Took this from my thread on civic site, but you get the idea.

 

So,  i've probably owned more Ep3's than most on here now, sold my last one back in July last year as i was using it as a daily and track car.  It never really cut it as a do both car and after doing two trackways in a row at Spa on a Trackdays.de day and then having to step in the day after and take my brothers place on a destination Nurburgring day.  Well the car was broken, it needed a lot of love to get it back in shape.  As i started doing things it needed more and more odd jobs done and by the end of July i was getting ****ed off with this supposed Mint Civic needing major cash spent on it.  So i was originally going for a fiesta ST but hated it's cheap quality  So ended up going for a sensible little hatch in the Fabia VRS which was used for a daily .  The idea was then to have a sensible daily and eventually get another car for track use only.

 

Well that was last July and for a while i thought the Fabia may actually be a best of both worlds car, it was great on the road, mid 40's MPG, a lot quicker than the book figures and also sounded the tits with a Milltek exhaust and the DSG was and still is something else.  Love it and since buying in July i've rammed 14000 miles on it, done a fair few TF laps at the ring.

 

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However, end of last year my brother bought a large house just 15km from the Nurburgring and with this house comes a lovely large barn and a big double garage.  One Garage is his and the other is mine.  So after driving his track EP3 over to the ring to leave at his place back in February ( yes on snow and in ice with semi slicks but it had to get over) in that days drive i knew i had to have one more, one to keep and never let go. 

 

I needed another EP3

 

Brothers track Ep3

 

and in the snow at Spa enroute,

 

That Journey was so fun, revving an engine out to 9000rpm, using a slick Manual box, rev matching on downshifts and a general rawness i really missed. So  I started saving and selling a few odds and sods at home and the idea was to buy a low end pre Facelift and start from there.  My budget was originally 2500 max and as anyone who has bought one for £2500 will know the spending never stops to get them back in shape.  The red one i had last year was a pig to start off with and i must have chucked a good grans in it just to get it half descent.  

 

So the other week i peruse the forum and see a car i recognise up for sale.  Settez who only lives 3 roads from me now was shifting his 2004 facelift with taste mods for not much more than i wanted to pay, sure it was earlier than i wanted but this car has been owned by a forum regular, has been maintained properly plus this ended up as a quality facelift model that i could own for less than £3k.   What was not to like.

 

So i bought it.

 

 

 

 

 

so the car as it is pretty nice as it is, it's in god condition, has some nice mods on it, especially handling wise with progress bar and full TGM  Frsu.  It's also got the Teg m ( which i originally sold to Settez) oh and the all important Anniversary recaros on soon lowered rails and even a Scangauge.  So yes it's a good car and with just over 100k it's barely run in.

 

I took it out saturday and covered 100 miles in it, the handling is sublime, the go is also quit impressive for a standard car.  I need to theca the B pipe as it really is too loud and too quick to be standard.

 

But even as nice as it is, it needs a a lot of bits to make it perfect. Oh and its name is Nigel, appears Settez Girlfriend named it that so i think it will stay named Nigel.  So none of the plans i have are anything against Settez and how he has looked after the car it's just i am very picky with my cars and it has to be perfect.  As this will be a long term keeper it needs to be good.

 

So what am i doing with it.  We ll first up a lot depends on what happens in May with the Ring.  If the insurance issue still remains once the new plans are outlined then it will be getting registered in Germany and TUV'd so that i can get a season ticket and use it insured on the ring all the time.  This means it needs to be standard as TUV requires that then all mods need to be TUv too including cages etc.  However the alternative is stop doing TF and stick to trackways only, hard for me as i do love lapping even with the risks, but i have also become addicted to Spa, so maybe having it for trackway use only may be the better option and hope that in the future the track gets privatised fully and remove from German road law,

 

So in the short time the plans are.

 

Destickering, already removed most of them but i hate stickers all over cars and this has a fair few, even under the bonnet.  But i need to spend some more time on this.

 

Full paint correction - the paint work has had some love at some point, but in the sun it's as swirly as a cadburys flake.  The paint needs some TLC and will get fully detailed by me including machine polished to get it back up to a top notch level.

 

Removal of Teg M, sounds silly I know but i want to put the standard Box back on, i am currently Hondata modding the standard box and will be refitting next week to sell the Teg M ( funds come back to bring the purchase cost down further).  reason for this is i hate the way the reg M fits, never ever liked it and i also want to do plenty of trackdays so noise is the enemy.  I also have some mods in my head for the standard air box, i have 3 standard boxes to play with and looking at what some guys done in the states i think i can achieve a Mini motorsport style intake. We'll see  New scuttle already sourced and waiting to go on.

 

FN2 gearknob - bought this last week for bargain money off here and was fitted by the time i got home.  Still the best shifter you can buy and pleased Honda saw fit to put them on the new Type R too.  Need a new nut though as the one on it is mangled so thats ordered.

 

Windsceen wipers, at the moment they are as good as a pair of dead badgers being wiped across a wet screen.  So two genuine honda ones ( the best you can get) on their way.  

 

Other odds and sods, Dash centre console coming out along with the door handles to be resprayed silver, not a fan of the black dash.  Standard oil cap refitted as appears to have been some weeping from the aftermarket one.  Battery is not in tip top form when i tested it so standard Honda one being ordered along with a new Battery bar ( standard honda again) , headlights are fooked, bulbs gone on one side and the lenses are so battered hardly any light get through, So will be machining the lens next week and some Nighbreaker unlimited on their way.  Also replacement plates as rears have faded bad and also rear taillights out on number plate.  Also need to respray the progress bar as like they do it's gone rusty and looks a bit tat.  I have a spare progress sticker so will spray it silver and refit.  Brakes are spot on but callipers look messy due to people painting them and then it wearing off. so may refresh this or just strip it all off and paint silver.  Also handbrake needs adjusting, holds but long way up on the handle.  New mats on order as found a cheap set on eBay. Carbon Spark plug cover removed and standard one being painted. also refitted standard VTEC cover so engine bay looks more OEM.  new Type R badge ordered as mines knackers and Civic badge removed

 

Mods wise.

 

Well i'm taking it to the ring at easter and will do at least one lap if quiet as it's VLN layout, but just want a long drive in it and also to take some miles off the Fabia even if the drive in the fabia would be easier.

 

So my plan regardless  if it's staying UK reg'd or German is to build what i call a Type RR.  Think of it as an R26-R megane just in civic shape.  So a set of Evo 7 Enkeis, a pair of Recaro polestars with harnesses, a half cage from Safety Devices or Wecihers, Carbon Bonnet and a mugen rear wing and potentially some plastic rear windows with a few weighty items removed such as rear wiper etc.  Stripped rear but all painted and carpeted to look like a Mini GP / R26 R.. As much as i love the hardcore strip everything out that my brother has done, as i will be driving it back and forth from Germany a few times i'd rather some sort of comfort, so stereo is staying and no roof vents or plastic front windows.

 

will update the progress as it goes on this one.

Sounds like fun

 

Will keep an eye on this one

Looks good, had an ep3 as well as an fn2, preferred the fn2 and beat a couple of ep3's in it on track..... 1 day before it was robbed. :(

Would happily have another ep3 though, especially with those seats, standard seats were woeful in quick corners.

The new Type-R is ridiculous.

Over powered and over priced.

The two I got after put me off.... Killed a passion for vtec. :/

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Yay ep3! Nice looking car there mate. Teg m makes a. Awesome noise. I do miss mine, the supercharger whine was too addictive

Ok bit of an update as not had time to get anything up

 

Ok so where are we, well sold a lot of parts, tidied a lot of ****e not happy with, and discovered some more problems i didn't expect just yet.

 

So first up, the Seats came out , a couple of days cleaning them with some Vanish stain remover and they came up a treat like new, In fact they were the best i had seen, hence when i stuck them up on the Facebook honda parts page for £750 they were sold within 20 minutes and the lad came and picked them up that evening.  I had managed to buy some cheap standard seats off of ebay, i say off ebay but we ended up dealing outside for £80.  they were a bit grubby but again with two days cleaning them properly they look like new and are in the car now so i can still move it until buckets are in.

 

 

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i also sold some other bits, the air filter i already mentioned and the odd carbon embellishment so by the end of this the car owed me £1850 which included the cost of a new battery.  thats one of the beauties of civic ownership, the secondhand parts side is one of the most active and everything has a value, which is great. 

 

First drive out in the car to the Honda factory for an EVo shoot highlighted a couple of things, first off the cheap tyres on the rear are ****e, in torrential rain the back end was not surprisingly mobile.  Worse still was the fact the standard cat was leaking and blowing quite badly, reason i found out later was it had been bodged back on by previous owner and also explained why the standard system sounded more droning than i remembered.  So something was needed to sort this out but still remain trackday freindly. On top of that, my amazing air intake was perky, yet without the noise it felt very thrashy, so a new cheap induction kit was needed even if it did lose me few ponies.  i want the car to feel special enough to warrant it being a second car.

 

But it did look nicer already with a little clean so i was happy nonetheless, a 2004 Type R for £1850 really can't be knocked as i could sell it on straight away and make at least £1200 if i wanted to.

 

 

So the ordering of parts had to begin, first up was the cat situation, now the easiest and cheapest method is to replace like for like, i do have a standard cat and manifold to hand in fact i have two from over the years, but they are restrictive and to get big oomph you really need to go with a tubular manifold.  Now the other benefit of Jap cars is the  ability to buy cheap knock off parts.  So Japspeed do a nice copy of the DC sports manifold and decat, even better it's £200 delivered, run them previously on both cars and brother has had his for 3 years now no issues, so ordered it up with a new manifold gasket.  Now i can run it with a spacer but i think it will need mapping so i need to purchase a K-pro ECu which i will use on a default map until i have finished all the engine mods then get it mapped properly.  

 

 

now i needed an exhaust that was quiet but allowed me to get some gains.  the only option again is a copy of  the Fujitsoba RMo1, an amazing jap exhaust but to get one from Japan is close to £1300 quid, however Tegiwa do a copy one which is identical, and with 10% off was on my doorstep for £400 delivered.  This is quiet enough to use on every track in UK but still powerful and lighter than the standard system,  So that was purchased ready to go on.  Don;t forget i can sell the standard exhaust catback for around £100:thumb:

 

 

The next issue was the Intake, so i sold the standard one witht he drop in K&N for £100 and swiftly purchased an HKS  intake, sure it's open to bonnet temps, but it's £120 sounds great and the engine bays on Ep3's are very open, you can see through from one wheel arch to another so temp intake seems minimal even on the scangauge result.  But boy does it sound nice now when you hot vtec and when mapped it will see 10bhp or so over the standard one. oh and i spent some time cleaning the engine bay up a little, 

 

 

 

so what next, well this bit was the one i knew i would have to do but did not anticipate it yet.  Honda used to stipulate a 100k timing chain change in the service schedule, it soon became a apparent that it was not needed so Honda dropped it from the service schedule and returned it to a lifetime part.  however Type R's get used rather hard and some chains do need changing.  I had a few instances of the starter motor sticking which they all do, however one morning when moving the car i noted a bit of timing chain slap on start up.  This can be for various reason, from non standard oil filter ( they don't have the non return valve so lose oil when standing) through to low oil,  however this was all tip top and as i have experience of the symptoms i decided to play it safe, so ordered up genuine Honda Timing chain, tensioner and new guides, the guides were needed as if it has been lose a while then they will have taken a hit.  i am still debating on whether to change the VTC since its all out, but that little lot is £250 in parts and i will be getting TDi to do it for me as i don;t want to ding it up, plus they will do the tappets at same time.  This is very much precautionary as a snapped timing chain is new engine time if it goes at high RPM, however most tend to go at start up due to the low tension. 

 

 

 

Now to something more interesting, of course the NUR plate had to go on seeing as it will be a long termer. but i decided to bite the bullet and order up a roll cage. So as i was speaking to Rob at Area motorsport about some parts for my brothers i ordered up a Safety Devices rear cage, these are great as they fit perfect, already powdercoated and at just under £400 they are relatively good value.  However i did not want the safety devices front cage purely because it is not a nice design, it does not go through the dash so gets int he way of your hands.  So after chatting with Rob, he is speaking with safety devices to see if they have anything they can supply, however if not the lads who do the civic cup cages will do the front for me and i can they have the Y bar on the doors so its still easy to enter.

 

but this is due end of June/july. so i need to source some seats and harnesses before fitting. want a more conventional finish than simply stripping all parts out, again think R26r or GT3 with cage finish,  same as this but in black

 

 

 

Also had a bit of a result as a lad i know binned his car, but is tripping it after the payout, so i managed to pick up a mugen rear wing witht he adjustable blade already sprayed in NHB for £80.  Seeing as standard ones are selling for £50-70 this is a great deal and they do perform well as fitted to civic cup cars.  

 

 

 

On top of that i needed to sort the tyre situation.  now i don;t like spacers and the civic cuyp cars run a much wider set up, so best way is to step up to 8 inch wheels and move to 235-40-17's from the standard 205-45-17.  but still need to be lightweight.  now luckily the wheels from Evo 8's fit straight on and are lighter than the standard enkeis as they are motorsport enkeis.  But at £200 for a set of 4 they are a bargain and i luckily have a set of free tyres sitting in germany as my brother has swapped from his federal 595r's to pilot cups ( Rent4ring mechanics playing racecar set up with his car at moment....lol)  so i need to roll the rear arches which my mate will sort.  but here are the wheels.

 

 

 

 

In germany last weekend for the 24hr

 

 

last one back to the Honda campsite on sunday night....lol

 

 

 

so it's coming along and money has been spent, but plenty to carry on with.  aside from the above i have the following left to do over next few months.

 

- Sump baffle to be fitted

- rear wiper and interior to be removed

- Seats and harnesses to source

- remove an repaint the anti roll bar and clean up the rose jointed parts, 

- source and fit an RBC intake manifold and then remap circa 250bhp

- shakedown test drive on a trackday ready for three big ones booked end of the year.

- remove rear tints to windows as i am not a fan and they are the only ones the previous owner did

- sort a spare key, and fix this silly aftermarket alarm.

This week, we get Powahhhhhhh!  

 

but fitted the brake ducts and few more bits of tidying, cage due in august now as run out of time, looks like track shakedown is going to be Spa in October.

 

Coming together rather nicely!

after all that, just had it finished the other week with cage fitted etc, never got it on track and due to losing job seemed best to sell it on ......

 

anyway, even though i need the cash  and selling the civic and all upgrades will clear me 6 ish, i just bought an E36 328i project to replace it with so at least i will have something to play with and only paid £900 for it.........