Simon's EJ9

Hello everyone,

I am an avid reader of project threads so i thought i would contribute with one myself.

Having experienced bottom end failure on my Jaguar X-Type i was on the look out for something a little more economical and reliable. I always fancied a Japanese car, specifically an EP3 after looking on eBay at some Honda Civics i spotted this car (the EJ9) and fell in love. Being local i arranged to view the car, after some negotiations we agreed on a price and i drove it home that night. I must give the previous owner some credit he really has looked after this car.

This is my experience and opinion of the car so far. Coming from a reasonably powerful car the Jaguar, i was fairly apprehensive about the considerable drop in power, why it is all good to go fast, thus far the Honda is more than adequate for me! What sets this car way above the Jaguar is how fun it is to drive, i can honestly say that it handles better than anything i have ever driven before, i look forward to every corner and roundabouts! Whilst i do not have the luxury of full leather seats, cruise control , traction control and all that stuff, this car makes up for it in its simplicity. I really love this car so far, i will not say that i do not miss the power of the Jaguar because it was nice, but this car has character and i love that!

So a little about the car. It is a Honda Civic 1.4 EJ9, 72,000 Miles, 2 previous owners, part service history (cambelt kit and waterpump replaced at 68,000 miles). It has BBS reps (no idea on brand), 4 new TOYO Proxes tyres, pro sport lowering springs (whatever they are), D2 Racing adjustable camber arms, an EK9 spoiler, replica EK9 front grill and a Spoon replica exhaust.

I hope you guys enjoy the progress, and that wasn't too much information for you to read. Comments welcome.

Looks like a good one! Ready for a b series conversion

You can get that power back easy enough if you wanted it.
Looks like a decent car tbf

That does look clean mate good buy

Looks really tidy. Have any plans for it?

Whilst not overly exciting but essential, the start of my project begins with service purchases.

Still yet to carry out my service because i am being lazy. The latest purchase has been this cheap 4-2-1 manifold from the US, it should compliment the exhaust a little and perhaps give me like a 0.70 BHP increase in power.

I have been on the search for a rear EK numberplate recess since i purchased the car. Well i finally bit the bullet, gave up the search and ordered one from Honda. I think this should tidy the rear end up quite nicely. Need to get it painted then transfer my numberplate over from my previous car.

So the sun was shining today and i decided to fit the new exhaust manifold and down pipe. After spending about 3 hours loosening all the bolts up, cutting my hand open, swearing a few times and eating chocolate, i was defeated by 2 bolts on the catalytic converter. I tightened everything back up and drove to my nearest exhaust garage. 1 hour late and only £20 lighter the job was complete. I am a little annoyed as it is a fairly simple job to do but without a ramp i had limited access to the bolts. I taught myself a valuable lesson and that sometimes giving up is the sensible thing to do.



For only £60 i am fairly impressed, it looks better, it has actually made my car quieter and the fit is fairly decent. As for performance gains, well by comparing the old manifold and down pipe this certainly looks a lot less restrictive, the car feels much smoother accelerating but I am not here to chase BHP numbers it feels better so hopefully it is better.

So since owning my EJ9, I have read lots of positive thing about fitting the D16 inlet onto these engines, improved throttle response and potentially more BHP but believe of that what you will. I managed to find the Inlet fairly easy, and then was stuck between a standard D16 airbox or induction kit. I opted for the induction kit, mainly for ooks and i was struggling to find a standard airbox. I drove to a friends house and we began to fit the parts, i say we i was meerly the supervisor!


All in all it went fairly smoothly, the only bad thing being i need to find a D16 throttle cabe bracket as i did not have one of them, so we had to bolt the standard D14 one to the fuel rail.


I also fitted a new Japseed manifold replacing the eBay special item, not for any reason other than better fitment and better build quality.

nice

Not many EJ9's around these days that look as tidy as this, Nice buy and you seem to have a decent idea with the parts.

Although, Couldn't you have ordered that plate recess from Honda in VSM as EK9's came in the same colour?

Also, Is that a D16Y8 inlet mani? There pretty hard to get hold of, I looked for when carrying out the same swap years ago on my EJ9 but settled with the D16Z6, Should sound much more throaty now after 5K RPM now .

ALEX-CY said:

nice

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Thank You.

Kipper said:

Not many EJ9's around these days that look as tidy as this, Nice buy and you seem to have a decent idea with the parts.

Although, Couldn't you have ordered that plate recess from Honda in VSM as EK9's came in the same colour?

Also, Is that a D16Y8 inlet mani? There pretty hard to get hold of, I looked for when carrying out the same swap years ago on my EJ9 but settled with the D16Z6, Should sound much more throaty now after 5K RPM now .

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Thank you very much, i try to look after my cars the best i can and i really love this car so it gets extra attention! I got the plate in white direct from Honda as some guy ordered one for his EK and did not collect it for 3 months, so i managed to get it for a discounted price. It is currently in the body shop being sprayed.

Time to update my build thread. I will start things off by explaining the induction kit issues for the D14 engine. It sounds awesome, i cannot fault the sound, it looks great in the bay and it fits perfectly. However if you plant your foot you get almost what feels like turbo lag, the engine was not as responsive as it was before under about 3,000 rpm. I removed it favor of a VTi airbox, whilst it still actually looks good and sounds great, the performance i cannot say has improved from standard but definetely improved from having the induction kit. Annoyingly it has a broken tab and at the moment is a bit of a bodge fit. I have ordered a silicone hose and i will neaten it all up for one that arrives.

Along with the new airbox i also got myself a Password radiator bracket and a Spoon sweatband purely for improving engine aesthetics at the cost of a couple of beers i think it looks a little better.



I tried to spray my EK number plate recess myself but the finish was far from perfect so i sent it to my friends bodyshop to get sprayed properly. Along with transferring my private plate over. The new number plate recess along with the new number plate made a massive difference to the back end. Along with this i also de-wipered the car as i do with all of them!

On to the front of the car, I was tired at looking at the all silver EK replica grill so we parted ways and i installed the standard Honda grill. I did plan on colour coding the chrome on the grill and painting the Honda badge black, but for now it is staying standard. Also debating getting an EK grill but this is just a debate at the moment. Along with the new rear plate a mandatory new front one was also fitted..

That just about brings me up to date at the moment. As the weather improves I will start focusing on improving the condition/looks of the engine bay and under sealing.

Nearly 10,000 miles into my ownership and the car has been faultless, been great on fuel and real fun to drive! I have owned a Jaguar X-Type, Fiesta Zetec-S and a VW Golf and this car has honestly hands down been the most enjoyable.

Just an update on this the civic has since been sold and replaced with a Mini Cooper R53. I'm happy to create a project on here with it and will continue to support the forum.

Gutted to hear you sold the car! any particular reason you sold it? Look forward to see what you'll be doing with this mini though!

R555 DUN said:

Gutted to hear you sold the car! any particular reason you sold it? Look forward to see what you'll be doing with this mini though!

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No particular reason to be honest. It was a quality car and in hindsight, i will probably regret not putting a b18 in it. Here is how it currently looks under new ownership.

Nice build mate

Simon Taylor said:

No particular reason to be honest. It was a quality car and in hindsight, i will probably regret not putting a b18 in it. Here is how it currently looks under new ownership.

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She's looking healthy! Looks like theres a mid spoiler on it? Needs to be raised though in my opinion, far too low! At least she is still looking good, is the new owner a member on this forum?