Terence's Civic VTi 1998 (EK3) - Decisions...


terry_em1

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May 12, 2013
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EM1 Civic
One night I was scrolling through Facebook, as you do... I noticed one of my 'friends' was parting ways with his Civic, so I asked him what he wanted for it. After a little back and fourth, we agreed to swap cars with each other. My Nissan March 12SR for his Civic.

Here is a photo of the car, taken by him:

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I went to inspect the car at his home. The car had no tax and NCT (MOT), and there were problems that he coincidentally forgot to mention... He failed to mention the 'Check Engine' and ABS lights were on. The bottom half of the dash was taken out for some unknown reason, with the loom dangling about. The mid spoiler was crashed into. I didn't let these things break my spirit as I was looking at the potential of the car. The problems he did say to me, before I made the trip, were the tyres are bald and that the exhaust centre section needed welding.

We made a deal.

Here she is, after nursing her to my friends house:

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The next day, my friend and I looked around the car for any more potential problems we might have. We found a boot full of plastic pieces for the dash, an armrest, the gearstick surround and a front strut brace (Gave it to my friend as payment for keeping the car at his house.).

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I topped the engine up with some 10W40. There almost nothing left in it... We noticed a click when steering, during a little test drive. Lifted the car and checked all wheels. Lugs were loose on all wheels and one of them was held by 3 nuts... The driver front wheel had some play in it, so we decided its best that we take it to a mechanic ASAP for a checkup.

Its my fault for not seeing these things before taking it. It was dark, wet and I just skipped things. Still better than owning an oil burning Nissan :) End of story time!

Now for the interesting bit. Spec! Its a Japanese VTi with the D15B. It has:
15" Rota Slipstreams
optional skirts, front and rear lips
optional foglights
optional intersection lights
mid spoiler
Spoon spoiler (Yet to check if its genuine.)
vented bonnet (Not sure on the brand.)
Honda wind deflectors
optional sat nav
Honda Modulo muffler
Honda Modulo shocks with Spoon springs
C-pillar brace

Car still has stickers on the windshield from Japan. Owners manual and such all there too. I actually know the person who imported the car to Ireland, through Facebook, so I had a little discussion with him about the Civic. He's currently finding original photos and the import paperwork for me :)

These are all redeeming things that didn't make me walk away LOL. Its a good car. Just had a bad owner is all :( Plans are to:
take it to a mechanic for a diagnosis
fix issues within my ability to do so
swap the wheels with something else because I don't roll on Rotas and it'll sort the tyre problem
book it for a NCT
fit an alarm

Thanks for reading :)
 
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Just an update on the car and where my thoughts are now. Brought the car home and cleaned it. To be honest, I thought the paint was past it, but the Frost White came out good.

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I was initially planning to NCT the Civic and sell it on, to fund an EK4 SiR, purely because its originally a B16, but heres what changed my mind:
  • I already own the ideal base, it being free of rust and without any severe body damage.
  • It has 4 owners, including myself, since import.
  • Its a Japanese EK3 and not an EJ9, etc.
  • If I sold it, how difficult would it to be to find an EK4 in the same condition within my set budget.
  • If I had an EK4, the car's suspension, brakes and engine will get messed with anyway, so I might as well do it with the EK3 I have.
So... The plan now is to have the D15B running right. Drive the car with it while a B16 is bought and built on the side. Of course, swap the engines. Add all the supporting mods. Having it looking right, with the exterior and interior. Saying all this, now I'm in no rush with the car, since I'm not planning to sell it anymore :)

Now I need your opinion on the look. I'm going to delete the intersection lights, so that requires me to buy a new front bumper.

A. Should I keep the mouldings?

B. Should I get EK9 bumpers and colour-code the mouldings?

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C. Should I go facelift? (@Turfy old EK4 SiR)

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By the way, the car probably won't stay white. I'll be spraying it some other Honda colour some day, like S2000 grey or something.
 
If your going to change the colour you might be able to stick a pre-facelift Ek9 Front bumper and rear a standard rear bumper - Im biased towards facelift but ultimately its down to your view on Pre-face vs Face! Regarding the Bump strips its personal preference also - I dislike them.
 
I'm biased towards pre with a vti-s lip.
Always fancied those intersection lights but I guess with fogs the front end looks too busy
 
@Turfy It'll be Frost White for Honda Day LOL. I think the mouldings relate too much to a 1.4, but it does break up the white paint well. Like I said before, I have the bright yellow Fit before this ha.

@that_civic Yes, the front end has way too many things going on, plus I see no reasonable function for the lights. I get weird looks on the road when I'm turning at yellow box junctions :p
 
nice project, looks good in white!

im looking for a facelift ek ideally in white or black, that SiR for sale? :naughty:
 
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