Matt's 512bhp EK9 project


EK9 Matt

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Joined
May 24, 2015
Messages
508
Hi guys, i've finally decided to do a build thread for my car! Well, where to start.........after owning a 1.4 EJ9 for a couple of years i'd finally saved up enough money (when I was 20) to part ex my civic for an EK9, the car I'd wanted since seeing it on Gran Turismo! That was 11 years ago now lol!

So I waved goodbye to my fast and furious, nos powered 1.4 and said hello to my 97 pre-facelift EK9, I'd been to look at a few and just wasn't happy with them and then I found this one, it was in very good condition with some nice parts fitted that would save me a fortune at the time, only downside was it was on about 120,000km but I saw past that.

Mods were:
Fujitsubo 4-2-1 manifold
de-cat
Fujitsubo legalis r full system
Field vtec controller
TEIN driving master type flex coilovers
Endless pads all round
sabelt harness

I was over the moon with the car, everything I wanted it to be, so within a few weeks I did my first trackday at Cadwell park and loved every minute of it!
 
Sorry for the rubbish pics, I've got pictured of pictures on the laptop lol.

Check out the 1.4, PLEASE PLEASE bear in mind fast and furious had just come out haha!!!
 
So over the next 2 or 3 years mods slowly started happening, the Fujitsubo was swapped out for a Mugen manifold, spoon b-pipe and N1 silencer, I sourced a spoon ECU, spoon cams, spoon cam gears, spoon thinner head gasket and the car was an absolute blast! Then the unthinkable happened.....it dropped a valve, I was heartbroken:oops:.
 
Unfortunately I cant find the pictures for any of this as it was around 8-9 years ago.

So after a month or two to reflect on what had happened I decided to bite the bullet and build a high comp B18. I sold what I could and set about the build, spec was as follows:

B18C6
baffled sump
P30 pistons on type R rods
3 angle valve job and ported head
ARP head studs
skunk2 pro 1 cams
skunk2 pro series high comp valves
skunk2 pro series springs
skunk2 titanium retainers
skunk2 pro series inlet
ITR throttle body
AEM hybrid intake system
RC440cc injectors
mapped on crome
new oem waterpump, oil pump and gaskets etc

Over the next 5-6 years the car ran in this guise and was a right hoot to drive! I did various trackdays and RWYB events at santa pod with a PB of 13.7 @ 103mph.
 
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So about 3 years ago I decided to freshen the old girl up, the engine was smoking at high rpm and on over run etc. Engine was removed and stripped, bores measured and within spec so they had a re-hone and new rings installed on the pistons. Cylinder head had a refresh too with new stem seals, valves re-cut and a clean up skim. New oil pump and water pump were installed too at this point. Now i've always run oem timing belts but Gates had brought a 'racing' one out, so I bought one.

Engine in, started straight up so run on mineral for about 200 miles then off to the mappers, it made a healthy 238bhp and 149lbft......result!
 
So the car ran mega for about 1000 miles, then on the way back from Squires jap meet, cruising at around 60mph on th A1 I heard that same noise again and knew what it was (or what I thought it was), a dropped valve.

So I ended up on the AA flat bed once again. When I got home, which was around 10pm, I removed the cam cover to find a snapped Gates racing timing belt! It was that clean of a break it could have been cut with a razor blade! I went to bed lol.

The next day I was just f*****d off.......again. But the good mates I have rallied round and came to give me a hand taking the motor out. Once out it was apparent everything was gone:(.

Over the next few weeks I got in contact with gates, sent them pictures of the belt and then even sent them the belt, the response was "because I bought the belt from America and exported it outside of America or Canada the warranty is void......but that is a manufacturing defect so we"ll send you one free of charge"

I got the free belt and sold it immediately.

The car then sat dormant for around 8 months as I just couldn't be bothered with the damn thing anymore, i'd done everything right, bought the best (or so I thought) and it still failed, I honestly didn't know whether to put a stock B16B in and sell up.
 
That brings us up to about 18 months ago (I think), I've probably missed bits out but that's about 9 1/2 years in a nutshell lol.

So after toying with K20'ing it as its the done thing these days I got persuaded to stay with the mighty B series and boost it! I never really wanted to go down this route as it was a whole new world for me, and I thought a Honda should be NA!

How wrong could I be:drive::troll:

I'll get onto the boost build tomorrow, off to bed now!
 
So after deciding to boost the car all my NA equipment went up for sale, full exhaust, intake system, cams etc. I was surprised how well most things sold to be honest, this funded a lot of the new engine build.

One of the lads at work had a B18C4 bottom end that had been kicking about his garage years, it had spun a rod bearing so the crank was knackered but this was no problem as I could use my type r crank from my NA build as it was fine. Then one of the other mates had stripped his EG as it was just past the point of no return with rot, so I snapped the PR3 head up.

Parts ordered and waited for arrival, spec of the new engine is as follows: (its pretty ghetto by the way)

B18C4 block (81mm)
Type r crank
Scat rods
Arp rod bolts
Nippon racing turbo cast pistons
King race bearings
Baffled sump
Pr3 head
Skunk2 alpha valves
Skunk2 alpha springs
Skunk2 alpha retainers
Skunk2 pro series inlet manifold
New oem valve stem seals
C4 cams
ARP head bolts
oem water pump
oem oil pump
oem timing belt

The new engine was built!
 
So over the next few weeks I got the chassis ready for the new setup, this included fitting g the Walbro 255 fuel pump, making a new valve cover with breathers in, cleaning up and painting the lower cross member etc.

The new clutch turned up, an Action Clutch 2MS unit.
Apexi AVCR, I know here old but they work, very well too!
Innovative billet 75A mounts.
56mm Ally radiator.

Bolted the motor to the tranny and got the lump in!

 
It was now time to decide on a turbo kit, I opted for a Race-Tech kit. I've known Ricky (the owner of Race-tech) since we we kids so I thought I'd give one of there kits a whirl, and it suited my needs perfectly.

I opted for a TD05 with modified compressor housing and bigger wheel, 560cc evo injectors, 3"exhaust system with pie cut turned down tip, ally boost pipes, external turbosmart compgate 40 wastegate with screamer to atmosphere.
 
So in a couple of weeks my manifold and turbo were ready to collect, I wanted these so I could run the car up and check for leaks and check that it actually run lol.

Ricky put me a map on my ecu that would fire the car up for these purposes. After priming the oil system I went for the big fire up......It fired up first crack!

So then I wanted to get most things done so the car could be low loaded to race-tech for the boost pipes, exhaust and intercooler making/fitting.
 
Wow! That's some ej9 you had there ;)

Glad to see you finally got a build thread up
 
The ej9 was awesome wasn't it haha!

Yeah its took a while I know, finally got fibre broadband in our area now though, It was a pain before as it just took that long to upload pics!

I'll be updating daily hopefully to bring us up to present day so stay tuned:)).
 
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