Honda Civic EP3 Track Car
Discussion
Been a long time lurker on here so it was about time I made a profile, say hello to everyone and start a thread about my 2005 Honda Civic Type R EP3 in cosmic grey.
Before I bought the EP3 I did as many people do, make a list of suitable, relatively light, cheap and simple cars that they could have fun out on a track day and use as a daily. It came down to a shortlist of either the Clio 172/182 or the EP3 both of which I had a soft spot for having seen and driven against many on track in my Volvo V70 T5 with 458bhp. Would have loved a DC5 but these were ruled out due to the purchase price and as the plan was to eventually turn it in to a proper track car, would have been a shame to ruin a good example. Having never actually driven either, an EP3 came up for sale locally and a test drive was arranged. I was smitten with that engine and gear change and from then on, only looked for a cosmic grey EP3. I didn't buy that example as cosmetically it wasn't the best. Spotted an unmodified example all the way up in Anglesey and arranged a viewing. All looked good, the owner had taken care of it, decent amount of money had been spent on servicing, drove superbly, engine was good, gearbox good, no rust that I could see having had a good look underneath.
It checked all the boxes and so a deal was done, the drive home to Swansea through Wales was epic, the car didn't miss a beat until the last few miles where I noticed the temperature gauge slowly dropping. Luckily my dad was following me and we towed home.
I'd suspected a faulty thermostat (stuck open) and after the parts were bought, swapped over, a coolant change with the genuine Honda coolant, bled the system and all was well. As the front end was up in the air I decided to have a good look underneath the car to be greeted with this lovely sight!!!
Not sure how I missed it and a part of me still regrets buying this specific car, but having owned a few Japanese cars in the past (I'm looking at you mk1 Mazda MX5) I expected that it had some rust, but not to that extent! Took it to a local welder and had it sorted and undersealed in no time. The rest of the underneath and rear arches looked in reasonable condition, it was finally a decent base to start modifying and slowly turn it in to a track car.
More to follow later........
Before I bought the EP3 I did as many people do, make a list of suitable, relatively light, cheap and simple cars that they could have fun out on a track day and use as a daily. It came down to a shortlist of either the Clio 172/182 or the EP3 both of which I had a soft spot for having seen and driven against many on track in my Volvo V70 T5 with 458bhp. Would have loved a DC5 but these were ruled out due to the purchase price and as the plan was to eventually turn it in to a proper track car, would have been a shame to ruin a good example. Having never actually driven either, an EP3 came up for sale locally and a test drive was arranged. I was smitten with that engine and gear change and from then on, only looked for a cosmic grey EP3. I didn't buy that example as cosmetically it wasn't the best. Spotted an unmodified example all the way up in Anglesey and arranged a viewing. All looked good, the owner had taken care of it, decent amount of money had been spent on servicing, drove superbly, engine was good, gearbox good, no rust that I could see having had a good look underneath.
It checked all the boxes and so a deal was done, the drive home to Swansea through Wales was epic, the car didn't miss a beat until the last few miles where I noticed the temperature gauge slowly dropping. Luckily my dad was following me and we towed home.
I'd suspected a faulty thermostat (stuck open) and after the parts were bought, swapped over, a coolant change with the genuine Honda coolant, bled the system and all was well. As the front end was up in the air I decided to have a good look underneath the car to be greeted with this lovely sight!!!
Not sure how I missed it and a part of me still regrets buying this specific car, but having owned a few Japanese cars in the past (I'm looking at you mk1 Mazda MX5) I expected that it had some rust, but not to that extent! Took it to a local welder and had it sorted and undersealed in no time. The rest of the underneath and rear arches looked in reasonable condition, it was finally a decent base to start modifying and slowly turn it in to a track car.
More to follow later........
F17SRF said:
Not sure how I missed it and a part of me still regrets buying this specific car, but having owned a few Japanese cars in the past (I'm looking at you mk1 Mazda MX5) I expected that it had some rust, but not to that extent! Took it to a local welder and had it sorted and undersealed in no time. The rest of the underneath and rear arches looked in reasonable condition, it was finally a decent base to start modifying and slowly turn it in to a track car.
More to follow later........
F17SRF said:
I'd suspected a faulty thermostat (stuck open) and after the parts were bought, swapped over, a coolant change with the genuine Honda coolant, bled the system and all was well. As the front end was up in the air I decided to have a good look underneath the car to be greeted with this lovely sight!!!
Holey crap!reminds me of the good old days where my dad would take fridge magnets when viewing a car to check for panels made of filler.
My modification journey begun with removing a little weight, this was still a daily car at this point so the interior was removed from the B pillar back and the rear wiper removed with a blanking plug as its replacement
This was quickly followed by Vibra-technics side engine and gearbox 'road' mounts as I didn't want to be rattled to death. I left the front and rear engine mount for when the subframe needed to be removed at a later date.
Next up I wanted the obligatory exhaust and found a 2nd hand TDI North 3" cat back that also included a sports cat. I had also found a Toda 421 exhaust manifold but didn't fit this until much later so the car did run with two cats at some point
To add to the sound level a K&N typhoon induction kit was added and before anyone says anything regarding heat soak, I know, just wanted the extra noise and didn't really fancy spending £300 on a Tegiwa kit
As the car had done 112k miles decided to get the timing chain and associated parts replaced by MMR in Bridgend as it was above my skill level
A change of circumstance meant I now lived in Cambridge and before the EP3 would make its track debut on one of my favourite circuits Snetterton, I decided it would need a Clockwise Motion baffle for the sump plus a few other parts and so on my travels from Swansea to Cambridge I called in to see the guys at Honda HQ
The Toda manifold was fitted along with a JDM front anti roll bar with SuperPro bushes, Meyle HD end links, rear vibra engine mount, a new standard front engine mount with a powerflex insert and an oil/filter change.
At this point I decided to change the rear spoiler for a Mugen style with a carbon lip as I preferred the look over the standard spoiler. A track day followed in its current guise with standard suspension and standard brakes as I wanted to see what it was like. Tyres were a mix of AD08s and Federal 595RSR-R which are still on to this day
After a very enjoyable day on track, it did highlight a need for better suspension and brakes. I decided to do everything in bulk. Now instead of going for the usual BC or Yellowspeed coilovers I'd had very good results with KW variant 2s on the Volvo and I luckily managed to find a 2nd hand set for sale along with new Hardrace rear camber arms, Skunk2 rear control arms and a rear JDM anti roll bar.
I always fancied a set of AP Racing calipers for the Volvo, but didn't really see the point of the expense and weight saving on that car so the plan was always to get them for the EP3. A kit was sourced from Reylands that included the CP9440 calipers and 330x28 floating 2 piece rotor. HEL braided lines, Carbotech XP10s on the front and PBS Prorace pads on the rear with new rear calipers along with Motul RBF660
The suspension and brakes were fitted after hiring a ramp and along with a mate, fitted these a couple of days before I had booked another track day at Snetterton with a crude alignment setup done in Norwich
Sadly I don't have photos from that track day, but my abiding memory was that the new brake kit was absolutely outstanding!!!
More to follow........
This was quickly followed by Vibra-technics side engine and gearbox 'road' mounts as I didn't want to be rattled to death. I left the front and rear engine mount for when the subframe needed to be removed at a later date.
Next up I wanted the obligatory exhaust and found a 2nd hand TDI North 3" cat back that also included a sports cat. I had also found a Toda 421 exhaust manifold but didn't fit this until much later so the car did run with two cats at some point
To add to the sound level a K&N typhoon induction kit was added and before anyone says anything regarding heat soak, I know, just wanted the extra noise and didn't really fancy spending £300 on a Tegiwa kit
As the car had done 112k miles decided to get the timing chain and associated parts replaced by MMR in Bridgend as it was above my skill level
A change of circumstance meant I now lived in Cambridge and before the EP3 would make its track debut on one of my favourite circuits Snetterton, I decided it would need a Clockwise Motion baffle for the sump plus a few other parts and so on my travels from Swansea to Cambridge I called in to see the guys at Honda HQ
The Toda manifold was fitted along with a JDM front anti roll bar with SuperPro bushes, Meyle HD end links, rear vibra engine mount, a new standard front engine mount with a powerflex insert and an oil/filter change.
At this point I decided to change the rear spoiler for a Mugen style with a carbon lip as I preferred the look over the standard spoiler. A track day followed in its current guise with standard suspension and standard brakes as I wanted to see what it was like. Tyres were a mix of AD08s and Federal 595RSR-R which are still on to this day
After a very enjoyable day on track, it did highlight a need for better suspension and brakes. I decided to do everything in bulk. Now instead of going for the usual BC or Yellowspeed coilovers I'd had very good results with KW variant 2s on the Volvo and I luckily managed to find a 2nd hand set for sale along with new Hardrace rear camber arms, Skunk2 rear control arms and a rear JDM anti roll bar.
I always fancied a set of AP Racing calipers for the Volvo, but didn't really see the point of the expense and weight saving on that car so the plan was always to get them for the EP3. A kit was sourced from Reylands that included the CP9440 calipers and 330x28 floating 2 piece rotor. HEL braided lines, Carbotech XP10s on the front and PBS Prorace pads on the rear with new rear calipers along with Motul RBF660
The suspension and brakes were fitted after hiring a ramp and along with a mate, fitted these a couple of days before I had booked another track day at Snetterton with a crude alignment setup done in Norwich
Sadly I don't have photos from that track day, but my abiding memory was that the new brake kit was absolutely outstanding!!!
More to follow........
Kaveney said:
What happened to the Volvo did you just fancy a change .
This was said Volvo 
2.3 with a Garrett GT3071R along with many many many other modifications, I grew tired of it eating oil pumps. As much fun as it was with people laughing at it in the pit lanes and keeping up with if not being faster than cars it had no real business competing with it was broken for parts. I did miss it for a time but it was a heavy old barge and i knew I did the right thing.
With a rather tatty standard steering wheel I went for a 280mm Momo which was definitely too small to be comfortable combined with a quick release hub
Decided to lose some more weight, the carpet was having it except for the drivers side
Then the front end with the fog lights going amongst other things and the horns relocated
Having moved back to Swansea the EP3 was now no longer a daily. It was time to carry on removing weight and as the rear crash bar was disintegrating this was the obvious candidate
I learnt that Jesse of JCal was coming down to Swansea on one of his mapping days and luckily I had already sent my standard ecu off to the guys at CPL Racing to be fitted with the Kpro V4 so it would it have been rude not to take advantage of Jesse's tuning skills
230bhp & 173lbft not bad for an exhaust system and a heat soaker!
A few days later and the car was dropped off to Area Motorsport to have an Mfactory plated diff fitted, a good check over the gearbox, standard Exedy clutch, braided clutch line, slave cylinder, Hardrace roll centre adjuster ball joints, SuperPro bush kit along with an alignment
The plated diff and alignment totally transformed the car, well worth doing by Rob and his team at Area!
On the way back from Area I called in to GSM to test fit some bucket seats. As I'm an athletic build, the Sparco Rev was chosen as it was the only seat that secured my waist and shoulders, along with a TRS harness. I'd also found a second hand Momo Race 310mm, a more comfortable size of wheel
As I didn't care much for the front number plate, the hole saw made an appearance and a few carefully drilled holes were made in the front bumper
It was then time for the Castle Combe track day that I'd missed for a good few years, used to be known as the T5D5 track day
Even though I'm from South Wales, was lucky enough as a kid to be driven around Pembrey circuit by David Leslie back when BTCC visited, learnt to drive on the outfield areas around the circuit as a teenager, I'd never driven around it on a track day, so when Slip & Grip advertised they were holding a day there it was booked immediately
A wet morning involved a very twitchy rear end but the afternoon dried up nicely
After that, the car was parked up due to a lack of time and that brings us pretty much up to pre covid-19.
More to follow.....................
Decided to lose some more weight, the carpet was having it except for the drivers side
Then the front end with the fog lights going amongst other things and the horns relocated
Having moved back to Swansea the EP3 was now no longer a daily. It was time to carry on removing weight and as the rear crash bar was disintegrating this was the obvious candidate
I learnt that Jesse of JCal was coming down to Swansea on one of his mapping days and luckily I had already sent my standard ecu off to the guys at CPL Racing to be fitted with the Kpro V4 so it would it have been rude not to take advantage of Jesse's tuning skills
230bhp & 173lbft not bad for an exhaust system and a heat soaker!
A few days later and the car was dropped off to Area Motorsport to have an Mfactory plated diff fitted, a good check over the gearbox, standard Exedy clutch, braided clutch line, slave cylinder, Hardrace roll centre adjuster ball joints, SuperPro bush kit along with an alignment
The plated diff and alignment totally transformed the car, well worth doing by Rob and his team at Area!
On the way back from Area I called in to GSM to test fit some bucket seats. As I'm an athletic build, the Sparco Rev was chosen as it was the only seat that secured my waist and shoulders, along with a TRS harness. I'd also found a second hand Momo Race 310mm, a more comfortable size of wheel
As I didn't care much for the front number plate, the hole saw made an appearance and a few carefully drilled holes were made in the front bumper
It was then time for the Castle Combe track day that I'd missed for a good few years, used to be known as the T5D5 track day
Even though I'm from South Wales, was lucky enough as a kid to be driven around Pembrey circuit by David Leslie back when BTCC visited, learnt to drive on the outfield areas around the circuit as a teenager, I'd never driven around it on a track day, so when Slip & Grip advertised they were holding a day there it was booked immediately
A wet morning involved a very twitchy rear end but the afternoon dried up nicely
After that, the car was parked up due to a lack of time and that brings us pretty much up to pre covid-19.
More to follow.....................
F17SRF said:
A change of circumstance meant I now lived in Cambridge and before the EP3 would make its track debut on one of my favourite circuits Snetterton, I decided it would need a Clockwise Motion baffle for the sump plus a few other parts and so on my travels from Swansea to Cambridge I called in to see the guys at Honda HQ
That looks familiar...
5D6E52B1-31A8-4A57-AF0C-7D5F3493A360 by RS Grant, on Flickr
RS Grant said:
😂 I was going to say damn it I've been caught but I genuinely thought that was a photo I took myself whilst getting work done at Honda HQ before you posted that! 😂 My sincerest apologies Grant!!!
F17SRF said:
?? I was going to say damn it I've been caught but I genuinely thought that was a photo I took myself whilst getting work done at Honda HQ before you posted that! ??
My sincerest apologies Grant!!!
Haha that’s alright mate, crack on... end of the day it’s a picture of a sump with a clockwise motion baffle plate sitting in it; so neither my greatest photo or one which has any personal meaning. My sincerest apologies Grant!!!
Just bought myself another clockwise sump baffle for my current EP3 actually, so I might reuse that photo myself.
RS Grant said:
Haha that’s alright mate, crack on... end of the day it’s a picture of a sump with a clockwise motion baffle plate sitting in it; so neither my greatest photo or one which has any personal meaning.
Just bought myself another clockwise sump baffle for my current EP3 actually, so I might reuse that photo myself.
Just bought myself another clockwise sump baffle for my current EP3 actually, so I might reuse that photo myself.
You might as well Remember at the beginning of this thread the picture of the rust, well that really is only the beginning of the rust story. I've not documented above but I removed the rear arch liners soon after I had the sill welded, duly threw the liners in the bin, found some rust but it didn't look too bad with only a small hole in the arch. However, once I removed the interior I knew there was going to be more rust as there was the start of rust showing in the seam welds in the boot area around the interior wheel arches. Plus a look back at this pic
and rust on the inner sill can be seen just above the sound deadening.
The only good thing to come of this virus is that with some time on my hands I could begin to sort the rust out. First job though was to remove the sound deadening
Managed it with a chisel, hammer and some plumbers freeze spray. Not the easiest of jobs, but with some patience it was removed. The only issue was, the sound deadening had been laid on top of the factory seam sealer. My conclusion, remove everything!
After a little bit of chiselling the flaking rust away I could now put my hand under the car and I could see my fingers from the top
Sooooooo, what to do next??? Remove all the seam sealer of course, obviously!!!
Glad I've decided to go this far with it as along the way I've found rust hiding in areas completely hidden by the over zealous Honda factory worker
That pretty much brings us up to how it currently stands, the plan looking ahead is once all the seam sealer has been removed from the boot, I'll pay more attention to the rust areas found so far in the interior of the car and then the plan is to do the same for the underneath and arches. I've also checked behind where the rear speakers used to be and those are rusty too. Going to have my work cut out on this one pardon the pun
and rust on the inner sill can be seen just above the sound deadening.
The only good thing to come of this virus is that with some time on my hands I could begin to sort the rust out. First job though was to remove the sound deadening
Managed it with a chisel, hammer and some plumbers freeze spray. Not the easiest of jobs, but with some patience it was removed. The only issue was, the sound deadening had been laid on top of the factory seam sealer. My conclusion, remove everything!
After a little bit of chiselling the flaking rust away I could now put my hand under the car and I could see my fingers from the top
Sooooooo, what to do next??? Remove all the seam sealer of course, obviously!!!
Glad I've decided to go this far with it as along the way I've found rust hiding in areas completely hidden by the over zealous Honda factory worker
That pretty much brings us up to how it currently stands, the plan looking ahead is once all the seam sealer has been removed from the boot, I'll pay more attention to the rust areas found so far in the interior of the car and then the plan is to do the same for the underneath and arches. I've also checked behind where the rear speakers used to be and those are rusty too. Going to have my work cut out on this one pardon the pun
Over the last few days I attacked the floorpan/footwells/inner sills/boot with more wire brushing and chiselling
Wasn't long until I became really bored of removing seam sealer, decided to remove the glove box and the passenger airbag just to do something different all in the name of weight saving
Back to the rust
It was at this point, nearing the end of the day I put the drill with a wire wheel in the sill behind the rear speaker and made a hole in the outer skin. Didn't take any pictures of this as I was so annoyed and called it a night! The following day I removed both sideskirts and after a bit of prodding with a screwdriver
This may well end up being the lightest EP3 in existence! Well, just about!!! Both rear arches have holes to the inside of the front of the arch so this is to be expected. The other side for comparison
After removing as much rust as I could, I gave the unprotected metal areas two coats of Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 just to give it a barrier! Can't afford for any more metal to rust
And that's how I've left it, will get back to it in a few days time where I'm relieved to say that until I remove the dashboard, I won't be removing any more seam sealer from the interior. The plan will be to pay attention to those rear arches/sills both exterior and interior
Wasn't long until I became really bored of removing seam sealer, decided to remove the glove box and the passenger airbag just to do something different all in the name of weight saving
Back to the rust
It was at this point, nearing the end of the day I put the drill with a wire wheel in the sill behind the rear speaker and made a hole in the outer skin. Didn't take any pictures of this as I was so annoyed and called it a night! The following day I removed both sideskirts and after a bit of prodding with a screwdriver
This may well end up being the lightest EP3 in existence! Well, just about!!! Both rear arches have holes to the inside of the front of the arch so this is to be expected. The other side for comparison
After removing as much rust as I could, I gave the unprotected metal areas two coats of Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 just to give it a barrier! Can't afford for any more metal to rust
And that's how I've left it, will get back to it in a few days time where I'm relieved to say that until I remove the dashboard, I won't be removing any more seam sealer from the interior. The plan will be to pay attention to those rear arches/sills both exterior and interior
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