1995 Honda Civic CX

After blowing up the engine in the RSX, I need a way to get around.
I drove the GMC Yukon for a few days, but at 18L/100km, and $130 per tank of gas, gas money alone will kill me.
My RSX, even with the turbo pushing over twice the stock horsepower, still gets about 9.5L/100km, about $60 per tank of gas.
So I decided to look for a cheap commute car.

My original budget was $1000 for a rust bucket that, if I crash it, I would just go IDGAF and walk away from.

But after looking at a few on Craigslist, I said to myself "There is no way I am spending money on those things".

So I slowly rise my budget.

At the same time, I was considering a rear wheel drive car, since I had never drive one full time before.
And the thought of going sideways in corners were very tempting.

But any RWD cars that I would consider were all over $2000.

I ended up looking at Honda Civics.
Civics from before 2001 are all very easy to work on, and spare parts are usually high in stock in junk yards.
The EF's were in the right price range, but too much rust holes. The ones without rust holes were too expensive for their age.
The EK's were mostly rustless, but were over my budget.
I ended up looking at EG's.

I found two that were within my price range.
A 1995 CX and a 1993 Si.

I first looked at the Si, because it was located near where I live.
First look at it, and I walked away.
The paint on the whole roof was peeling.
The tires all had 3 digit date codes ending in 9. (Made in 1999) 13 years old tires! WTF!
The car obviously wasn't taken care of.

So I contacted the person selling the CX.
From the e-mail signature that guy replied with, I found out he works right next to me....
I took a look at the car.
The body was in a decently good condition with some minor dents and scratches.
Rust was minimal.
Tires had 4 digit date code ending in 06. (made in 2006)
Also included a set of winter tires that were made in 2009.
Engine oil dip stick was dry... (WTF?)
I added almost 3L of engine oil to put it back at the top mark. the car takes 3.3L of oil.
Test drove this Civic, and after knowing that no coloured smoke were coming out the exhaust, and seeing that there was no engine oil in the coolant, I wasn't too concerned about the lack of engine oil.
So I bought it.

Just like that, I became a proud owner of a 1995 Honda Civic CX.
The car was almost as bare bone as it can get.
Manual transmission
No power windows
No power side mirrors
No power steering
No door locks
No A/C
No tilt steering wheel




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End of chapter one of my car.

So I blew up the engine yesterday.
It made 392whp and 316wtq at 18psi when it blew up.

It also made 2 holes and a few long cracks on the engine block.






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Turbo, again, pt2

I have decided not to write what I did to finish the install, so here's a pic of it installed.


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Turbo, again, part 1

I took out the Greddy turbo kit last year because of a huge exhaust leak.
While looking for an upgrade turbo, I was offered a different kit that is more capable of making a lot more power. So I jumped on it.
After having most of the parts collect dust over the winter, I finally installed the turbo into my car.

First was to relocate the heater hoses.


The hard shell on the engine harness was also in the way, so it got replaced with wire loom.


I had had the intercooler installed since a long while ago to save time on the actual install.


I also had an LSD and stage2 clutch installed by David at Evo Garage.

I started the install on a Saturday.


I did the fuel pump first.
I referenced a few DIY threads on ClubRSX.










The one thing I did different is I kept the plastic piece that takes advantage of a venturi effect for fuel.


The end of day 1


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Car plans for this summer

1. Roll the fenders. (canceled)
2. Replace the front brake calipers.
3. Replace the front LCA which also replaces the bushings.
4. Replace the ball joints.
5. Install the LSD and clutch. (done)
6. Get that turbo installed. I miss the power. (almost done)
7. If I still have money left, replace the front shocks and get the camber/caster plates installed.
8. If I still have time, get the damn retrofit done so I can see at night again.

Let's see how much I will get done...
#7 had been delayed since 2009.
#8 had been delayed since 2008.

updated May 26
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3W LED dome light

A few years ago, I made a 66 LED dome light.
I used normal 5mm LEDs in red, and it wasn't very bright. (but very good for night vision)


Not happy with how bright it is, I decide to do it again.
This time, I decided to use 3W LEDs.
Each of them is rated at 350mA 3.5V, so I connected 4 in series.

That resulted in a 3.6V voltage drop per LED at 14.4V (engine running)
Using an amp meter, the actual current measured is only around 200mA @ 14.4V (under 3W), well under the rated limit (350mA for the LEDs, and 8W for the light's circuit on the car)


I originally wanted to jam everything into the stock dome light again, but space is a problem. And heat too.
So I decided to not use the stock dome light at all.

I used two aluminium bars as the base and heatsink.


Drilled and tapped mounting holes for the stars.

I used the M3 screws from optical drives.

And then I soldered the wires on.


I decided not to use a resistor this time, so they are directly connected to the dome light plug.


Using identical camera settings:
off:

on:

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Windshield rock chip repair

I got a rock chip on the windshield a few weeks ago.


I finally have a little free time during day light hours on a sunny day to attempt a repair.

I used a Permatex repair kit because it is the first one I found.

Following the instructions:








looking a lot better:


And then the camera battery died.
I then dropped one drop of the resin on the pit and covered it with the yellow film.


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