By Ross (203.96.111.200) on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 05:49 pm:

I want to use only factory parts from different model hondas with little or no alterations to the parts. I have a '77 civic eb1 hondamatic with 155/70/13 alloys and wheels (Enkei),'89 CRX seats, Nardi torino steering wheel, racing pedals, red custom carpetting, front spoiler, white racing stripes on a red body.

I haven't touched the engine yet but am looking to put 2 1/2 inch exhaust piping in with cobi front and rear mufflers, ramflo series 6 air filter, possibly a Weber carb, rear disk breaks, and possobly crx springs.

Can you please help me find parts and the cars the would best come from.
I live in New Zealand and Japanese parts are easy to come by at a scrapyard. I was also quoted NZ$1000 for a honda city turbo2 engine and tranny, which is another possibility.

Much appreciated

Ross

By Adrian (Civicguru) (203.42.97.227) on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 06:15 pm:

Lets see:
2-1/2in exhaust ... way too big. 1-3/4in is plenty unless you are generating some serious power.

Why put disks on the rear? There is the look factor, but that's about all. It's not a bolt on conversion and will probably make your braking performance worse (especially if you don't do anything to the front). Plenty of discussions about big brakes so I won't go into it - do a search.

CRX springs - don't know if they would fit and the question is, why? Just get some springs made to the rate and height you want, easier, less hassle and not expensive.

By christos (203.56.239.115) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 04:35 am:

Adrian, is a 2 inch exhaust system too big for a standard 1200 motor with 4-2-1 extractors?

By Todd (63.52.20.14) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 05:00 am:

You'd get much better torque from a 1 3/4 with a stock engine.

By Adrian (Civicguru) (203.42.97.227) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 06:43 am:

IMHO 2in is too big for a standard motor. 1-3/4 would be as big as you want to go. The standard RS exhaust is only about 1-1/2in after the secondaries.

By christos (203.56.239.112) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 01:08 pm:

Thanks, it's getting done tomorrow. I'll let you know the difference it makes. I was going to warm the motor up so I thought I'd put the 2" system in but I won't be able to do the engine mods for a while so I'll take your advice ang go for a 1 3/4" system for now and see how it goes.

By ray (203.97.2.242) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 02:52 pm:

Where abouts in NZ are you?
I have put a 2 in on my civic and can vouch for the way to big problem.

if you are in AKL i can put you on to a good spring maker
dont pay $1000.00 for a turbo motor and box as a whole car can be had for less than that and you get all of the wiring computer brakes etc....

R

By Charles (137.219.16.107) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 03:05 pm:

If you are planning on going turbo 2" should be a minimum size to go for. Even on our n/a rally car we ran RS 4:2:1 manifold with extended secondaries and a 2 inch system the difference was huge. You will find the 2 inch gives you more top end and by having longer secondaries you will get more bottom end. All motors prefer less back pressure, however there is a fine line between less backpressure and losing exhaust velocity but on the whole this occurs at around 2.25 inches on a n/a motor.

But if you are planning on going turbo (and if you live in NZ you have no excuse not to) then go for 2-2.5 nothing smaller. You don't want to pay for the system twice.

By Ray (203.97.2.242) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 04:29 pm:

agree, i went for the 2 in with the turbo in mind as everyone knows its a good idea to stuff the biggest bohemith you can find in there.......
and it progesses from there, anyway as a tempory measure i fitted a muffler to the system to give a bit of ballace to the system this will be removed once the turbo motor goes in.

By christos (203.56.239.111) on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 10:42 pm:

the guy doing the exhaust is happy to do a 1 3/4 sysytem but reckons a 2" will be good too seeing as he'll press the bends which puts a little back pressure in the system anyway. Any thoughts? Price remains the same either way so I dont think he's being shonky about it.

By Ross (203.96.111.200) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 03:49 pm:

I was messing around with my springs and found that the city turbo springs are similar to the civic's but much much stiffer.Didn't sit perfectly in the strut but pushed in when clamped on. Possibly too stiff. Tried putting in rear. raised it by about an inch but havent tried in the front yet. If anyone knows about possible dangers or has done it before, please leave a message.

By Charles (137.219.16.107) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 04:19 pm:

Probably few dangers but do you really want to go up in height? I don't know why so many people swap out the standard civic springs. They are plenty stiff enough (on the 74-76 models anyway), the later models got a bit softer (as radial tyres came in). You will get much better improvements by adding sway bars. The civic is so light that stiff springs just makes it jerky, skittery and untolerable on the street especially in the wet around bumpy corners.

Sway bars will still provide compliance in the suspension while reducing rool around corners.

By Paul Krummenacker (216.26.39.192) on Wednesday, February 14, 2001 - 10:16 pm:

Maybe you guys can give me some advice.

just found the source of a problem with my Accord. I'd replaced the rear struts with some from my junker car and added some Suspension Techniques springs. I kept having a problem with the car feeling like it was going to swap ends and / or jump sideways when I hit a freeway joint at ~100km (60mph). It turns out the strut on the drivers side had exploded and blew oil all over the place. The piston moves with no resistance on it.

SO... I bought a set of Tokico struts for the rear a while ago. Turns out they are probably meant for a Civic as the spring perch is for a smaller spring. I got a pair of springs from an old Volvo 122 that would fit and are about the right height that I thought I'd need. keep in mind the weight of a Volvo... keep in mind the weight of the back end of an Accord. Not a good combo!!

got the car together at about 23:30 (11:30pm) and then went skiing today. The car now has gained about 3" of height in the back!! Hitting bumps and potholes makes you think you're going to lose your fillings.

I like the gain in ride height (will work well for rally racing if I can get the rear alignment sorted out, currently have lots of positive camber, top of tire out) but I need to find a softer spring.

Do you think the early Civic rear springs would be ok for rally? or should I try and get some custom made springs? or can you think of any other cars that might be able to donate springs. Charles, what do you use on your Civic rally car for springs?

By Charles (137.219.16.107) on Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 03:26 pm:

Our rally car was not a full house one like Mark Moddejongen's ("Mark Moddejongen" ). We ran standard early springs.

Mark may be able to help you a bit but I know he now runs a very exotic 50mm upside down shock that cost around $5K for a set. This is becuase the standard Honda stuff was not up to the task.

By Charles (137.219.16.107) on Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 03:28 pm:

Marks Email: Mining_Dynamics@onaustralia.com.au