Tom8a's Cosmic Grey EP3

Hello fellow members, Honda enthusiasts and general petrol heads!

My my name is Tom, I am from South Wales and I am new to this forum (or any forum as a matter of fact). I have brought myself here to gain knowledge in car modification and maintenance. My new EP3 is going to be the first car that I have attempted to modify so I hope that being on this forum is a way for me to learn lots of new things from those that are already experienced in car modifications.

So, anyway, a little about my car...

I got my first EP3 roughly a year ago. It is a Nighthawk Black pre-facelift model. As soon as I test drove the car I felt bitten by the Type R bug! I was immediately drawn to the nimble, light feeling of the car and, well, VTEC... Wow, just, WOW! I love the way the boost that VTEC gives feels so mechanical, like you can feel the incredible engineering that allows such a thing. In recent months I had been toying with the idea of starting to modify the car. I did a lot a research into the kind of modifications that are popular on the EP3. I decided to hold off though. I thought that, if I was going to put a lot of money into modifying a car, it had to be the right car to begin with. For me, this was the facelift model in Cosmic Grey, my favourite colour of the EP3s.

A week ago, I purchased the CG model I had been looking for. It already had some mods, which I was happy about as they were the exact parts that I had planned to use.

So here is the car that started it all...



And here is the new one





The spec is as follows

DC Sports 4-2-1 Exaust Manifold
DC Sports Cat-back Exhaust
Tegiwa M air intake
K100
Engine and gearbox mounts

Eibach 30mm lowering springs
Adjustable Rear Camber Arms
Front Camber Bolts
Buddy Club Roll Centre Adjusters
JDM ARB
FRSU
Yokahama Paradas

I have a rough idea of which further mods I would like to put on the car and I will keep you all updated

Thanks for looking!

So, despite only just starting this thread, in the last few days I have done a few minor modifications already!

Here are some of the goodies I have been buying!

Engine bay bling, Skunk2 weighted gear knob, HID style bulbs


Climair wind deflectors


Pioneer AVH-X2500BT


First to be done, the gear knob. Overall, I'm pretty impressed. I like the look of it and I like the feel that the heavier weight gives.


Next up were the wind deflectors. My previous EP3 had these and I couldn't be without! The Climairs seemed very good quality and were easy to fit. These are already pictured in my previous post.

This morning, I made a call to GlobalTint. I was told that they had a cancellation and could squeeze me in straight away (this avoided a week wait!). Fantastic! I headed straight there and in about 45 minutes, the tints were done. Professional job too! Can't fault it!

After returning from GlobalTint, I arrived home to find a parcel waiting for me. My engine bay dress up! Red bolt kit, K-Tuned battery tie, K-Tuned dip stick and some Skunk2 reservoir socks. So my afternoon consisted of an engine bay wash and fitting all my new shiney parts!

Before the wash


After the wash and fitting the bling!


As you can see in the bottom corners of the photo above, the lights are badly clouded with scratches. This is the next thing on my agenda, I have bought all of the necessary wet and dry paper, rubbing compound, polish, etc. I will also be swapping a short shifter kit from the NHB into the new one!

Stay tuned!

looks lik a real nice example, loads some pics once the head unit once done i was after a similar

Spike85 said:

looks lik a real nice example, loads some pics once the head unit once done i was after a similar

Click to expand...

No problem, will do!

So, today's plan was to swap a Tegiwa short shift adaptor from my previous car onto the new one... This didn't go entirely to plan as one of the bolts holding the adaptor together was rounded. Out came the Dremmel to grind away the bolt head. By the time I had finished removing the kit (I didn't start till late), it was too late and I was too hungry to install it in the new car. That will wait till tomorrow!

Nice start!

Ok... So it's been a busy day!

Began with fitting the short shift adaptor. Nice and simple. It now feels like I remember it in the old EP3, much better!



Next up, getting the new head unit installed. For a number of reasons, this ended up being far from simple!

Upon opening the box that contained my new head unit, I found that it was missing a couple of things. This, I have now realised is because the unit is an ex-display model. I got it for a bargain price but still expected everything to be in the box! I am missing the microphone so can't use the phone feature and I am missing the handbrake switch so can't use the DVD player. Bit of a shame but I will get in touch with the website that I purchased it from and make sure that they can send me the missing parts.

Due to the fact that I was changing from a single din unit, I also bought a double din facia. What a load of rubbish this turned out to be! I ended up having to cut all the tabs off the back of it because they were completely useless and also had to modify the shape of the facia itself because it didn't fit! I will be reviewing the product on the website in an attempt to prevent anyone else having to go through the same hassle!



I was also disappointed to find that whatever muppet fitted the previous unit had butchered the centre console plastic!



Anyway, after a fair amount of tinkering, modifying and, unfortunately, gluing, the unit was in. Really pleased with how it looks. Especially given the situation!



I am still experiencing problems though. Sometimes I start the car and all works perfectly, other times there doesn't appear to be any power going to the unit, it just stays black and nothing works... If anyone has experienced anything similar with these Pioneer units, some help would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

headunit looks nice but dont fancy that hassle if i ever come to resort it back to standard. does it sit at an angle on purpose?

good man, what sort of power is the Cosmic making with the k100? the headunit power problem may well be a simple loose connection, esp if someone had butchered the surround the contacts may have been damaged too.

Spike85 said:

headunit looks nice but dont fancy that hassle if i ever come to resort it back to standard. does it sit at an angle on purpose?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's going to be a bit of a nightmare! I am considering looking for a centre console at local breakers yards. I will buy a better quality and better fitting facia and have another go. I'm happy with it for now though. As for the angle, no, not intentional, just need to adjust it slightly from behind. I got a bit fed up with it the other day so that's a job for another day!

bishop said:

good man, what sort of power is the Cosmic making with the k100? the headunit power problem may well be a simple loose connection, esp if someone had butchered the surround the contacts may have been damaged too.

Click to expand...

Not sure of power... I would like to put it on a dyno but I have plans for a new intake manifold and throttle body so I'll hang on for now and just get the dyno/map done once. No point in paying twice. Just going by what I have seen of other cars with the same/similar mods I would guess it to be around 220-225bhp. And with my previous car being completely stock, I can say for sure, it makes a huge difference!!

I have the same problem with my autoleads facia, I think im going to ditch it and not run a facia at all like my last ep3 and just set the HU back a little further.
As far as im aware all the double DIN facias require some form of trimming.

jimbodeeni said:

I have the same problem with my autoleads facia, I think im going to ditch it and not run a facia at all like my last ep3 and just set the HU back a little further.
As far as im aware all the double DIN facias require some form of trimming.

Click to expand...

My previous car was without a facia, I quite like the look of the HU being set back inside the centre console. I would have done the same with the new one had the centre console not been butchered with a screw driver by a previous owner. The plan now is to buy a new centre console and have another go. I'll be sending the HU back and buying one which is actually new. I feel a bit let down by the ex-display model...

Today I got around to restoring the headlights to their former glory (or close to it). Took a bit of time and effort but I'm pleased with the results and it was well worth it!

Before



After



I also replaced the front emblem.



Next up are the brakes. I am currently waiting for a full set of Brembo OEM disks, DS2500 pads, HEL braided lines and two bottles of Motul fluid.

I have also booked the car into my local exhaust specialist, Longlife. After a visit to see Pete at Longlife today, we found that there have been some repairs done to the exhaust that are of a very poor standard (I think a three year old could have done better with a soldering iron!). So on the 16th it is going in for the day to have a custom full 304 stainless steel exhaust fitted from the header back. Looking forward to that day!!

Congrats mate headlights looking very good and I know its à shitty job

Tom8a said:

Today I got around to restoring the headlights to their former glory (or close to it). Took a bit of time and effort but I'm pleased with the results and it was well worth it!

Before



After



I also replaced the front emblem.



Next up are the brakes. I am currently waiting for a full set of Brembo OEM disks, DS2500 pads, HEL braided lines and two bottles of Motul fluid.

I have also booked the car into my local exhaust specialist, Longlife. After a visit to see Pete at Longlife today, we found that there have been some repairs done to the exhaust that are of a very poor standard (I think a three year old could have done better with a soldering iron!). So on the 16th it is going in for the day to have a custom full 304 stainless steel exhaust fitted from the header back. Looking forward to that day!!

Click to expand...

What did you use on the headlights mate?

Looking lovely fella. Whereabouts in South Wales are you?

mrhaz, I used 1500, 2000, 2500 grit wet and dry, then a rubbing compound, then a general polish. Time consuming and takes a bit of elbow grease but it was worth it.

WelshyWelsh, I'm from Blackwood.