Beginnings#
My friend Justin, like me, has always wanted an AP2 S2000. However, with grad school coming up it was hard to justify spend 15k+ on a depreciating asset. However, while waiting for a table at Hako we threw around the idea of a project car. It would help him and I pick up some mechanical knowledge, and would provide as some extracurricular bonus for his Mechanical Engineer Grad journey. For the next couple of weeks, we went through listings. We laid some ground rules:
- 4k limit
- Nothing Euro
- Ideally something from Honda
- Salvage/Rebuilt titles OK
After throwing around a few listings, our first candidate was an RSX swapped with all the stuff to make it a Type-S for . This listing looked pretty good so we scheduled some time to see it in person in La Mesa. After running the codes, it did have throttle position center issue which wasn’t a bad fix. However after taking it for a test drive, it was pretty jumpy which put us off a little bit so we decided to let it go.
Our next option was the B20 Civic. After some talks with the seller, it looked pretty good to us so we planned to head up.
Taking a Look at Greatness#
Since it was pretty good, we decided to head the next day, being a Wednesday. The day of, Justin went into work extremely early (~5:30 AM) to get out early. I had the privilege of working hybrid so I just dropped by the office for an two hours and left at 12 PM. By 1 PM, I had everything ready and we were ready to head up in my Accord. Since we were trying to snag it before anyone else did, we took the toll roads up. It was a nice experience but having multiple companies manage different toll roads is a pain in the ass. I got hit with a $20 late fee on a $6 toll which is unreal.
We pushed through the rush hour traffic and made it to Shadow Hills/Burbank area by 4:30 PM. Three and a half hours of driving, we were hoping to come back with the car. After waiting a bit, the seller came. After a quick test drive, I confirmed what I saw. A piece of shit, but really fun.
This 98’ Civic DX was B20 swapped. It was obnoxiously loud, smelled a bit like gas, and was pretty slow but flooring it in first to second turned me silly. It was also stupidly low, and the rear wheels had more negative camber than the front but that was a problem we could fix.
We handed over the money, wrote $1k on the bill of sale and title, and the deal was done. It was Justin’s first time nabbing a car like this so he was pretty stunned soaking in the moment. I took Justin around the block for a quick rip then chilled for a bit while calling my brother showing him the car.
It started to get late, and we started to get hungry. Justin recommended Tacos 1986 and we headed over for dinner. Overall pretty good food place, though it can get expensive fast.
Heading Home#
Satisfied with our dinner, we set off back home. It was looking like a 2 hour drive home and the car was running low so stopped by Costco for some gas and got ready to head down.
The ride home was uncomfortable. I had experience making some seriously long drives previously but this was particularly draining with the loud exhaust, slight smell of gas, one working speaker, and poor ride quality. My phone had died part way through the drive so I was relying on Justin in my Accord leading the way, though it was pretty simple once we were on the I-5.
Although tiring, the ride was sort of ethereal. Dusk faded to night as we drove past some familiar sites: the Kia dealership, Spectrum Center, etc. We finally made it home at around 10 PM and were ready to close the day out.
Aftermath#
Over the next few weeks, we started fixing up the car. We knocked out:
- Sagging bumper
- Missing bolts
- Rotate tires
- Oil change
The goal for the car is for it to be pretty functional going forward. The intent is to eventually take the Civic to the track but we are concerned about the reliability of it.
First Shakedown#
Justin was vacationing in Asia for some weeks and I decided to have some fun of my own by shaking the car down on Palomar Mountain. Ripping it up South Grade felt good. The gearing was just right and the power felt adequate. I reached the top and pulled into Palomar Mt. General Store to relax for a bit.
After some time, I hit East Grade downhill. It was a bit sketchy and the car didn’t really like the higher speed stuff. For my full experience checkout the video below:
After reaching the pull off point, I pulled in and made a rookie mistake by putting on the handbrake. It took maybe 10s for my brain to run again and I immediately put it down and put the car into gear. However, the damage was done. I got out of the car and the front right was smoke a bit. The DOT3 (I assume) fluid was for sure boiled up. I waited a bit and tried to give it a shot but the brakes were done.
After waiting for about an hour and a half and contemplating if I should call a tow, the car self bled itself just a little bit that 100% of the brake would enact ~25% of the braking force. I figured it would be good enough so I took off and limped it home using mainly engine braking to slow and brakes to stop.
Justin did eventually get back from Asia and over a weekend, we did the following to the car:
- Replace lugs
- Raise car ride height
- Reduce negative camber in the rear
- Bled and replaced brake fluid with DOT4 ATE200
A quick spin around the neighborhood and we confirmed it was good to go.
Second Shakedown#
After some time, I decided it would be good for a second shakedown at Palomar Mountain. This time I went with my brother who took his S2000. We figured out a couple of things.
- The Civc is realy, really slow. Full throttle in 2nd/3rd in the civic was about equivalent to an AP2 F22C 4th at 50% throttle.
- It needs new tires. Cornering speed is extremely slow and I even locked up going down East Grade. You can see it in one of the videos.
Planned Stuff#
With all of our experience with the car, we eventually want to do the following to the car to make it easier to work on and more reliable:
- Swap out the rear drum brakes for disks
- Swap front disks to something bigger (Mini cooper?)
- New tires (Kuhmo V730 👀)
- Shifter rebuild
As previously mentioned, the goal is eventually to take this to the track for some of the harder stuff. The car isn’t perfect, and likely never will be, but we will enjoy it as much as we can for now.