[bopApocalypse]

I've got an ED Hatch. I'm in the process of turning it into a Stage Rally car.

What's stage rally? Check out the wikipedia article: Rallying - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unfortunately, money and circumstances mean I can't just build it all at once, and aim to be hitting the stages next year. Instead, I've got a plan to do different small chunks of the build, spread out over probably 5 years. It won't be the fastest or easiest way to get out there, but it's what I can manage.

(this space reserved for a table of contents, if the thread gets that big.)

 

[dnice78]

Don't lose hope and give up on the project. Good luck :TU:

 

[bopApocalypse]

The starting point

Here's where the car is at right now:

1988 DX Hatch
SOHC ZC (non-vtec)
Si trans
KAAZ LSD
DC Header
Custom exhaust
AEM intake
Stock Springs
KYB GR2 dampers
CRX HF front sway bar
Si front brakes
Extended lugs
Quaife quick steer rack
MOMO Monte Carlo steering wheel
cheap steel tube frame bucket seat
Fastline Performance shifter
semi-gutted interior
Kumho rally tires on VX wheels (rallycross)
various r-comps on 15" oem alloys (autocross)

RallyX nationals this year:

Regional autox (got body roll?):

 

[bopApocalypse]

'The Plan'

As you may have guessed, the car currently sees double duty as an autocross and rallycross car. That isn't going to change as I build it - in addition to stage rally, the car will be doing rallycross, hillclimbs, track days, and autocrosses - Seat time is a good thing, mmmkay?

Unfortunately, it would be very difficult and expensive to build a single car that did all those events with no compromises. With that in mind, the car is targeted towards stage rally, and will make compromises as necessary for other forms of racing.

The other key part of my plan is to keep the car usable, and add value/performance as I go. I don't want to put the car out of commission for months at a time - more valuable seat time I'd be missing out on. I also want to start with upgrades that will make the most difference for everything I'm doing with the car.

the plan:
1. minor suspension freshening
switch to 89+ rear lcas and use oem rear sway bar, new bushings all around

2. autocross suspension
GC coils on KYB agx - already have some of this, so minimal $ for a lot of performance. will be picking up a second full set of top hats, and probably front forks too, in order to have two full suspension setups, with a minimal amount of work to swap between them. also, I'm sick of autocrossing on stock suspension.

3. brakes
putting together a non-boosted dual-master setup. hoping to be able to keep the same masters and rear caliper/rotors, and just swap front caliper & rotor to go between tarmac and gravel brake bias.

4. wiring
wiring in the car is a mess. maybe rewire the entire thing? :wacko:

5. stage rally suspension
needs moar travel. front may be easy but $$$ - without a tire (or damper) in place, the stock bits will do ~240mm of wheel travel. don't know how much compression travel I loose w/ a tire on. CVs will really only put up with 190mm or so, so just need to cook up a damper that gives that much travel. Rear may be a little more difficult - twisting the rta bushing really isn't going to work to get a lot of travel out of the back wheels. consensus (lots of Irish guys rallying civics) says the PCI sphericals don't hold up to rally duty. maybe fab up something along the lines of a b13 sentra rear suspension - single trailing arm, double lateral arm, mcpherson strut.

6. cage
rally spec cage. easy peasy, just $$$$.

lots of minor stuff along the way too - hopefully clean the car up and repaint it, safety gear etc.

hoping to get #1 and #2 knocked out this winter, but after that, it's probably one item per year or so...

 

[BLK92_D16]

I see the "Oh-shit!" handle there getting the death-drip! ROFL!

Oh I know all too well about 5-yr plan car builds. Check out my hatch's threads. Got it in '04 and just got it boosted and tuned last month. How's that for commitment! LOL

 

[SLEEPERSEDAN]

Looks hella fun man. Goodluck with the build!

 

[Dave_P]

Good luck on the build, warms my heart to see a multi purpose race civic.

 

[bopApocalypse]

updates!

unfortunately, broke a shift fork at an autocross a week after I started this thread. Combine that with real life being busy,and I haven't driven the car since. Only good thing about that was getting to drive some other cars - A Mini Cooper S in STX that refused to understeer, and MX6 w/ a very experienced driver made for a good learning experience - too bad it was the last event of the year.

Anyways, big stuff is out of the way, so hopefully be putting the trans back together and getting the car back on its wheels in the next two weeks or so.

But, some fun progress in the meantime:

* picked up two sets of tires: Toyo RA1 and R888. Hopefully will be set on rcomps for the next two seasons or so.

* stumbled onto an autocross suspender setup:

Just like everyone else, Koni yellows + GC sleeves. 400f/450r.

* replacing my bent and leaking oil pan (and rear main seal), figured I ought to reinforce it. Only in the mockup phase right now.

Hopefully get the car back together quickly, then do some suspension surgery (PIC bushings all around, new rear dampers and LCAs) after my 12/4 rallyx.

 

[bigluelok]

nice work man im in to read this build

 

[FarmerD]

for extending the shock travel you can look into extended top hats (i see two already on your Koni/GC combo)

 

[bopApocalypse]

for extending the shock travel you can look into extended top hats (i see two already on your Koni/GC combo)

unfortunately, for the amount of travel that I'm looking for (7.5+" on the front wheels) it's got to be more than just extended top hats (although that's part of the solution). The real problem is making a shock that has enough travel, but still fits into the space provided - getting droop travel out of the a-arms is a challenge, so we need to keep as much of the compression travel as we can!

Once the car's all put back together, big project for the immediate future is going to be making a mockup suspension, seeing how much travel I can get before parts start hitting each other - without being constrained by the travel of OTS shocks.

 

[jEromy]

this thread appeals to the ******* in me. Even though I am not a *******. YOUR CIVIC IS BADASS. Lol. Honestly, this is such a cool way to use a civic.
:bigok:

 

[bopApocalypse]

finally got the car put back together over the long weekend. things went pretty smoothly, except for having one wrong axle seal (ID was wayyyy too big). Got that sorted, everything else went together pretty smoothly.

Got the reinforced oil pan finished and installed. (I had white paint around, so that's what it got.)

Took it out for a test drive, everything seems to work more or less ok. Reverse seemed a little loud, but I haven't driven it in 2+ months, so who knows? Unfortunately, I was driving around in 6-12" of fresh snow, so I couldn't really tell if the transmission was doing anything too bad. Roads should clear up (at least to the point of just being wet) in the next two days or so, hopefully I get some more time in before my next rallyx on saturday!

 

[hermistonkilla]

did the oil pan gasket stay put when you moved it into place? replaced mine by myself and had the hardest time in the world getting it back up there!!

 

[awebb]

I dig the oil pan reinforcement and the snow in the wheel pic is classic. Nice work Bob!

 

[bopApocalypse]

did the oil pan gasket stay put when you moved it into place? replaced mine by myself and had the hardest time in the world getting it back up there!!

they're fiddly things. I was putting a new one on, so I took it out of the box a few hours before to let it 'relax' back into shape, and then basically glued it to the top of the oil pan using RTV.

 

[hermistonkilla]

they're fiddly things. I was putting a new one on, so I took it out of the box a few hours before to let it 'relax' back into shape, and then basically glued it to the top of the oil pan using RTV.

wish i would have stopped to think about it like that.... went straight to the store got it threw it on and fought with it the whole time! lol work smarter not harder needs to be my motto

 

[TomT8499]

really coming along. good luck!

 

[bopApocalypse]

been meaning to post for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it.

had a rallyx back on 12/5. Was pretty stoked on account of the fact that we were actually racing on 2-3" of snow! In the end, I guessed we'd burn through the snow pretty quick, and my snows are in pretty sad shape to begin with, so we threw the gravel tires on - knowing they're not great on snow.

Started out really well (held FTD for most of my runs, against a 2.5rs and a STI :shock: ), but unfortunately my day ended early - during his 4th run, my codriver hit a rut, going sideways, at full steering lock, with the throttle pinned - broken CV (No, not pissed at the codriver - I would have done the exact same thing, as well as the fact that I have axles w/ a lifetime warranty.)

Real interesting break, though - normally they just explode! Aside from the obvious crack in the ball retainer part, there's 4 or 5 cracks in the inner race.

I think the cracks let the axle start slipping, rounded off teeth, then eventually popped out.

no big deal to fix, though. probably took more time at the parts counter getting it exchanged that anything else.


Aside from that nonsense, have made some small progress on the car, and ordered some parts to take some big steps forward:

* Finally got the Schroth 6-pt harness I picked up months ago installed. Soooo much nicer than a CG-lock.
* Got a set of the PIC hard rubber bushings. have a friend w/ a press who can probably help me out, just need to get in touch with him.
* Been talking w/ folks at Bilstein about some new rear shocks (swapping from 88 to 89-00 style rear LCAs), need to finalize some things and get these ordered.

RallyX again this weekend (hopefully no breaking the car...), then it's time to do the bushings! Utah is hosting the Western States RallyX championship in March, I'm planning to have the car ready for that. (And also, to try and win some of the recently-announced HPD RallyX Contingency $$$!)

 

[Dave_P]

Looks like a ton of fun............good luck!