Canada's winters tend to encourage motorists to purchase relatively cheap cars for use on its salt-infested snowy roads five months out of the year. Beaters they may be, but these winter sleds have got to be reliable. Nobody likes being stuck on the side of the road in near subzero temperatures, but nobody's interested in dropping $40,000 on a car to have it infected with cancerous rust. Hondas naturally fill this void and a group of five Canadians and a lone American know this. The group, headed by the first-gen Civic-savvy Justin March, decided to transform its own Canadian winter wrecks into personal homages to Hondas of yore. Their friendship and shared love of all things Honda soon catapulted the brand's early era into the 21st century.
The '79 Wagon
Justin March's '79 Civic Wagon
Bolts & Washers
Propulsion:
D16A6 engine
JDM Y1 LSD transmission
ZEX nitrous kit
SB1 Motorsports mounts
SB1 Motorsports hoses
SB1 Motorsports intake
SB1 Motorsports 4-1 header
SB1 Motorsports 2.25-inch exhaust
Triple-core radiator
Ford Motorsports fuel pump
STR fuel rail
SB1 Motorsports lines and fittings
Fel-Pro inline fuel filter
MSD spark plug wires
ACT six-puck clutch
ACT aluminum flywheel
SB1 Motorsports axles
Stance:
Ground Control coilovers
KYB shocks
ADDCO antiroll bars
Whiteline bushings
Custom engine brace
Resistance:
SB1 Motorsports 12.1-inch front rotors
ITR rear rotors
SB1 Motorsports carbon-Kevlar metallic pads
NSX calipers
AMSOIL 5000 series fluid
SB1 Motorsports steel-braided lines
Legend master cylinder
Rims And Rubber:
4x100 conversion
15x6.5 '00 Civic Si (+45 offset)
195/45-15 Nexen N3000
Outside:
Lincoln Navigator Laser Red paint
Shaved panels
JDM front turn signals
'77 Civic chrome bumpers
'77 Civic taillights
'77 Civic fenders
'77 Civic hood
'77 Civic grille
Chrome roof rack
Inside:
Porsche Boxster seats
Re-wrapped matching rear seats
Trim Up Auto carpet kit
JDM wood steering wheel
JDM overhead console
JDM quartz clock
JDM map lights
JDM rear roof-mounted speakers
ITR shift knob
'79 Canada Civic Special instrumentation
SB1 Motorsports short shifter
Alpine 1203 custom display
Accelevision DVD9530
Icon DVD screens
Realm-Audio components
Props:
My wife Twyla
Carline Brake and Muffler
Trim Up Auto
The Honda gods strike in unlikely ways, like the time Justin March was minding his own business and suddenly T-boned into a car whose driver made an illegal left turn. The accident opened the floodgates to a series of mods to March's '79 wagon. "After the accident, I decided I wanted to fix the car up," he says $20K later. Justin, or the "Swap Master" as he's widely known, fell in love with Hondas in the early '90s. Among one of the classifieds for the twenty-some cars Justin's owned was one for a car that he initially assumed was a hatchback. But when he arrived to purchase it he discovered that indeed it was a wagon. Hatchback or not, $400 later Justin drove it home. The wagon remained untouched for nearly two years until the accident. Soon after, a D16A6 engine and a ZEX nitrous kit were added as were Porsche Boxster leather seats. The body also received attention in the form of multiple coats of Lincoln Navigator Laser Red paint simply because it caught Justin's eye while cruising through a mall parking lot. Don't let Justin's innate ability to mix the old with the new throw you off though-he's still a purist. Unique cars such as Justin's typically fall into the trailer queen category, but that's not his style. Justin's wagon fulfills daycare taxi duties for his daughter on a regular basis. "Go for it. If you can dream it, you can build it," says the Swap Master.
Owner Specs
Hometown:
Richmond, B.C.
Favorite Website:
www.1stgencivic.com
Building Cars How Long:
20 years
Favorite Kicks:
Nike Air Force 1s by Kaw
Dream Car:
S800 convertible with F22 swap
Build Inspiration:
Chip Foose