Paul's EK4 Track Build

[paul]

Hi all and welcome to whats going to be a very slow project. I bought a 1999 Honda Civic EK4 with a B16A2 engine with the aim to strip the car out, lighten as much as I can, rebuild the engine, put it all together and take it to as many track days as I possibly can.

I will start with a pic of the car when I first saw it.

The car may appear to be blue but I can assure you it is not. At some time in its life it has had a really bad respray, paint on paint, no prep. The engine went ok, with a slight knocking and it was straight and had the engine I wanted in it. So I gave the guy £700 for it and drove it home.

It wasnt long before I had the interior out and started on the sound deadening.

 

[paul]

There are a few problems I forgot to mention. The cars respray is almost as if it was locked at the sprayers. The interior, shut lines, engine bay, and many other parts are red! So I will be preping the exterior, interior and bay myself with the help of friends for a full respray. Im doing all the prep myself because its a lot lot cheaper then the paintshop doing it.

Anyway onto more pictures.

The black beam in the picture, is it structural or can I leave it out of the car?

Quick look at the engine and the red bay

Aother issue was the front left wing was wrong for the car, I think it was a pre facelift. So i sourced a facelift one off a Jordan and the fit was much better. I could originally fit my hand between the wing and headlight.

 

[paul]

Sunroof removed, this thing is heavy.

Door moved to the garage to strip it down.

Interior almost fully stripped.

Honda Civic Vti Track Project :: IMG_1514.jpg picture by reynol12 - Photobucket

Quick shot my garage and the tool wall me and mate put together.

 

[paul]

Primered the interior in places where we had taken the paint back to metal.

One door looking very stripped.

Next challenge was getting the dash out, what a pig of a job that was.

Stripped the dash.

 

[paul]

Next challenge was the engine.

Took two days to get it out in total (never done it before).

Bought my self an engine crane for cheap as it was cheaper to buy it than rent it.

The rain didnt make it any easier.

But we got there in the end.

 

[paul]

Got the gearbox, pressure plate, clutch and flywheel off.

and got it mounted on my engine stand, which I also bought for cheap (good old ebay)

and into the dry for the fast appraching winter.

So there you have it, that is my project build up to date and I will update as often as I can.

Thanks.

 

[Lee s]

Brill mate!

 

[paul]

So I started working in the engine today and found a lot of small "cracks". Are they cracks in the block or just casting marks?

 

[robbyp]

Great to see someone doing it themselves, even the engine work! I'd love to split and build an engine and have it all work!! Keep up the good work

 

[_BILLY_ZR_]

cant see the engine pics bud


keep us posted tho

 

[paul]

So its been a long time since I have updated this due to the weather so here goes.

The interior has been stripped of all sound deadening. I tried using the freeze spray but that was useless. Turns out a hammer and chisel was the best way.

Then got all the glass removed.

Picked up a great condition EK9 wing.

Got an OMP bolt in cage for Christmas.

 

[paul]

Then test fitted it all together in the driveway.

A good shot of all the sound deadening removed and coat of primer on any exposed metal.

Went to install the cage for a test fit and this bracket got in the way.

Cut it off, and will figure out how to mount the dsh later.

 

[paul]

The reason I decided on this bolt in cage is that it is essentially a rear cage and a front cage bolted together at the top above your head. So it is very stiff.

With the previous bracket removed you can see how well the cage fits.

So with the cage fitting nicely I test fitted the plates that came with kit. The plate covered one of the drain holes so i cut it square and will patch it up later.

One of the plates test fitted. Nothing i can do about the corner being raised.

Front bolted down

 

[paul]

Ground back to bare metal to get a good weld.

Then got a mobile welder to weld them down. He did a good job, and even ground them down and primered them as I had to leave early. Im really happy with the job he did and will be getting him back to weld the door bar conector in place in the future.

 

[paul]

So, now i need to start getting the car ready with sanding it down.

Got my sunroof plug delivered.

Test fitted my seat and harness with my BuddyClub low position seat rail.

I have an issue with the eye bolt for the harness. Its hitting the car and I dont know what to do. Can any one help?

So I didnt know where to start with the sanding, so just started from the top.

Picked up some cheap lights from Screwfix, they are great and even provide some heat!

Thats it for the time being. Will try to update more regulary.

 

[fatboi]

Wish I had the space to do something like this mate. Have had plenty of time as my car has been off road since last march.
Got my engine and suspension how I want it for now, but the bodywork lets it down so baddd.
Great progress. Keep it up. Are you keeping the stock b16?

 

[paul]

Well i bought the car with an awful paint job and Ive never done anything like this before. Once the car has paint on it I will be a lot happier and then I can start putting parts back on.

I am going to keep the stock B16. Ive been thinking about it for a while about how far to take the rebuild. I could replace the gaskets and put it back in and see how it goes. Or I could take it further and replace piston rings and other parts!

 

[fatboi]

I'd do everything at once mate. You'll only wish you had once you've got it all back in. Do it once and do it properly!
Wish I had!

 

[paul]

That is what I'm leaning towards. I'm just getting confused with all the parts needed. You can buy the kits from xs racing of all the gaskets but I dont know if they contain everything needed and they seem too cheap to include everything needed!

 

[paul]

Been looking at brake packages and this one looks good. Does anyone know if any companies in the UK do this package for this price?

Wilwood Dynapro-6 12 Inch Front Big Brake Kit Honda Civic Si 99-00