Project R

Reverting back to my old lights. Getting it fixed, cleaned and fibered. There's nothing like understatement on the outside!

well here they are after a cleanup. the fronts are still messed up. too much age and grime to cut away. at least you can see what's inside the housing. earlier they were just opaque little orbs of mystery.

thinking of replacing them with a set of chrome eagle eyes from the US. the right size this time.

the rears, however, came out smashingly well. wow. looks like i just unpacked them!

here's a before shot:

and here's the afters:

also considered giving the front end to ajitha to get it completely redone. might be a better and cheaper option than getting a front end down...

Ok so Darwin racing effed up their shipment. My alloys haven't come through. Ascent holdings deserves a Darwin Award for that one!

Have to wait another month for the next shipment. If I get another "sorry sir" calls then that's absolutely it

before i proceed, here's a pre paint shot of the tan dashboard. it'll be done on boxing day. can't wait!

forgot to mention, i shipped in all 4 AC vents as well. they were broken, and bothering me, somehow.

Looks like doomsday is Christmas for me. Arriving on Friday are:

1. The alloys

2. The cams

3. The valve springs and retainers

4. The MSD blaster kit

5. The ACL bearing kit

6. The Blox red Allan key lug nuts.

Will post photos once I've stopped having an orgasm over it

darwin racing 15" alloys. being cleared from port today. getting these either powder coated in white, or lquid gloss white finish. and white hub caps with the red H logo. jeevithe mal aiyya inna kal (for all the little decals and whatnots i print at anim8)

Removed the dashboard for paint today. I also got new AC vents since the existing ones were broken. There was a metric ton of rust behind the dash. Bloody hell. So that's official now I am never seeing this car again!

Will post before and after pics soon. Haiyyo.

HANDLING/SUSPENSION

you guys have already seen my adjustable camber upper arms from the previous thread. here they are again anyways:

front:

rear:

what i'm adding now are the upper and lower control bars. front and rear. got a sweet deal from ultra racing for the entire kit. quite impressed with them, i must say.

the front and rear tower struts:

the front tower is a 3 pointer. i might not have room to mount it with the new intake manifold. if so, might have to do without it. its a fit for any EG8, so look me up if anyones' interested.

front and rear lower member braces:

the nxt thing, of course, are the coilovers. i need to lower the car. at least 1.5" front and 1" rear. i'm aiming for an Eibach multipro S2 setup oil shock coilovers with adjustable dampening and spring rates. this car is a daily driver and i can't give my self spondylosis at an early age!

for the moment, i'm installing some cheap ebay tin cans. they cost me next to nothing, but surprisingly amazon has some good reviews about them. ah well, only for 3 months...

INTERIOR UPDATE

the door panels are finally done. and looking more than just patta. i'm stunned. really!

fronts.

and the rear:

and what impressed me most was the center console armrest. deen's threw this in for free. wow. just wow. tears in eyes, lump in throat:

here it is bolted on. waiting for indika to fix the interior to see how this looks. 

used your car as a background, prvnrox. hope you don't mind

some photos:

here's the box:

removed the auto. the flywheel screws had to be replaced. the MT ones are longer. its funny how every little thing int he tranny from this to the mounts have been reinforced to handle more torque. quite frightening in a very very nice 

and here it is, bolted into place.

had to source the pedal(s) locally. couldn't find the A and B, so got the C off an EK2. it was a perfect fit. not a bolt out of place. its funny how this car was made for a manual but someone decided to stick an auto in there. every little part had its place, with the bolt holes deleted by rubber bushings.

and there it is, the cheeky little bugger!

have to unceremoniously cut the brake pedal, tho. so invested in some sparco carbon fiber pedals to cover up the evidence. got these directly from sparco italy. tough as nails, light as a feather. impressed!

INTAKE EXHAUST UPDATE

here's the intake manifold. a Skunk2 S2 pro 70mm. coupled with the s90 70mm throttle body

got a simota cone to fit. need to fabricate a housing like the stock box, so i can use the existing cold air piping leading out from under the car.

there's a Mugen DC2 4:1 header in there as well. its still in its wrapping. plus it has a thermal insulation which needs to be wrapped. will post pics of it once i'm done.

for the moment going with stock fuel rail and injectors. planning to keep the latter, but ordered this:

need to sort out the exhaust piping. plus get hold of that tanabe soon. getting it done as soon as the car is out. 

INTERIOR

this is one of the costliest and painstaking parts of the build. making a 15 year old car look like it rolled off the plant yesterday is no easy task and the interior is where the age shows the most.

firstly, here's the stock interior:

this is not off my car, but its the same tan interior.

here;s my goal:

so, the tan had to go. did a lot of research with my paint guy and sourced an epoxy interior paint with a heat and electrolyte (sweat) resistant primer from italy. redid in satin black.

getting the felt bits done in fabric.

threw in all the other little type R parts as well. including...

the momo type R DC2 steering. with an airbag of course. cost me packet for one in good shape, and after a buffing with shoe polish, it looks killer!

got hold of a type R DC2 gauge cluster as well.

and of course, the type R clock with the amber digits! details details...

and then there's the gear boot/knob. black rexin with the red herringbone stitch, OEM honda.

i might keep the seatbelts tan. its good to have a little reminder of what the car was. but the seats will definitely be replaced. the rear will be upholstered in black, while a pair of black recaros will replace the fronts. again, in time. recaros are harima ganang!!

1. ENGINE

-B18C3 DOHC VTEC SIR-2

The b18c3 black-top is found in the 1996 JDM integra type R. and the JDM spec SiR-G sedan. Lots of rumours regarding the 3 in the C3. Some say its just an area code. As in made in Taiwan/Hong Kong. Others say it’s the closest Honda ever got to B18 nirvana. The head is from a B16 type R, and the individually numbered C3’s are rumored to have been ported and polished by Spoon Sports Japan. Factory specs are as follows, compared to the other two well known B18’s

Urban legends notwithstanding, this is one rare and much sought after motor in the west, and I suspect the spooning rumor has a big part to play in that! To me however, this means I don’t have to port and polish.

- brian crower stage 2 street performance camshafts

The stock camshafts are low lift, for more low end torque, and Honda R&D took great pains to make the shift to vtec as “seamless” as they would like. (why, oh god why??) basically designed for an automatic.

Crower stage 2 is high lift, and vtec engagement is much more pronounced, which, after all is what we want, yo! After much research decided on these over blox HSL’s and stage 1’s. Skunk2 was beyond budget.

to reach that elusive 10,000 rpm redline, its also necessary to upgrade the springs and retainers, piston sleeves and bearings.

Brian Crower Performance valve springs and retainers

its also necessary to upgrade the valvetrain if i’m to avoid the dangers of high RPM. inadequate valve springs and retainers can lead to broken springs, causing the valve to fall into the chamber, and that, would literally leave me in tears. Crower springs are stiffer to meet increased demand, and essentially protect the valvetrain. i opted for steel retainers over titanium as they are more durable and also, simply because i can’t bloody afford titanium!

naturally, a set of adjustable cam gears are also included.

BCSpring pressure:

1.350” @ 80lbs

Open 0.900” @ 220lbs

Coil bind: 0.765” Stock: 0.833”

Weight: 46g Stock: 48g

- ACL main and connecting rod bearings are also going in to ensure nothing pops at that redline.

2. GEARBOX

the auto had to go. clearly. it broke down thrive in the last year, and gave me sufficient excuses to go get my self a third pedal. not just any third pedal, mind you. one from an EK9 type R.

B16A2 EK9 type R box with helical LSD

Hydraulic clutch.

Gear ratios are as follows:

Type R pressure plate, clutch plate

- DC2 Type R flywheel

- Type R trans-axles

sourced the clutch pedal from an EK2. was a perfect fit. wasn't able to get hold of the other two for a complete conversion, so had to cut the brake. but a set of carbon fibre sparco pedal covers should cover that up neatly.

had a few small issues with the shifter linkage being a tad bit too short. thankfully indika is an expert at figuring this sort of thing out.

IGNITION

replaced the plugs with ngk iridium numbers. Also threw in an MSD blaster coil and ngk wires.

INTAKE/EXHAUST

replaced the stock intake with a skunk2 pro manifold and an s90 70mm throttle body. Coupled to a short ram intake and a simota cone filter

The stock 4:2:1 header was replaced with a mugen DC2 type r 4:1 header. With thermal wrapping and 2" piping leading to a tanabe medallion muffler. As nippy as it might be, I want this car to he quiet, despite the power gains.