttle cable so it actually goes to WOT now. I slapped on some cheap plug wires and tightened up all the nuts and bolts under the hood. I took the car for a drive again and its still slow but is smoother now. It is throwing several CEL’s but I am not going to write them down yet because it was getting late. I primered the hood and bumper. I only did a half ass job sanding and used rattle cans because I am getting it sprayed as soon as I CAN! I have to finish the wrx first, says the wifey. My next steps are to finish cleaning up the wiring and start ordering parts for the exterior and interior. I have a large list. But as I said before I cannot start on it until I get the wrx finished! TO BE CONTINUED!
Update Dec. 10, 2007
Well. I decided I hate most of the random red and yellow painted parts under the hood and in the car. I went to the parts store and picked up some more primer, sandpaper, and my new Flat Army Green paint for my valve cover. After I took off the valve cover and sanded it down I decided that I liked leaving part of the old paint on and some off. I figured it would give it a textured look and the flat army green over it would look bad ars. Anyways.. After I sprayed it with primer and a couple of coats of paint I figured I better start tackling those cel lights. The first one to pop up was a auto tranny cel. After some thinking and research and help from a few folks on IA we came to the conclusion that it was a auto ecu. Well crap that means I can either cut the p28 auto resistor out or just chip it. I don’t have any of my Honda stuff since I sold it all with my last car and made the switch to the wrx. I went to Carter Racing a.k.a. Asian Auto here in savannah and had them chip the ecu and load a base b16 map for me. $85 dollars later I hooked it back up. After several more codes and a lot of tracing down wires… It runs.. idles.. and has vtec. Its still slow as balls but atleast I know the car is running half way descent. I also took it out of four wheel drive mode in the front and ordered some misc. stuff off of Honda-tech.
Update Dec. 11, 2007
God I love being back from Iraq. I just thought I would add that. Today I wanted to clean up the interior of the car. I have not had a chance to pull the seats out and do some shop vacing and wiping down of the interior. It came out ok. I put a master list together of all the stuff I need for the interior. I re wired and remounted the ecu. After it was all said and done I took it for a quick blast down the road. I got a cel again.. yay. Its for the 02 sensor but I am not going to mess with it tonight. Oh well… AND I WANT TO MENTION I AM GETTING NEW EXHAUST!!!! THIS ISH IS WAY TO LOUD!!!
Update Dec. 12, 2007
Well I had surgery today. I had my gallbladder taken out and it sucks. I am rocking 16 staples.. yay. Anyways on to the car. Late last night I started taking out the humongous tach that was in the car. I ordered a SI gauge cluster with tach to go back in it. I got my fogs in and got them cleaned up. My mugen front lip should be in over the weekend. I also ordered a new shifter/knob/boot assembly off of the good old EBAY! I also ordered a used mugen steering wheel/hub from a kid on Honda-tech. I will be waiting for all this stuff to come in over the next couple of weeks. I am bidding on a H.O.P. black audio console as well. I got my cams in today! YAY! Other than that I will be installing once I feel up to it. Pics to follow when I can walk good enough to go over to the storage unit/garage to get them. Thanks
Update Dec. 14, 2007
Well.. The Honda bug has hit pretty hard on this one. I am looking back through receipts and I have already topped the grand mark on all the parts over the last couple of days. I just want this one to be CLEAN! Show some of my favorite styling tips and cues from cars I have been saving pictures of for the last … well forever! ANYONE got any ideas for paint on this car. I def. want to use the OG Oldskool wheels in gold. The 15x8 with a 15offset I believe it is. I am going to hit up barker “speedminded” to put together a Porsche brake setup in place of the gsr that I am running now. I was going to go FBP like I said before but now I am thinking some sort of dark grey / carbon / shadow grey color. Let me see some photo shops of colors. Thanks..
Update Dec. 16, 2007
So.. I took out the gauge cluster and center console today. I started taking the steering wheel off to make a place for my used mugen wheel coming in. I am still bidding on the Audio Console. I am thinking about buying the arm rest in the for sale section but I cannot seem to decide If I want to rock one or not. We shall see. Maybe if I get some extra cash for Christmas I will buy it. I started sanding and taping up the jams on the car today. I found the paint I am going to go with. Its called Graphite Grey Metallic. Its really really dark. I sprayed the hatch jam with it today. I know its supposed to be jamb but eat ****! It was really cold outside today so I had to spray it in the garage. Ventilation FTW! I am not to concerned with the way the jambs are going to come out because this is not going to be a show car. I took the hatch off and started cleaning up all the gunk and misc. stuff in the back. I took the massive tachometer off today. YAY! Other than that I am just waiting for all the pieces to come in so that after Christmas I can get the car painted. I am talking with JDMJEFF right now and am hoping he is going to be able to help me out. Other than that I have to meet some contractors over at my wife and I’s new house tomorrow. We are supposed to move in on the 10th of January. I am trying to get the hatch all buttoned up before then. That way the only things I have left to do when we move is start tearing all the suspension off and having everything powder coated. Its hard to tell with the crappy camera pics but hopefully you will be able to tell what it looks like! Comments are welcomed.
Update Dec. 20, 2007
I am still not feeling to hot after my surgery so I have been taking it slow. I started receiving all the parts in the mail yesterday. I got my new ext. wheel studs / lugs / and clutch in for the wrx. I got the steering wheel/ exhaust / and gauge cluster in for the hatch. I finally got the whole Tach taken out and all wires traced back to origin. I had the wife stop by the parts store and pick me up some fresh bulbs to put in it. I copied the Honda-tech thread on how to make your SI gauge cluster look similar in lighting as the JDM orange cluster. I went to the shop and grabbed some spray paint. I did not bother to read the side of the can I just looked at the top. I thought it was orange and it ended up being red. Oh well.. instead of an orange glow I have a dark red glow. I am not going to spend $20 more bucks on new bulbs. **** it. I got it installed late last night and it looks awesome and all the gauges work properly. I will update with pics asap. I re-installed all the dash pieces. All I have left to do now is wait for the glovebox and such to come in. I already started disassembly on the steering wheel. I will finish that up sometime this week and get the new wheel installed. The only reason I am taking the old black wheel off is because the material is coming loose on the bottom. Oh well.. other than that I will check in later!
Update Dec. 23, 2007:
I finished painting the hatch jams today. I installed the new shifter/ shift knob/ and shift boot. I also installed the intake on the car. I finished sorting out all the wiring and cleaned the fast idle control valve. The only thing i have left to do is install the hks exhaust, the mugen lip and steering wheel. The car runs a million times better than before. Its almost ready for paint and to have the cams installed after the first of the year!
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Originally Posted by Truegiant
love the color!
