Civic Type R "Clubsport/Civilic,SuperchargedR" build.
Discussion
After handing back a knackered BMW I found a few months where I was a carless bum.
During this time I thought about what to get, with a mind of modifying to turn into that one car that could do it all, for me.
Something that is seriously competent on track, but not so much it's compromised on a B road, or when driving to the tracks.
Something that I could drive to the shops occasionally; put the dog in the car occasionally; but something, that when the mood takes, will be naffing competent on track, as well as on B roads.
Something I won't be forever spannering on trying to fix problems; I wanted a fairly reliable platform to start from.
Parts are relatively cheap to get hold of, if/when I get it wrong on track.
Essentially, it was the car that can do it all.
It was narrowed down to a DC5, and an Civic Type R, and the Civic won.
This isn't going to be a money no object build, nor is it going to be a cheapest way possible build. I want to build it using quality, tested, trusted parts, do it properly and not be chasing gremlins and little niggles from trying to cut corners. So it's going to have high quality parts, half (maybe full) cage, proper bucket seats (maybe Recaro/Bride) supercharger conversion (aiming for 360-400hp) Proper suspension setup, with decent parts, and done to a high standard.
This was mainly due to the fact that parts are much, much cheaper, easier to get hold of, and the car was less than half the price.
So I was hunting for an EP3!
having seen a couple of rough ones, and seen a couple of minters for way over my 3k budget I found the car.
higher mileage than I wanted, but full Honda history, 1 owner from new and was completely standard and hadn't been fettled with.
On the test drive, the car desperately needed a clutch, but other than that it was tidy, no rust, not messed with, and was a great base to start with. This is how it stood after the test drive.
Once I picked it up, within a week got fed up with radio, and put a new, double din headunit with android auto.
Seeing in 130k properly!
I also de-wipered the rear, as the washer jet didn't work anyway and the motor was a little off.
Having to go through leg day every time I drove the car got boring pretty quickly. So I booked it in to get a new clutch done. Man maths also suggested that as the gearbox was off, it would be cheaper to get the diff put in at the same time, and then I thought it would be a good idea to get the timing chain replaced at the same time. And well, whilst the engine is in bits, it makes sense to have a full service done at the same time, right?
So that's what I did.
New clutch
MFactory Helical LSD
New timing chain
Valve clearances checked
Full service
weird intermittent ABS light issue checked.
They took the engine/gearbox out as one, to split and save time rather than working on them whilst still in the car. It caused for many Fast and Furious "got no engines ted" jokes, but here's a few pics of before and during the work.
Pleasingly, whilst it was up in the air I managed to get to properly poke around underneath, and it's pretty tidy! No rust to mention (a little surface rust but not too bad) and no components were weakened by is. No damage to the underside, at all. Which adds into the rest of the car, that it's been thoroughly looked after.
So that's how she sits at the mo. Currently have a huge list of bits to do. Next up are either wheels or a full brake overhaul. Currently plan is to use a Megane RS250 front caliper, and original rear calipers with new discs and pads all round, with new brake lines and fluid refresh.
During this time I thought about what to get, with a mind of modifying to turn into that one car that could do it all, for me.
Something that is seriously competent on track, but not so much it's compromised on a B road, or when driving to the tracks.
Something that I could drive to the shops occasionally; put the dog in the car occasionally; but something, that when the mood takes, will be naffing competent on track, as well as on B roads.
Something I won't be forever spannering on trying to fix problems; I wanted a fairly reliable platform to start from.
Parts are relatively cheap to get hold of, if/when I get it wrong on track.
Essentially, it was the car that can do it all.
It was narrowed down to a DC5, and an Civic Type R, and the Civic won.
This isn't going to be a money no object build, nor is it going to be a cheapest way possible build. I want to build it using quality, tested, trusted parts, do it properly and not be chasing gremlins and little niggles from trying to cut corners. So it's going to have high quality parts, half (maybe full) cage, proper bucket seats (maybe Recaro/Bride) supercharger conversion (aiming for 360-400hp) Proper suspension setup, with decent parts, and done to a high standard.
This was mainly due to the fact that parts are much, much cheaper, easier to get hold of, and the car was less than half the price.
So I was hunting for an EP3!
having seen a couple of rough ones, and seen a couple of minters for way over my 3k budget I found the car.
higher mileage than I wanted, but full Honda history, 1 owner from new and was completely standard and hadn't been fettled with.
On the test drive, the car desperately needed a clutch, but other than that it was tidy, no rust, not messed with, and was a great base to start with. This is how it stood after the test drive.
Once I picked it up, within a week got fed up with radio, and put a new, double din headunit with android auto.
Seeing in 130k properly!
I also de-wipered the rear, as the washer jet didn't work anyway and the motor was a little off.
Having to go through leg day every time I drove the car got boring pretty quickly. So I booked it in to get a new clutch done. Man maths also suggested that as the gearbox was off, it would be cheaper to get the diff put in at the same time, and then I thought it would be a good idea to get the timing chain replaced at the same time. And well, whilst the engine is in bits, it makes sense to have a full service done at the same time, right?
So that's what I did.
New clutch
MFactory Helical LSD
New timing chain
Valve clearances checked
Full service
weird intermittent ABS light issue checked.
They took the engine/gearbox out as one, to split and save time rather than working on them whilst still in the car. It caused for many Fast and Furious "got no engines ted" jokes, but here's a few pics of before and during the work.
Pleasingly, whilst it was up in the air I managed to get to properly poke around underneath, and it's pretty tidy! No rust to mention (a little surface rust but not too bad) and no components were weakened by is. No damage to the underside, at all. Which adds into the rest of the car, that it's been thoroughly looked after.
So that's how she sits at the mo. Currently have a huge list of bits to do. Next up are either wheels or a full brake overhaul. Currently plan is to use a Megane RS250 front caliper, and original rear calipers with new discs and pads all round, with new brake lines and fluid refresh.
keo said:
Looks good. I would like to know your thoughts on the lsd once you have driven it a bit.
I had a premier ep3 years ago, it was much improved when I put new tyres on it. Couldn’t believe the difference it made.
I've not driven it in anger fully yet, as I'm bedding the clutch in, but even at slower speeds you can feel it hook up. I've got turd tyres on it at the moment, but the next thing on the list is either wheels, or brakes (but the std wheels won't fit over the BBK!) It'll wheelspin in 2nd the moment vtec kicks in! (yo) I had a premier ep3 years ago, it was much improved when I put new tyres on it. Couldn’t believe the difference it made.
Tomm1992 said:
Honda hq is that? They did everything on my dc5 before I sold it
It is yeah, I got recommended them by a mate, and drove from Bristol to get it done. Brilliant job. Butter Face said:
Niiiice. There’s a Rotrex race kit on eBay now!
Don't tempt me! I need to get it handling right, adding boost. It's yours that opened the thought of an EP up to me 
ZX10R NIN said:
Looks like it's going to be a good project.
Thanks
I'm going to keep reminding myself to keep it updated with progress as it carries on! The naff tyres will account for the wheelspin.
My ITR used to do the same on anything less than a bone dry road until I had AD08’s fitted. Puts the power down beautifully now....
The EP3’s are a sensible choice for a fun track car. The K20 is very tweakable. Much easier to extract power from than my B18
My ITR used to do the same on anything less than a bone dry road until I had AD08’s fitted. Puts the power down beautifully now....
The EP3’s are a sensible choice for a fun track car. The K20 is very tweakable. Much easier to extract power from than my B18
chrismc1977 said:
The naff tyres will account for the wheelspin.
My ITR used to do the same on anything less than a bone dry road until I had AD08’s fitted. Puts the power down beautifully now....
The EP3’s are a sensible choice for a fun track car. The K20 is very tweakable. Much easier to extract power from than my B18
I'm hoping for about 400hp, but concious of the fact the engine is probably a little tired, seeing it's done 130k. My ITR used to do the same on anything less than a bone dry road until I had AD08’s fitted. Puts the power down beautifully now....
The EP3’s are a sensible choice for a fun track car. The K20 is very tweakable. Much easier to extract power from than my B18
I'll probably have a spare engine ready, incase it blows up
Bright Halo said:
There was a Rotrex EP3 at Anglesey back in July.
It was absolutely flying!
I had a quick chat with the owner and reckoned it was around 400bhp on standard internals. I certainly don't doubt the 400bhp as it was one of the quickest cars there that day.
Good project!
Probably this guyIt was absolutely flying!
I had a quick chat with the owner and reckoned it was around 400bhp on standard internals. I certainly don't doubt the 400bhp as it was one of the quickest cars there that day.
Good project!
https://www.youtube.com/user/V0rtex1986
Very quick!
A little update.
On the hunt for new wheels, as the existing ones were tatty, budget tyre shod, and not really what I wanted. I was looking for SE37's or RPF1's in a specific size and offset to cover the big brakes. When they did come up it wasn't for long, and they were very expensive.
I decided to get some Enkei's fitted to an Evo 9 as standard. Managed to pick up a set with nearly new AD08R's for a decent price. That. plus I knew they would fit over DC5 Brembos easily.
They fit really really nicely, and allow loads of room for the big brake kit (coming soon!), but in doing so unravelled another problem - the rear arches. they catch, badly.
Rather than do it on the cheap, and introduce issues later on, I decided to get it done properly first time around, and got the arches cut, stitched and resealed properly to allow room for the bigger wheels.
They now fit much, much better and barely scrub at all. Under very big compressions they'll still catch, but that's more to do with the very upright rear wheels, with the stiff walled AD08R's - I will be adding some rear camber arms to bring the rear tyres in slightly, when I go for a proper setup later in the year.
Next up, will be a brake overhaul, or maybe suspension overhaul, not sure yet. Either it'll be:
Coilovers
ARB's
bushings
Fast road setup.
OR
DC5 Brembos
S2000 Discs
uprated pads (possibly PBS)
Braided lines, and uprated fluid.
NSF ABS Sensor (as mine is buggered)
new rear discs and pads.
Yet to decide.
On the hunt for new wheels, as the existing ones were tatty, budget tyre shod, and not really what I wanted. I was looking for SE37's or RPF1's in a specific size and offset to cover the big brakes. When they did come up it wasn't for long, and they were very expensive.
I decided to get some Enkei's fitted to an Evo 9 as standard. Managed to pick up a set with nearly new AD08R's for a decent price. That. plus I knew they would fit over DC5 Brembos easily.
They fit really really nicely, and allow loads of room for the big brake kit (coming soon!), but in doing so unravelled another problem - the rear arches. they catch, badly.
Rather than do it on the cheap, and introduce issues later on, I decided to get it done properly first time around, and got the arches cut, stitched and resealed properly to allow room for the bigger wheels.
They now fit much, much better and barely scrub at all. Under very big compressions they'll still catch, but that's more to do with the very upright rear wheels, with the stiff walled AD08R's - I will be adding some rear camber arms to bring the rear tyres in slightly, when I go for a proper setup later in the year.
Next up, will be a brake overhaul, or maybe suspension overhaul, not sure yet. Either it'll be:
Coilovers
ARB's
bushings
Fast road setup.
OR
DC5 Brembos
S2000 Discs
uprated pads (possibly PBS)
Braided lines, and uprated fluid.
NSF ABS Sensor (as mine is buggered)
new rear discs and pads.
Yet to decide.
keo said:
Looks good. I would like to know your thoughts on the lsd once you have driven it a bit.
I had a premier ep3 years ago, it was much improved when I put new tyres on it. Couldn’t believe the difference it made.
An LSD on an EP3 really does change the feel of the car, I assume it's the same for any FWD car, such an improvement.I had a premier ep3 years ago, it was much improved when I put new tyres on it. Couldn’t believe the difference it made.
Blanchimont said:
I settled on brakes.
Namely, freshly reconditioned DC5 Brembo calipers. I'll still need to get discs, lines and pads for it. Whilst it's getting done, I'll get the whole braking system updated, including new rear pads, lines, and new fluid.
S2000 discs? Nice upgrade!Namely, freshly reconditioned DC5 Brembo calipers. I'll still need to get discs, lines and pads for it. Whilst it's getting done, I'll get the whole braking system updated, including new rear pads, lines, and new fluid.
DRCAGE said:
An LSD on an EP3 really does change the feel of the car, I assume it's the same for any FWD car, such an improvement.
I had one in my Megane 250, and now the Civic. It transforms the car, and it's surprising how much it drags the car forward. Butter Face said:
S2000 discs? Nice upgrade!
Yep! I'm going to upgrade the whole braking system at once, new braided lines and fluid all round. New rear pads, discs, and upfront; S2000 discs, new pads (thinking Project Mu, or PBS) and possibly front ducting, utilising the front fog lights. I do also need to fit a new OSF ABS sensor, as the current one has shat itself. Luckily it's not driven daily!
With Christmas out of the way, decided 2019 would be the year the car gets supercharged and proper setup for the upcoming track season.
Therefore, A little road trip was due to go and collect this:
A Tegiwa Airbox.
I know the breather is held on with cable ties. I have fixed this using proper clamps, since the picture was taken.
Compared to the standard air box, it sounds absolutely mental. So much more noise, and so much more drama now!
I also bought a HKS HiPower catback. I haven't got any pictures of it, and it's not fitted yet. Will update once that's fitted!
Therefore, A little road trip was due to go and collect this:
A Tegiwa Airbox.
I know the breather is held on with cable ties. I have fixed this using proper clamps, since the picture was taken.
Compared to the standard air box, it sounds absolutely mental. So much more noise, and so much more drama now!
I also bought a HKS HiPower catback. I haven't got any pictures of it, and it's not fitted yet. Will update once that's fitted!
Commander2874 said:
Lovely car and a great read. What stereo did you put in the end as I'm after an android auto double din in my fn2 at some point this year.
Also had my brakes upgraded with same brembo and s2000 discs setup. Kept the same brake lines though
It's a Sony XAV-AX200. Also had my brakes upgraded with same brembo and s2000 discs setup. Kept the same brake lines though
As it's being tracked, I plan to do an entire overhaul of the brakes at the same time. So I'll end up using new lines, brake ducting from the fogs into the caliper, PBS pads and obviously the calipers.
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