Project Hazmat '09 Honda Civic Si

In reply to spacecadet :

Score.

Starsky approves!

In reply to BarryNorman :

I lol'd 

Well berkeley... I had put all my ducks in a row(or so I thought) to go pickup hazmat this weekend and take it to PPIR the following weekend for Gridlife Alpine Festival... But scheduling conflict on my end mean I can't get to Huston for next weekend.. That bums me a bit.. 

And I had bumped the pickup from this weekend cause I didn't want to tempt fate with TS Barry. 

So one of the mainstream auto mags posted about the integra GSR sedan motorweek video the other day. It had been posted by a private individual not by motorweek. I wondered if they had seen this thread.. But I think it was probably our friends at MotorWeek as they posted the retro review which prompted the article I realized. 

I may be making this in my own head. But seth and I have talked to enough people to know that the threads here get a lot more eyeballs than some people realize. Either way.. Let's enjoy the Acura GS-R sedan review from 1994. 

Because I'm not getting one to write about. 

The GSR sedan is a neat side note in Honda history for sure. On another side note, Hazmat is going to be unavailable for pickup for the next two weekends unless you figure out a key situation with Mrs. Deuce in the next 48 hours or so. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

yeah, I found that out yesterday. Hazmat will do just fine for another 2 weeks.. 

spacecadet said:

Receipts for record keeping purposes. I wouldn't include the core charge in value for the challenge, the environment fee maybe? 

Don't know about environment fee, but the Core charge has to be budgeted in.

captainawesome said:

spacecadet said:

Receipts for record keeping purposes. I wouldn't include the core charge in value for the challenge, the environment fee maybe? 

Don't know about environment fee, but the Core charge has to be budgeted in.

Yeah, that's been pointed out by Patrick in the $2k challenge forum. 

So one of the goals for hazmat is to pull weight out. Much like the Tracccord I'm going to start pulling heavy items because they add up fast! 

One of those is needing to ditch my own spare tire. I'm 255 lbs and 5' 10-11". I've not had a proper pair of running shoes for a while.... like over 5 years... At the dealership I wore leather dress shoes everyday and I bough chucks last year because I can drive in them and the new job didn't care. This has come to bite me in walking courses as my shins start killing me after 1-2 course walks. So.. To fix this I took advantage of the $44 New balance running shoe blowout on all sizes of this style for prime day because I have a 8.5 double wide foot and finding fitting shoes for a deal can be tough.. 

So new kicks so I can try and get back into shape and drop pounds to help drop the car and driver weight. 

Went to the junkyard today.. came home with nothing.. didn't go after anything in particular so no big loss. 

but almost came home with something.. 

Walking the aisle i saw the front of something definitely tuner car and a guy pulling stuff from the engine compartment. thin headlights with black painted internals.. kept walking a few more feet and then what it was became obvious.. 



and the muffler caught my eye.. 




I contemplated trying to pull the muffler but ultimately decided I don't have the tools to pull it and I figured out it's a universal one sold at a bunch of retailers for $65-70, and the welds right behind the muffler body confirmed this. 
 

If you put a loud exhaust on then we can't be friends. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I also assumed you would lynch me if i installed it.. this did play into my decision

I thought that was like a rule though. Pretty high on the list. "Honda racecar must be annoyingly loud"

In reply to Daylan C :

the thing about Hondas is.. they can achieve 100+db through the intake alone.. 

One thing I have a knack for is making friends with people and making deals(surprise surprise after working multiple years in car sales).

One of those friends is a great driver and her car does not go through brakes very much as she only does autox... but she was sitting on a fairly fat stack of hawk bucks from scca National event wins and I offered her a deal she couldn't refuse and she got me a set of Hawk DTC-60's for Hazmat. 

I still need to figure out rear pads, but these have a working range up to 1500F and that's what many 8th gen civic's see during track work. With some brake ducting work it brings the working temps down to the 1100-1300F range which makes everything much happier and so the slides don't stick like they do at 1500 and so the pads and calipers are much happier. 

These will not be on the car for he challenge because they're most definitely not even close to the stock Si brake pad material. 

And what came with them in the mail? Why my latest issue of SCCA Sportscar mag with Gridlife buddy James Houghton on the cover! A Time Attack hero of mine who drives fast and parties even harder! First time I met him he was wearing half a watermelon on his head, which as Klodcrawler will confirm is his usual party state, and he was full Canadian drunk and having the best time at Gridlife Midwest Festival 2018 late night party. 

I am super excited to get these pads mounted up on Hazmat!! 

So listening to the Slip Angle podcast episode that dropped this morning.. 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5O3sLyOw8l0a6Nm5MZLDub?si=ioF5v2zyR0SIxlA5lypBXQ

Brian Gillespie from Hasport performance mentioned that the TSX K24 block is a great upgrade for the 8th Gen civic Si. Skip to 22:45 for the portion about the 8th gen Civic. 

Gets rid of the most expensive and  sensitive part of the K20Z3 engine... and replaces it with a "disposable" priced block and bottom end from the TSX which I've actually SEEN in my local junkyard still in the car..... and pick n pull has "nice" hoists to pull motors. And brian goes on to detail the benefits of the K20Z3 oil pump and  what has to be modified on it to clear the crankshaft of the K24... but the head, oil pump, and oil pan(which is critical because it has the lower motor mount on it) all bolt onto the TSX k24 block.... 

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm............... 

The TSX block/pistons with the Si heads and transmission and what not is the bees knees and what I would put in the Traccord if I stay with a four cylinder. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

You/we can build an "old school" Franken motor with the RSX type S head for the accord...

spacecadet said:

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

You/we can build an "old school" Franken motor with the RSX type S head for the accord...

 

Would the Accord 5spd trans keep the engine in VTEC?

In reply to clutchsmoke :

From what Seth was saying at NCM I don't think it even keeps the K24 in Vtec. 

In reply to clutchsmoke :

It would be tall gear set. The K24 motors don't rev like the K20 versions (unless you like see through blocks) so it's not as bad as it seems. You'd want to put an LSD of some sort in anyway and probably think about the final drive at that point. Or just swap the transmission too which is almost certainly the cost effective option in the long run. 

Also, you'd run different software that would engage Vtec much lower than stock. 

Seth already knows this, but for everyone else following along, the accord would need a different K24 than it has now as well, the current pistons don't play well with the K20 heads. The TSX K24 is the easy button to build a budget Franken motor, especially for what they cost. 

The accord needs a couple different things to make the most of the Franken motor because it's throttle by wire and pre canbus. 

Where a J swap can be done much easier and with OTS parts from Honda from a slightly later Accord coupe of the same generation.  

That's why the TSX K24 block and bottom end swap would make so much sense on Hazmat. I can make everything happy and talk to each other because of the canbus and the flashpro that can talk to all the relevant parts and take advantage of all the new combustion volume.. 

It's all just taking things apart and bolting them back together on a different block. And then just tuning the car for the extra air and fuel so I keep the piston in the block. 

In reply to spacecadet :

I really want to build something J powered at some point. I was quite fond of that engine in that Crosstour I killed. 

In reply to Daylan C :

They are no slouch, 270hp and a big beautiful torque band... they're pretty wonderful.