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Partyvan's 270bhp N/A track slut

Messages
1,177
Hi all, I thought I'd upload a brief history of one of my cars

I bought it back in 2016, as a 1988 Honda CRX with the D-series engine. It had a few modifications, but I pretty much only wanted the shell for a track car build.





The year before, I'd written off a high spec Civic EP3. But kept the engine. It was a very well developed engine that made 270bhp on the dyno. I thought of re-shelling into another EP3 but the CRX represents a better suspension design in a much lighter shell. Ideal for track.

Here's the EP3 K-series engine



Next up was getting a gearbox built. Grinspeed obliged, building me a box with short final drive and Mfactory LSD


The conversion was not easy. New mounts are needed, new shafts, a new subframe, a new exhaust. The clutch from cable to hydraulic. The speedometer from cable to electric. Whole new cooling and fuel system. Even then it doesn't physically fit. Engine touched the bonnet, headlight and front panel. In hindsight a 90's Civic would have been better. But it's in and running.





By this point I'd chosen Ford Frozen white as the colour, and fitted a Mugen bodykit made by Fibreworx. I also sourced some wider, lighter GRP wings and bonnet. Paint was done in 2k.


Prep consisted of a lot of welding, fettling and sanding


Out of the garage and unmasked


Here's what I hope will be the first part of a mad, functional aero package. It's properly braced. Future plans include flat floor, diffuser, splitter etc


On to the chassis build, as it's a track car this is the most important part




The car benefits from camber and caster adjustable suspension, with a mix of rosejoints and polybushing. Everything is either new or fully refurbished.

Geometry setup at Grinspeed


Wheels wise I have 15" Team Dynamics Pro race 3 with R888 on them, and a second set with Rainsport 3's.

Brakes are new all round, including a Wilwood kit


Seats are in with harnesses and a billet gear shifter


And just for fun I had a go on a vinyl plotter. Hopefully Nissan won't sue.




There's been lots of detailed modifications, like deleting the sunroof, deleting the heater, relocating the lightweight battery etc. All things that in themselves gain you little, but together should make it a bit of a weapon. I've seen enough Best Motoring DVDs to know these things can outpace Skylines, Evos and the like on track with under 200bhp. I'm hoping this will be a sub 8 car at the Ring and sub 1min 40 around Cadwell park. My Civic was close.

Since getting it running I've taken it to Racing Circuits in Leeds, who thinned out the loom and rewired it to include more modern relays and fully tested it. Amazing service.

Here's the full list of work done

CAR:
1988 Honda CRX originally red

ENGINE:
(Originally 1.6 16v D-series non-vtec)
K20a2 engine from Civic Type-R
Innovative polybushed engine mounts
Spooner restorations cam cover
High compression pistons
TDi North cams
TDi North mapped Hondata K100 ECU
Ported and modified RBC inlet manifold
Ported throttle body
K-tuned exhaust manifold
K-tuned heater system delete
MIJ custom 3" exhaust system, manifold back
Baffled sump
Aircon deleted
EVAP system deleted
Stock battery deleted
AEM fuel rail
AEM adjustable fuel pressure regulator
Aeroquip -AN fuel lines
Billet aluminium fuel filter
Civic EG Alloy radiator with slimline 10" fan
Alloy header tank
Mocal oil cooler
Fiat punto upper rad hose!

TRANSMISSION:
6 speed EP3 gearbox built by Grinspeed
Mfactory helical LSD
Mfactory 5.83 final drive
Mfactory magnetic sump plug
Lightweight flywheel
EP3 driveshafts with CRX outer CVs. Rebuilt with high temp grease.
K-tuned billet shifter
K-tuned billet shifter cables
Hydraulic clutch conversion

BODY:
Fibreworx Mugen bodykit including door pods
Fibreworx GRP bonnet with bonnet pins
GRP flared front wings
Sunroof delete
Aerial delete
OEM spoiler delete
Roof vent
Fuel filler replaced with flush aeromotive filler
VT model rear lights
Pro Car Innovations spoiler mount kit
Full 2k re-spray inc door shuts in Ford Glacier white
Vinyl graphics by Gateway Signs & Graphics

CHASSIS:
Gaz coilovers, height and damper adjustable. Solid topmounts
K-tuned traction bar
Alloy rosejointed caster adjustable front arms
Skunk2 pro series polybushed upper arms (camber adjustable)
Polybushed front lower control arms
Double front anti-roll bars linked with custom billet aluminium joints
Polybushed anti-roll bar drop links
Rosejointed rear toe arms
Polybushed rear camber arms
Polybushed rear trailing arms
Skunk2 polybushed rear LCA
Tegiwa rear LCA brace
15x6j Borbet alloys with Rainsport 3 tyres (road / wet track wheels)
15x7j Pro Race 3 alloys for track with R888

GEOMETRY
(Grinspeed)
2.2 deg camber front
1 deg camber rear
2mm toe out front
2mm toe in rear
4.5 degrees caster

BRAKES:
Wilwood 4-pot front brakes
DS2500 front pads
MG-ZR rear brake upgrade
Pagid rear pads
No ABS
ATE Super Blue brake fluid

INTERIOR:
Fully stripped
K-tuned billet shifter
K-tuned billet shifter cable grommet
Momo steering wheel
Minimal dashboard
Fully thinned out, tested, re-wrapped car loom by Racing Circuits
Lightweight Oddysey 680 battery in alloy cradle
Integra Type-R clocks
Stack oil pressure gauge
Stack oil temperature gauge
Stack voltmeter
Dash mounted battery killswitch
Dash mounted switchable Go-pro 12v (battery delete)
Dash mounted fan override
Corbeau winged bucket seats
FIA spec seat rails
Adjustable roof vents

SPECS/PERFORMANCE:
Dyno'd at 270.1bhp, 229 N-M torque, 9,000rpm rev limit
800-850kg

Hopefully more updates soon. Any questions welcome
 
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Thanks for the comments guys

Today I took the CRX VTEC binnacle I'd sourced (it's curved instead of square), the Integra DC2 cluster, some B&Q mending plates, a drill and some screws


From the back, I fitted the mending plates to secure the cluster to the binnacle


From the front


The fit is about 90%, it just needs something in a couple of corners to fill some small gaps. It'll be in the car tomorrow!

Just a small job i know, but it's a necessary one as the OEM cluster is cable driven speedo, the K20 engine is electronic speedo.

More soon
 
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kmtporsche11_zps77009865.jpg

Ehhhhh. Nothing like a good Nazi tattoo to complement your porker. :S
 
thought i was back in my youth looking at magazines for a sec.

Wondering in anyone at work saw!!
 
Yep it's ideal for track, really transforms the car.

But on the road you go deaf above 62mph and motorways are a nightmare!
Yeah I'm not surprised, the revs must be a fair bit higher at that speed in 6th gear! Any issues with traction at slower speeds or from a standing start?
 
Next up I bought a trio of 52mm Stack gauges. Oil pressure, oil temperature and a voltmeter. I thought it's worth it considering the useage the car is getting! I also bought a DIN sized triple gauge slot, which I'm hugely impressed with! It tilts the gauges slightly toward the driver and looks really good (in my opinion) compared to pillar pods.

20151111_145745_zpsvidvhvqy.jpg


All fitted and illuminating, just need to fit the senders when I come to do the next oil change (will get a sandwich plate for the oil filter)

Any issues with traction at slower speeds or from a standing start?

You'd imagine so, but it doesn't feel any different from any other LSD EP3 I've driven :) The diff seems to bite fairly harshly and can pull you around but it's not too hard to get used to!
 
I like those pods! I have the 5.1 final drive in mine along with an LSD! If I poke it I can struggle in the wet in first, second and third but I guess I could still put more suitable wet weather tyres on (currently have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's all around) but also I could better adapt my driving style to it!
 
I like those pods! I have the 5.1 final drive in mine along with an LSD! If I poke it I can struggle in the wet in first, second and third but I guess I could still put more suitable wet weather tyres on (currently have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's all around) but also I could better adapt my driving style to it!

Perhaps as well you're on slippery leaf-covered roads. I was on a track to be fair :)
 
Perhaps as well you're on slippery leaf-covered roads. I was on a track to be fair :)
Yeah the road grip levels aren't generally great this time of year!

My brother and I have another EP3 which is for pure track shenanigans and we hope to supercharge it and we were discussing ratios for when we take the gearbox apart, I've said we should leave it until last and see how the car goes with the standard set up on the box, my brother wants to change for a 5.4 final drive. I was concerned about traction with 300ish bhp, LSD is planned too which will help.
 
In the dry I don't think you'll have any issues with a diff and decent tyres, regardless of the final drive. Remember, even the slowest corners are usually 3rd gear anyway!
 
In the dry I don't think you'll have any issues with a diff and decent tyres, regardless of the final drive. Remember, even the slowest corners are usually 3rd gear anyway!
Yeah I have found that to be the case from my bit of experience so far! Such good fun though! :D
 
It's been a busy week on the Civic, sorting out the mismatch of external colours which let it down so badly

First up I took the black wing mirrors and red spoiler and turned my front room into a spray booth
20151123_161131_zpsry55xxbn.jpg


Masked them up, panel wiped, room heated to 25 degrees. The result is not bad (pre lacquer)
20151124_144255_zpsk5braqyt.jpg


Gonna let them harden off for a few days then 2000 grit and cut them back to a shine.

The wheels have been powdercoated to match too. £20 a rim :) I've tyre painted them too. I was quite impressed with these Michelins but they don't have a lot of life left in 2 of them. Gonna have to make some decisions in the spring.
20151127_123348_zps8luyqufg.jpg


Centre caps will follow with the red H logo :) The exterior of the car is now all white, with the exception of the carbon bonnet which I'm holding off getting wrapped for now.

Plenty more mods on the way for this!!!

In other news I've booked a 'Ring trip next May. I'm going to aim to beat my FWD lap time (8min 48 BTG) and be very interested to see how it compares to that of my M3 (8min 32 BTG)
 
Good thread party, you're at s similar crossroads to me so makes for a good read



does the final drive whine?


Any idea what you'd be pulling 0-60 (in perfect grippy conditions)? Be interesting given the NA BHP and diff
 
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