Civic of Doom: Honda Challenge Recycling

[Kaan]

Feel free to follow me or look at these ridiculous posts on my IG (@garagegraderacecar) or Facebook… I figured out how you kids killed the forums…  and i remembered my password! I’m back!
Back in the day… okay not that long ago I purchased this Integra from Jakes friend… put 40k miles on it (240k on the clock) and decided to make it my track car.
VIR Integra
 
Long story short… I blowed up the Integra. “Something” ended up in my oil pickup. This was after I swapped the trans to a GSR… after I built the motor because I popped the head gasket on track… after I purchased a used head that had every hole stripped… I might have felt defeated.
Blown Motor Oil Pickup
What came out of the oil pickup
bearings of doom
 
So you are blown up… you want to go play… you need a cage… what do you do? Find a new car! And by new car I mean someones (Chag Slaggs) well used sloppy seconds. But I have a history with this car (While in the Tech Shed with NASA MA, I DQed Chad twice for weight. One of the DQs cost him the regional championship)… so I jumped at the chance to trade a “safe queen” handgun and some cash for the shell… This is how I remember the car:
Civic in its prime

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This is how it really looked as we pushed the Integra into the woods and pushed the Civic into the garage… This is how my prep started.
Car Prep Starts
Car Prep hot mess
Car Prep hot mess 2
Car Prep trunk
Car Prep super hot mess
 
I really do have a history with this car… my name is all over the log book. I’ve always said something needs to be done about this cage… did I do something? Yeah sorta.
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Still a hot mess with Gussets
Gussets Installed
 
And then we started cleaning up the inside, sealing and painting. Chassis Saver and Rustoleum paint over the top.
Stage one cleaning
Car Prep Mostly Clean

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Some of my biggest fans said things like “just get out there, stop wasting time prepping the car”… Well when you get a hot mess that has been raced for a decade… let me encourage you to take your time and pay attention to the details. Yes, even with a subframe brace, Hondas like to crack/break/rip them.
Civic cracked subframe
 
Once I welded that up I proceeded to install the rear end bling… PCI has really been helpful with the build on this car. I ordered every suspension part in stock… and they hooked me up with the rest when it came in stock.
Rear Suspension Bling
ASR bling
 
I never thought I would be able to afford big boy shocks. Sure they aren’t MCS or Penske… but they were fresh back from a service and at 1/4 of retail… I just had to do it. Double adjustable Konis for me!
Double Adjustable Dumpers
 
I called up Jason (aka Winchester Flim Flam, aka Julies Brother, aka UTI Nascar grad) to help with the new B20 motor
Building a new motor

[Kaan]

Next was getting the engine and interior together. This engine is a full H2 Spec B20 (minus an overbore). Spec cams, 62.5mm TB, port matched, BC valve springs and steel retainers, supertech replacement valves, AEM cam gears, etc.
Engine is in
Dash is In
Mini Battery
Engine is in and wiring up
 
I’m colorblind as all get out … I mean I can see colors but wiring and what some people think is green, brown, etc… ehhh. All Honda fanbois need to save their time and just spend the money. This harness is NICE.
Rywire Solution
 
Needed some details on the engine… you know the oil cooler (that may or may not have helped) and the Vband exhaust.
Exhaust
Welding the exhaust
Oil Cooler in
 
The Garage Grade Team is a family affair… even the almost 4 year old nephew was getting in on the wrenching. All hands on deck!
Nephew Helps

[Evan]

Hell yes

[Kaan]

There was a race to get things wrapped up… lets be clear… if you need to make an event, you better have the HOOKUP on dyno time and alignment time… I had neither. So while waiting for a windshield… I scrambled to find dyno time. I drove to NC to get it aligned and dyno time in… come home to finish the car and make some tweaks… and then tow back to VIR. I swear I’m dedicated.
Waiting on the windshield
 
Ricer dyno chart… mehhh
Dyno sheet
 
The event I was rushing for was VIR… It was going to be my last HPDE2 event, I needed to get some time at VIR for comp school… it just had to work out. PLUS I have to shake the car down and pray it doesn’t break too badly (goal accomplished).
And then it rained… so I dusted off the 4 year old 200TW tires I bought on the cheap… and we set up the hobo camp!

Summit Hobo Camp
hobo cooking 1
hobo cooking 2
 
This is what happens when it rains in the paddock and people cant get things out normally… and plus hizzyfest.
Track Boredom

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I did bring my take off RRs… but I decided to focus on learning and not worry about things too much… so I stayed on the “rains” and went out to play.
Civic Shake Down 3
 
I shook down the car so much I had a problem… a typical crappy Honda problem.
Parked in 4
 
I NUKED the distributor a little… So with a little help from the Honda Challenge family and Sally McNulty’s crew (please see Hoonigan)… we build a bastardized distributor in under 40 mintues, timed the motor, and were ready to go back out there.
Heat Kills Distributors
 
And then I broke the car again… and with a part no one would have spares for. (Luckily PCI sent parts out overnight so I was ready to go for the next event). I swear I checked all my nuts and bolts… but I am pretty sure I missed one. This finished my hyperfest with my last session on Saturday… but my Instructor was happy and ready to solo me and send me to 3. So the goal was met!
Missing Parts
 
Here are some VIR pics… no aero… ehhh she’s ugly but I’ll take it.
Track out please
Working In the Rain

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So with a month between events… I fix the compliance bushing, ignore the distributor, and built a splitter… Oh and my kid brother brought me back some knock off mugen parts from Japan… for my first event in HPDE3 at Summit Point. I was still on the old “rain” tires… I’m still learning the car… I’m slow… I don’t care… I’m still trying to reach my dreams no matter what decade it is.
Gift from Japan
Summit 1
Summit 2
Summit 3

Everything went well at Summit… but life got busy, I accepted a new job, the wife deserves some time, etc… So I’ll only be doing Oct and November for the rest of the year… but hey the car isn’t broken. First time I can say that in … maybe 15 years!??!

I’ve since ordered all the crap I need to get the car finished and legal for comp school…. Fire suppression, drivers nets, my suit, gloves, etc…
I’m probably going to build a B16A or B18C5 for next year… probably not for comp school… but who knows I might get motivated. I’m also looking to take the GSR transmission with Mfactory diff to the “next level” and get it ready to actually be competitive too… you know, because everyone else does it.

I also need to clean up the paint and get it sorta close to a 50/50 rule. Who wants to help me paint the car in the garage? Anyone good with body work? I pay in beer and brisket.

Stay tuned…

[Jake]

Love this! You got a lot of good use out of Ben's Integra but it was definitely smarter/cheaper long-term to build an already-caged car. And it's kinda fun that you had hands-on experience with this one from way back anyway. I remember seeing it (the "Thank You Workers" is hard to forget) on track, racing I suppose, when I started out flagging for NASA in college.

It looked like hell when you got it - that dashboard looked almost moldy? But it's cleaned up well and you've built it right! Can't wait to see more of it out on track soon. When is your next event?

I'd fully support spraybombing the front end in "almost matching blue" or pulling a Proteshea and CF wrapping it.

[Kaan]

well I might rattle bomb the bumper and side skirts orange to match the cage... still waffling on it. The blue will need to be cleaned up too... I now have sponsors (#2 HPDE Sponsored Crew) to keep "happy."

IPGparts.com put out an announcement on IG that they were looking to help support people motorsports programs... and you needed to email them a proposal. well... before submissions are even closed and before they fully looked at the ones they have... they chose to contact me for "at least" the basic support. Something about my proposal being the most complete and impressive they have ever seen...

I used IPG for all my ARP parts in the past. the battery hold down in the civic came off their used race car parts section... off some P car they were supporting for racing... well now it makes life a lot easier (read: affordable) to fully prep the car the way I want.

I've been very fortunate to be selected by IPGparts.com, for my friends at AutoFair Honda to support me... for QuikLatch to offer me a heavy discount (that's why my budget shit box has the most ball'n latches)... I'm confident that the car will be ready to win and the driver will be happy in last place!

[.RJ]

KAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!!!!!!

<3

[D_Eclipse9916]

Love it!! Don’t be such a stranger at the track. Looks like a lot of fun my man!

[Evan]

well I might rattle bomb the bumper and side skirts orange

You spelled Universal Gold wrong.

[Kaan]

well I might rattle bomb the bumper and side skirts orange

You spelled Universal Gold wrong.

my stock pile is dangerously low and its not that easy to come by anymore...

[JPolen01]

You've been putting in some serious work - been following along on IG. I'm sure it feels good to see your work pay off.

It is ugly for sure... But at least it's safe and it runs!

[Senor_Taylor]

Dude! So awesome. Really glad to see you back out there!

So that noise your diff was making is okay?

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Kaan]

It’s a plate diff... it chatters like that. When I lost the compliance bushing it sounded really bad... but it’s normal. 

It will probably will have it serviced next off season

[rherold9]

[.RJ]

well I might rattle bomb the bumper and side skirts orange

You spelled Universal Gold wrong.

I agree with subaru fanboi, blue+gold = hot.

[ryangreen1]

Wow, seriously amazing what some paint will do to turn that mess of an interior into a solid looking car. Is it not standard procedure to, ya know, paint the bare metal cage soon after its installed?
Another Subaru fanboi vote here for blue+gold

[ScottyB]

dude i love it. i know you've been clawing towards this for a long time so its awesome to see you crackin the whip on big blue. i'd be willing to bet you can scrounge up some MM pit crew if need be.

[Kaan]

there will be "some" gold on the car... you know i can go against my roots... but probably not in replacement of the orange. #1 reason, i'm not painting that cage again. 

the cage had primer on it, but its been stored outside for years in NC... so the whole car needed some love. this winter, if i'm not building a big ol' motor for it (which it looks like i am)... I'll be stripping and sealing the entire lower portion of the chassis. There is no rust down there, but i don't want to chance it with Hondas reputation. It takes about 3 days off work (I did it to the integra) 

Crew would be nice for comp school... but probably not needed. Jason (one of the few people i trust to work on my stuff) has volunteered to oversee the car along with Sylvia (Chew Chief and amazingly supportive wife). The goal for comp school is reliability... so what i have is what i will run with. I don't want to worry about a fresh motor or new XYZ... just run what i have.

I need to clear off the shelf, i mean car... and change fluids and take some measurements for my new Nine Lives wing. All in due time... now i need to go setup my brewing rig for some charity brewing.

[CaptainHenreh]

[Kaan]

So after nerding out on some HP:Weight, TQ:Weight, 2xCost:Weight (the cost to drop weight and the cost of the item, ease of parts access... I have procured a B18C1 GSR motor so I can haz some Vtecs.

They are pretty cheap and easy to get replacement blocks/heads for... its got a good balance of revs/hp/tq... AND I don't have to spend big money on getting the car lighter.

I'm at 2415lbs with a full tank (still need to add my fire suppression and rear wing)... minimum weight is 2400lbs. HP is capped at 175... I should be able to rev to 8.5k or so (depending on what the graph says) and that should keep me at the right shift points for top speed for the class... and the new 4.928 FD/.875 5th gear trans that needs to be built over the winter!