Project Hazmat '09 Honda Civic Si

Daylan C said:

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. 

I kind of want to put a J35 mated to a mazda mx-5 6spd with a G35 rear end into an FFR Cobra kit, just to see people's heads explode.  Or maybe an e-type.  

In reply to spacecadet :

And all of this is why it's worth thinking about the various platforms because they have different strengths and weaknesses. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Absolutely, your weight concept makes spending the time on the K24 the best path, but the J swap is certainly simpler, and cheaper for power under 300hp and probably more reliable for the power because not messing with it makesthe most sense

I just typed a huge recap of my summer and an errant click accidently scrapped the whole thing... berkeley.. so here's me re writing it.. 

I've been in a funk this summer because I've not been behind the wheel much. I sold my focus wheels and tires off in an attempt to get things in my life in order a bit and not needing them anymore.. or so I thought.. because hazmat was going to come into my life quickly.. well life got in the way of that BIG time. random stuff has happened and so I've cut down my drives to Houston and as such I've not seen hazmat since May. 

I spent tonight getting the garage organized because I've not been able to park inside because of the Hazmat parts lying in my spot. another way to get myself motivated was to remember why I'm trying to save $$. Because I'm coming to the challenge in Oct. and I'm really trying to get to OLOA2020. I decided to read all of Seth's one lap write ups to get my spirits up. 

Here they are in condensed order for anyone who hasn't taken the time to read them all. I highly recommend it because you learn a lot as you read along the way and Seth talks about a lot of lessons that he's taught me over the years, and lucky for you guys, they're all written down here. 

Seth's 2015 OLOA in CTS-V 

Seth's 2016 OLOA as a Fly-n-drive transit helper for Sleepyhead the Buffalo in the Mini Cooper S Clubman 

Seth's 2017 OLOA with Brian in the Blue 8th Gen Civic Si 

Seth's 2018 OLOA with Brian in the Blue 8th gen Civic Si (now with go fast bits!) 

and last but not least 

Seth's 2019 OLOA where Sleepyhead the Buffalo flys in from around the world to drive the tracks and they invite the embodiment of pure excitement(spacecadet) along with them for the adventure

Reading through these put me in a MUCH better mood. and I may have mentioned it before, but there's a chance that I'm going to run at COTA next month.. and with progress on the car my buddy and I are planning to run going poorly... Hazmat may get pressed into service so that's got me excited and also a little anxious 

as Daylan has said.. just me talking to the void here.. not much else.. 

OH! and i've run 10.2 miles in the past 8 days.. and I'm feeling a lot better.. i ran 1.7 miles tonight and walked only a few moments to go over curbs and other stuff as the neighborhood where I live and am running is very under construction so i am partly on sidewalks and partly on streets. 

I can't remember when I actually said that, but I'm sure I might have. I definitely use my build threads as a diary a lot for nobody's benefit but mine. If somebody thinks it's cool to read, sweet. If somebody reads something I wrote and tells me it's dumb and to do it another way that saves me a headache, even better.

And thanks for compiling that list. I think I grazed over bits of all those threads, or atleast most of them.  At some point I'll have to actually take the time to go through all of them in detail. 

In reply to Daylan C :

You mentioned talking to yourself on page7 of this thread. I just call it talking to the void, Same deal. 

I still read all your updates, but often feel I have nothing to add of value since I am not well versed in the Honda ways, but I do enjoy reading about your exploits all the same!

Build threads, and forums in geneal (see OLOA stuff above) serve different purposes for different people. I use my partly as a shop notebook, a way to write things down so that I remember them. Both ideas that I have and actual work that I do. My second use for them is a way to open my garage doors and invite people to look over my shoulder. Sometimes that's a whole group of people I don't know, and sometimes it's just my close friends or even just my wife checking to see what I've been up to.

Usually writing is written to be private, like journals, or public, like books and articles. I believe that good build threads are a unique way of writing and sharing because they have elements of both. And pictures. Because everyone loves pictures. 

Same. Hinda rockets are always interesting to me, but i rarely know enough to make a worthwhile contribution 

Budget $6000 for OLOA.  Between the entry fee, tires, hotels, food, gas, etc.  Yes, it can be done for less, particularly if you have a car where tires aren't all that expensive, but if you budget $6000 you won't be surprised and you may be happily surprised when you have money left over.

docwyte said:

Budget $6000 for OLOA.  Between the entry fee, tires, hotels, food, gas, etc.  Yes, it can be done for less, particularly if you have a car where tires aren't all that expensive, but if you budget $6000 you won't be surprised and you may be happily surprised when you have money left over.

I'm well aware, I ran OLOA this year and I know what it cost for our team and what I paid into the group fund. 

klodkrawler05 said:

I still read all your updates, but often feel I have nothing to add of value since I am not well versed in the Honda ways, but I do enjoy reading about your exploits all the same!

your comments are always welcomed, as is everyone's. That's why it's here for all to read and as a real life buddy, I feel you should be chiming in to tell me when I sounds like i'm about to do something dumb or just to remind me that I'm always dumb cause we play with cars in a competitive manner that is heinously expensive. 

I keep coming back because there's really great info on the 8th gen that I've tried to find elsewhere to little avail. Honda forums are 95% useless so thanks for all the knowledge bombs.

clutchsmoke said:

I keep coming back because there's really great info on the 8th gen that I've tried to find elsewhere to little avail. Honda forums are 95% useless so thanks for all the knowledge bombs.

That makes me extremely happy to hear. 

It was talked about in Bob's thread the other day but as an FYI to anyone. I did some digging and the rear suspension motion ratios are roughly 1/3 for the rear spring position and 58% for the shock position. This is important if someone is comparing full coilovers on the rear of an 8th gen vs a divorced spring and shock combo. 

I've actually been racking around in my brain a way to build a rear clover setup that you have a rear spring to pop into place as an additional helper for autox or any time you need more rear spring rate but don't want to get punished with it on the street. 

spacecadet said:

I've actually been racking around in my brain a way to build a rear clover setup that you have a rear spring to pop into place as an additional helper for autox or any time you need more rear spring rate but don't want to get punished with it on the street. 

Let me know if you want to toss around ideas.  Sometimes it's helpful to have more than one set of eyes on the problem.

And I'd be happy to machine things for you if you don't have convenient (and free) resources at your disposal.

In reply to TVR Scott :

Thanks man! And I appreciate you realizing autocorrect turned coilover to clover..

spacecadet said:

In reply to TVR Scott :

Thanks man! And I appreciate you realizing autocorrect turned coilover to clover..

I will freely admit that I did not figure out that auto-correct snafu.  I thought "clover" was a technical term.  My knowledge has gaps.  But I figured you knew what you had in mind.

I realized I hadn't shared this here. 

This chart shows why I chose to run the DTC-60's over the other hawk options. 

The DTC-60 can be run on the street if i want to and they have a huge operating range where they work well and they have a less steep fall off when they start getting outside their happy place. 

In reply to spacecadet :

Just keep in mind that the DTC-60’s will have almost no bite, and like 30% stopping power on the street.  They still work, you just need to brake earlier than you’re used to unless they are up to temp.  They’re real consistent, though once warm.

imho, based on my experience that’s 3 years old, ymmv, etc

sleepyhead the buffalo said:

In reply to spacecadet :

Just keep in mind that the DTC-60’s will have almost no bite, and like 30% stopping power on the street.  They still work, you just need to brake earlier than you’re used to unless they are up to temp.  They’re real consistent, though once warm.

imho, based on my experience that’s 3 years old, ymmv, etc

A friend has run them and gave the same advice and the graph definitely supports that. 

Appreciate you chiming in Buffalo

They'll also most likely eat rotors when below their operating range but I'm guessing rotors for the civic are a lot cheaper then DTC-60 pads so it's not the worst trade off (I'm a big fan of cheaper rotors with expensive pads).

I was lucky enough to have a ride around Mosport during an HPDE a month ago with an instructor in an SI (same colour, 4 doors) on Hoosier R7 and that car really left an impression on me. His cornering speeds were as high as anything else on track (and they were all trying!) on those tires and was an absolute riot. From turn 1 to Moss we were moving as fast as anything else, Moss to turn 8, his left arm was getting a bit tired giving point bys :)

Looking forward to what you do with the car.

Adam

I’ve been following this thread closely but hardly post cuz I don’t speak Honda’s either.

Where are you located? You can PM me if you want. I’m up in north Austin area. If your close I can help wrench/break something.

Also I live 30 mins from COTA. If you need pit hand, water boy or a random jankster weird guy in the back ground let me know. Need to connect more with car guys, would help motivate me to actually get out and do some racin!

spacecadet said:

I've actually been racking around in my brain a way to build a rear clover setup that you have a rear spring to pop into place as an additional helper for autox or any time you need more rear spring rate but don't want to get punished with it on the street. 

Thinking through just this a little bit, i can't come up with a way that you could add in a spring in the shock location, essentially making a coilover, any easier than just swapping out the main spring. I've never worked on a newer civic, but from the pictures i could find it looks like you'd jack it up, pull the wheel and undo the lower shock bolt and the arm would be able to drop enough for the spring to come out. Is it that easy?

Why not spring rubbers? 5.99 at the parts store. Took the spring rates on the miata from firm to ruptured kidney in about 10 minutes a corner.

shagles said:

spacecadet said:

I've actually been racking around in my brain a way to build a rear clover setup that you have a rear spring to pop into place as an additional helper for autox or any time you need more rear spring rate but don't want to get punished with it on the street. 

Thinking through just this a little bit, i can't come up with a way that you could add in a spring in the shock location, essentially making a coilover, any easier than just swapping out the main spring. I've never worked on a newer civic, but from the pictures i could find it looks like you'd jack it up, pull the wheel and undo the lower shock bolt and the arm would be able to drop enough for the spring to come out. Is it that easy?

I did some more digging. Looks like the rear UCA gets disconnected too but it's that simple.

Far as I can tell nobody makes a rear married coilover setup for the car. The packaging is just too tight.