EM2 Civic Slow Daily Build

[joshg51]

[Omnious]

heavy breathing

I need to see this thread.

[jeff-s]

O my goodness why did ALL of my pictures stop working!

[jeff-s]

There we go all fixed and back for your viewing pleasure.

[jeff-s]

Bringing It Back

So after almost 2 years lets bring everyone back up to speed.

I stopped posting because I sold the EM2 to a buddy of mine. Actually I did a payment plan for him and about 9 months into the plan I got a call from him. He told me that he wrecked the civic... and he wasn't going to turn it into insurance because he did not want his premium to go up. So I of course cut a deal with him and bought it back for less than he owed me still. I then had a broken EM2 and some cash to get it fixed...

Here is the damage:


He told me it was just some cosmetic damage which is why I did the deal, but as you can see right off it is a little more than cosmetic I would say. So now the plan was to rip it apart and see how bad the core support was.

OUCH:


Tried to pull it and twist back but it was a crumpled up can so it wouldn't come straight again:


Now I had some decisions to make...

[jeff-s]

I Have Decided

The new plan was to do a front end swap . EM2's have a split year from 03' to 04' and I have always liked the 01' to 03' front end with the 04' to 05' tail lights (I know you can't see both at the same time but that's how I think). So I went to the local salvage yard and got an entire 2003 Civic Hybrid front end.

Get ready for picture dump...









Thank God for friends who can weld:




Also needed a new windshield:








Wiring up the headlights:


TADA:




This is the only front bumper the salvage yard had so I still need a better front bumper...

There is the front end swap ... now on to paint

[jeff-s]

Paint Teaser

I went back to the salvage yard recently and I came across a HFP full lip kit for my EM2! I am super excited about that.

For paint I am doing a full car spray that is a sort of medium grey. Once the weather is nicer and I can afford $250 clear I will be spraying. For now have a look at the color...



We also did a test spray on the rear lip:




OOOOO sparkley:

[Spectra Phantom]

Genuinely looking forward to this!
I kinda like the hybrid front, a different look for these civics.

[jeff-s]

Very small update:

I got new struts for my KSports which means I have to get all of the collars off and all the other pieces off of the current struts which I knew would NOT be fun. But with some good friends and lots of will power we got them mostly apart. The fronts where they attach to the hub is the last part to get off. Hopefully I can get those off and get this back on the ground so paint can happen soon! It may not be until the end of April but the time is coming fast.

The other big part is I need to redo my wheels. I will be running my 17" Enkei RS7 on this for now and I am stripping them down back to metal and acid etch clearing them.

[190Evan]

I feel like I'm confused. Do some people not like lower offset wheels that are flush with or poke out of the fenders? I see so many Hondas that have high offset wheels and I don't get it. I get higher offset if you're trying to tuck but whats the point if you can easily get wider or lower offset wheels for pretty cheap? Someone help me. I've always loved this year civic because they have such a sleek and stealth look to the but I think with some wider three piece wheels or even a set of mono blocks in the 15-25 range would do this thing wonders. That's just me though.

[190Evan]

Something like this?


Or maybe even this ;0

[jeff-s]

The first picture you posted is sort of what I am going for in the stance side of things. I think the reason many do not go this route is it is hard to find wheels in the 4 X 100 bolt pattern that are wider. Generally they are 7" wide and then jump to a different bolt pattern especially when you get to 17" and above wheels. Usually if you see a 4 X 100 that is poke or flush they are using wheel spacers. The other way to get around this is to do the 5 lug swap which gives you 5 X 114.3 and many more wheel options.

[190Evan]

The first picture you posted is sort of what I am going for in the stance side of things. I think the reason many do not go this route is it is hard to find wheels in the 4 X 100 bolt pattern that are wider. Generally they are 7" wide and then jump to a different bolt pattern especially when you get to 17" and above wheels. Usually if you see a 4 X 100 that is poke or flush they are using wheel spacers. The other way to get around this is to do the 5 lug swap which gives you 5 X 114.3 and many more wheel options.

Three piece US is always selling 4x100 for like 700$ and you can get some cool Works for that price.

[jeff-s]

O awesome! I had not heard about that site before. I did just look there and in 4 x 100 they only have 15" and 16" wheels.