Project Hazmat '09 Honda Civic Si

In reply to ShawneeCreek :

Nope, there is no challenge plans left for Hazmat. We are going straight to full on track prep.

spacecadet said:

Agent98 said:

In reply to spacecadet :

As if Honda forgot their motorcycle roots.

Emissions regulations are tighter than ever, Turbo and Direct injection tech is better than ever. I mean VTEC is cool and all, but I'd love to get 5-10 more MPG like I could in a 1.5 civic Si and have more torque too.

 

Hazmat is cool for track stuff cause I can beat him mercilessly and he gives no berkeleys. But I'd totally rather have a modern 1.5T Honda Civic Si to daily drive, I totally miss the low end torque of my ST.

 

Excellent point...even Porsche had to go to water cooled for the sake of emissions, maybe there's no way to have a four rev to 8000 rpm and stay clean. So Honda had to figure out how to make it work under the new standards. And with all the safety gear , cameras, how to move around a heavier car. Therefore more torque down low.

So my buddy Erik  coordinated a little something special for me. 

 Guess I need to move the intake and tune up higher on my list of modifications!

 

I'm trying to pay attention to small details on this car. 

the hood prop holder has been broken since i bought the car. it allowed the hood rod to move around and it wasn't really an issue. But every time I popped the hood it would bug me. 

so I spent $8 and replaced with with a new one. 

Did an oil and filter change tonight.
More of the good stuff!!

and the Hasport Mounts arrived tonight!

so shiny!

picked the softest durometer rubber because I don't wanna rattle my teeth loose.

Snagged these on a end of year deal direct from Hasport. 10% of retail and free shipping through Dec 31st if anyone else is interested. and that's on all their mounts!

mounts should go in tomorrow. I'm excited!!

Old vs new upper torque mount

and installed..

took less than 5 minutes to install... 

the lower, rear motor mount unfortunately I can't get the leverage on it to break the longitudinal bolt loose... so that one will have to wait. 

There is already a difference in how the motor moves, but I definitely feel like the motor moves less even from just this one mount being replaced. 

yeah those will be great to have for shifting and whatnot...

usually the lower ones i have to use a jack to move the engine to get it in the right spot...

In reply to apexanimal :

the engine wasn't the issue, I just couldn't get enough leverage on the motor side bolt to get it to break loose because it's longitudinal vs the rear bolt which goes straight up and down.

Would a lift help?

In reply to MazdaFace :

Most likely yes... it will at least allow me to apply more leverage.. right now I'm stuck with a max of like a 12 inch wrench with the front of the car on stands. 

that little note from Helio is cool as hell, how many people can say they got a message from that guy?!

love the Hasport mount.  should help shifting nicely.  would love to hear your feedback on the 62A durometer, that's what i intend to use when i get around to replacing my aging mounts as well.

ScottyB said:

that little note from Helio is cool as hell, how many people can say they got a message from that guy?!

It was a very cool surprise from my buddy Erik, and a continuation of Erik's running joke with me.

love the Hasport mount.  should help shifting nicely.  would love to hear your feedback on the 62A durometer, that's what i intend to use when i get around to replacing my aging mounts as well.

It is transmitting more NVH to the car, it's not bad, but it's there when you get started and the first time i started the car I FLIPPED out because the starter engagement was so pronounced. This mount means that the 62a rubber is the only thing insulating you from the movement of the transmission and any vibrations and noise coming from it.  The clutch engagement is much firmer and more precise than it was before and I'm very happy with it. I look forward to getting the lower mount installed. 

Just dropping a note to say hi, I've been following along on some of the developments from your facebook posts, but didn't realize you had a build thread on here.  Sad I wasn't able to make it out to the last event at MW, going to miss that place.

In reply to Kenny_S2K :

hey dude! glad you came to join the party here on GRM! Your S2000 and the supercharged F22 are an inspiration for where I want hazmat to go. 

 

So, I've been pretty quiet for 2 weeks. 

part of that has been waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

I found some glitter in the oil of hazmat when I was doing an oil change the 28th. 

I put the new oil in and I've been putting some miles on it as I waited to see if something was immediately wrong.. 

It's now been 500 miles since and I put 150 of those on yesterday. 
 

car runs great, just as it always has for me, I was being nice to it for the first 50 miles and then really started to take things up a notch once it got beyond 100 miles. 

I've been running it hard coming back from lunches at work, putting it to the redline once it's been at temp for 15+ minutes. So it may still have the motor let go, and I've priced out the cost to swap in a K24 and located a bunch of local warehouses here in DFW who keep K24a2's in stock. 

So.. I've made peace..

But honestly Mazdeuce and I think it's going to last quite a while longer.. 

which brings us to today. I've been waiting to start buying any parts towards the track prep till i had a better idea what was going on with the motor. 

I was browsing on Amazon today because I've been planning to buy the Buddy Club seat rails off there.. because they're side mount rails with the sliders built in and they're custom made for the car. can't beat off the shelf parts made for the car. Anytime i can avoid building or fabricating something when there's an affordable off the shelf option I will ALWAYS push that easy button. 

SO I'm browsing on Amazon, and unfortunately i didn't think to take a screenshot until AFTER i ordered it, because i was so excited to save $50 in the moment. 



 I see that New(5) from $115.62

and i stop DEAD, wait.. what?? 

sure enough.. amazon had one sitting in the warehouse somewhere and for some reason had the sucker marked down.. 



MINE NOW! 

So with this.. the next phase begins.. into track car DD combo status.. we go! 

Love the commitment to this build.  Been following it closely, but always with some trepidation because I figured an $2000 civic SI with relatively high mileage was the type of car that could be abandoned if the going got tough, aka metal in the oil tough.  Nope, you already have a k24 swap quoted.  Awesome stuff!

In reply to Number1Gaza :

appreciate your support. I mean this cars whole purpose in life is to be able to die.. 

Something that I can take to the track and if everything goes wrong.. be able to walk away from. Being as it's my only car now.. this would leave me in the position of needing something else to drive.. but at least I'd not financially be on the hook for the busted car. 

losing a motor might sideline things, but it certainly won't kill the project. The bones of the car can accept a k20 or K24, and JDM and junkyard motors are plentiful enough that it's not more than a few grand to get the car back up and running. Most of the cost of the swap will be in the Hondata tuner which i'm planning to buy anyway, and time with an actual dyno tuner.. which a K24 swap would need. 

Isn't k tuner a decent and cheaper alternative to Hondata for the K series?  Or is Hondata still the best?  I know the J series is only supported by Hondata so my knowledge of other software is limited at best.  

In reply to Number1Gaza :

i technically already have the Hondata tuner that my buddy gave me. I just need to pay to have it unlocked, which is $500. but cheaper than $700 retail price.

so.... huge sweeping changes happened today to the plan. 

Car has no issues, an opportunity presented itself and it was too good to pass. 

more info to come soon.

I reluctantly give my blessing for the opportunity that has arisen

I have no idea what these two are talking about.........

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I are confused...

In reply to Recon1342 :

I stay that way.

In reply to spacecadet :

you happened upon a Rotrex kit and now we get to see a boosted pizza delivery vehicle beat up on more expensive track cars?  that's the answer isn't it.