My new hot hatch
Discussion
Hi all,
Just thought I’d start a thread on my new project, a Honda Civic Type-R (EP3)
I picked this up for under £5k with 120k miles on the clock with a full history from new, mostly Honda, including all the original receipts and keys with immobiliser codes! My daily is a Volvo V90 and because I do big miles the Civic is a weekend car.
It has
It’s remarkably clean underneath
The only bit of rust is surface rust on the rear suspension moutnings (will be sorted)
However it does have a few common faults.
Looks like the ELD has gone, the cat is because I think it has a modified cat (but not a decat), the steering rack is definitely f
ked because the steering is stiff and does not self centre properly.
In addition, it has a slightly bent and dented front wing, the rear discs are shot, the headlights are the worst I have ever seen in a car, and the back tyres are 7 years old and in very poor condition.
The steering wheel has a cheap cover on to make it look like a Premier and it also has no radio of any kind.
Have bought or arrnaged to buy so far:
Original OZ Evo 6 wheels with new Pilot Sport 5 tyres all round to replace the crappy tyres, with matching spigot rings and Honda centre caps.
New Pagid brake discs. (Pads are already new)
Proper Phillips halogen lights that work and not the fake blue stuff that you can’t see with (drive home was bum clenching)
A steering rack.
Track rods
Tie ends
Drop links.
Entire fuse box to replace the knackered ELD. The voltage drops occasionally.
A used Kenwood 2DIN headunit.
Original bulbs for the heating control elements.
I did think about buying a DC5 gearbox but decided against it.
In terms of driving it is quite hardcore on VTEC and idle (being polybushed, which I am not a fan of as it is very aggressive at idle in terms of NVH) but remarkably docile in terms of noise when just at a standstill or pottering about as the exhaust is not antisocial. When on VTEC though (which is addictive), it is just fantastic and really rewards good driving. You do need to be careful with your speed because this is a car that likes to be thrashed. One of my bucket list cars for sure. Even with the knackered power steering it is still a joy to drive.
Too many of these cars have fallen into chavs hands, and been abused. I want to make this car a minter. However its being looked after by my close friend who is a mechanic, and already wants to snap my arm off at buying the car to keep as his pride and joy once it has been sorted - he wants to sell his MX5 to take it off my hands and let me insure and drive the civic whenever I want to.
That would enable me to go for my next bucket list car.. a Megane 265 Cup.. so watch this space
Just thought I’d start a thread on my new project, a Honda Civic Type-R (EP3)
I picked this up for under £5k with 120k miles on the clock with a full history from new, mostly Honda, including all the original receipts and keys with immobiliser codes! My daily is a Volvo V90 and because I do big miles the Civic is a weekend car.
It has
It’s remarkably clean underneath
The only bit of rust is surface rust on the rear suspension moutnings (will be sorted)
However it does have a few common faults.
Looks like the ELD has gone, the cat is because I think it has a modified cat (but not a decat), the steering rack is definitely f
ked because the steering is stiff and does not self centre properly.In addition, it has a slightly bent and dented front wing, the rear discs are shot, the headlights are the worst I have ever seen in a car, and the back tyres are 7 years old and in very poor condition.
The steering wheel has a cheap cover on to make it look like a Premier and it also has no radio of any kind.
Have bought or arrnaged to buy so far:
Original OZ Evo 6 wheels with new Pilot Sport 5 tyres all round to replace the crappy tyres, with matching spigot rings and Honda centre caps.
New Pagid brake discs. (Pads are already new)
Proper Phillips halogen lights that work and not the fake blue stuff that you can’t see with (drive home was bum clenching)
A steering rack.
Track rods
Tie ends
Drop links.
Entire fuse box to replace the knackered ELD. The voltage drops occasionally.
A used Kenwood 2DIN headunit.
Original bulbs for the heating control elements.
I did think about buying a DC5 gearbox but decided against it.
In terms of driving it is quite hardcore on VTEC and idle (being polybushed, which I am not a fan of as it is very aggressive at idle in terms of NVH) but remarkably docile in terms of noise when just at a standstill or pottering about as the exhaust is not antisocial. When on VTEC though (which is addictive), it is just fantastic and really rewards good driving. You do need to be careful with your speed because this is a car that likes to be thrashed. One of my bucket list cars for sure. Even with the knackered power steering it is still a joy to drive.
Too many of these cars have fallen into chavs hands, and been abused. I want to make this car a minter. However its being looked after by my close friend who is a mechanic, and already wants to snap my arm off at buying the car to keep as his pride and joy once it has been sorted - he wants to sell his MX5 to take it off my hands and let me insure and drive the civic whenever I want to.
That would enable me to go for my next bucket list car.. a Megane 265 Cup.. so watch this space
Good little project; if you're able to I would pop new pads in too. If the existing discs are rough they'll already have "bedded" the pads, which in turn will not effectively clear the new discs. You could even buy a set to have on hand (from somewhere you can return them to) then make a call once they're off the car. If the existing pad surface is less than perfect I wouldn't chance it.
Dr G said:
Good little project; if you're able to I would pop new pads in too. If the existing discs are rough they'll already have "bedded" the pads, which in turn will not effectively clear the new discs. You could even buy a set to have on hand (from somewhere you can return them to) then make a call once they're off the car. If the existing pad surface is less than perfect I wouldn't chance it.
Yeah - might just get the pads so I’m sure they work. Sometimes there is a grinding noise. I thought it might have been a sticking caliper but I don’t think it is.The rear discs look like this:
Ouch!
supacool1 said:
Underneath looks well clean. On the steering my daily is a 5 door 1.6 civic of the same vintage and that too has odd steering feel. It too doesn't self centre well, but was run into a road sign by the previous owner (Dad) and had a new wing and front light...
Does it look like the rust has been painted over?...Nice car OP, looking forward to seeing your updates with regard to 'titillating' the old girl back to rude health.
V 02 said:
So i picked up the new fuse box and steering rack today. The good thing about these old civics is that parts are plentiful and cheap. Hoping that will make it as mint to drive as it is underneath.
Unfortunately the parts prices aren't what they once were, a friend of mine bought a K20A from a DC5 with the Y2M3 gearbox for £900 all-in back in 2015, then got a second hand KPro V4 ECU for £300 a year or so later - no chance of those sorts of prices nowadays given the 'scene tax' being applied across the spectrum. The DC5 gear ratios were awesome when ragging through the gears, but given the price the gearboxes are now and how decent the standard EP3 ratios are, i'd save the bother and just get an LSD if you feel the need for one. 
BertBert said:
Does it look like the rust has been painted over?...
For certain. If you are planning on keeping it long term my advice would be to strip back some of the freshly applied
coating on the floorpan to see what it's covering, it has definitely been rusty but was it treated before the
grey stuff was put on?, that's what I would be checking out considering EPs are terrible for corrosion.
Edited to add....The 4th picture down actually looks like it has filler in the cill part that hasn't been sanded,
looks like the striations from the plastic filler spreader and then just painted over.
Looks an otherwise clean car but check it's not full of tin worm. Sadly most are nowadays.
Edited by Master Of Puppets on Friday 31st January 09:33
Master Of Puppets said:
For certain.
If you are planning on keeping it long term my advice would be to strip back some of the freshly applied
coating on the floorpan to see what it's covering, it has definitely been rusty but was it treated before the
grey stuff was put on?, that's what I would be checking out considering EPs are terrible for corrosion.
Edited to add....The 4th picture down actually looks like it has filler in the cill part that hasn't been sanded,
looks like the striations from the plastic filler spreader and then just painted over.
Looks an otherwise clean car but check it's not full of tin worm. Sadly most are nowadays.
So it's definitely not perfect underneath, it's better than most but the driver's side rear arch and sill is not good. I do have a lot of pics from the previous rust work done through 2022 and 2023, the car was rotten before. this is definitely not the most perfect example out there but I have tried to improve it as much as possible. i will leave out any rust work until the next MOT, as I am not entirely sure how truthful the last owner has been when selling the car but I've got it now so I might as well take a punt. if its terminal (which I doubt) the worst case is to break it for parts.If you are planning on keeping it long term my advice would be to strip back some of the freshly applied
coating on the floorpan to see what it's covering, it has definitely been rusty but was it treated before the
grey stuff was put on?, that's what I would be checking out considering EPs are terrible for corrosion.
Edited to add....The 4th picture down actually looks like it has filler in the cill part that hasn't been sanded,
looks like the striations from the plastic filler spreader and then just painted over.
Looks an otherwise clean car but check it's not full of tin worm. Sadly most are nowadays.
Edited by Master Of Puppets on Friday 31st January 09:33
I've been trying to tidy the car up since purchase, it has been off the road getting everything done, still not back yet.
here's a list of stuff done in the last year, bold by me and only since Feb -
AEM CAI
Hondata K100
K-Tuned billet aluminium gearknob
Polybushed suspension mounts
Hardrace lower control arms
Racing Logic Hyperstreet coilovers with new top mounts and drop links
RBC intake manifold
Ported 70mm throttle body
Acuity hall effect throttle position sensor
DC Sports 4-2-1 manifold
DC Sports 2.5' cat-back exhaust
Tegiwa sports-cat
Polybushed engine mounts
Polybushed gearbox mounts
Polybushed suspension mounts
Hybrid Racing shifter linkage and bushings
OZ Racing Superturismo wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 5
Delrin solid steering rack slider
Service items:
Complete front wing passenger side
Replacement steering rack, freshly greased
Complete Fuse box
uprated Yuasa high performance Battery
Headlights
Timing chain tolerance check - in tolerance
New clutch and flywheel at Honda
Vented and grooved Brembo discs, high performance fast road pads
Performance brake fluid Motul RBF660
Performance clutch fluid Motul RBF660
Millers Nanodrive ester synthetic motorsport engine oil
High performance NGK spark plugs
Spoon Sports oil filter
Fresh Bosch microfilters
On the list:
Civic Cup rear ARB
JDM front ARB
Alternator
strut braces
powdercoated red cam cover
expensive but have been trying to keep savings low by using discounts and used parts as its not a garage queen. unusually though for a car with 9 owners I found the complete Honda service history (from new!), 2 keys, and even the original bill of sale!
Edited by V 02 on Thursday 29th May 16:16
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