EP3 Driveway Motorsport

[Rambo]

Starting fresh with my ep3.


Taken it off the road now as im fortunate enough not to have to use it as a daily driver for awhile. And I want to get her the way I want her. Cutting a long story short I've had her a year and now I need to make her my own and rebuild her to a decent spec now I don't have anyone else ruining her.


Spec so far


Engine


AEM CAI
Injen Hydroshield
Blue cam cover
Spoon socks (50bhp )


Interior
Wrapped dash/handles in baby blue carbon
Vtec light in dash
Purple centre console lights
Blue seat centres


Exhaust
2.5" custom b pipe


Exterior
6000k H.I.D's
L.E.D number plate lights
L.E.D side lights
Jazz washer jets
Rear tinted windows
Blue brake calipers
Baby blue "R" sideskirt decal
Carbon blue front and back "R"
De badged "civic"
Random silly stickers in baby blue
Black headlights


Chassis and suspension


Bridgestone re04 tyres front
Nexan 3000 rear
Skunk2 heavyweight gear knob


I.C.E


Alpine headunit
Vibe slick 6x9's
Active 12" sub


Few pics through the last year

Rolling roaded at euro spec completely standard

After a years worth of driving between me and ex she is worn, Tyres are shagged, Brakes squeal when applied and especial when In reverse there so bad, 2nd gear is always a pain at high revs, rear shocks are shagged,
so I have compiled a off the road to do list which gets longer and longer. The list is to get her back to normal so I can start building her into what I want. So phase one starts as follows


To do (phase 1)


Cosmetic
Custom dipped dash and surrounds
Dash lights back to oem or decent blue
Clean up exterior (wash, polish, wax, repaint head lights, adjust wind deflectors)
Remove stickers
Strip full Interior and steam clean, hoover


Chassis and suspension


Brake discs and pads all round (pagid for now)
Change rear shocks (standard)
Tyres ( Bridgestone re04)
Replace snapped drop link


Engine


Full service (hemp shortie filter, magnetic plug, oil, coolant, NGK iridium sparks)
Gearbox oil (mtf-3)
Clutch change (oem or stage 1?)
Get bren to do a cam cover


Will update as I go


How she stands

Right to get started I done the snapped droplink


As it was

New one

Tyres where ruined so changed the fronts for Bridgestone re04 and rear to nexan3000


How bad they were

Then I stripped her out for a BIG clean. Everything was removed except the main dash. I steam cleaned everything, hooverd everything and used the appropriate cleaning materials on floor and plastics. Even seats where done. Re wired all the shabby halfrauds wiring that had been done by previous owner as well.




Dog eaten it all!!!!

Stripped ready for cleaning (apart from carpet)

Run wires accordingly for stereo

iPod lead through centre

Cleaning and replacing


Half and half

Cleaning (love the slippers)

Replacing

Cleaned

All interior back in, only things to do Interior wise now is dash and door handles


Outside polish and wax (detail to be done by a detailing company when back on road)


Cleaning

Cleaned

More to come. Thanks for looking. Comments welcome

 

[TypeR'imaComing]

Car looks well. I like your plans and desire to fix it up. Really love EP3's they're really under my skin. How is she on mileage?

 

[Rambo]

Car looks well. I like your plans and desire to fix it up. Really love EP3's they're really under my skin. How is she on mileage?

Think just over 100k. Can't remember I dont really look tbh. Got her on 96 I think and never skipped a beat on various blasts and long distance trips across the country.

I know what you mean under your skin, i want something else but nothing compares for fun factor, evo....scoobs...cupra r.... i cant find anything that makes me want to part with her except a new fiesta st but there common already. There so under rated, I have a friend with a carbon fibre scooby wrx that runs 250bhp and from 50mph onwards we on par all the way through, although his feels so much quicker when driving it. (Torque I guess) only beaten me in the corners once because I had pants tyres on and lost some speed which lift off oversteer but I had a massive grin after

 

[TypeR'imaComing]

Think just over 100k. Can't remember I dont really look tbh. Got her on 96 I think and never skipped a beat on various blasts and long distance trips across the country.

I know what you mean under your skin, i want something else but nothing compares for fun factor, evo....scoobs...cupra r.... i cant find anything that makes me want to part with her except a new fiesta st but there common already. There so under rated, I have a friend with a carbon fibre scooby wrx that runs 250bhp and from 50mph onwards we on par all the way through, although his feels so much quicker when driving it. (Torque I guess) only beaten me in the corners once because I had pants tyres on and lost some speed which lift off oversteer but I had a massive grin after

Same. I've had mine 2 years and have been considering cars to replace for 1 year haha. Went to test drive a 350Z i'd settled on and couldn't fit in the drivers seat. Been considering Scoobs, but don't think they're that nice despite the awesome presence. And other hot hatches seem sideways step. Just the lack of stock performance and the power band is annoying.

Mine's just hit 91K and not missed a beat, just needs some brakes and tyres like yours.

You'll have to keep this thread up to date!

 

[Rambo]

Same. I've had mine 2 years and have been considering cars to replace for 1 year haha. Went to test drive a 350Z i'd settled on and couldn't fit in the drivers seat. Been considering Scoobs, but don't think they're that nice despite the awesome presence. And other hot hatches seem sideways step. Just the lack of stock performance and the power band is annoying.

Mine's just hit 91K and not missed a beat, just needs some brakes and tyres like yours.

You'll have to keep this thread up to date!

110% agree with hot hatches. Only thing close is the new fiesta st, I mean after a few test drives I nearly signed to buy it but decided to walk away and think, main reason I didn't was because its going to be common in 6 months although it is a great car. But for the cost of the type r it's just as fun.

It should be updated as I go, got loads going on with it to get it back to its glory before I start modding.

Just bought a new centre console and rear shocks to get the ball rolling

 

[Azazl187]

Man thats alot of love gone into that car. Congrates

 

[Rambo]

Small update:


Got fed up of seeing her on axel stands so decided to make a start after much debating a focus ST (Still kind of am)

Phoned a few companies up to price up parts and on a hunt. First i'm looking for- full service kit, superpro bush kit, clutch kit, braided brake lines, JDM RARB, lowering springs/ Coilovers (Depends what comes up), camber adjusters (Front and rear) and disks and pads, Maybe roll adjusters aswell.


Then got out while the sun was out.


Fitted Beaks tie bar I forgot I had.




Got a new dash to be dipped.



Finished sanding down alloys, finished all four in primer and first coats of black on two. Also finished centre caps.




L.E.D all interior lights (Much cleaner look)



Couldn't fit anymore in as had to fix friends streetka with a snapped spring! top and bottom.



No point in pictures but also put interior back in from the garage. Destickerd front and rear window and boot so its not a chav mobile anymore, cleaned and replaced AEM CAI (Although it will be coming off to change clutch!)

Only a few pics as its really a post to re introduce myself to the car I've ignored over the winter!

Next weekend will involve taking suspension off ready for bushes or sub frame drop ready for clutch. Depends what cash I got left after putting deposit down for holiday.

 

[Rambo]

UPDATE:

Started working on the car at last. First job was clutch replacement. Makes sense to do first as I’m changing all the bushes and have to drop sub frame anyway.
So I started to remove brakes and the front suspension legs which was fine until the tie rods didn’t want to separate from the legs, one came out without splitting but the other was mangled when I finished. The retaining screws on the disk brakes just rounded there self’s as well so another minor pain in the bum! Not sure how to go about removing them now, Drill or some other idea!
The start,







Tie rod





Drop links next, already changed one side not long ago so that one came off easy, but as expected the other side didn’t want to play game, so just snapped it to save the hassle and change it later.




Emptied the gearbox oil and o dear……Black/Brown, defiantly needed changing and could explain a few of the gear selection problems I had before when warm.





So I set about removing everything to drop the sub frame, marked up the bolts with an ink pen so I can align them back up when I put it back together. Popped drive shafts out and started to remove the rest of the bolts while the back of the frame was supported by a jack. Last bolt came out and nothing! Turned out to be one very small screw holding the air con pipe in, told friend to hold sub frame while I removed it then it will be released and BOOM, he let go and my nail was not as pretty as before. But it was out.







Packed up and went out for a drink for the night. Next day got back from quad biking and set about the gearbox, everything was pretty smooth expect forgetting to take out the starter motor bolt at the end and having to remove the world and its wife to get to it but never the less, the box was off.





New vs old



Flywheel





Cleaned it up a little bit where it matters, greased it all up, put new bearing in the box and fitted clutch using a socked that fitted perfectly and torqued her up…….
Bearing




Clutch



Fitted Powerflex Gearbox insert




Now for the part I was dreading. Refitting the bloody thing! But got there in the end. Started bolting the bell housing back on and got one problem.

The very two bottom bolts don’t grab! Anyone have any ideas on this, they grab but turn and turn no way of torqueing them up!!!
Box back on




Removed broken drop link from ARB and tie rod end with LOTS of heat!




Now I’ve refit all the gearbox bits and bobs, strip hubs and wishbones, awaiting engine mount inserts to arrive (Front mount is shagged) and press in new bushes and ball joints before I can put the rest together. Then fill gearbox up with new oil and start servicing the engine before moving onto the brakes.

So far I’m winning. Will keep updated as best I can. Doing everything on my drive so hard to stop and take pics![/url]

 

[Rambo]

Few more things done this weekend. Had most of Saturday afternoon to myself so got a few more bits done.


Engine mount inserts turned up from energy racing so i could get subframe back on.








Took cam cover off and gave it a fresh coat of Matte black VHT paint. Im not 100% on it but everything should tie in once done.


Sanding





one coat





Done (Plug cover yet to be changed)





Valve clearances done while it was off. Fiddly job!








While taking the cam cover off the bolt kept spinning and spinning, eventually coming off snapped. So got a new one on way not a big deal





Had enough of the poxy retaining screws on the front discs now, had a little go at drilling them out and seem to have made one worse. Its asif there welded in! tried everything to get them out





Now waiting for bits to turn up like service stuff and bushes etc.

 

[Rambo]

Finished work early so got abit done for the few extra hours I had.


Finally got the discs off the front at last! Retaining screws are horrible!





thought it would be wise to start stripping the rear for the bushes. So off one side came. Only hassle really were fiddley bits like the abs sensor, getting it out from the car, through the heat shield and away, and the handbrake cable. Other than that was easy.


Rear brakes were defiantly shot!





everything off on this side








Piles getting bigger for bush's! Just got to remove drive shafts from front hubs, remove other rear side and everything is ready for bushes.





Spoke to Stevie at Grinspeed to order Roll centre adjusters and Camber increase bushes and was told the rear trailing arms are a nightmare to do so I think I may take them to his friend who is local to fit.

 

[Rory.J]

its getting there good job

 

[Rambo]

Slowly. Start getting parts on shortly.

 

[EP3irish]

Great work coming along well. You've given me some inspiration to tidy mine up a bit lol.

 

[Rambo]

Small update:


Didn't get the time over the weekend to do anything so finished work and spent an hour or two on the car. Finally got the last piece of the puzzle off the car. The passenger side trailing arm and suspension leg. Only problem was getting the bolt out of the suspension leg and trailing arm. Every time you turned the bolt it would turn back on itself, so removed it all as one and removed it on the floor with brute force and a breaker bar.


Was about to pack up and have some dinner but got carried away in the sunshine and started to remove the bushes, was pretty much straight forward, Spray with a bit of wd40, put the blowtorch on them until they stay alight them self, leave them for a bit then hit them out with the hammer. So i done the two rear hubs and one trailing arm bush, just yet to remove the metal part that bolts onto the car, inner bush metal is out. At this point i needed a shower and dinner so packed up, hopefully get some time in the week again to carry on.

 

[Rambo]

Just to keep it rolling i haven't done much, been in between sorting out holiday and the missus birthday so cars not as far forward as it should be but i would rather be alive!!!! lol

All that's happened really is burnt out more bushes, and painted the centre console/ door inserts, AEM CAI and seat rings in the closest colour i could find to spoon blue to freshen it up! Friends finishing them off at his and i get a text saying his got "Vtec Bot" in his house! Made me crease up





Headlights re painted and polished len's inside and out to try and bring them back from the dead. A massive difference but still not 100%. Couple of bolts snapped aswell i need to drill out which has frustrated me.

Before


After


Difference


Stripped down my camber arms to refurb and paint them before they go on aswell.






Then a friend was stripping his track car and i took the steering wheel off him then decided i wanted shiney stuff in the car! So spoke to Hond-R and orderd a black NRG short hub and anodized blue and Neo chrome NRG 2.0 quick release. ordered some zinc wheel bolts off ebay to freshen up the wheel aswell

OMP Racing GP 330mm



NRG Quick release 2.0 anodized light blue with neo chrome ring


NRG short hub in Black


Had a look about and couldn't find any one who had wrote anything on fitting one so made my own mods.

Steering wheel was a pain to get off but managed it without a puller, then the hardest part was getting the SRS ring off without knowing where the clips are at the top but i got there eventually with lots of swearing.



Then had to find a way for the horn to work. I had a rumage n my tool box and found a Stereo removing tool and cut it up, sanded it down and soldered some wire onto it. Glued it onto the stalk base and let it dry. solderd the wire to the horn and fitted the short hub to make sure the connection stayed there. Had to bend it up lightly but it does the job.

Stalk off car (Philips on top at back to remove clamp)


lined up to see where i needed to fix metal part on



test fit on car to make sure its making contact



How it sits behind hub



solderd horn together and taped up



plastic covers back on after tested horn




quick release fitted to short hub



Quick release fitted to wheel



All fitted and working together





Fitted a resister the the airbag plug in there somewhere aswell.

Thats pretty much it at the moment. Really need to get bushes finished its just a case of getting of my ars to finish it!

 

[Rambo]

Just to keep thread rolling ive been doing bits and bobs in between the odd bbq and nights out.


First I decided to tidy up the SPC camber arms


before



Legs and bolts



centre



First one done



The second one wouldnt come apart with garage tools so off it went with a friend to his work and I received this picture of them taking it apart!





Thread was rusted so rethreaded it and shot blasted it








Meanwhile my surround was finished



and in the car



Wasn't sure on it at first but its growing on me


First lot of stripping the back out








And what came out



then the front to strip. Took carpets out and the metal things on the sides. Was going to take dash out and take the rest but choose wisely and didn't until it goes off to be trimmed.








And some password jdm washers because I impulse buy!








that's it for now but im starting to get momentom in myself to get on with the car now so hopefully a few more updates


Thanks for looking

 

[jimbothemagnificent]

Looking good mate, you're making excellent progress. It's a lot noisier with the rear stripped out isn't it! Like driving with the rear windows open.

I may have a few questions for you regarding steering wheels in a couple of months time, I'll be doing something similar. For now, how close does your new wheel sit compared to oem? I'm trying to decide if a dished wheel and QR will be too much.

 

[Rambo]

It is yea, I stripped it to clean before and took it for a drive while everything was drying and missus hated it lol.

I think ink with the short hub and quick release it sits the same as standard. But I wouldn't get a smaller wheel, you can only see if your doing between 80 and 130mph lol. I'm ordering a NRG wheel for daily and show use which has a slight dish. I'm putting in fixed buckets and bought it'd be easier with a quick release than moving seat all the time.

 

[eptrois]

I want to stick a wheel in mine - what's the script with the MOT? Do you have to present it with all factory airbags? This is the only reason why I haven't done it because I don't want to risk the potential hassle....

Nice thread by the way.

 

[Rambo]

I don't believe so for MOT but need to inform insurance company