SiRedge's 1986 Honda Civic Si

[SiRedge]

Discussion thread here.

 

Well, truth is, I've never made a build thread about any of my cars before, because I've never really had a 'build' to post about. It turns out, though, that lots of people seem to be interested in reading about things that are done along the way, even if they're only minor or maintenance related... or just like checking out a bunch of pics in various different locations after a wash. Fair enough, I do the same! And since it was requested of me when I joined....

 

So, might as well make a thread of randomness about my Civic. Here goes:

 

Details:

 

It's a 1986 Honda Civic Si F1 special edition. Factory 1.6 DOHC injected engine (ZC), 5 speed manual. Apart from some items specific to the F1 special (leather clad steering wheel with F1 on it, embroidered seats, decals and stripes, and I believe the 14 inch alloy wheels painted white were specific to the F1 edition as well), the rest is no different to a regular Civic Si. You could only get an F1 edition in white, in 1.5i or Si specification AFAIK. There are few left now.

 

I got it around October 2010 - the guy I'd bought it off had bought it off a lady who had owned it since it was imported in 1993. When I got it, it looked like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've done a few things to it during the time I've owned it, but regardless of what I've done and where I've lived, it's always been garaged and driven as often as I can get it out... much like other things I own

 

Anyway, some history of what I've done to it, according to my paperwork, some of which appears to be missing which is a bit of a nuisance...

 

2 October 2010: Bought the car at about 160,000km.

25 October 2010: Carried out the following work:

• New spark plugs
• New spark plug gallery seals
• New rocker cover gasket
• New air filter
• New fuel filter
• New thermostat and seal; flushed cooling system
• New transmission fluid
• New radiator cap

I find that most basic maintenance often gets ignored, especially by younger people who buy cars and never know to check these things. For example, I know that used Hondas I've owned that have ticked over 150,000kms are almost always due for a new thermostat, so it was one of the first things I bought for this. It turned out that the thermostat was in a right state, surprising it was still working. The fuel filter was gunked up. The spark plug galleries were full of oil because the seals hadn't been replaced. There was oil over everything. Poor little Civic!

 

About the same time I installed a Sony headunit because the previous owner had removed his. The front speakers received an upgrade. Nothing serious, just some decent 3-ways, I can't remember what. Also installed a Mugen gear knob - why not?

 

18 May 2012: Failed a WOF on "body damage to the left hand rear behind the bumper". It had been rear ended at some point in the past but only half-arsed repaired. Previous WOF checks had not picked up on this, even though they were done at Honda. Le sigh. Also, had Mugen shocks fitted, which I had bought second hand of a guy on NZH. The factory shocks had completely had it and were due for the bin. Wheel alignment done.

 

30 May 2012: Had "body damage" professionally repaired. New WOF!

 

2 July 2012: Had a set of 4-2-1 headers installed. They don't seem to be badged but could well be TRR. The rest of the exhaust is still stock at this point. It went a little bit better but sounds a fair bit worse. About 2600 - 3000rpm it goes through this buzzy yowl which isn't the best, but I'll put up with it for the meantime. Also changed oil and filter. 167,600km.

 

12 November 2012: Have A/C re-gassed and high stop light connection soldered so the damn thing stops crapping out.

 

May 2013: Finally decide to get around to getting tyres for the set of Mugen MR5s I've had sitting around for two years, so I can get them on the car. I was a little worried that going from the OEM 14" wheels with 65 profile tyres to 15" wheels with 50 profile tyres would cause the ride to get worse - it was pretty bad on the 14s. The opposite turned out to be true - the ride improved a fair bit! I reckon the tyres on the 14s were just plain awful and well past their use by date. Now on brand new Bridgestone MY02s all around, it's pretty good. Pics below.

 

6 June 2013: WOF check. Main fuel relay resoldered (another common older Honda issue). Clutch pedal pivot lubed. Rear hatch hinges lubed. Car squeaks less = win.

 

31 October 2013: Finally got fed up with the 'zorst sounding like arse. Pay a visit to Uniweld to remedy this. Custom 2" exhaust from the extractors back, two resonators, flow muffler. Tip fitted a couple of weeks later. Result? Very pleased, huge improvements all around. Enjoy driving it so much more because the 'zorst doesn't sound awful any more. The tone is a brazilian times better, much deeper and so smooth. Relatively quiet but sounds fantastic under load. Looks good too with the tip done, nice and subtle.

 

4 December 2013: After noticing the A/C is not working at all again (le sigh), back to the shop for a "WTF?" Turns out high pressure o-ring needed to be replaced. A/C regassed again (had better keep working this time...)

 

5 December 2013: WOF check (pass). Oil leaking from sump gasket and bung. This will need to be remedied.

 

11 December 2013: Finally installed the amp and subwoofer that had been sitting around in my garage the last couple of years. Much doof doofs to be had.

 

18 December 2013: The car's been with Honda the last couple of days. The sump's been rethreaded and got a new sump bung and washer as well as a new sump gasket - hopefully that's taken care of the oil leak. I've put down a clean sheet of cardboard where I park it in the garage to see if it drips any oil.

 

Also had:

• fresh oil and filter
• the auto choke adjusted - the idle would often hunt a little when the engine got half way up to temperature, hopefully this will resolve the issue
• rear boot hinges lubed again - hopefully no more squeaky!

Pretty spendy at almost $800 all up... but it would have needed doing sooner or later. They didn't think the valve clearances needed doing, so didn't bother, and didn't have time to flush and bleed the brakes, so I'll get that done in the new year.

 

Pics as it sat then:

 

 

 

 

 

14 January 2014: Been talking to Mr.Mk1 about giving the front end of the Civic a bit of a spruce-up.

 

The front bumper and nose cone were awfully stone chipped, a lot of which was the result of me following an uncovered truck full of gravel on the road to Ashburton a couple of years ago  , and the grill was quite patchy. Also, if you look at the earlier pictures, the grill is white - mostly. It had been repainted at some stage in the past, factory the grill was black:

 

 

It looks so much better after the freshen up. I'm still waiting for a new front badge to arrive ex-Japan, I'll take some good photos then. Otherwise, here's a wee tease:

 

 

So yeah, stuff and things and more stuff. There are heaps of things I've done along the way but forgotten when they happened. More stuff will happen in the future!

 

Some plans that will happen at some point:

• Source fog lights that are similar to the rare OE options
• Source and fit front strut brace if that can happen
• Do a restoration mission on the wheels. Sand and polish lips for much shininess.
• Source Mugen boot spoiler and 1st gen Integra side skirts. Probably a pipe dream as they're that rare.
• Source a different front lip. Also rare.
• Other cool stuff as it occurs to me! 

Thanks for reading!

[SiRedge]

So, as you can see above, I got the front of the Civic resprayed though Mr.Mk1 here on Oldschool. The price was good, and he did an excellent job, definitely recommend him. I still have yet to take some decent photos of it, but it's probably about time I did some before/after shots. So...

 

Before:

 

 

Aaaaand after:

 

 

GREAT SUCCESS!!!!!1one

 

...

 

Alright alright, fine...

 

 

Because Rally car.

[SiRedge]

Many wash. Such reflection. Wow.

 

With apologies for the crappy cellphone pic...

 

[SiRedge]

So, swung by a mate's place last night with the idea of hooking the front speakers up to the amp. With the amount of time we had before it got dark (not much really), we took one look at the wiring going into the doors and said "yeah, no" and decided to use the existing speaker wires instead of threading new ones. Happily they actually seem to be in very respectable condition given the age of the car and nature of the original radio, and it doesn't look like there would be anything to be gained from replacing them. I might still do it at some stage, but for the meantime they can stay as they are.

 

Anyway, we got stuck in and managed to get both front speakers hooked up to the amp, but no matter what we fiddled with we couldn't get the balance to work and the subwoofer played no matter where the RCAs were plugged in to the amp or head unit. After re-checking things several times (and much swearing) I finally clicked that there was a switch on the side of the amp switching from 2 channel to 4 channel. Click, and everything's working perfectly. Facepalm but relieved at the same time  

 

I'll need to tidy up all the wiring and put the trim back together again - there wasn't time for that - but I did test it out on the drive home. It was quite a difference compared to running off the head unit! There's much more volume and better clarity now, and I got to turn the sub gain up whereas before I had to have the gain set near zero or it would be too loud for the given volume. Win!   

[SiRedge]

[SiRedge]

Felt like a change of knobs to grasp, and the factory shift boot was starting to look a bit ordinary. Time for a change.

 

Before (Mugen):

 

 

After:

 

 

 

The shift boot is just a fraction too big to fit exactly right, but it's close enough. I'm happy with the outcome.

 

Also decided to upgrade the roof courtesy lamp to an LED item:

 

 

The one that was in there before was very dim, and when I took it out it was nearly falling apart - could have been in there since the car rolled out of the factory! This one is much better.

[SiRedge]

'kay. Turns out I'm pretty bad at updating build threads...

 

Weather was pretty good this weekend just gone, so I thought I'd whip the Civic out of the garage for a wash. But before I got there, I got to looking at the front lip. Some background: A couple of weeks ago after cruising out to Scarborough for an ice cream, when I parked (nose in to the kerb) the lip just touched the kerb - this was because of the weird shape of the road, it normally clears them fine. Anyway this time even though it just touched, the front lip flexed enough to cause the new paint to crack almost the whole way along the lip, and flake off in places. A bit sadface but easy enough to fix. Right?

 

Anyway I figured that since it looked pretty shithouse all cracked and flaking that I would just whip it off, clean it up and throw it back on again. Step one: Get the lip off. Many swear, such gravel. Ow. Many of the bolts were pretty rusty. One broke clean in two, others were a bit sticky, but most came off okay. A couple of clips, like bulldog clips without the levers were providing extra keep-it-on-edness, one at each end. They were a bit of a bitch to get off, but eventually I persuaded them.

 

 

I'd already flaked off quite a bit of the paint. As you can see it looks a bit shithouse.

 

Sat in the sun and worked away at it with some sandpaper to clean the rest of the paint off:

 

 

Nice and sanded back.

 

At this point I remembered I had a can of bumper and trim paint sitting in a box in the garage that had been there for about four years. Might as well give it a try, right? How hard could it be?

 

Impromptu paint shop! Lel:

 

 

All this was before I remembered that I have all the painting skills of a chicken with downs syndrome. Long story short: Started spraying, stuff came out a bit chunky, sprayed more to cover unevenness, sprayed more to cover more unevenness, ended up laying it on way too thick and chunky, like someone had vomited black on it. Fail. Tried to get it off with turps. Got some off but most of it had dried, leaving it looking super horrible. This completely ruined my mood. Rage quit, threw the lip in the back of the garage and went and got some fish & chips in a huff. I can't car. :disappointed:

 

Anyway for all that, it's not like it can't be fixed. Need to buy some paint stripper and a new can of paint (threw out the other stuff, sitting around that long can't have helped it much) and I'll give it another go. Anyone know if you can get new bolts and locating plates? Could stand to replace a couple of the sadders ones.

 

Also decided to do something about the dopey high stop light, so I ordered a super cheapie one off deal extreme:

 

 

Mounts twisted around to how it will stick on to the rear screen:

 

 

It's pretty cheaply made and rotating it to the right orientation sort of pinches the wires, but hopefully it will work. No big deal if it doesn't though, didn't cost much!

[SiRedge]

Last weekend the weather was good again, so I set about fixing the front lip paint fuckup. First it was a quick trip down to Supercheap to pick up some paint stripper and a new can of bumper paint. Stripped back the crappy paint, then a quick sand to get the rest off, and out with the new paint for a second attempt. It turns out I'm not the numpty I thought I was - this can of paint went on nice and even, so I can chalk my fuckup down to bad paint.

 

Here's how it looked after a couple of coats:

 

 

A couple of extra coats and it's ready to go back on the car - ran out of time last weekend.

 

Today I got the LED high stop light fitted.

 

Old:

 

 

New:

 

 

It's not very bright and looks quite small in the window, which is a little bit disappointing - hopefully the WOF man doesn't mind! Visibility through the rear view mirror is about 100 times better now though, which is pretty much the whole reason for changing it. I might get a better one at some stage, but for now, it works, and cars following me aren't obscured any more. Close enough.

 

Then the weather looked like caving in and it seemed I wouldn't get a chance to get the front lip back on again. But after a brief shower it looked like it would hold off for a bit, so I hopped to it. I'll need a couple of new bolts and mounting clips because some of the old ones were pretty sad and couldn't be re-used, but it mounted up okay. I was just finishing up as big drops of rain started falling but got cleared up just in time.

 

Crappy photo because rain:

 

 

The right paint this time, so it shouldn't crack or flake off if I nudge something - not that I'm planning on doing that again mind you!

[SiRedge]

Went for a cruise to Akaroa today. Photos happened. Dumping them here:

Artsy with Coke?

 

Actually took some photos of the car too...


 

 

With the sunroof out...

 

 

Also realised how few interior and engine bay photos I have of the car, so I took a couple...

 

 

 

For the middle of winter it was a beaut day - warm, sunny, hardly a breath of wind. Fish and chips were good, the car performed faultlessly, and there wasn't too much traffic. The downside to all this unseasonable warmth is there's no bloody snow on the mountains and I can't go skiing!! :disappointed:

[SiRedge]

So as a result of yesterday's cruise, one thing is pretty clear - I think the shocks are about had it. Time to sort out some new suspension and improve the ride height while I'm at it!

 

It's factory at the moment with Mugen shocks, but due in no small part to Christchurch's bloody awful roads they're pretty knackered. The front bottoms out hard over harsh bumps - there's a god awful BANG as you hit them. Not fun.

 

I don't want to go slammed, the roads here are too crap for that for now, but a better stance would be good. You've seen pics of it - bringing the height down would make a big difference. This is always going to be a road car and may never go to the track (though it's possible), so what I'd like is something that can handle the crummy roads better, but is still up for a bit of fun when the going gets twisty. Also it's got to be lower than it is so it looks better!

 

So the springs I've got sitting in the garage for the rear are King or Cobra Lows (at least that's what they said on Trade Me), apparently good for a 30mm drop. They measure 300mm from top to bottom. If I'm bringing it down 30mm all round, that just leaves the question of what shocks to use, given what I want to achieve? I don't mind spending a few $ as long as I'm getting a good deal! I should point out at this stage that the front has a torsion bar front suspension setup, it doesn't use springs. The problem is that when you lower the front by repositioning the torsion bars a spline lower, you run out of travel in the shock much more easily. That would be worse than useless in my mind. Unless I'm improving the car I'm not interested in doing it.

 

I'm also planning to take the car into Honda for a big overhaul soon, sort of as an early 30th for it. It will get a new cam belt and water pump, new rear main seal, new clutch, flywheel machined, and have about every belt and seal I can think of replaced, so it should be good to go for a good while yet with a bit of luck!

 

Thoughts?

[SiRedge]

Some stuff has arrived for me to play with. So, what have we here?

 

 

What could be contained inside?

 

 

Aha! A Purple speed front lip, that'll look good on.

 

. . . and . . . what do we have here?

 

 

Some Bridgestone Potenza Gymkhana shocks. Excellent.

 

They're a bit scruffy looking but specifically valved for these Civics, which is exactly what I want.

 

I've also ordered a pair of extended top hats from Cheddas Auto to help with front shock travel as well. The only downside is that they have to come around the world to get here! Once they arrive I'll put the new shocks in, change the rear springs, and lower it about 30mm. Looking forward to that!

[SiRedge]

I've been toying with the idea of making some videos of the car, with in-car footage while driving, the car driving past a fixed point, or rolling alongside another car filming, that kind of thing. I guess I feel like it would give a different perspective of the car than just photos of it - you could get more of a feel for what it's like on the road, how it sounds etc by watching a video. Anyone done much of this before? I guess I should be considering a GoPro?

 

Here's a short clip I made earlier today:

 

[SiRedge]

Took some photos yesterday - click for moar bigness:

 

 

 

 

You can check out the rest of the photos here.

[SiRedge]

So all my new suspension bits are ready to go in the car. I bought some new bump stops, much shorter than factory, and my extended top hats have arrived from Cheddas. I was all set to get cracking this weekend but I've been pretty unwell, so it's been shelved until I'm feeling a bit better. Meantime I ordered a K&N panel filter (off eBay, cheaper than buying locally) to go into the factory airbox. It arrived so I popped it in.

 

The underside of the factory air filter, which is only about a year old, was looking pretty grotty.

 

 

Went for a bit of a hoon afterward to see if I could tell the difference. Sounds slightly different and perhaps revs slightly more freely as well, so I'm happy.

[SiRedge]

Whoops, been a bit slack in updating this build! Sorry about that.

 

Recent work that has been done: Installed the Gymkhana shocks (pictured on the previous page) and Cheddas extended top hats. The shocks give a much firmer ride than factory - it's possibly a bit too firm given the earthquake ruined roads over here, but the car handles pretty well which is good. Unfortunately I didn't realise that the top hat bushes needed to be lubed, so they squeak and rattle and carry on, generally making a nuisance of themselves. Something I'll have to rectify.

 

In other news, the car has been in to Honda here in Christchurch for a fairly extensive load of maintenance work:

• New water pump and seals
• New cam belt and cam seals
• New clutch, pressure plate, release bearing etc
• Rear main seal
• Valve stem seals
• Plugs and leads
• Miscellaneous other belts, various seals etc.

Dropped in to pick it up again last week and had a lively conversation with the shop guys, who said everyone in the team had enjoyed having it in the shop as there are guys who've been working in the shop for a long time and remember these being around    They ended up putting their most experienced guy on the job - he's usually held back for the more complicated diagnostics work, but as it happens he enjoyed doing the work and wouldn't let anyone else near it!

[SiRedge]

Took some pics the other day:

 

 

 

 

Yep, still a Civic.

 

Photos taken at the Sign of the Bellbird in the Port Hills above Christchurch.

[SiRedge]

A few updates I've failed to post in here - oops! Copying across from other forums to keep this at least semi up to date.

 

Took the Civic into Honda for a WOF. Got a call from them earlier - failed the WOF on shocks and rust.

 

Rusty driver's A pillar:

 

 

F/L shock leaking quite badly:

 

 

R/R shock locating pin broken free:

 

 

Fortunately the rust isn't too costly or difficult to repair. The shocks, however, are really frustrating. I've bought two full sets of shocks in the last three years at not inconsiderable expense, and yet I'm back to square one yet again. Very frustrating.

 

Fortunately I haven't thrown out my old rear shocks, so I can throw those back in the car. However I'll need to buy new front shocks to fix the fronts. More money, money I don't have at the moment (bloody broke).

 

[SiRedge]

About a week after the above post . . .

 

The driver's side A-pillar seam rust has been repaired:

 

 

However . . . I was silly enough to ask them to have a quick look inside the sunroof, because I knew there was a little in there. I was hoping it was mostly surface rust, and that knocking it on the head at the same time would be a good idea. It was mostly surface rust. Mostly. However . . .

 

 

Here's a look at the passenger's side locating slot. The tongues of the sunroof go in these so it can tilt, and also lift out.

 

Once the locating slot was removed the area was sandblasted to determine the extent of the damage (click for a bigger picture):

 

 

Looking a bit closer at where the passenger's side locating slot was:

 

 

. . . oh dear. Neatly hidden away under the locating slot, the rust had penetrated the metal. That will have to be repaired.

 

Unfortunately, at the worst possible timing, I've just lost my job. I was already in a tight spot financially before this, but now it's much much worse. Not only was I not expecting to have to fix the A pillar rust (yet) or change all the shocks yet again (third time in three years), I have this to contend with. Now that it's been exposed the car will leak if it isn't taken care of. That won't do.

 

I want to get the car warranted so I can at least drive it, so I'll have to fix the shocks at least. The A pillar rust is already done, they've done a pretty good job. But I just can't afford to have the sunroof rust done yet. It's in a tricky spot so it's more costly than the A pillar in spite of being much less extensive. I'll have to remove the roof lining myself in order to help reduce costs a little, but that's a fiddly job that isn't very easy on your own.

 

Feeling a bit defeated at the moment.

[SiRedge]

And, the most recent update. I've got the car back - it now has a fresh pair of KYB shocks in the front, and a fresh WOF to match. Also the new shocks feel great on the road - a little softer than the Gymkhana shocks I had in there previously, but still a good feel. Apart from being unhappy I've had to fork out for shocks yet again, I'm well pleased with them - so that's a big plus.

 

Also, I've finally got my new steering wheel installed (click for bigger pictures as always):

 

 

They actually sent me the wrong steering wheel - this one is 350mm; the one I ordered was 340mm. It's actually almost exactly the same size as the OEM wheel, but fuck it, it looks and feels sweet. Holding it gives me a semi.

 

Cracked into getting the roof lining out so the damage to the sunroof can be fixed. For the most part I didn't have much trouble getting the interior roof fittings out . . . oh, and the OEM wheel chilling there too:

 

 

. . . but I couldn't get the screws for the interior sunroof locking bracket to budge. They would not be persuaded.

 

 

Not too sure what to do about that, but I certainly can't make those screws budge. I might whip into Honda again tomorrow and see if they can help. Anyway, pretty much everything else holding the lining in place has been removed or undone, so once the locking bracket has been taken out the lining should come free. Then the car can go in to have the rust damage repaired. Here's what it looks like from the underside, with the roof lining out the way:

 

 

Well, at least the front shocks are dealt with - the new ones feel excellent, and the new steering wheel is pretty sweet too. Looks like I won't be getting the OEM one refurbished any time soon (money ), but that's okay - using the Personal wheel is no hardship!

[SiRedge]

It ended up being much more of a faf than I hoped, but the roof lining is now out of the car. Honda helped me undo the sunroof locking bracket screws, and loaned me a tool to remove the plastic push pins as well which was great. I ended up having to undo all of the seatbelt upper mounts to take the side trims off so the roof lining would come free properly. In doing so I had to pull the rear window rubbers out . . . and discovered a little rust on the passenger's side rear window frame at the bottom.

 

I've decided there's no sense in only having the sunroof fixed at this point, when there are other bits of the car that could use the paint while it's in there. So I went into the place that'll be doing the work (CMR Panel and Paint on Walker Street, just down from Honda Cars in Christchurch, if anyone's curious) and had a good chat to Pete, the guy who owns the place. He remembered the car from when it was in having the A pillar rust fixed. Anyway after a bit of banter he was pleased I'd taken the roof lining out "because it's a cunt of a job (tell me about it! )", and that would make fixing the sunroof cheaper.

 

I'm also getting him to fix the bonnet where those pin dents are (from when I did the shocks and fucked it up ) and repaint it, fix the rust on the rear passenger window frame (it's not much), fix the paint on the driver's door (the trailing edge is in need of a tidy up, chips and wear marks from use) . . . and paint the Purple Speed front lip that's been sitting in my garage almost a year.

 

Most of this stuff won't be obvious to the casual view, but knowing it's been done will make me feel good and make the car actually quite tidy, instead of 'tidy, but don't look too closely' haha. Having the bonnet fixed and repainted and the new front lip on will be pretty sweet though.

 

Here are some pics from yesterday.

 

Pulling out the roof lining, trim hanging everywhere:

 

 

Roof lining out:

 

 

All the trim that's hanging loose in the above picture was removed afterward. I bolted up the driver's seat belt and rear vision mirror again so I could drive the car.

 

Here's a look at the rust at the trailing edge of the passenger's side rear window frame:

 

 

There's some at the leading edge as well. It's not as extensive as the rust on the driver's A pillar was, but it has to be fixed really, so I'll get that looked after when it goes in.

 

All in all, it will have:

• Sunroof rust hole fixed, painted
• Rear window rust fixed, painted
• Bonnet pin dents fixed, bonnet stripped and re-painted
• Touch up paint on the driver's door
• Purple speed front lip painted, ready for me to fit to the car
• Boot hinges rust killed, possibly a splash of paint there too

So a fair bit of work, but once it's done the car will be pretty good. I hope!