Terry’s EM1 project

[terry_em1]

Looks like my car is completely primed. You might be able to spot some new additions to the build

All the silver is gone from the boot lid.

I remember this area being a little rusty. Nothing crazy, but that's all refinished as well.

 

[terry_em1]

This is a before picture I got. The rust hasn't made a hole.

Mistakingly, I bought the wrong clips for the side mouldings. Blue one is new and I used my chassis number to search for parts. Didn't realise the chunkier USDM mouldings used different clips. Painter said he made the old clips work, so it's fine.

Some teaser pictures~ Here's the Tactical Art duct fitted.

Mode Parfume mirrors adjusted because they didn't sit right out of the box. It's to be expected with FRP parts. Looks unreal colour matched

 

[terry_em1]

Glass reinstalled. Annoyingly, the moulding isn't centred. No way am I having the glass taken back out, for the moulding to be corrected. I'll live with it... You can see there's a noticeable gap, even though it's an OEM part.

I'm collecting the car this Sunday. I've not seen more than the pictures I've posted, so I'm in the dark as much as you

 

[terry_em1]

The wait has been absolutely worth it!

I need to correct one of the C-West eyelids, as it's not sitting quite right on the headlight. Not a big deal~

One of the mirrors is very dull on the bottom side, like it has no clear coat. Painter reckons I just need to buff it a little. I'll try that, but if I start seeing green on my microfibre, I know it's only base coat.

 

[spikeyhairdude]

So happy for you. this looks sooo good

 

[12packofAA]

Looks great. Was it midnight customs that did it? Garage looks familiar. I followed his Mazda Progress on Instagram

 

[terry_em1]

Looks great. Was it midnight customs that did it? Garage looks familiar. I followed his Mazda Progress on Instagram

Maybe~ Painter did the job as a kind gesture, after my car got broken into. Normally doesn’t paint cars.

 

[terry_em1]

Brought the car down to my friend's work. Replaced a dodgy Hardrace rear camber arm and checked the alignment. Added some 5mm spacers to the front also because the wheels were too tucked in for my liking.

Other than those things, checked fluids, checked timing and aligned the headlights.

Down at Mondello Park for MCG track day. I booked for a half day, so morning session I was chilling out more or less. I refitted the door visor. Absolute pain in the arse getting the clips to sit right and the rubbers back in with the visor in the way... Not to mention the tiny clips and washers. The Takata harness was put in just for the track. I don't normally use it on the roads.

Better look at the Mode Parfume mirrors.

Neil from Juicebox took a few snaps before I ruin the car haha.

In the pits with the lads.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the car out on track. I'm sure a few lads took some, but will have to wait until they upload them. When they do, I'll be sure to post them on here.

To my surprise, I won best show and shine Trophy and prize for it, but I left earlier than they anticipated, so I'll have to collect those at MCG's store haha.

Bought this Buddy Club ages ago and only picked it up at track because my friend was able to bring it with him. Saves me from having to drive all the way down to where he works.

Some girl gifted me this Very eventful Friday to say the least.

 

[terry_em1]

Been 2 months since I last updated this thread Thoroughly enjoying the car. People have walked up to me, asking if its the same car with the white front end

Popped up to MCG, to pick up my award. Got a bag full of detailing stuff too, as part of it.

Bought a replacement clutch slave cylinder, to replace the leaky one on my car. May as well upgrade the clutch line to a stainless one while I'm at it.

Bought some stickers from Temple Racing directly. I've been meaning to change up the decals on the Civic

I left my car down at Mernaghs' Garage for nearly a month? Loads needed attention, to pass NCT. On my previous test, the car failed on a handbrake imbalance and the high beam warning light wasn't working on the dash. Sorted the light myself. Turned out the bulb and holder were missing. I bought brand new OEM handbrake cables and had the lads fit them for me. Things went fairly smooth.

Last time I had the car on an alignment ramp, my friend discovered the rear trailing arm bushings were moving a lot inside the arms. I went ahead and swapped them out for Hardrace replacements, seeing as most of my suspension components are from Hardrace. Because Mernaghs' Garage was doing the arms and realigning the car, I thought I may as well throw some toe arms into the mix. Things went downhill...

Disassembling the rear setup, the bushings of the rear lower control arms disintegrated, meaning I had to order new arms LOL. Next, the drop links snapped in two haha. Both sides! Another order sent to Hardrace.

The OEM toe arms fought the mechanic. Only one side came out ok. As you can imagine, one of the bolts was spinning, so the captive nut was f**ked. Surgery was needed. He cut open the section, got rid of the nut and replaced it for a regular nut, It won't affect anything since I have adjustable toe arms. Welded the section back up and painted it nice.

After all that heartache, I asked them to do an oil change. It was a hefty bill at the end. I wasn't thrilled about it, but the car is 100%.

The garage offered to put my Civic through the test as well, so I didn't need to do anything on my end, apart from paying them. Feels good though to have a fully legal car again

I didn't have the garage change the clutch parts. I'm too broke I'll probably do it myself with a friend. This coming weekend is the Hiro Racing track day. Might give it a miss since I'm so low on funds. Ah well, there's always other events.

 

[terry_em1]

Picked up these sun visors from Japan. They're from a preface EK3 Civic Ferio. I wanted the same grey, but no mirror for the right side. I don't need a vanity mirror... Plus its annoying when it reflects sunlight, which is why the left side having a cover is a bonus.

 

[terry_em1]

Photos taken by 'oversteermedia_' on Instagram, of my car at Hiro Racing's All JDM Track Day.

In the end, I did opt to not go on track. Save myself some money or so I thought. I'll be on the fence about going to Mondello for future events. What happened yesterday was I had to pay for a spectator ticket, even after paying for a show & shine ticket. They wouldn't let me through the gate until I did. Wasn't Hiro Racing's decision either. I've been attending their events for the past 3 years with the EM1. Never had to pay extra just to get in Pure scam artists... I paid €19.50 for the spectator ticket, but I found out some lads paid €25 because they bought the ticket in person instead of Mondello's website. They weren't aware there's a price difference either until I told them they got robbed of €5.50.

 

[Teggymun]

Saw this at the weekend it looks epic bro!

 

[terry_em1]

Saw this at the weekend it looks epic bro!

Next time give the K some death

 

[terry_em1]

Replaced the leaky slave cylinder to the Exedy one. Pedal feels heavier now, so I'm guessing I'm getting full pressure now. I think the heavier clutch may have killed the cylinder... While I was at it, I thought it'd be a good time to swap the hose too. If you've not seen my previous post, I got both parts from Tegiwa.

Unfortunately, the braided line looked shorter. Contacted Tegiwa and asked if I received the correct one. They said the HEL one measures at 250mm. My OEM one is about 320mm, so quite the difference. Line I ordered is for the EK, but maybe the coupe is slightly different? I never have any luck with this car, so I'm not surprised.

I was speaking with Jim from Tegiwa. He sent me the longer line, which eliminates the OEM hard lines. I just have to send the shorter line back to the UK. I didn't have to wait long because I got this line within 2 days Hopefully it fits.

 

[Civicfacelift]

Looks great , I think a set of ek9 headlights would really finish off the look !

 

[terry_em1]

Looks great , I think a set of ek9 headlights would really finish off the look !

I switched from UK spec Valeos to JDM Stanleys when the car was painted. I thought the EK9 ones would tone the car down too much. The green is already dark, so I thought regular chrome will brighten it back up.

 

[terry_em1]

Got that HEL clutch line fitted yesterday. Direct from the master to the slave cylinder. Routed as close to OEM as possible.

Made a huge difference to pedal feel. Much heavier and pedal springs back harder. It did change the biting point. Not sure if that can be adjusted... I'll get used to it regardless. Worthy upgrade anyway.

 

[terry_em1]

I noticed on rainy days, my footwell was wet. At first I thought my shoes were bringing water in. Lifted the mat up and carpet was wet also.

@Michael Flare and one of my Canadian friends suggested it was the sunroof drain tube. To check, I poured some water down the inlet that's in the sunroof area. Straight away, water was appearing to the right of the accelerator pedal. I already had the plastics removed since I had some idea where the tube goes.

To get better access, I had to unbolt the bonnet cable, loosen the fusebox, remove the ABS module and bracket. The drain tube was hovering over the outlet, not seated in at all.

It has probably shrunk over the years because I couldn't pull it much. Instead of replacing the entire tube, I thought of using a hose joiner, to extend the length, just enough where the water will flow correctly into the outlet.

Here's what it looks like to be able to access the tube. I wasn't thrilled about doing this either, as my shoulder and arm were getting soaked from the carpet.

Luckily, the local motor factors had what I needed. Cost me €2.

A lot of finessing needed to get the tube to slip over the joiner. It has hardened from age... Got the joiner in anyway. Tested it and no more leaks!

 

[terry_em1]

The other day I was washing the car. I was using a long wheel brush, like I normally do, to clean the barrels. The brush hit something as I was moving it back and forth. The sound it made was that typical clunking metal on metal sound. Had a look and this bracket was staring back at me. I knew what it was for straight away too

Its the bracket that keeps the handbrake cable positioned and tensioned. Not long ago, I paid a garage to fit a pair of handbrake cables for me. A bit odd that they fed the cable through the bracket, but didn't bolt it down... I did call the mechanic and he reckons he forgot to do it.

You can see where its suppose to mount to. No bolts present either, so I went to a friend's workplace where he had plenty of spare bolts. I ended up using Volkswagen bolts because thats all he had Weird putting 13mm bolts on a Japanese car.

It was a simple enough fix. Made sure the handbrake was down. Pulled on the cable so it wasn't all scrunched up. Disconnected the cable from the calliper and pulled it out of the bracket's hole. Bolted the bracket down and reinstalled the cable.

The problem side was the left. Heres a picture of the right side and how the cable should actually be. Both cables are now properly tensioned and it made a difference to the actual handbrake lever. Before I was yanking it like a hydro out of a drift car, yet the car still rolled slightly. Now it doesn't f**king move

This was a long time coming. Short shifter install~ I put it off because this job is impossible at my house. Plus I don't have the tools for it...

Install includes;
The Hybrid Racing shifter for B series
An EK9 shift linkage
A set of Hardrace shifter bushings
Brand new OEM rubber boot, b***h pin, and clamp

My friend pretty much did everything, to pay me back for getting him an autographed toy at 86 Fest. Some D1GP drivers, no big deal

I never hammered out this pin and I don't think I ever will. My friend said never again And he wouldn't have agreed to do this install if I told him about this pin. We got there in the end. He kept it as a memento.

There it is in the car. Serious bit of kit. I didn't adjust anything, so its as it comes out of the box. Its about a 30mm throw from 3rd to 4th It won't stay like that because I want to keep my gearbox in 1 piece haha.

I'll tidy everything up soon. Just didn't completely finish because it was 9PM when we got the shifter bolted in. Install took 3 hours and probably 10 years from our lives

 

[terry_em1]

Continuation of the shifter install. I did buy a titanium rod thats shorter than the one supplied with the assembly. I'm not a fan of the shifter looking like a sequential out of a rally car This should eliminate the unneeded extra height and it'll match the titanium on my steering wheel. I have another shift knob on the way from the US, so I'll wait for that to come in before installing the titanium rod.

The OEM shift boot collar needed to be trimmed a little, to clear the thicker part of the shifter. I could've slipped the entire boot over, above the red part with the Hybrid Racing logo, but whats the point if I can't show it off The 3 little 'nipples' needed to go. I used some sanding bits and a drill.

It cleared the shifter and left enough room on top, for the red part to clamp to. Looks clean this way. Also retired the Arvou knob and I'm using the Spoon temporarily.

All the plastics screwed back down. Interior is coming together nicely.