Honda Civic Project Car - Civic Si Brakes

In the April issue, we introduced you to John Rodriguez of Auto Innovations in Orange, Calif., a local wrencher who sold us on an interesting project build. Rodriguez has set out to convert his otherwise humdrum seventh generation Civic four-door into a beast of a big-power street car, and he's keeping the stock D17 engine to do it with. To make that power he plans to go forced induction and build up the bottom end, but as we showed you last time, there are a handful of obstacles inherent to the D-series that have made reaching the goal a tough proposition.

The story also alluded to the shortcomings of the '01 EM chassis Rodriguez will be using. Burdened with forward McPherson struts, dinky little front and rear sway bars, rear drum brakes and four doors, the platform isn't the most obvious choice when you think of kick-ass street vehicles. However, as we've already said, Rodriguez is all about the challenge, and for this side story, he addresses at least one of those other concerns, the brakes. (For the record, this Civic is actually an ES2 chassis; the seventh-gen. came in EM, ES, and most famously, EP iterations, but the designation EM has become a generic name for the entire chassis line.)

On the agenda is swapping the drum brake assembly that is factory on the sedan with a pair of rear disc brakes from an '02 to '03 Civic Si that he sourced from Import Auto Salvage in North Carolina. The reason we want parts from only the first two model years of the EP3 is because in '04, Honda went to a five-lug bolt pattern on the hatchback. Rodriguez would prefer to keep everything four-lug, just to make it simple, hence the strict requirement. The parts ostensibly will work on other seventh-gen. sedans and coupes, too, which were made from 2001 to '05.

In truth, Rodriguez will be swapping a lot more than just the brakes, though. We've illustrated before how easy it is to do a rear brake upgrade with stock parts by simply replacing the entire knuckle and trailing arm assembly. Rodriguez will do the same here, taking the EP3 knuckle, where the actual brake is mounted, and the trailing and lower control arms and plugging them in as a unit. The assembly employs the same pickup points, and all the supplemental parts, like fluid lines and parking brake cables, are compatible with the sedan chassis. Last but not least, Rodriguez picked up EBC pads and rotors, and the entire process took about four hours from start to finish.

Since we have discs at all four corners now, the master cylinder and proportioning valve will need to be replaced to match the new configuration. In a four-disc setup, a different amount of fluid needs to be pushed to the brakes, and a four-disc master has different valving to accomplish this.

With all the parts in place, the brakes MUST be bled before being used. Anytime the brake system's fluid is exposed to the atmosphere, you have to bleed the system to purge the air from it. The procedure goes something like this: first, Rodriguez removes any residual vacuum from the brake power booster by applying the brake several times with the engine off. He then fills the master with fluid and checks it often throughout the process-this step is CRITICAL.

Starting at the right rear caliper, essentially the brake furthest from the driver's position, he loosens the bleed screw slightly and places the end of a length of 3/16-inch hose over the bleed screw. The other end of the clear hose is connected to a container that will catch the fluid; the clear hose revealing any air bubbles in the fluid stream.

We pump the brake slowly a few times to get pressure in the system, then hold the pedal down while Rodriguez bleeds the brake, opening the screw just enough to allow fluid to exit. Once no bubbles are escaping through the hose, he tightens the valve and moves on to the next caliper, repeating the procedure. When he's all done, he makes sure the master is filled with fluid. We should note that there are vacuum bleeders available on the market that would make this a one-person job, but in general, two people are necessary to bleed, one to pump the pedal and one to open and close the screws.

With the Civic on stands and the rear wheels off, Rodriguez does one brake at a time (it's always a good idea to keep the other intact for reference). He begins on the backside of the knuckle splashguard by removing the single bolt securing the magnetic pickup that is the ABS speed sensor. The substitute parts from Import Auto Salvage also came with their own sensors, and it appears the two varieties of pickups are interchangeable, which is why we decided to stick with the ones native on the ES2. No point in swapping the sensors, which would mean re-rigging the wiring-and creating more work for ourselves.
With the Civic on stands and the rear wheels off, Rodriguez does one brake at a time (it's
Rodriguez uses a flare-nut wrench to break loose the brake line-to-hose fittings, and then finishes unscrewing the fittings with a standard combination wrench. It is important to use a flare-nut wrench on these fittings to avoid rounding off the edges on the nut. Note how there are more sides to a flare-nut wrench versus an open-end wrench, which means more surface area to grab onto the nut. Afterward, the tension clip is pulled from the bracket, freeing the hose from the hard line in the wheel well.
Rodriguez uses a flare-nut wrench to break loose the brake line-to-hose fittings, and then
Disconnecting the rear anti-roll bar from the trailing arm is next on the agenda. The linkage shaft is kept in place with an Allen wrench as the self-locking nut is backed off and removed.
Disconnecting the rear anti-roll bar from the trailing arm is next on the agenda. The link

Rodriguez will have to replace the parking brake cables because the fittings at the end of the drum cables are not compatible with the disc calipers. First, he removes the center console to get at the parking linkages underneath-the console has a handful of screws fastening it to the chassis and floor. Then he loosens the adjusting nut, which makes unhooking the cables from the equalizer much easier.
Rodriguez will have to replace the parking brake cables because the fittings at the end of
To prevent a brake fluid mess, the open end of the hard line is capped and zip tied until the new line is run. Remember: brake fluid destroys most automotive paints.
To prevent a brake fluid mess, the open end of the hard line is capped and zip tied until
Disconnecting the rear anti-roll bar from the trailing arm is next on the agenda. The linkage shaft is kept in place with an Allen wrench as the self-locking nut is backed off and removed.
Disconnecting the rear anti-roll bar from the trailing arm is next on the agenda. The link

Since the cables are coming out, the cable clamp must be temporarily removed as well. This also creates additional slack, useful for disconnecting the cables from the equalizer.
Since the cables are coming out, the cable clamp must be temporarily removed as well. This
The cables and their grommets are pulled away from the underside of the vehicle. The under-body cable housing clamps are unbolted, as is the bracket clos est to where the cables enter the cabin.
The cables and their grommets are pulled away from the underside of the vehicle. The under
With all the peripheral stuff out of the way, it's time to unbolt and drop the OE ES2 trailing arm assembly. Rodriguez starts by taking off the pivot through bolt for the lower control arm.
With all the peripheral stuff out of the way, it's time to unbolt and drop the OE ES2 trai

Then the through bolt for the upper control arm comes out.
Last but not least, the shock-to-lower arm bolt is unfastened and removed.
At the leading end of the trailing arm, the two bolts for the bushing are removed.

The cables and their grommets are pulled away from the underside of the vehicle. The under-body cable housing clamps are unbolted, as is the bracket clos est to where the cables enter the cabin.
The cables and their grommets are pulled away from the underside of the vehicle. The under
Factory trailing arm assemblies are heavy, so a pair of jack stands can be invaluable when attempting a swap like this one. Since Rodriguez is alone and working sans lift, jack stands fill in as a second set of hands. Here, he uses them to support the new arm as it's about to get installed.
Factory trailing arm assemblies are heavy, so a pair of jack stands can be invaluable when
When we got the assemblies from IAS, the arms and knuckles arrived in separate boxes. While many might be disappointed that the parts didn't come turnkey from the yard, ultimately this was a good thing, as it gave Rodriguez an opportunity to clean up the components and spray everything in sexy black. Once the paint dried, he bolted the knuckle to the trailing arm and the assembly was ready to rock.
When we got the assemblies from IAS, the arms and knuckles arrived in separate boxes. Whil

Installation is reverse of removal. Rodriguez gets rolling by securing the lower shock mount and upper control arm (pictured) through bolts.
Installation is reverse of removal. Rodriguez gets rolling by securing the lower shock mou
With the big stuff out of the way, Rodriguez reconnects the rear stabilizer bar and the fluid line in the well. He also remounts the sensor for ABS (pictured) using the ES2's pick up.
With the big stuff out of the way, Rodriguez reconnects the rear stabilizer bar and the fl
When we got the assemblies from IAS, the arms and knuckles arrived in separate boxes. While many might be disappointed that the parts didn't come turnkey from the yard, ultimately this was a good thing, as it gave Rodriguez an opportunity to clean up the components and spray everything in sexy black. Once the paint dried, he bolted the knuckle to the trailing arm and the assembly was ready to rock
When we got the assemblies from IAS, the arms and knuckles arrived in separate boxes. Whil

Next, the trailing arm bushing bolts and the LCA pivot bolt are tightened in place. For the pivot bolt, Rodriguez uses a pry bar for leverage to assist in aligning the mounting holes.
Next, the trailing arm bushing bolts and the LCA pivot bolt are tightened in place. For th
Time to slap on the disc. Rodriguez unbolts the caliper from its bracket on the knuckle to make room for the rotor.
Time to slap on the disc. Rodriguez unbolts the caliper from its bracket on the knuckle to

A dab of thread sealer should keep the rotor retaining screws from backing out under stress. If we did in fact have to reuse the factory rotors, we would have first gotten them resurfaced to a perfectly flat finish for the calipers to clamp on to. Any number of service shops should be able to handle the resurfacing task.
A dab of thread sealer should keep the rotor retaining screws from backing out under stres
The EBC Brakes parts Rodriguez ordered arrived just in the knick of time for this story. He picked up its zinc-anodized replacement rotors, which come drilled and slotted, and front and rear Red Stuff ceramic pads (compared here against stock). Designed for higher horsepower vehicles, EBC Reds are purportedly good for repeated heavy braking and emit less dust than conventional semi-metalics.
The EBC Brakes parts Rodriguez ordered arrived just in the knick of time for this story. H
Finally, the caliper is re-bolted to its perch and outfitted with pads, shims and retainers. Cleared of the old e-brake cables, the cables that came with the IAS fare are routed along the same paths. They're fed into the cabin and the grommets reseated. Inside Rodriguez connects the cables to the equalizer, re-secures the cable clamp, and tightens down the adjusting nut until there are about six clicks of travel in the brake lever. Once that's done, he tethers the end of the cable to the actuator lever on the caliper, which is secured via a spring clip on the routing bracket (arrow).
Finally, the caliper is re-bolted to its perch and outfitted with pads, shims and retainer