Writing a project introduction roughly twelve years after starting the project can be challenging. Recounting all of the details is dependent on how well I documented my work. Back then, documenting my projects came down to sets of pictures and possibly a few thoughts. On that note, the story…
I’ve been a Honda guy for as long as I can remember. I remember playing in the hatch of my mom’s ’79 Honda Accord when it was new. It was no surprise that my first car would be a Honda and my loyalty to the brand has been fairly consistent. The story of my Honda Civic hatchback starts shortly after a rather significant accident in the fall of 2002 when I totaled my ’95 Civic coupe. I had owned the coupe since it was new in ’95 and put a lot of money and effort into it. After the accident, I pulled the engine, which was one of the only salvageable parts from the entire car, sat back and wondered what I was going to do. Winter was right around the corner and I had no intention of driving my then freshly painted 240SX. I had considered a few options but in the end, I wanted to stick with the 5th generation Civic. I knew a great deal about it and I really wanted to do more with it.
What’s Next?
While looking for a replacement, I decided to go with a hatchback. It was a little lighter than the coupe and had a shorter wheelbase and overall length; all qualities that help with autocrossing! My coupe was ABS equipped and considering the fact that its replacement would be daily driven through winters, I wanted a hatchback with ABS as well. A few weeks later, I found a ’94 Civic Si hatchback that would suit my needs.
Here it is! One of the pictures from the ebay listing. A 1994 Civic Si hatch back with ABS. Aside from a set of KYB AGX Shocks, a set of Eibach Pro-kit springs and an Apexi World Sport exhaust, this Si was relatively stock.
I couldn’t honestly tell you if I was excited about the prospect of having a leather interior from an Integra or if I looked at it as an opportunity to sell them and put the money to better use.
First things first. Giving the newly acquired Civic a bath.
Aside from the gray over spray that covered the entire car, the only other cosmetic issue was the dry rotted door sills. The overall look of the car really improves with this simple replacement. While I was replacing the sills, I took the time to clean and wax all of the paint that is normally covered.
While doing a bit of shopping in a local junk yard, I managed to find a hatchback with a full interior in good shape. The donor still had all of its glass which protected the seats from the elements. For a whopping $90 I had a clean, matching set of seats.
Although the Civic looked great with no rust or damage, it was covered in gray over spray. After trying several different tricks, I ended up wet sanding the entire car and polishing it. It was a substantial effort but the end result was a great looking car.
The ’99 Si wheels I used for snow tires took care of the steel wheels that came with the car.
Wrapping up the work completed in 2002 was the installation of the B&M shifter I pulled from the coupe. Since the B&M shifter works on both the B and D series engines I threw it on while I was preparing my engine for the swap.
The stock D16Z6 isn’t a bad little engine but it isn’t going to be sticking around for long.
