Make It Yours

Unfortunatly, its impossible to get my car done by the time it is due, but over christmas break i hope to have alot of work done. Im a very impatient person so this project is pain staking, it will be done by end of second semester but i dont think i will keep posting after this semester, although i will post the final product on here for everyone to see. I will also probably bring to car to school once or twice for fun. Its a long process but i really do hope it will be worth the money and time. I am prepared for people to call it ugly and "just a civic" or other things but i build this car to please myself and myself only i dont need approval from others to do this.

Quote by "Moog of MCM"

Fully Gutted Interior

Besides all the glass still being on the car, its done and ready to have body work done to it. The seats, dash, carpet, headliner, are all out and and in the garbage now. I have a parts car on my driveway and it has black interior in it, so i will probably use it, instead of the blue that was in there before. I think it looks way sharper. Here is a video that you can watch that i took last night after i finished. 

New B18 vs. Old D15

This post will solely be about the differences between my new engine, a B18C1, and my old engine, a D15B7. I am going to shorten B18C1 into GSR because it will make it easier. Some information about the engine codes are the 2nd and 3rd number are how much displacement the engine makes, for example, the GSR is a 1.8 liter while the D15 is a 1.5, so for one, the GSR is a bigger motor.

 Another big factor is the GSR is a DOHC and the B15 is a SOHC, these stand for "Dual Over-head Cam" and "Single Over-head Cam". Your camshaft or cam is what opens up your intake and exhaust valves, in a four cylinder engine, there are 16 valves, 4 per cylinder. If you had a DOHC engine, you would have one camshaft specifically for opening exhaust valves, and one for specifically opening intake valves. Below i included a picture of two GSR camshafts for reference.

Youll notice there are bumps in sections of 3, these are called cam lobes. Some people will buy aftermarket camshafts from select brands that have bigger cam lobes which means more lift when opening the valves, the longer the valves are open the more that can get in/get out, making more power. 
 

The GSR engine makes around 170 horsepower and has Vtec, a system that engages when you hit a certain rpm while driving giving you the feel of an increase if power, it also sounds really cool. There is a lot more to it on the functional part of Vtec, so ill do a blog post down the road about how it all works, even though no one might care.

There are a lot of differences between these two engines but I am not going to get down to the specs of them because it would take alot of explanation. 

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In regards to my car, the whole interior is almost stripped and gutted. I took the dash out yesterday and the only thing that remains to be took out is the windshield, windows, carpet and some stuff in the engine bay to be ready for sandblasting. The project is going along nicely, still have not encountered many problems along the way, so it makes it more fun for me.

Next Step : WireTuck

The next step to this project is a wire tuck. Like I explained in my last post, Its basically just hiding/tucking wires that would usually be loose in the engine bay and make it look more messy. I will do a little before and after once it is done but here is a picture so you know what it could look like. Below is a  picture of a engine bay without a wire tuck. This is also the car my engine came out of.

96' GS-R engine bay.

Besides the fact that it is really dirty, its also very cluttered. As much as I like my cars to be performable I really want it to be presentable more than anything. The picture below is an example of a wire tuck taken to the next level, this is tucking everything. I probably wont go that far because there is more important things to work on and I have to get the body work started soon the keep myself on track.

Tucked Engine Bay

I will keep on doing the "Quick Update" posts to keep everyone in the loop of what is going on, so far everything is on track and there has not been any major problems I have ran into.

Quick Update : Engine Is Pulled

I found a guy looking for a d-series non vtec engine so i decided to pull mine really quicky and make a quick buck off of it. Im getting faster every time so it just goes to show practice makes perfect

Here is a picture of the engine bay after it was pulled.

- Next on the list is to do a wire tuck in the engine bay which basically hides the engine wiring harness and cleans it up real nice. Id like to start body work soon as well.

Quick Update : Backyard Special Front Lip

Just a quick update on what I recently bought, and that's a BYS or Backyard Special front lip for my civic, its a pretty well-known name and the real products come from Japan, although this is a replica, it looks the exact same as a real one would, the emblem on the lip is real. Authentic versions of these lips run around 450-550$ depending if you were to get a carbon fibre lip or the other options. I bought this with my birthday money so I'd say that's a pretty decent birthday gift.

A Little Taste Of Japan.

About a month ago i found a unreal deal on a FEEL's exhaust system. To buy one of these brand new is super pricey. This exhaust system is top quality all the way from japan, youll find these on 94-01 Integra Type R, or any Integra manufactured in Japan, which makes this a very rare item. I'd say im the only one in manitoba with one of these but i dont know forsure (its safe to say). I found it for sale on a facebook group i use that sells alot of parts for the model of civic i have. I wont say how much i paid because i may want to sell it again later down the road (probably not), this thing sounds unbelievable. Exhaust systems add power and also make your car sound a lot better, especially this one.

(FEEL's Exhaust System)

This is a picture of it on the day i got it, its only covered up so nothing gets in it. Anxious to get it on and figure out how it sounds, we encountered a problem. The length of the system is too long for the stock catalytic converter (A1), so we had to make up a custom pipe called a test pipe, a stock catalytic converter has a lot of air restrictions which in returns takes away potential horsepower. So the only other option was to make a "test-pipe", a straight through stainless pipe that makes your car sound better and gives you a significant increase in power (A2). You can buy these on Ebay or in stores for your car but it would be just as long as the catalytic converter unless you get a adjustable one. We had to cut off the flanges on the catalytic converter, get the dimensions of how long the test pipe would have to be, weld on the flanges to the test pipe and put it on. Here are a few pictures for reference. 

Stock Catalytic Converter (A1)

 

Test Pipe After Weld (A2)

Test Pipe Finished (A2)

As you can see the new pipe is straight through, making exhaust flow alot smoother. Also making this illegal, but i wont worry about it because who is going to go out of their way to check under my car if i have a cat or not. Here is a picture of the exhaust all hooked up, the pipe size is also is more than 2x bigger in diameter!

(Exhaust Finished)