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just curious if there is anyone out there, wondering what kind of power you are getting out of the ew4 and what weights you guys are at. Would dry sump and ITB's vs. sidedraft carbs be a good choice? Just picked up an 86 civic si and running sts but eventually run in ep. just seeing who's out there

Weasel KP61, 

They were thriving in EP a few years back (John Thomas used to competed in one, and won many Solo Nationals in the past with it). 

Are you sure that you are ready to make the kind of investment towards a building a competivie ride out of it?

Just some of the many items you'll need to build one:

Engine: ITB's (provided that you already have an intake manifold for sidedraft carbs for the EW engine... no longer available) with a fully programmable ECU (Electromotive, Haltech, etc.), High compression pistons (must be custom made and ordered), head porting & polishing, etc. 

Transaxle: Limited Slip Differential (Mugen -- no longer available, but OPM might still make one for it!)

Power Steering

Adjustable Camber Plates (OPM might still have a set... doubtful though)

Double-Adjustable Koni's (shortened & revalved struts & shocks...- no longer made, but you might find someone with a set - - - expensive!!!)

Suspension: Mugen Bushings (motor mounts & Suspension Bushings throughout... out of production - - - you might find someone with them, expensive!!!

....and much more!!!

 

**You'd be better off trying to find one that has already been built and developed.

All from personal experience.

LM

 

CSP 98 makes it sound as though the bits needed to make the Civic into an EP car are completely unobtainum; I don't really think that's the case. 

The intake manifold MIGHT be hard to come by, but I'd not lose too much sleep over running EFI through a good single-throttle manifold; in fact, I'd look for ways to do it - one throttle is way easier to deal with than two.

Mugen stuff is neat, I guess, but when I was doing the EP thing, we made just about everything.  

Surely Quaife makes a LSD for a legal transaxle.  

Dunno.  Doing an EP car _right_ is going to cost money.  No two ways about it.  The Lombardo/Thomas car was really pretty simple - a lot of thought went into the important bits, but there's not a whole lot _to_ an EP car - make it light, make it handle, make it make torque. 

Then drive.

Was the Lombardo car a strut car?  I forget, but I thought that was a double-a-arm car; if so, camber plates are not necessary.

Above and beyond any of that, find something rear wheel drive:).  RWD is better.

 

 Iain

 

 

I've owned my 3rd gen Civic since 1992, with it being in EP since '95.  It is reasonably quick, finishing second at Topeka last year.

In general all the consumable parts are readily available.  The main issue as has been mentioned is the big build things like headers, ITB intakes, limited slips, shocks and other suspension bits are no longer vendor available.  Having been in my car for a long time, I have all these hard parts already.  This is not a car to start building for EP at this point given the necessity to fabricate many of the basic bolt-ons .  An EF chassis is a much better choice with considerable aftermarket support that does not exist for the previous generation anymore.
 

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Rob Foley

no more Celica
86 Civic EP

While I read CSP 98's post I was thinking about all of those Civics and CRXs that have been parked since the Miatas moved into CSP.  A lot of those cars have most of the necessary stuff on them. 

 Camber plates, big torsion bars, shocks, ITBs, ECU, headers, flywheel, etc...  All you would need to do is buy one, gut it and build the motor with the good stuff.   Rods and pistons won't be hard to come by.  The vendors keep the drawings in their archives.  Wiseco can make you a set of pistons and Crower has the rods in their catalog.

Shouldn't be too hard to find one of those retired Civic/CRXs in somebody's garage that can be bought at bargan prices.   Also, I would think some of that stuff could be had on the various forums or ebay.

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Steve Hoelscher
#27 DP - Toyota MR2
http://www.terriehoward.com

Weasel,

You might be in luck!!!

I remember seeing a post in the "Vehicles for Sale" section of this website back in May of this year.

I don't think it's been sold yet, but it's definitely what you're looking for.  It's Ron Williams old 1985 CSP CRX and it has all the goodies that you'll need for a competitive EP car. I think the owner's name is Mike and his search name on this site is ksconekiller. I believe he's located in Wichita, KS and his asking price was $4,000.

I found the listing on the fourth page of the "Vehicles for Sale" section. 

Check it out.

LM

No, you can still get all the parts you need.  Use the Integra transaxle and you can buy a Quaife off the shelf.

Koni struts and shocks are indeed out of production but there are plenty of used ones for sale if you are patient... same with the camber plates and torsion bars. 

Good engine parts are plentiful.  These are still very popular cars in GTL so pistons, rods, spring, valves, cams; even custom dry sump parts are available.

Spend some time on www.redpepperracing.com and you will get all the help and parts you need.  I just sold my EP CRX a few months back but it was 1,486 lbs (without ballast) and made 190hp at the crank with a full GTL spec, dry sump engine (programmable EFI and Jenvey ITBs). 

Just remember, this is EP and customs parts are part of the equation for the top guys in the class.    

I have all the contact information you need, including an engine builder.  Just drop me a note at racecar01@hotmail.com

-Chris

 

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EP 82 - 1987 Toyota Corolla GTS
RMDiv. SEB

I didn't say it can't be done, just there are easier (i.e. much cheaper) Honda platforms to turn into an EP car than the 1G CRX/3g Civic at this point.

The best bet is to find a 1G Integra donor car to start with.  Using an Integra tranny will also require a Civic 4wd wagon block for the bolts to line up.  The parts car can yield the front subframe (needed for the power steering rack, which can also come from the donor), rear beam with discs (not really necessary-Civic drums are lighter), and other miscellaneous bits and pieces.

An off-the-shelf effective piston option would be to use those from a 1G Integra D16A1 motor.  In an EW4, these yield about 12:1 compression, depending on how much material is removed from the block deck or head.

It really comes down to what your budget is.  I have about $15k into my car, all spent back in the mid-to-late 90's, and also when what is now semi-custom stuff was readily available.  It is positively rustic compared to Chris's old car.
 

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Rob Foley

no more Celica
86 Civic EP

Rob, you've got pm.  Allen