Ted's 1974 Civic Project (Autocross)
In 1977, my high school friends and I used to cruise around in my dads ‘76 Camero RS. My buddies were cheapskates just like me and would not contribute any gas money, so I stopped driving them around unless they threw in a buck for gas.My friend Peter had access to his dads 75 Civic 1200, and we got more cruising to the dollar, plus Peter let us drive. Right away I loved the way his Civic handled, even when packed with guys. We never picked up a single chick while cruising in the Civic and other guys regularly laughed at us. My unwitting response was usually something like: "My other car is a Camero!" which made them laugh even harder.
In the fall of 2000, I got the idea of restoring a Mini Cooper but I could not find any in my area. Then a funky orange ‘74 Civic 1200 showed up in my life thanks to the thoughtfulness of my buddy Louie who knew I was fond of his car. Our buddy Patrick sarcastically called the Civic "Stretch." With crinkled fenders, oil leaks, worn bearings, mushy brakes, collapsed seats, cracked weather stripping, and bald tires, I went for a test drive and found it to be nimble, quick and fun to drive. It was exactly what I was looking for all along so I drove it home. It was a filthy mess inside and out when I took delivery, so the first thing I did was pressure wash the entire exterior and engine/bay that quickly revealed the weather-stripping was failing completely. Additionally, because years of oil leaks and dirt had bonded with every surface under the hood, a full cleaning of the engine and bay was needed. I scrubbed the really hard baked-on dirt with a small wire brush and paint thinner. This took considerable time and I used up a full box of latex gloves in the process.
Now it was time to rebuild and tune. I searched the web for ideas on what other Civic owners were doing these days to their cars. I was thoroughly impressed with the depth of knowledge, real experience and friendly advice available. More so I was impressed by the power and handling these cars were capable of delivering. Unbeknownst to me, and to the subtle scorn of my wife, I was to become completely obsessed with the First Generation Honda Civic.
On on line auctions I found Enkei rims, filters, master brake cylinder, antenna, every manual or book produced for the 1200, etc. I picked up a set old race tires and a race seat, plus a thunderbird 4 into 1 header. These would prove valuable for auto crossing. Then I found a Weber DGV carburetor and port matched stock manifold which worked great on the street, but I didn’t like the way it performed during races in the extreme hard right turns where the carburetor would flood. Even though the car only died one time giving me a DNF, I decided it would have to go.Then came a huge find: 13x5.5 Panasports with center caps and a pair of fat sway bars. CHEAP! Wheels: 13x5 Accord Enkei rims for the street 13x5.5 Panasports with aged BFG RA T1’s for race days (tire softener helps).
Recently I swapped out the DGV for a Cannon manifold and 40 DCOE side draft carburetor for some good power gains.
The block and head are stock and will remain that way while I race in F Street Prepared. I’ll will drive this engine till it no longer runs fast and then rebuild it for FSP.Here is what I have done so far:
Engine (remains in FSP):
Cannon intake with Weber 40 DCOE side-draft, Thunderbird 4 into 1 header, custom 2" to mini turbo muffler, Distributor and coil from a ‘82 Civic 1300 with new cap, rotor, wires, and plugs, New water pump, Fresh hoses everywhere, Holley red fuel pump and fuel regulator, New top motor mount bushing
Suspension:
Koni adjustable (wets) inside ’75 CVCC casings
Ground Control coil-overs
Eibach springs: 350 lbs. Front and 250 rear
New wheel bearings
Fat sway bars front and back
New Custom Camber plates make 3.5 degrees negative camber up front and 2.5 negative in back:
To do list includes:
Camber plates front and rear Strut braces, Hard rubber bushings everywhere, Fuel pressure and oil temp gauges, 205/50 13 race tires. Deeper front air dam, mild fender flares, master brake cylinder, new rear drums, finish body work
Brakes:
’79 Civic wagon knuckles, New rotors, New ‘79 Accord calipers, New brake pistons in rear, New brake pads and shoes
Body:
Replaced both front fenders, still in primer gray, Sand and prime all surface rust, New weather-stripping on doors and hatch
Grant steering wheel, CVCC deluxe gauges, Funky race seat, Lightened chrome bumpers minus rubber bump stops.
I picked up a wrecked ‘78 1200 recently that came with a Japanese RS 4-2-1 iron header and custom 2" exhaust with Dynomax turbo muffler, Ground Control coil-overs with Eibach springs, custom stereo, new radial tires, high-output alternator, New Weber DGV carburetor, rebuilt head, 5-speed transmission, wood steering wheel and shift knob, chrome shift lever, Honda Crx seat, etc. I stripped the car down to the bone. It was the most therapeutically fun I have had in years. Every bolt, screw and rubber bit was removed. Not a part (aside from the engine internals) went untouched. What was left there was a sad sight. The carcass was dragged to the auto wreckers, where I literally shoved it off the trailer by hand. I have a third stock 1200 with a decent body to use as the shell for a modified street Civic. I’ll be going for the ultimate sleeper with this one.
