Justin Metz | Car guy | R/C Hobbyist | Computer Enthusiast | Gamer » Civic

New dyno tune!

Justin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:48:01 +0000

I got down to Colorado Springs to see my old friend Jeremy of http://serviontuning.com Servion Tuning this past weekend. Everything went great for the tuning session and he was able to get some great power out of the car on 20psi of boost. We stopped there to avoid risking damage to the engine since the cylinder head is stock still. Once I upgrade the valvetrain and cam we will retune and take it even higher! Check out the youtube video of the dyno pull here!

Car upgrades

Justin — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:23:08 +0000

So, some months have passed and recently I have done some changes and fixes to my Civic hatch. After driving it for a while I felt like the turbo I had was a bit too large for the application, with the power coming on really late in the power band. I opted for a Bullseye Power t3/t04e 50 trim with a .55a/r turbine to replace my MasterPower turbo. This turbo spools a good bit sooner and faster as well. I have not driven it that hard being that my tune is off now but I was able to get a good idea of how it performs. My old Greddy bov also blew it’s diaphram and was leaking bad at the mounting flange, so I decided to upgrade and replace that with a new Tial Q bov. A new catch can was also installed recently. Finally, my boost solenoid is also about to get installed so I’ll have boost control. Plan is to get more tuning on high boost settings in 2 weeks. Stay tuned!

First boost tune

Justin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:19:04 +0000

My Civic hatchback is back on the road, after a fresh tune on e85 and ~7psi of boost. It made really good power, 215whp/175ft.lb. torque, but it does not come on until real late in the rpm range. Looks like the turbo is a little too big for the setup. But, I am going to wait and see how it looks on higher boost settings. If it doesn’t turn out the way I like I will probably change to a different turbo and get re-tuned. Overall though I am enjoying the car, it still has some minor issues that need to be fixed but I at least have it back on the road.

Turbo progress…

Justin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:40:19 +0000

Turbo installation is underway, but not before I had to deal with some other problems. I had to start the weekend (last week) by dropping the transmission to replace the main seal that was leaking. What a pain, twice now I have pulled and re-installed a transmission by myself, without proper tools or lifts/jacks. DUMB! Anyways, to the turbo install, I got the fuel system done. New in-tank Walbro pump and some RC1000cc injectors, along with a new liquid filled fuel pressure gauge. After that I got to installing the manifold, wastegate, and downpipe. Here I ran into some more issues related to fitment with the wastegate and downpipe. I’m working on getting those fixed up so for the mean time here are a few pics of the progress so far.

On the road again

Justin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:23:12 +0000

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).

Front end conversion

Justin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:17:08 +0000

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.

Engine is in!

Justin — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:01:05 +0000

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

Intercooler mounts made.

Justin — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:33:26 +0000

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.

Getting some engine work done.

Justin — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:30:30 +0000

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

Suspension install, NRG install

Justin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:59:31 +0000

Got around to installing all my new Skunk2 suspension pieces this past weekend, Skunk2 sport shocks, Skunk2 coil overs, and Skunk2 front camber kit. The install went easy, other then a hassle with my SS front brake lines, which I also put on while I had everything apart. Initial ride height was a bit low and had to do some adjustments to get it just a little lower then stock height. I have yet to drive the car because I have it apart for other modifications which I’ll do when I get back from vacation. Erik and I also knocked out the install of my NRG hub and quick release. Topped it off with my new Momo steering wheel. Check out the pics in the gallery by following the images below. When I get back from vacation I’ll be painting up my trim and molding pieces as well as replacing the door window molding on the outside that is faded and crummy.