I’m sure that some of you have seen my thread on the other site but I finally decided to make a thread here as well. I’ve always been a lurker and this was a useful site that helped me when I first got my DA. Teg Tips was my favorite! So bare with me if you have already seen my thread.
First I’d like to thank my family and friends for all the love and support through out my build and to everyone that helped bring my car to where it is today.
-Chuck & Rocky @ Show Stoppers USA
-Anthony, Danny & Abe @ Infinite Wheels
-Aaron @ Skunk2
-Ryan @ Rywire
-Mikeyyy @ Dipped- parts.com
-Frank @ Bolt boys
-Guillermo @ GPR
-Danny @ sing welding
-Nick G @ GTS Auto
A little background… I built this car in memory of my grandparents after regret of selling my first DA that they helped me purchase. That car helped shape me into who I am today in many ways. I don’t want to bore you guys with talking so I’ll leave it at that and try to let the pics speak.
My old DA
I was never one to take pictures of my own car so please bare with me. I only have a few but I’ll try to give you and idea of where I started from.
Checking out the shell in SD from whoa its Len
It had a straight frame and a clean title so I took it
AAA road side assistance ftw!
Weapon of choice
My boy Danny welding up the holes in the bay
I don’t have pics of the rhd conversion process but here is the result. (firewall only)
Put the trans and motor together to test fit. H2B using the qsd kit and explicit speed alternator relocation kit
Test fitting the motor . I had to notch the frame rail to clear the crank pulley and balancing shaft.
After everything was situated, dropped it off at the body shop
I wasn’t satisfied with the first job they did in the bay so I had them re-do it. I eventually got it back 2weeks before Nisei 2008 so I tried to get it ready in time. The car was no not running yet but since I already paid for the spot, I brought it out
The only pic I have of it at that stage
I wasn’t satisfied with it so once I got it home I tore it down again. It sat for almost a year before I knew it Nisei 2009 was right around the corner so I got busy again.
Picked up Big Mikes old set of ITB’s and RMF header
Test fitting
There wasn’t enough clearance between the header and core support so I had to down size to a half size radiator.
I had a bunch of parts dipped in black nickel
Took some measurements so Ryan @ rywire could make me a harness
@ Nisei 2009 Thanks to Joey of The Chronicles for the great pics.
I also added a personal touch by having the hood airbrushed
Then the oc fair
Went to visit my grandparents on thanks giving
I ditched the old school dual tip hks exhaust for a 2.5 Burns 2-stage race muffler
Took it to Fast Intentions to have a down pipe and b pipe made.
I also had them add a small turn down on the tip
Afterwards I had it re-tuned by Bisi @ Bisimoto and it ran smooth. Made 202/160 with stock cams
Everyone was going up north for WekFest so it was a good reason to drive up and spend time with friends. Some thought I was crazy for doing so given the fact that I didn’t have a spot for the show but I simply wanted to enjoy the drive.
All taped up ready to go. Enough blue tape?! Lol I didn’t want to risk messing up the hood plus with expected rain to come, I didn’t want to risk water getting in and sucked through the itb’s.
The Drive started out great
But about ¾ of the way through I had to re-tape the portion covering the itb’s before we hit the storm that you can see in the background
The storm was an experience to remember. We made it safely!
I was talking to Anthony @ Infint wheels about Hella Flush that was coming up and he said that he had a set of SSR Super Meshes available so I jumped on it.
@ Hella Flush
When going up to frisco I found out that the motor was burning oil. It ran so left it alone and just drove it around as is but over time it got worse. I finally decided to pull the motor & rebuild it, thinking it would be an easy rebuild- hone, new rings and bearings and at the same time I was going to install Skunk2 cams but…. Unfortunately it wasn’t.
There were scoring in each cylinder
The pistons had wear as well. This was the worst one.
The motor consisted of
H23 block
Darton sleeves
Arias pistons 10.8 (I thought they were 12.1 when I bought it)
Crower rods
H22 head
Ferrea valves, valve springs & retainers
Stock cams
Lesson, don’t buy a used built motor!
I had a prior engagement with Skunk2 so I decided to throw in a spare motor that a friend had and since Spocom was coming up, I dressed it up a bit and polished some pieces to make it presentable.
@Spocom
If you are a fan of Skunk2’s facebook, you would of seen that I was fortunate to be of assistant to them and help them test fit their new Skunk2 Pro-s II coilovers.
I finally had time to play with them yesterday and set the height. At first glance I liked how they were made. I compared them to my function form and was very pleased.
One main thing that I liked is that it had mounting points for the brake lines and a peep hole (the circle) so you knew how high to safely go and still have enough of the shock threaded. Lastly it went ¾ of an inch lower
After dialing everything in, I decided to take a drive down the PCH and see how they performed. They rode very smooth and comfortable especially considering how low I was.
How low am was I you ask?! This low
Next event was Nisei again so I wanted to get an H back in there.
One last shot of the B-series before pulling it out
got to love working on a clean, tucked bay & milspec connector. The motor was out in a little over an hour. Getting the car on jack stands took most of the time lol. I have to raise the rear to get a stock jack on the side so I can slide the jack in up front. :crook:
After I went to HMO and picked up an H22 long block.
Took everything not needed off.
I was still having issues with the f20b pulley hitting my traction bar so I got a unorthodox one and had it shaved down to a single pulley.
grindied down the back of the block to fit the half shaft.
Before. I started to grind but then remembered to take a pic
Almost there. I cleaned it up more but didn’t take a pic
installed my skunk2 cam gears.
The motor and trans bolted up and all cleaned up.
I had to modify the timing belt cover to fit. I also made a little notch to hold the bolt.
almost done…
My camera broke so I wasn’t able to take pics of the rest but it was practically done.
My car practically looked the sane as before but back with an H.
Next I was honored to be featured in the Oct issue of Honda-tuning
Now this brings us up to date to its current stage.
I plan on taking the trip up to Nor-cal this year again for WekFest and with experience from last year I need more thump for the long drive so I started working on a custom sub enclosure the other night. I originally planned on making a simple flush box in the spare tire well with a 13" JL W5 but to save funds I opted to use 2 kickers that I already have and make something a bit more extravagant but still simple.
It’s going to look something like this but with out the amp.
Other plans before the taking the trip is
Skunk2 cams
skunk2 valves, springs & retainers
Eliminate balancing shafts
Modify the oil pan to accommodate the slant of the h2b & add baffles
& possibly new wheels :nervy:
The enclosure is almost done. Just need to lay some fiberglass to make it stronger and smooth it out for paint. For being my first custom enclosure, I am happy with it. I got to give thanks to my boy Juan for helping/ teaching me what to do. Here’s some pics of the process; not step by step but you get the idea.
After we laid the resin and let it dry, this was the result
I also went to Skunk2 the other day and got some goodies!
I dropped my head off at Portflow last friday and picked it up monday.
They did A great job! Check them out if you plan on building your head.
and yesterday I got my KS balancing shaft eliminator
It even came with a $20 gift card
Today, I picked up a new oem Head gasket. If all goes well, The plan is to degree my cams tonight and have the motor back together ready to go back in by next week.
BTW- my used Ferrea valve springs & retainers (less than 15k miles) are for sale.
I also have Brand new Skunk2 manifold w silver AEM fuel rail
WekFest is exactly a month away. I hope everything goes smoothly
Last year, I was focused on the show aspect but this year I plan on changing things up and actually take my car
to the track and enjoy it.
Cars super clean and loved seeing this car at nisei last summer, and it was cool meeting you too. love the car and the style and time put into it, great build
Great build and even better story. My mom had a heart attack a year ago on my birthday and I let her down when I parted with my first DA I owned that she help me buy. Looks like my build am doing now will have more heart into now that I found a meaningful pursuit. She is still alive but not well, but I think about how she felt the day I said to her I sold the shell. Good luck with the build
