FBP '99 EM1 all motor build

First a little history on the car! So Feb. 26 2009, I finally get a response from a posting on Craigslist for a black '99 Si with some front damage on the cheap. I had been waiting for a week already and had gotten no response, so I thought it was a lost cause! Alas, I call the guy up at 8:30am as soon as I see the email on my phone with his number, and drive down to O-Town the next day, only to return with a mildly damage, otherwise MINT EM1. And here she was when I got there:




Front damage was a bit bad, but nothing sub-$1000 couldn't fix with some good searching for parts and patience. So, I undertook it. Driving it back home on the Turnpike felt like heaven; I had just gone from an automatic '94 EJ1 with a shot motor mount to a '99 Si. Life was good.

So I decided to go for a wash, car was dusty:






(ABS, wut? no the car does not have ABS, no idea what that light is doing there. It never lights up, though)

I take down my bumper to find this sad, sad reality:




Ouch..but I was ready for it.

So, in the days to come I took her to my local reliable body shop and got an estimate: $200 to get the frame pulled into place on the frame machine. But the guy said I had to bring in the parts to be put back on, and they would align it for me if I did.

A couple of days pass by, and I find a bumper up in Lake City for a good price. Off I go, and I return with this:



Primered black, just needs to be painted. No place for it yet, since my front end is all bent out of shape. But soon.

So I drive down to my dad's for spring break, and the car comes with. I decide to make a trip to the local U-Pull, just to see what was going on. Luckily, I find a bumper support off a fresh '99 EX. After some hitting, bending, twisting, I got some improv bodywork done, and the car looks a lot better:



It'll keep my afloat until I sell my EJ1 to afford the real bodywork. And since she was looking better, I decided to do a full claybar+wax:



(1977 911 SC hanging out in precarious conditions in the garage, to be fixed before year's end)



(facing the dad's prelude)

Today, 3/17, I got the body shop estimate with all the new paint for the bumper/hood and new rad support top tie bar, everything installed + aligned and ready to go:



And the parts that are now in the mail:



02-05 EP3 floormats


HOP CTR shift boot


BLOX 5spd shift knob


Skunk2 rear lower tie bar


Honda OEM Stanley headlights

And also a brand new '99 FBP Si front grille, mine had all the bottom brackets destroyed from the crash.

As for my plans..well, hopefully after the bodywork I can hunt down some HOP Si front/rear lips, then a drop on Skunk2 Pro-C's with Mugen NRs, Mugen twin loop silencer axle back, and AEM V2 intake.

After that I'm going all motor, building the head first with better valves/retainers/springs and more aggressive cams (CTR?), then building the block with some forged rods and TODA high comp 11.2 pistons.

But I still have a lot of reading/deciding to do, and a lot of this can change. Maybe I can even be convinced to go FI. We'll see! With some luck most of it will be done before this time next year.

Thanks for dropping by

 

Damn victor, I didnt see the front end when u were at my job the other day but it looks way better. Overall the car looks to be in great shape. I love that it is bone stock... for now I barely get to post on any of my forums cause my computer is F'd but keep the build thread updated so I can see it.

As far as u getting a ride. Wait till i put it back at 10psi cause youre gonna shit ur pants in disbelief. Its pretty incredible.

 

Great car, I used to have one too, 2000 Civic Si in Milano Red. Needs a good suspension and lowering.

 

Haha thanks man, yah I didn't even mention that I had fixed the front up a bit. Getting the new bumper support and then some pushing, pulling, and twisting on the rad support did wonders..just gonna let the bodyshop take care of the rest. Heading to Tampa this weekend to get my hood, after that all it's gonna take is a few good days at work and I can get the bodywork done.

Anyways, if you want me to look at your computer I can prob fix it up for you. I've been doing freelance computer repairs/etc for like..7 years now lol, whatever it has I can fix it. Just hit me up.

Thanks! Yes it does, working on it after the bodywork is done. Probably gonna be lowering it on Skunk2 Pro-C's, so it's gonna take some saving of the $ to get 'em, but will be worth the wait.

 

looking good so far.

 

damn nice work keep it up

 

good luck with the build!

 

Thanks all! Hopefully my new headlights get here tomorrow along with the grille. Working on some Muteki lugs soon as well, guy selling 'em locally, as well as CTR back seats and EK4 nav. Stay tuned!

 

Can't edit previous post, have some Mugen bling coming in the mail:



Also, headlights and grille hopefully will be here tomorrow. Hopefully!

 

Few updates guys, got my headlights and new grille. Grille had all the tabs broken, so it was a loss...guy had told me otherwise, not gonna fight over $40. Headlights though are minty, just need a bit of buffing.

Pics follow:







So yah, gonna put on those headlights later today, will check back.

 

UPS man made a visit today...he brought some goodies!









Installed pics after class!

 

Installed the lower tie bar, HOP CTR boot, blox knob, and got my floormats in!

 

that looks effin sweet dude! those floormats are a nice touch, very subtle

 

Hell yea dude. Nice little mods u got goin there, theyre a good start. Is that rad. cap a little higher pressure than stock? I think mines 1.1 bar, that one says 1.3.

 

Thanks Andre and Meister, I'm pretty happy with the mods myself! I'm taking the driver side mat to a seamstress some time this week to get it to fit perfectly around the trunk release console, will post updates on that. Also gotta find a way to mount the brackets that came with it to hold it in place since unlike the EP3 my chassis/carpet doesn't have holes for it. Back mats were also included, and fit pretty snug in the back when fitted partly below the armrest, I'll post some pics of that some time too!

But yah Andre that Mugen cap is 1.3kg/cm² so it rises the boiling point of the coolant, slightly increasing the cooling efficiency. Pretty nifty, mostly got it for the Mugen bling since the dude was selling it for $10 shipped and they usually go for $35. Stopped by your work today but you weren't there, was hoping to show you the mods

Possibility of getting a HOP JDM CTR Momo SRS (lol thats a lot of acronyms!) steering wheel in there real soon, stay tuned!

 

Yea I didnt work yesterday. The plans sound good though.

 

Mugen radiator cap is IN: