Wow! Incredible posts! I'm learning a ton just reading them! I used to live in Silver Spring and Baltimore and love visiting there from time to time from California....I'll have to check out your Youtube channel and get up to speed with how much you've dedicated to this 'lil baby!Very impressive! I'll be dropping by here occasionally to ask questions and gain insight from you all since I'm a newbie when it comes to a lot of the deeper technical car terminology that you all are dropping here and what not, Respect!
@Mister_Element I really appreciate that! Oh too cool, small world. Ask away, happy to help as much as possible. I love your cream wagon! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Thanks again!
A few unexpected updates. But where there are set-backs, there is knowledge gained.
I realized that the supercharger pulley offset was .8". I was lucky enough to find the perfect spacer to correct the offset making it 1" total. This put the belt in line of the crank and alternator, keeping the belt from shooting off the Supercharger pulley. This meant I had to pull everything back off the car to get an impact on the Supercharger nut. Besides dealing with coolant, this process wasn't hard at all at this point.
Crazy to think this little piece could solve all my belt issues. To top it off, my friends helped my weld up the RSR muffler while using an exhaust system for a hatchback.
Here's a sound clip of the new exhaust and open throttle body. The stock clutch with 260k miles wasn't happy in the video... We were lol
I ended up painting the rover cover, and added a CAI to hear the supercharger scream! I wanted to keep it stock looking but the factory airbox was too restrictive.
With all the changes I decided to re-tune the car. Did I mention I was driving the car 8.5-9 hours one way to Tennessee for Classic Hondas on the Dragon?
I replaced the tie rods and dialed in the alignment with the string method. I was never a believer in this method and stuck to toe plates. This was my second successfully attempt and I'm happy with the results. The steering wheel is dead straight and the car felt great with an 1/8" of toe in. After a quick street tune with new spark plugs, she was ready for the drive to to Tennessee.
With radios packed and a full tank of fuel, we were on the road! I caravanned with my buddy Paul and Austin who brought their beautiful 4th gens.
WE MADE IT! And made a few friends along the way.
The Civic Wagon man, himself! Was happy to finally get a picture with Paul. Always a pleasure.
And how the night ended... Was headed back to the hotel and lost my radio. Before I knew it I noticed that my headlights were getting dim. I was able to limp it back with no headlights. I'm running an OBD1 alternator that I got with the Supercharger kit. The plugs are the same but doesn't fit great. I guess after a long day of "Driving the piss out of the car" something had to give. The Alternator plug is almost impossible to get to from the top since the supercharger is now in the way. So we ripped out the jack and found a log for "safely".
The night wasn't over yet. I was dying to hear the car from the outside. So my buddy was able to perform the perfect ricer fly-by, slipping clutch and all. In all honestly, the stock dual point d15 with 10 pounds of boost exceeded my expectations and its actually "Fast" how it should have come from the factory. The exhaust is a bit raspy but has zero exhaust drone and isn't annoying from the cockpit. ENJOY!
I decided to install the Mugen MR-5’s as the 200 treadwear tires on the ATS Cups were almost bald after the trip to Tennessee. They had two 24 Hours of Lemon’s races on them and were getting old so I’m not too upset about burning them up.
I love the factory fresh look of the MR-5’s. I cleaned them up and re-polished the lips a few years ago which really made the wheels pop. I do have the lug caps to finish them off but always worried about losing them so they stay off the car.
As the car currently sits you can fit about three fingers in the wheel wells. I’m over the slammed life but have been considering lowing it some to maybe a finger gap. I just hate scraping the car on the ground but I also can’t stand wheel gap.
I also finally purchased a new clutch. I ended up going with a Clutch Masters FX100 (Stage 1) which supports 70% increased holding capacity over OEM. I figured if the stock clutch with 260k miles is attempting to hold the new power, a new performance clutch will do. I wanted to keep the setup simple and wasn’t ready to make the jump to anything too aggressive. It was a tough decision but I ended up with Clutch Masters for a few reasons. My buddy Austin with the 1,000hp plus CRX had positive experiences with them and shared with me the unique pressure plate design that only Clutch Masters offered. The fingers on the pressure plate were thinner than other manufacturers which resulted in OEM like pedal feel even with the more aggressive clutches. I’ll take a few pictures on install day.
I also installed Skunk2 rear camber arms and threw a 5mm spacer in the rear. I’ll probably run spacers up front as well. I wish the MR-5’s had a more aggressive offset but it makes sense they’re close to factory specs.
I was fumbling with @PopPopsGarage trying to figure out the “correct” way to install the rear camber arms. If you compare them to the stock arm you would think you’d flip them to match(Flat part on the bottom). It seems like everyone runs them right side up with the flat part up top. Ultimately I don’t think it matters since the mounting points don’t change.
With that extra drop Looks good 👍, I never noticed how people installed there rear camber arms flat side top/bottom I wonder if there’s a difference structural wise
I appreciate it and could agree more. It’s crazy what 3/4” will do! Structurally I think they’re fine. My only concern was changing the suspension geometry but no matter the orientation it seemed to line the same.
A few weekends ago my buddy’s and I had a clutch party! I went with the Clutch Masters FX100 in hopes to have the perfect balance of comfort, performance, and drivability. Surprisingly enough when we pulled the transmission, the current clutch was not only aftermarket(Not original like I’ve been telling everyone) but was actually in decent shape. It was a common aftermarket branded, OEM replacement. I’m so used to seeing the clutch discs in pieces, missing springs and heat marks, up and down the flywheel/pressure plate. This was a nice surprise but made a little more sense why it was “trying” to hold the added power. The throw out bearing was in poor condition and you could see heavy wear on the pressure plate fingers.
While we were in there we replaced the rear main seal, throw out bearing or release bearing spring which wasn’t even installed properly and the pilot bearing.
My main concern was how to tackle the flywheel. I’ve had many oem flywheels resurfaced with negative results. Ungodly chattering to be specific. I spoke to a few friends about my options. I was playing with the idea of a lightweight flywheel but didn’t want to affect the drivability. I ended up just talking an orbital sander to clean the surface of whatever flywheel was installed. Again I assumed it was oem. It is oem spec which is what I wanted.
With the new clutch installed and the transmission back in place, I forgot how sensitive the clutch cable was and how precise it had to be adjusted. I usually pull the slack out and call it a day but I really had to dial in the cable to get perfect engagement.
The clutch pedal feel was perfect. Exactly what I was expecting. It felt confident but far from heavy. The engagement was night and day from the previously installed clutch. It was more of an on/off switch but less violent unlike the old clutch that was extremely sluggish with extremely light pedal feel.
I’ll be sure to provide a real performance review/update after the 500 mile break in period. I can’t wait to 1-2 shift this thing and not hear the engine ring out and not move.
Comments
Wow! Incredible posts! I'm learning a ton just reading them! I used to live in Silver Spring and Baltimore and love visiting there from time to time from California....I'll have to check out your Youtube channel and get up to speed with how much you've dedicated to this 'lil baby!Very impressive! I'll be dropping by here occasionally to ask questions and gain insight from you all since I'm a newbie when it comes to a lot of the deeper technical car terminology that you all are dropping here and what not, Respect!
@Mister_Element I really appreciate that! Oh too cool, small world. Ask away, happy to help as much as possible. I love your cream wagon! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Thanks again!
A few unexpected updates. But where there are set-backs, there is knowledge gained.
I realized that the supercharger pulley offset was .8". I was lucky enough to find the perfect spacer to correct the offset making it 1" total. This put the belt in line of the crank and alternator, keeping the belt from shooting off the Supercharger pulley. This meant I had to pull everything back off the car to get an impact on the Supercharger nut. Besides dealing with coolant, this process wasn't hard at all at this point.
In the process, removing the pulley nut. A Link to where I bought it from. A little pricy for what it is but it saved me from having to making something. https://pulleyboys.com/cart/jackson-racing-pulley-spacer.html
Crazy to think this little piece could solve all my belt issues. To top it off, my friends helped my weld up the RSR muffler while using an exhaust system for a hatchback.
Here's a sound clip of the new exhaust and open throttle body. The stock clutch with 260k miles wasn't happy in the video... We were lol
I ended up painting the rover cover, and added a CAI to hear the supercharger scream! I wanted to keep it stock looking but the factory airbox was too restrictive.
With all the changes I decided to re-tune the car. Did I mention I was driving the car 8.5-9 hours one way to Tennessee for Classic Hondas on the Dragon?
I replaced the tie rods and dialed in the alignment with the string method. I was never a believer in this method and stuck to toe plates. This was my second successfully attempt and I'm happy with the results. The steering wheel is dead straight and the car felt great with an 1/8" of toe in. After a quick street tune with new spark plugs, she was ready for the drive to to Tennessee.
With radios packed and a full tank of fuel, we were on the road! I caravanned with my buddy Paul and Austin who brought their beautiful 4th gens.
WE MADE IT! And made a few friends along the way.
The Civic Wagon man, himself! Was happy to finally get a picture with Paul. Always a pleasure.
And how the night ended... Was headed back to the hotel and lost my radio. Before I knew it I noticed that my headlights were getting dim. I was able to limp it back with no headlights. I'm running an OBD1 alternator that I got with the Supercharger kit. The plugs are the same but doesn't fit great. I guess after a long day of "Driving the piss out of the car" something had to give. The Alternator plug is almost impossible to get to from the top since the supercharger is now in the way. So we ripped out the jack and found a log for "safely".
The night wasn't over yet. I was dying to hear the car from the outside. So my buddy was able to perform the perfect ricer fly-by, slipping clutch and all. In all honestly, the stock dual point d15 with 10 pounds of boost exceeded my expectations and its actually "Fast" how it should have come from the factory. The exhaust is a bit raspy but has zero exhaust drone and isn't annoying from the cockpit. ENJOY!
Good to see the gang getting together. And Paul out in the wild!
Great pix!
Thanks, Bill! Just need to get you out to the East Coast!
I decided to install the Mugen MR-5’s as the 200 treadwear tires on the ATS Cups were almost bald after the trip to Tennessee. They had two 24 Hours of Lemon’s races on them and were getting old so I’m not too upset about burning them up.
I love the factory fresh look of the MR-5’s. I cleaned them up and re-polished the lips a few years ago which really made the wheels pop. I do have the lug caps to finish them off but always worried about losing them so they stay off the car.
As the car currently sits you can fit about three fingers in the wheel wells. I’m over the slammed life but have been considering lowing it some to maybe a finger gap. I just hate scraping the car on the ground but I also can’t stand wheel gap.
I also finally purchased a new clutch. I ended up going with a Clutch Masters FX100 (Stage 1) which supports 70% increased holding capacity over OEM. I figured if the stock clutch with 260k miles is attempting to hold the new power, a new performance clutch will do. I wanted to keep the setup simple and wasn’t ready to make the jump to anything too aggressive. It was a tough decision but I ended up with Clutch Masters for a few reasons. My buddy Austin with the 1,000hp plus CRX had positive experiences with them and shared with me the unique pressure plate design that only Clutch Masters offered. The fingers on the pressure plate were thinner than other manufacturers which resulted in OEM like pedal feel even with the more aggressive clutches. I’ll take a few pictures on install day.
The wheels look good, the wheel gap in that picture is what I want but like you said just a tiny bit lower will still look better.
I appreciate it dude! I ended up lowering the car 3/4” all around. I think it’s exactly where I want it.
I also installed Skunk2 rear camber arms and threw a 5mm spacer in the rear. I’ll probably run spacers up front as well. I wish the MR-5’s had a more aggressive offset but it makes sense they’re close to factory specs.
I was fumbling with @PopPopsGarage trying to figure out the “correct” way to install the rear camber arms. If you compare them to the stock arm you would think you’d flip them to match(Flat part on the bottom). It seems like everyone runs them right side up with the flat part up top. Ultimately I don’t think it matters since the mounting points don’t change.
With that extra drop Looks good 👍, I never noticed how people installed there rear camber arms flat side top/bottom I wonder if there’s a difference structural wise
I appreciate it and could agree more. It’s crazy what 3/4” will do! Structurally I think they’re fine. My only concern was changing the suspension geometry but no matter the orientation it seemed to line the same.
A few weekends ago my buddy’s and I had a clutch party! I went with the Clutch Masters FX100 in hopes to have the perfect balance of comfort, performance, and drivability. Surprisingly enough when we pulled the transmission, the current clutch was not only aftermarket(Not original like I’ve been telling everyone) but was actually in decent shape. It was a common aftermarket branded, OEM replacement. I’m so used to seeing the clutch discs in pieces, missing springs and heat marks, up and down the flywheel/pressure plate. This was a nice surprise but made a little more sense why it was “trying” to hold the added power. The throw out bearing was in poor condition and you could see heavy wear on the pressure plate fingers.
While we were in there we replaced the rear main seal, throw out bearing or release bearing spring which wasn’t even installed properly and the pilot bearing.
My main concern was how to tackle the flywheel. I’ve had many oem flywheels resurfaced with negative results. Ungodly chattering to be specific. I spoke to a few friends about my options. I was playing with the idea of a lightweight flywheel but didn’t want to affect the drivability. I ended up just talking an orbital sander to clean the surface of whatever flywheel was installed. Again I assumed it was oem. It is oem spec which is what I wanted.
With the new clutch installed and the transmission back in place, I forgot how sensitive the clutch cable was and how precise it had to be adjusted. I usually pull the slack out and call it a day but I really had to dial in the cable to get perfect engagement.
The clutch pedal feel was perfect. Exactly what I was expecting. It felt confident but far from heavy. The engagement was night and day from the previously installed clutch. It was more of an on/off switch but less violent unlike the old clutch that was extremely sluggish with extremely light pedal feel.
I’ll be sure to provide a real performance review/update after the 500 mile break in period. I can’t wait to 1-2 shift this thing and not hear the engine ring out and not move.