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EP3 Driveway Motorsport

Rambo said:
Not managed to update the build in awhile so i will proberly miss a fair few bits.

Paul jumped out for a 5 minute break so i went and checked the car to see there was...once again..... a wet gearbox. Neil came over and helped out. Pressure tested the system to see where the leak was from. (Same fixing but this time from the bung) so fitted another blank and off we went again.
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I don't suppose the bung you're referring to is the one of the two smaller ones underneath the rad top hose port? Particularly the engine side one that gets blanked off? I've been having constant leaks and dramas with mine. I'm on my 4th bung for it.

I plan on pulling the stud off and tapping a bolt into there for a more permanent fix! Drives me insane having that pool of coolant on top of the gearbox plus when I get scruitineered they always complain that I'm leaking! It actually exploded off on my final lap at Thruxton this weekend without me realising then all of a sudden the car (luckily) went in to limp mode. Capped it back off and all was well again.
 
Ted said:
I don't suppose the bung you're referring to is the one of the two smaller ones underneath the rad top hose port? Particularly the engine side one that gets blanked off? I've been having constant leaks and dramas with mine. I'm on my 4th bung for it.

I plan on pulling the stud off and tapping a bolt into there for a more permanent fix! Drives me insane having that pool of coolant on top of the gearbox plus when I get scruitineered they always complain that I'm leaking! It actually exploded off on my final lap at Thruxton this weekend without me realising then all of a sudden the car (luckily) went in to limp mode. Capped it back off and all was well again.
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Yes mate. ** take a picture of how its set up. I used gorilla glue to fix the brass fixing in after it popped off first time and now it hasnt popped off again.
 
It's not so much the actual brass fixing that's causing my issue but more the rubber blanking nipple. I cannot seem to find a way of keeping it on there securely. I've used all sorts of clamps. But the rubber nipple just perishes over a small time. Must be some high pressure coolant flowing through it combined with race temps.
 
Not updated in ages so here are a few bits.


First up is a new throne. A Bimerco Futura Fixed FIA bucket seat in blue. Very comfortable and supportive and a lot cheaper than competitors. Fitted the Bride Low rail with sabelt side mounts. Recaro moved to passenger seat.







Treated with Gtechniq I1 Smart Fabric


Here is a video of this working, basically repeals liquids and oil etc so it dont stain.





Then the problems started. Had an issue with idle jumping from 1k to 2k and a hesitation/missfire at 20% throttle in Vtec. Found it was a broken wire so fixed and extended the idle control valve wiring and that sorted the idle. Now to sort out the missifre.


Took the injectors out and found the caps to be deteriorated. So changed them for some with 51k on.





Next was Vtec system. So off came the VTEC solonoid, cleaned and replaced





was a fair bit of metel in there!





Next was the VTC Solonoid, Cleaned and replaced, was pretty clean





Then the front Vtec filter behind the pully's





Problem persisted so changed the engine wireing loom





SORTED! Finally working again so onto using her.


Took her for a drive into London to shake the cobwebs off





Then time to celebrate an amazing friends wedding and asked if the EP3 could be one of the cars.





Weekend after...... back to racetrack. Thought id give the 1/4 mile a go.





Managed to get 8 runs on the airfield during the day. Road tyres i started with a 14.74 and finished with a 14.24.





Was my first time on the strip and i enjoyed it, being a very close race with a friends k20 EK was a good buzz!


Got a video of me and a e46 M3





Then back to reality the week after. Idle dropping to 500 rpm. Off came throttle body and discovered the Idle Control valve had mashed itself up and snapped.





New one on the next day and now everything seems to be working as it should. Hopefully thats the last problem, now to finishing off the handling and changing my set up.
 
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Good grief man, that's a proper heap of issues. Glad you got them all sorted, you must know this car inside out by now!

I'm still totally loving the white wheels :cool:
 
jimbothemagnificent said:
Good grief man, that's a proper heap of issues. Glad you got them all sorted, you must know this car inside out by now!

I'm still totally loving the white wheels :cool:
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I certailnly do. Been making me look at other cars recently but i wouldnt want to break the civic and i wont get anything decent for it as it is.

HAHAHA i think im decided on keeping them white now.
 
you done well on your project mate looks great .like the white wheels . nearly finishing mine just goes on forever it seems
 
Ted said:
It's not so much the actual brass fixing that's causing my issue but more the rubber blanking nipple. I cannot seem to find a way of keeping it on there securely. I've used all sorts of clamps. But the rubber nipple just perishes over a small time. Must be some high pressure coolant flowing through it combined with race temps.
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Sorry only just see your post. Get a piece of pipe, jubalee it onto the fixing and put a bolt in other side and jubilee that on. Mines not split since then. Although it does show its a cheap intake!
 
jake784 said:
you done well on your project mate looks great .like the white wheels . nearly finishing mine just goes on forever it seems
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Take your time and enjoy it. Ive built cars up in 6months in the past and not kept the love. This is longest car ive owned as ive enjoyed studying and decided on the next improvement. Big or small. Next bits for me are all wallet killers though! LSD, Coilovers, gearbox rebuild and cage!
 
Notupdated in ages.

New Loomsorted all the problems out and i wrapped the top rad hose in heat wrap just tokeep temps away from sensors.

Probmissed loads of small bits out but the main bits with the car have been bigmaintenance and only 1 problem.

So i hada T piece in the oil pressure switch to run an oil pressure gauge..... Itsnapped.... used an easy out to remove it..... it cracked..... so a good timeto take engine out and repair and change chain etc.

The Tpiece in question



What itleft me with



Oldtrusty taking her to friends garage as its to cold to work outside



Once inthe garage got car up in air and drained all the fluids.

Not happywith Gearbox drain plug. Lots of unwanted metel its picked up!



Bumperand bonnet off, radio on, tools laid out and ready to go



four anda half hours later she is out



Everythingthat i removed



Ready tobe weighed hehehe



Engineready for dismantling





Took thebox off and took it to Advanced Service Centre for Ally Welding



Whileengine was being welded i wrapped the mani with a friend who seemed to enjoyit..... why i dont know! Itchy horrible stuff!





Wellhappy with the outcome.

Japservicepartsto the rescue again, Cant stress how good they are. Next day delivery for myOEM chain, all 3 guides, tensioner, front crank seal, rear crank seal, Chain,Sealant.



Alsopopped to Honda to get coolant and gearbox oil.

Decidedto have a clean up while engine was out. litrally only de greased everythingand wiped it over. Not a show car but nice to remove what grime was there.



So withthe engine back it was time to set to work.

Thewelding is fantastic, amazing job



front ofengine off




Everythingremoved



Nostretch in chain! on 149000 miles aswell! Goes to show how good the K20 is!



New rearcrank seal and front crank seals




Newthermostat



Ready togo back in with the help of a bro! All timed up, sealed, left for 24hours anddouble checked!



And sheis in.



Fairlyeasy. Hardest part was just lining the gearbox mount up and front engine mountas the engine tilts slightly.

Puteverything back together and started her up, checked for leaks and we had aleak coming from rear of engine of coolant. On inspection it was leakingcoolant from the oil cooler. So removed and checked O ring. On further inspection we realised itwas from the water hose further up.

Now ifthe engine was out the car this would have taken 3minutes........ instead intotal to change O ring it took me about 2 hours due to the location and noroom! 100% glad i took engine out to change the chain!

O ring inquestion was more like a C ring!



Replaced,started,checked and everything is fine. So a deep clean and quick snap with afriends Type R



Forawhile the bonnet has not closed properly (as in flush) when i replaced bonneti removed latch and cleaned, greased it and refitted as low as possible andbonnet still wasnt right. So i got some aero catches and set about fittingthem!

Half way




Finished



Neveragain will i fit these! I dont know why but i hated doing this job!

Went fora drive at last down some B roads at an early hour of the morning to have ashake down.

Carperformed great except i may have knocked my geo out with one of the bolts. Notto worried as plan on getting coilovers in the new year. Also a great way tocelebrate 150k and still going strong!

 
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Now repairs are out the way its time to make some progress.


First off i ordered my Injen 3" intake off TDI North. Also orderd the hydro sock to fit from H-Tune





And fitted








Very tight fit so possibly re locate the battery in the future.


Here is the hyro sock fitted





A quick trip over to Tony at Japserviceparts and the slight blow in the exhaust welded.





After a few messages to and from a lovely gentleman called Ross and this arrived.





Waiting for seals to turn up and cam cover will be fitted.
 
Fitted the Rocker cover thanks to Ross. The blue spark plug cover didn't look right at all so sprayed it black. Before and after.





While i was their i changed all the rocker cover gaskets and the Vtec solenoid gasket





Couple of days later i fitted a carbon cover. Looks so much better. Only pic i have at the moment





Managed to get a great deal thanks to a friend on another set of Enkie Evo 8's. They come with 225/45/17 tyres which change the stability of the car ten fold! Their in a Grey colour. So now have a wet/road set (Grey) and a dry/summer set (White)








Found out 225/45/17's dont agree with my inner arches being there!





Next big bits will be a Solid fab 3" super silent with the same design tail piece so the J's will be up for sale soon. And Meister R CRD+ Coilovers, extended arms and etc. Then to decide who to map the car. Will either be back up to TDI North for a tweek or Romain.


Again. Thanks for reading and as this is a christmas day post, Merry Christmas!!!!!
 
Finally got a picture of the engine bay in the daylight



And went and picked up a facelift bumper. Looking for a badgless grill but cant find the supplier i used last time so may have to go with oem

 
Managed to find a de badged grill for the facelift bumper. Excuse the bad photo.



Time to finish the suspension set up. So off to Area Motorsport to order shortened steering arms and japservice parts for the ends and service kit.



Managed to remove the old arms without taking the rack out. Saves a lot of hassle



New arm next to old



And all fitted



While i was there did a oil and filter change. Shocked at the new Hamp filters being blue



And changed the coolant





Gave her a good clean after and went for a drive.

After a while i noticed a knocking under braking. I knew i had snapped a disc and sure as hell i had. Disappointment in Mtec as these haven't even seen the track. Only road driving. I have contacted them and hopefully they will look after me as ive used them for so long. Will keep you updated.



Meister R coilovers ordered so that will be the next update.

Again Thanks for reading
 
The amount of work gone into this is unbelievable, I feel sorry for my car after reading this haha!

Apologies if I missed the reason in an earlier post but what are the benefits / reasons for fitting the shortened steering arms?

Also, personally I preferred the pre-facelift bumper look, not that the facelift looks bad!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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