Well, just received the last parts I need before doing the turbo installation on my car. I’ve got almost 800 miles on it right now and will be hitting up the dyno to get some baseline power numbers this week. I was going to run it at Bandimere on the 1/4 mile but track is closed this week due to the Mile High Nationals, oh well. I may start the turbo installation this weekend, or maybe start it the weekend after. Have to see how things go as my fresh new manifold and downpipe are at the shop for some ceramic coating. Here’s a few pics:
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Well, the hatch is finally back on the road. But, not after a laundry list of problems that cropped up. I had my local shop fix up a few of the issues but had to tow it home after I was out of money and couldn’t afford to have them fix the other things. I’ve got most everything else fixed up and the car is finally running good and on the road. Only thing I need to fix is the upper timing belt cover, which is still rubbing a bit on the Tbelt (currently running no upper cover). I got the break-in process started and so far 160 miles on the new engine, it runs good and strong! I’ll be spending the next couple weeks getting it broken in and hope to make a trip down the 1/4 mile before I get the turbo on (for a baseline run). Not too many new pictures but some of the exterior, I’ll include a few from a stop at the race event held at Bandimere Speedway this past weekend (the replacement for the cancelled Nopi event).
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
So work has finally started again on Erik’s Civic. Custom bumper support brackets have been fabbed and welded into place. Trying to drill the holes into the sheet metal was especially difficult. My best guess is that the metal became somewhat heat treated/tempered after doing some welding but I broke about 4 different bits while trying to drill through it. Also my Paintscratch.com order came in so the front bumper was cleaned, prepped, painted, and clearcoated. I should be getting to the fenders next and then finally mounting some painted panels. Also coming up in the very near future will be an install on my new Aerocatch hood latches.
Justin Car
Well, finally the new engine is all in and wired up. Fluids have been added and everything looks good, until I try to start the car 
Ran into multiple problems right off the bat. My fuel filter was leaking, so I had to replace that, and I still have a very very small leak on my fuel feed line that I made from SS fuel line and Earls fittings. I will get to that later as it only leaks sometimes. Next problem was my starter was not cranking the engine. The problem was my chassis/engine grounds were not good, I had to wire wheel off some paint at the grounding points to get a good ground connection. Once I did that the starter worked and turned over the car. I thought I was home free at that point…nope. I had, and still have, a problem with all the spark plugs not sparking. I am only getting spark on my #4 spark plug for some reason. That is where I sit at this point, I will take another stab at it tomorrow and hopefully have a running engine soon. A few pictures of the finished engine bay, oh and the new 2000 model Civic front end I had painted.
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Well, the engine bay has been re-finished and re-painted, it came out pretty well although I do have some imperfections. After the paint was done I could concentrate on engine work and things like that. I setup the new fuel feed line and filter, along with deleting a lot of parts and brackets that were not needed. Erik helped a ton with the wiring work and tuck part of the job, along with all the other stuff as well. We pulled an all nighter Sunday night and at 6am we finally had the engine back into the car! We still have some work to do, including finishing up the new tucked wire harness, and putting the interior back together, plus some miscellaneous engine parts and pieces. Lots of pics, I’ll post a few here but don’t forget you can see the whole lot in our gallery:
Engine swap
Engine bay paint and wire tuck
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Engine swap has started. We got the old engine out today with no hassles or issues. I got the bay stripped as much as I could and tomorrow I can start cleaning it out then get to the sanding and prepping for new paint. Oh, my new Rota Grids came in this afternoon as well, just need some tires!
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Took some time this past weekend to mock up my intercooler and get the new bumper cut to fit it. Everything came out good, the mounts were a little tricky because of the way Treadstone puts the mount holes on their IC’s. I had to cut a good portion of the bumper support out which I expected, I had to do the same on my old Integra for it’s intercooler as well. I should be taking in the 2000 Civic front end pieces I have to get painted this week, so hopefully I’ll have a new front end soon as well. Stay tuned as this weekend I will begin the tear down of the car for the engine swap and wire tuck! After engine is broken in it’s turbo time.
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Alright, well after being sick for a few days I got around to working on my freshly built engine. Got the IM installed along with some miscellaneous hoses. Also, got the new oil pickup and oil pan put back on as well, no pics of that though. I got a chance to bolt up all the turbo manifold, turbo, and downpipe to get some test fittings. I got the turbo clocked to where I like and tested out the oil return fitting. I’m hoping it’s steep enough 
Anyways, I got some time off of work and the engine swap and wire tuck is now scheduled for Memorial Day weekend in just a few weeks! Keep an eye out for the dirty work is about to get started 
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
I picked up my engine from the shop yesterday. Bottom end is all built and head installed. Got it up on my engine stand at home and will slowly start to put the rest of the parts on so it’s ready for the swap into the car. I’m hoping to get started on the swap in 2-3 weeks, we’ll see how things go.
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
Alright, well little update in my turbo project. I switched my setup away from the Vitara pistons and went with forged Wiseco 75.5mm pistons. I also got my Eagle rods in as well. I made the change because it was taking entirely too long to get the custom length rods for the Vitara pistons and I am tired of waiting. So, tomorrow I am taking all my engine parts and pieces into the shop for assembly. Hopefully next week I’ll have the motor on my engine stand so I can start getting it ready for the swap. In other news, I’m just about finished with my trim painting, I just need to polish the clearcoat with rubbing compound and put everything back on the car. Once I get some more paint in I’ll be doing the sideskirts as well to match the rest of the car.
Justin Justin's Hatch Log
