In the behind-the-scenes world of automotive magazines, it seems like only a handful of project cars ever make it through to completion. Reasons for projects to be 86'ed range from the owner running out of money to the car getting wrecked halfway through the build. Sometimes it boils down to a simple loss of interest, or even a bad reaction from readers.
We try to finish our projects here at Honda Tuning. Sometimes, the situation isn't within our control, but if at all possible we try to give them the 'ol college try to get them done.
In the case of our EG cover car project (Feb. '05), we've had the thing on hold for almost 2 full years. The original owner got out of the import game to pursue a life in law enforcement, leaving the poor little Si homeless and in pieces.
Call me a sucker (Sucker! - Sen. Ed.), but I can't help but take in a stray, especially when that stray is a real Si with a clean title and beautiful black show paint that hasn't seen sunlight in the 2 years it's been on the car. I ended up buying it from the original owner with the intent of building it as a present for my girlfriend, Alex.
What could possibly be a better gift than an EG hatch? An EG hatch cover car, of course.
The original concept for the build was to piece together a cover-worthy car ourselves, following the build from start to finish. There was a turbo H22 built and put into the car a couple years ago, but that was about as far as they got. The first thing we did was pull the H in favor of the B-series build that we started in this issue. The next step is getting the car ready to leave the parking garage so we can get moving on the project.
The first step on the path to getting the car on the road was replacing the suspension. We weren't sure how long the springs and struts that came with the car had been on there, and they didn't have the ride height adjustability that we needed anyway, so we opted for some coilovers.
Our friends over at Eibach Springs have the perfect kit for the soon-to-be street/track/show car, the Pro Street-S coilover kit. This kit is sprung and valved for the performance-oriented streetcar that will see track time on the weekends. The springs are just stiff enough to get you to stick in the twisties without shaking your girl (or in this case, me) around in the passenger seat on the way to the movies.
 |
 John starts by removing the...  John starts by removing the rear shock fork bolt and the forward rear lower control arm bolt, respectively. Then the lower control arm is swung down and out of the way to let the strut assembly fall through. |
 Once the strut assembly is...  Once the strut assembly is out of the way, John removes the rear LCA bolt and then the LCA itself. |
 The next step is removing...  The next step is removing the rear upper control arm, which will be replaced with the SPC camber arm. |
 These are the SPC parts we're...  These are the SPC parts we're using. From left to right: Front adjustable ball joints, rear camber arms, and rear lower control arms. |