1986 Honda Civic - Kanjo racer ZC1 DOHC N/A build

[shyam]

So, the time has come for me to finally pull my finger out and write up a build thread.

This is my first time doing one of these so forgive me if not great to read. I've planned on doing this for cars I've owned before but just never found the time to transfer pics, organize them and then tell the eventual story of the build -  it's harder than building the bloody car itself !

First thing's first, criticism and advise is always welcome on my threads - I'm no professional, I usually only work on cars as a hobby in my free time (which isn't much). I have dabbled in bits of everything, from basic services to engine swaps, auto to manual swaps, turbo upgrades etc.  This year, I have decided to invest in a welder and start learning how to weld/carry out bodywork following the kind advise you guys gave me on another thread. (https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/204086/bodywork-treating-grinding-prepping-information)

This is my Honda Civic which i was fortunate enough to find here on RetroRides.









Yup, not very pretty to look at.  In all honesty, I never intended much with this other than to run it into the ground whilst I was building my Starlet Glanza.

Long story short, I some how fell in love with it.  I don't know how it happened but damn, it's seductive to drive. I never thought a 50bhp motor would make me feel the things this thing did... wow I sound so corny hahah. Also big bonus for leg space, used to get aches from driving the Glanza !


So, I ended up getting rid of the Startlet Glanza and focused my efforts on this.  However, I was going through house move and then setting up my garage to allow me to work on cars, allbeit with cheap , second hand tools,  I had to save some pennys somewhere !!


Unfortunately, a woman went into the side of me on a roundabout! When i pulled into a side road to swap details, she failed to turn right and carried straight on!.. It was dark, rush hour, pouring it down with rain and she had escaped in front of 10 odd cars before I had chance to spin around and catch up to her. The deed was done. I suppose insurance company would have written it off anyway...




I was pretty devastated.  But after some reading, I did the 'door shut' test and the hinges and door were still closing perfectly, no knocking noises and upon further inspection, there was no structural damage at all. So i found a rope, hammer, block of wood, crowbar and whatever else and started pulling/beating/pushing it out.. Here's the result




It's not perfect but atleast it didn't look like it was going to fall apart anymore. lol


Anyway, few months back(much later than I hoped), I took her off road and started stripping it down.. quiet terrifying after seeing what other owners have found lurking under theirs...planned to learn how to weld on it and it could have been game over before it even started !!

Here's what I found..
































































Couldn't believe my luck tbh, it's pretty damn solid for the best part.  Only had one patch of previous welding on RHS sill end and that's it.  Looks as though it's going to need some welding on rear quartz, sill ends, and bit on floor pan

So with that done, and some motivation behind me I cracked on with pulling the engine out and preparing the new bay...




I've so much more to update! But this will be a good enough start..  Be back with more soon.   

[mat88]

Slightly obscure car choice.. check
J... Check
Slightly crusty.... Check
Talk of home done repairs with a crowbar.. check

Bookmarked haha

[grizz]

Yup.


I really like the car choice too.

Funny how cars can grow on you.

And well done for getting on with it.

Subscribed.



PS. Writing up and documenting takes time, but it is a great record to look back at, and also teaches others.

[shyam]

Aug 24, 2020 15:13:36 GMT mat88 said:

Slightly obscure car choice.. check
J... Check
Slightly crusty.... Check
Talk of home done repairs with a crowbar.. check

Bookmarked haha

haha nice one man...

using tools for purposes other than what they were designed for.... check.  Yup you'll be seeing lots of that here. Stay tuned.

Aug 24, 2020 15:27:24 GMT grizz said:

Yup.


I really like the car choice too.

Funny how cars can grow on you.

And well done for getting on with it.

Subscribed.



PS. Writing up and documenting takes time, but it is a great record to look back at, and also teaches others.

Yup, it's a funny one ain't it... not always about big power or the finest luxuries. Some people think all cars can 'drive' but there is a certain eloquence and refinement that makes driving from A to B just feel a whole lot different to anything else....

haha thanks Grizz, my dyslexia doesn't help but gotta try now.

[grizz]

Aug 24, 2020 15:57:41 GMT shyam said:

Aug 24, 2020 15:13:36 GMT mat88 said:

Slightly obscure

Yup, it's a funny one ain't it... not always about big power or the finest luxuries. Some people think all cars can 'drive' but there is a certain eloquence and refinement that makes driving from A to B just feel a whole lot different to anything else....

haha thanks Grizz, my dyslexia doesn't help but gotta try now.

Screw the Dyslexia, don’t let it get in the way of a great story.


Just to reiterate, I have driven 700bhp in a way that would go to jail on public roads, yet I can honestly say my 1.4 Berlingo, Prozac outdid it on pure fun and driving enjoyment.

So I get your 50bhp

[shyam]

One of the first things I noticed is was the damage on front where the lady hit me on that roundabout...

I thought about how I could push it out uniformly so that the crease comes out as a whole, rather than banging it out with a hammer and creating lots of new 'creases'.

Then, i spotted the scissor jack in the corner of my eye and had one of those 'light bulb' moments....



I placed the scissor jack against the chassis rail and used a block of wood(if we can call it that) to cushion the chassis rail from any damage.



Still worried about bending the chassis rail, I opened the scissor jack out slowly and gently....










I repeated this a few times in a few different places...

RESULT:




I was pretty chuffed with that! It was fully straight and all the holes lined up again... Luckily (well not luckily), a fellow member was scrapping his 3G Civic due to excessive rust. So I managed to get  an offcut, which I'm planning on templating down and welding in at some point....

[shyam]

On to the bay... so I poked around hard and couldn't find any proper rust, so with that I pulled out the grinder and started skimming all the surface rust around the bay away.

Well not quiet, I worked on it, section by section as some members advised to break down the work to make it easier..







Once off, I treated those areas with rust inhibitor (Rustlins from Toolstation) and then sealed those areas with 'U-Pol B Fiber Glass Bridging Compound'. This is pretty much how it went down... (please excuse lack of pictures between each process, I kept forgetting to take them lol)












And the other side...












Not the smoothest finish, but that will be fixed with little skin of body filler to level everything off...

Quick washdown...

[shyam]

Same around boot, but this time, i stopped using Rustlins Rust Inhibitor, and used 'Bilt & Hamber Deox Gel'..recommended by a friend..

[shyam]

Onto some welding (hopefully be up to the standards of those who tried helping me before!)

Even though it's an old rusty Civic, I still felt the need for some good practice before getting stuck into it..

Luckily, my mate needed his van welding for MOT...perfect timing...












Nothing like jumping straight into the deep end ! 















Pretty much same story on the otherside too....  Got it prepped and ready for paint now but still need snap some pics.

[79cord]

Looks like you'll be attacking the Civic just in time, before it gets too overwhelming.
Good you discovered it's enthusiastic character, power numbers are easy to look up & point to but passion is harder to define & find, & power isn't a necessity for it.
Good the ZC/D16 DOHC is a passionate & enthusiastic revver to go with it!
Definitely a tight fit in the early CR-X, but Honda did throw all the options at mine to challenge themselves..

[shyam]

Aug 25, 2020 11:06:38 GMT 79cord said:

Looks like you'll be attacking the Civic just in time, before it gets too overwhelming.
Good you discovered it's enthusiastic character, power numbers are easy to look up & point to but passion is harder to define & find, & power isn't a necessity for it.
Good the ZC/D16 DOHC is a passionate & enthusiastic revver to go with it!
Definitely a tight fit in the early CR-X, but Honda did throw all the options at mine to challenge themselves..

Hey 79cord, thank for encouraging words... that's a tidy looking bay but tight like you say !  I'm an absolute sucker for black CRX's ! Yes, I was close to starting my K20 EG project but I'm glad I chose this first as there would have been a much bigger task in hand..

Thanks for reminding me that I haven't even told you gents about my plans!! .. (perhaps should have done this on the first post but oh well haha)

[shyam]

So before going back to the build... I've just realized I haven't even discussed what I have in mind for the build (Thanks 79cord)..

ENGINE:

I did consider a B or K series swap first, but one of the fundamental strengths of this vehicle is the way it handles. I didn't want to compromise that by planting a much heavier engine and making it nose heavy. So, after some long searching for the right engine, I came across this little number which has only done 86k miles !











It's an early, non-vtec, DOHC ZC1 engine, essentially a D series but DOHC. (A forgotten hero which can be compared to 4A-GE Sprinter engines) This is a JDM spec engine, found in early Civic Si's, early CRX's and Integras. In UK, we got the D16A1 but there are some differences. The kind gentleman who sold me the engine also supplied it with a later 'CRX' manifold which should take it up to around 130 bhp stock and ported head (another 10-15 bhp). In a car that has a dry weight of around 650kg, this is good power, but I'm a greedy curse word. So I'm currently speaking to 'Bad Guys Worldwide' about having some stage 4 competition cam gear and camshafts made up. I'm also looking for some high compression pistons which struggling to find atm so if you guys know anyone that still manufacturing bits for these engines, please let me know !

CHASSIS:

So, good job I like this car otherwise would have gave up searching for parts ages ago ! Fortunately, I've been in touch with GAZ coilovers who are happy to build me a set of coilovers which will also accommodate the torsion bar.

Also want to upgrade all the old tired bushes to polymer ones... Unfortunately, I can't buy these off the shelf anymore so I had to search long and hard until I found a set for sale in Japan (old stock).







I've also scored some second hand rear 'Cheddas Autos' camber plates which will give me around 3 degree Camber.  I'm still on the search for some to use on front however..











EXTERIOR:

So someone kindly donated these to my build....













I'd like to rivet them on and then blend them into the body work ...

Since I had to do some shopping in Japan, I've also ordered a 'Doobie' splitter on the way...




And I recently took delivery of a 4G Osaka style big wang that I plan on adapting to fit to my 3G....



So I'm a fan of the Kanjo racing culture. I think it's somewhat special that Kanjo racers used to meet in all types of vehicles and over many years of racing, there was only 1 real favorite left : poverty spec (windy windows + no sunroof) Honda Civic's.

Also a fan of the Motul Civic race car livery, it's just ozzes with 80s coolness. And even better after reading about the achievements in JTCC ..see link here Civic Si Motul Race Car

So I've decided to go with the Motul Livery but with a KANJO spin off...

Wanting the finished article to look something like this....







But where it says 'Motul', I plan on it saying 'Topgun', and similar etc etc.... then I plan on blowing some sparkle into them colors to give it even more uniqueness....

Obviously there are more upgrades to consider, i.e better brake set up, bracing, cage. etc etc but these are things I've put in place so far..

[shyam]

So after a couple week on my mates van (after work and when it weren't raining)... i started back on the Civic...

I removed the rear window to find this...



pulled out the grinder to dig further...




and further..





There was still some pitting and since it's the first time doing it on a vehicle I actually care about, I wanted to set myself the standard and that meant ZERO rust, so i grind even further..
 



Not happy with what remained, I decided on swapping over to cutting discs...(recommend a dremel kit for those tighter areas)



And then created a template from cardboard and then cut out a matching piece from 0.9mm mild steel..



And then I proceeded with the welder..




Unfortunately, I started running out of gas which is why you can see the 'black' where it hasn't shielded properly.  All that welding on the van been intense on the gas!
Oh well, life goes on.... let's pull the grinder out and see how strong the weld is..








All the way through...So with that I proceeded with a skin of Glass fiber bridging compound (to seal the weld) and the body filler to level everything off smoothly...










One thing to note is that it was more difficult to achieve a flush flat weld compared to when I was working on van.  I imagine this is down to the thinner cross section when welding on the Civic which encourages warping.  I did try to reduce this with a air line.. might try a damp cool cloth next time...

Anyway, just as I was gaining momentum again, my missis just picked up a early gen 1 mx-5 which will need getting ready for it's MOT...so work on Civic will be put on hold for a bit..

[86honda3g]

Hey man,

I absolutely love the car. I actually bought an 86 civic hatchback 5 speed and i am in love with it. I kinda found it in a ghost town and it had only 72k miles on it. I did a lot of cosmetic work to it. I put in a pioneer carplay radio, mirror tints all around, replica spoon wheels and a mustang grabber blue paint job. Like yo said its only about 50bhp but its so fun to drive. Especially after putting bigger tires then the OEM ones. 

As you can tell i am speaking of my honda as if it is dead. Sadly its in a coma i guess haha.  I was at stop sign one day and i put it into first, eased of the clutch and then *glass shatter noise*

My car was muffler deleted so it was already "loud", but now its loud but sounds deeper. the rpms bounce up and back down at idle and the engine feels like 10bhp. If theres a hill, the car barely makes it up.

It seems like youre pretty knowledgeful in the mechanical aspect. Do you know what can be causing my rough idle, low power and white smoke from exhaust?

Ive cut the CAT off to ensure a clogged CAT is not the issue.

Thanks for your time ))

[twincammy]

great work,
i had the ZC1 CRX over 15 yrs ago and it really could shift. 125hp standard, mines made 132hp on the RR with a manifold and stainless exhaust when it was 18yrs old. they love to rev too!

[shyam]

Nov 10, 2021 23:40:31 GMT 86honda3g said:

Hey man,

I absolutely love the car. I actually bought an 86 civic hatchback 5 speed and i am in love with it. I kinda found it in a ghost town and it had only 72k miles on it. I did a lot of cosmetic work to it. I put in a pioneer carplay radio, mirror tints all around, replica spoon wheels and a mustang grabber blue paint job. Like yo said its only about 50bhp but its so fun to drive. Especially after putting bigger tires then the OEM ones. 

As you can tell i am speaking of my honda as if it is dead. Sadly its in a coma i guess haha.  I was at stop sign one day and i put it into first, eased of the clutch and then *glass shatter noise*

My car was muffler deleted so it was already "loud", but now its loud but sounds deeper. the rpms bounce up and back down at idle and the engine feels like 10bhp. If theres a hill, the car barely makes it up.

It seems like youre pretty knowledgeful in the mechanical aspect. Do you know what can be causing my rough idle, low power and white smoke from exhaust?

Ive cut the CAT off to ensure a clogged CAT is not the issue.

Thanks for your time ))

Apologies for late response, not been online much and life has taken over !..


The 'glass shattering' noise definitely sounds suspect, perhaps done some internal damage but these engines are pretty bulletproof.

Anyway, theres a spare engine sat at my residence, if you can collect its yours for free. Was running when removed 

Or if you'd like a bit more power, I've got a 1.5 engine, with longer manifold so straight swap.  £100.00 collected on that one.

[shyam]

Apologies for lack of updates people, life has gotten in the way !  Plan to start work on it again within next week or 2...

Had a few exciting arrivals in the meantime...



Safety Devices Roll Cage with all options .. 










Also a Summit Technologies Raptor kit for interior loom and ancillaries.  (wireless steering wheel panel and control panel). 

Had a few more bits arrive but those perhaps the most exciting !


Would be great if anyone can help me source the following items so I can get engine off to my builder... I'm searching for ZC1 adjustable cam gear and oversized pistons please...

[Woofwoof]

Bookmarked. 

[twincammy]

not sure if youre aware of this but

www.redpepperracing.com/forums/index.php?s=0aca995bc93c60e73b1c48a2e59e6963&showforum=32

was the 3g bible bitd, and also

honda-tech.com/forums/

and

board.hondacrx.co.uk/phpbb2/index.php

has a specific forum for mk1 crx/3g civic