Everyday Driver Honda EP3 Civic Si

Very much looking forward to seeing how the new motor does. Since I have and Accord the easy button is a J, but I love how much room a K leaves. 

As an original owner of 91 Si hatch, i never liked these british Si 

this thread makes me want one

I am an EF/EG guy. EK doesn't do it for me. 

Your EP looks great. Any thoughts on your EP3 vs 2006 RSX-S?

Appereciate the info!

I love this. 

And I love that you have so many Miata friends

Wow

what did you use on the lights?

J1000 said:

Where is everyone at? More people posted in my thread before I swapped the engine, now it's quiet haha

I'm here Huccleberry.

Loving what you are doing. Blue is the best color for these. I looked and looked for an EP3, but settled for a XRS Matrix. Carry on.

The first thing when I bought mine was replace the aftermarket cone intake with an OEM box as well.  With the stock engine the acceleration just didn't match the noise.  Mashing the gas just made the car get louder, not really faster.  With the swap I'm sure the noise corresponds w/velocity now!

nice! I missed the swap part but i am really liking swapped hondas recently. For the luddites like me, can you explain what k20a3 and k20z3 are and what the difference was? 200 wheel is GREAT.

also, just noticed your profile says you live in morrison? I grew up living in green mountain, morrison (just south of 285 by the golf course), and I went to college in golden. 

In reply to J1000 :

Dang-that's great. The K-swap is popular for the CRX I have, but the prices on the K engines put them out of reach for the challenge. I hope to be close to your NA numbers but will have to use a chinese turbo to get there.

Did you do the tuning? If so, what can you tell us about the process? I'm hoping to get my d16 on a dyno by this summer and will be tuning it myself on a rented dyno. I'm comfortable messing around with the AFR and fuel maps, but the ignition table is a little bit intimidating.

awesome! low pressure air means your power figure would be slightly understated, and perfect for using as a basis for classing, yes?

In reply to J1000 :

Totally get that, closer I get to 30 the more comfort means to me. 

this is a nice build, debating if I'm going to start doing stuff to mine or move onto a different car

car's looking awesome!  those are solid whp numbers for a K20Z3 with just some minor intake/exhaust and tune work.  they put down about 170whp stock, so you've unlocked some great power at the flywheel.

make sure you run the oil right up to, or a little above the top dipstick notch and i'd recommend a very stout 30 weight or a 0W-40 for track work.  K20's will start to oil starve on a long sweeping left on sticky tires due to oil wanting to climb up the timing chain galley.  keeping a topped off level will help fight that.

Very cool! I was curious about tuning in town, and good to know another person had great work done at PFI. Do you know off-hand if Brent can tune on an MS3 Enhanced using Tuner Studio? I'll be needing to have the S2000 tuned at some point this year.

*edit: How easy was the Delrin steering slider install? Do you think it would make a difference on steering feel with a stock suspension?  I have a 2002 CRV with the same steering rack as the EP3 (though hydraulic) and so there's a bit more room behind the motor to work, but I'm still on the fence of whether it would actually improve anything.

J1000 said:

Thanks for the tips on the oil. I've just been running 0w-20 but have been thinking of going to something different. I'm only running auto-x anyway so not as much sustained gs and short sessions. 

yeah 0W-20 is waaaay too thin.  even for the lower revving K24 cars they spec at least a 5W-20.  the K20Z3's require a 5W-30 at minimum per the factory.  those rods are flying around at a good pace at 8200 RPM and need an oil that can keep the bearings happy at those g forces.  i run 0W-40 in mine personally (Honda spec'd 40 weights as optional for the JDM/EDM "hot" K20A engines) and it performs excellently from the oil analysis i've done on my last oil change.

I think I'd try the camber plates first before swapping springs and roll bars, just to see if you can fix it by optimizing the contact patch. Conversely, I guess you might not need the camber if you can fix the roll with bars!

What do your rules say about the sunroof? If you street drive the car you may not want to get rid of it, but that weight as high as possible on the car may make a noticeable difference in roll. 

Love the bronze/gold wheels!! I've got a 2008 si, same blue as yours. Makes me want to paint the wheels!

J1000 said:

In reply to ScottyB :

You were right, the car runs great on the Rotella T6 0w-40 I put in it. There used to be a nasty noise on initial start up in the morning, but that is gone now. 

hey glad to hear its running smooth.  i bet that noise is the common VTC Actuator clatter.  its harmless as far as i know but it sure feels better to hear it start up smoothly!  you should be able to easily pull a 6,000 mile oil change out of that even with hard driving.  

your power levels look nice and healthy for a short ram/header/exhaust/tune K20.  if you ever get around to a J35 throttle body and a cold air intake, you'll likely find another 8-10whp.  that's the great thing about K's...just keep giving them more air and they'll turn around and spit out great power gains.

those runs looked so fun.  i need to see if we have some of that locally.  i'd love to drive something that's a mix between autocross and track, since i'm totally boned on classing in traditional autocross but not prepped enough for full track work.

judging by photos you could absolutely benefit from more front camber.  you look to be riding the shoulder of the tire pretty hard.  even with added roll stiffness i'd see if you can get at least 2 degrees and all the caster you can dial.  with your toe zeroed out, that kind of camber should still give you good tread life on the street.

keep us updated!  super fun build to follow.

You should buy a complete setup for toe adjustment (alum. plates and tape measure) for <$65 online.  I'll probably order a set of these, or find a way to use something I already have to do this (boards?).  

You'll need a separate tool for camber & Caster, but for the price of two alignments, you probably buy the camber tool as well.  The simple magnet & level for camber are $20, and the camber/caster setup (shown below) are $200 on up.  Based on the amount of work you've done on your car, I'm guessing you may really like the ability to check and adjust your alignment regularly. 

You can do toe very well with just four jack stands and strings. I actually find it more accurate (in my garage anyway) than toe plates. 

J1000 said:

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Were you able to get a sense of how quickly temperatures come back down once you get moving? I see you already installed the fan, but I agree that it might not last too long in that location. Seems like with some strategic ducting you might be able to get fresh air in there quickly once you get out of grid and actually start moving on the track. 

This thread is making me seriously consider picking up one of these as a daily once my lease is up. Good luck at the next event!

In reply to J1000 :

Years from now the timing glitch is going to make someone say "Look how fast/competent a Leaf is"