Golden Era Hondas, but literally this time

[Gerarghini]

It's been a while since I first posted about my first car, the Integra, way back in 2015. Since then, and through sporadic updates, I feel like with my hiatus from GTP done, that I'd make a new thread showcasing what's been up with my cars since 2019.

Behold, my latest Integra : A 2001 Acura Integra GS-R DB8 4-door sedan in the super rare Titanium Metallic (YR525M):
Plus a random Supra in the background hehe

This is how the car looks today

The Integra 4 door sedans always looked weird to me when I was younger because, the JDM fronts at least when I had one, looked like a damn CD Accord Last year I was in the market for a GS-R Integra since I wanted to try out the classic, furious VTEC from the B-series engines. And just like the 1-year only 2003 Redondo Red Pearl RSX I had for a small while, this one was a 1-year only 2001 Titanium Metallic, only its even rarer because only the GS-R sedans had it.

When I got it, I'll admit I was blinded by getting the chance to get back into an Integra after 3 years of no biscuit, only to find out quickly after purchase that I bought one with a busted engine. Somehow, the previous owner conveniently forgot to mention the lack of thrust bearings in the engine block, meaning that, every time I disengaged the clutch, the pressure plate would physically move the whole crank against the block and drag it. It was toast and I had to spend roughly $2k to get a working B18C1 in there (involved getting a random B18C1 block off of OfferUp and trusting the seller's words that they just went with a B20(?))

Now, pros and cons now that it was working:

Pros:

• It's a unicorn of a GS-R. Grandma colored interior and exterior
• HAD the original engine and transmission, but the transmission, despite 243k miles, still works really well. It's been relatively well taken care of.
• No serious dings or dents. VIN matching panels all the way around.
• Almost completely stock; the interior is 1:1 at least, aside from the headunit.
• Somehow the driver's seat is in better condition than the passenger
• This car has been in California all its life; peeling back all the registration stickers revealed one with the year 2002.

Cons:

• Tires were undersized. I can never buy a car with good tires it seems. 185/55R15. They were brand new Toyo Extensas too.
• Obvious engine was trash on a car I paid $4500 for.
• Oversized radiator and non-GSR specific intake. Was also missing the OEM front strut bar.
• Trash headunit. Again, all the cars I have bought since the RS Integra have had terrible stereos. Even the damn SLX that no one knows about had an aftermarket head unit.
• AC doesn't work because a line had a leak in it. I've fixed it but it needs to be recharged and I'm not even sure if the A/C compressor works as it should. And because its reaching hotter way faster than I'd like, I'm gonna have to see if it works before the leather seats destroy me.
• Starter and distributor are non-original. Starter sounds like crap every time I fire it up and the distributor, the weakest part of these B-series engines, is made even weaker via a crappy aftermarket one that wont even accept an OE cap cause the sizing between the screws are different!
• Absolutely no history whatsoever. No maintenance records at all.

Plans? Well, if you remember the last thread I had with the Integra RS, at the end of the car's life I became somewhat enamored by old parts and anything discontinued. Regrettably, I got pretty far in modifying the RS with such old school classics such as an Unorthodox Racing Crank Pulley, AEM Underdrive Pulleys, DC Sports Direct Air Charger Intake, APC Strut bar, and MSD Sport Compact Ignition kit. I say regrettably because I idiotically sold the Integra as is with everything on it and now I can't find some of the parts I threw on it. SMH.

It's been about 7 months since I purchased the GS-R and my room is already full of period correct upgrades and modifications. For me, this car is my love letter to an era I didn't grow up in or enjoy, but the impact that the Sport Compact car made is/was profound. As cars get newer and packed full of electronics, you can get massive gains with just a tune and away you go. With these older cars, it kinda felt like you had to work for it, and, like a Miata, every little thing added up (except it didn't because its not like the ECU would've tuned for it ).

TLDR: Supercharger + Nitrous

More pics!

Here it is after I got finished throwing the engine back in and putting it back on all four. By this time I replaced the tires with my tried-and-true favs, the Yokohama Advan AD08Rs.

You can also see the weird paint mismatch going on with the rear door and quarter panel. I have a suspicion this car may've been repainted before considering, outside of the front bumper's rock chips and scrape marks, the paint is in pretty remarkable condition. Up next is the engine bay, taken rightafter.

I picked up the intake because I was worried that the original short ram it came with, one made for an LS, wouldn't pass. I picked up this GS-R specific AEM one for cheap and I'm probably gonna use it for smog only if it comes to it because of how dinged and damaged it is. Although the red is a nice contrast with the AEM dress up bits I got too, a discontinued spark plug cover and oil cap. You can also see the huge radiator, a crappy Megan Racing one that liked to leak no matter what I did, and the STR (Speed Trends Racing) power steering and clutch reservoir covers. Oh! And i managed to find an OE GS-R strut bar too.

Spoiler: Even more pics inside

Would you believe me if I said I bought an AEM intake on eBay for a random D-series Civic for like $200 only because I wanted the plate frame don't worry I resold the intake for $150, but whatever, I'll happily pay a little over knowing that I have an extremely rare plate frame.

 

[Gerarghini]

With my goals with this car, it was prudent that I had another car to drive while the Integra was under the knife. When I got the car, I was actually dailying a damn 1999 ACURA SLX, one of the rarest Acuras ever made:

Basically an Isuzu Trooper with ACURA badges on it, I was originally looking for a 7th gen Civic to make an Acura EL replica off of, but when this fine beast popped up on Facebook Marketplace for the delightful price of only $2k, I said say no more and blasted my way over to Victorville and picked it up. What's funny is that this is probably the most reliable car I've had in my possession because, for the 7k miles I put into it, I gave me no hiccups at all and performed everything I asked of it; only issue was its horrendous 12-15 mpg and its 22 gallon tank. I never filled it up once; I always ran with 10 gallons because seeing a receipt for $100 for gas on a car that barely reached 300 miles on a tank was atrocious.

However, this post isn't even about the SLX. We met too early; I would've loved to keep it, but it didn't make financial sense when, at the back of my mind, if anything ever gave out on it, thats an Isuzu part that will probably not exist anymore since they left the passenger car market in '09(?). So, before anything catastrophic happened to it (especially with its 4L60E), I unloaded it to the highest bidder and purchased this!

A 2001 Honda CR-V Special Edition in the exclusive Naples Gold Metallic (YR524):
Now do you see why this thread is titled the way it is? I literally have matching Gold Hondas from the 90s okay maybe it's off by one number but you get the point right?

To my surprise I was astounded to find you could still find some 1st gen Honda CR-Vs relatively cheaply, of course depending on the trim and features it came with. I opted and limited my search to the SE models in Naples Gold Metallic because I specifically wanted something to match my Integra. Because golden SLXs are probably all gone by now (I know I for sure is considering I saw one at the junkyard), and because I wanted something I knew how to work on, it seemed like a logical choice. Also, it doesn't hurt that I needed to balance the street life of an Integra with the "soft-roader" bod of the CR-V. You know, balanced, as all things should be.

Finding good CR-Vs for sale was actually pretty easy, plenty of them for sale and almost all of them could be had for under $5k. But finding a Gold SE was pretty tricky. In fact, scratch that, finding SEs was pretty hard because most people, I guess, just got the EX and said good enough. If you're curious, the difference between an EX and SE was kinda limited; the SE trim came with painted front and read bumpers, painted side mouldings, a hard spare tire cover as opposed to cloth, leather seats, chrome grill trim and a combined casette/CD player like an RSX Type-S. It was equipped with AWD but, unfortunately, could not be purchased in manual. I was looking for about a month before I managed to find a local running one for only $2k with only 203k miles. Considering the running gear on a CR-V could be purchased for cheap (sub $1000), I took it off the sellers hands only after confirming it had the CR-V table (it did). In fact, aside from missing the factory key fob for the factory keyless entry, the car was completely stock; absolutely no modifications had been made to it whatsoever.

Unfortunately, as is the case with most cars I've purchased, the transmission was about to go. This wouldn't've been a problem except, to my disappointment, you cannot use JDM CR-V transmissions on a USDM CR-V; there's a gear in the transmission thats off by a few teeth on the JDM one as opposed to a USDM one and the ECU throws a hissy fit and throws the CEL, meaning my plan to just swap the transmission went up in smoke. So, while slightly more expensive than I would've liked, a junkyard transmission with a warranty was obtained and now this CR-V makes for the perfect daily.

Pros:

• Completely stock.
• Gets way better mileage than my SLX did while being tiny compared to it. The SLX could barely fit in the garage.
• THE CD PLAYER WORKS. ON A 90s HONDA.
• The leather seats are in really good nick; previous owner had seat covers over them so I was prepared for the worst and came out ahead on this one.
• It's literally a lifted Integra which means I never have to worry about something breaking because I'll know how to fix it.

Cons:

• Transmission blew up
• No floor mats, which I'm making a point of because it appears these CR-Vs had a tendency to leak and pool in the driver's footwell, so I had to use some Civic floor mats I found at the junkyard until I could get CR-V ones.
• The price of accessories. Why did I have to pay $100 for CR-V floor mats????
• As always, the tires were damn near ready to blow out, with production codes of 2008.
• The rear glass hatch doesn't always close properly.
• Passenger side door lock actuator is broken. Doesn't matter though; I have no gf to worry about such frivolous things
• The A/C compressor doesn't turn on. I think there's a short somewhere because the system has pressure, but when I press the button nothing happens.
• I am missing the passenger seat tray.

Plans for this? Pfft. This is the daily. I had to talk myself out of getting big mud tires and lift spacers for this thing because I'm not yet ready to start modifying this yet, at least until the Integra reaches a point that I'm satisfied shelving it for a time being. The only things I've done so far to the CR-V was maintenance related items like tires, brakes, gaskets and the like. In the near future, the only things I see doing to it is getting a factory alarm system (some are available on eBay as of today) to replace the keyless entry system that is just missing. Maybe a JDi push start since this doesn't have an immobiliser like the Integra (which has like 8,000 different types of anti-theft on it because, well, y'know, it's an Integra). In fact the only thing I've spent money on that was, "extra," was front mud guards for it because, apparently, they didn't come factory like every other car on this earth. And freaks on eBay want $100 for them too??? Why are all the CR-V accessories, the ones on eBay at least, so damn expensive

 

[Gerarghini]

Low and behold, my bed full of OG parts that I've been slowly collecting over the past year, ready to end their 20+ year hibernation and find a home on my Integra. What a fate as we all know, the packaging is half the battle when it comes to collecting all these old parts and I've been pretty lucky with my purchases so far.

And just to show how serious I am, I even have a list of parts I have as well as what I still need to get. (off my google docs)

Spoiler: Parts List

So to that end, here's the beginnings of such tomfoolery.

Part 1: So no head(ers)?

My first order of business was fixing the ugly headers that adorned the front of the engine. This wouldn't really have been priority number 1, but the lack of a top header cover proved otherwise. I originally aimed to choose from the following brands:

• Comptech USA
• DC Sports
• Edelbrock/JG Edelbrock
• Greddy
• Holley Airmass

All of them were C.A.R.B. legal and all of which would've been period correct for my build (maybe not the standalone Edelbrock one but it was close enough). Some were GS-R specific (as in, 94-99 with the short collector) and some were everything else and 00-01 GS-R. As you can imagine, finding these parts was tricky, and I kept my eye out on eBay for them. Unfortunately, when one would pop up, it would either be gone before I woke up or be priced way above what I was comfortable paying. As I kept looking, I came across a particular seller who wound up having a decent collection of classic aftermarket Honda stuff. That's how I ended up with this:

It's hard to imagine a brand like Hooker Headers offering something for the import crowd considering I didn't even know these existed before I found them on eBay. You might say, "well, if Edelbrock and Holley offered headers, why is it so weird if Hooker does it?" And you'd be right. However, I spend quite a lot of time browsing the Wayback Machine and going through old import auto parts websites. Old sites like racewheel.com, eraceparts.com, nopi.com, and jdmhondaparts.com (before being JHPUSA.com). Issue being, those headers would pop up on some of the sites but never before had I seen Hooker Industries pop up for any reason on any of these sites. The epitome of a domestic brand, they normally offered headers (it's in the name 😐) for GMs, Fords, and Dodges. They still exist today, but now under the Holley brand of parts and, as expected, offer products exclusively for domestic cars.

Officially, these are the Hooker Import Performance Super Competition Headers for a 1994 to 1999 Acura Integra non-VTEC, part # 8174-1, with the 1 standing for being coated instead of raw. I opted to get these because the 2000 and 2001 Integra GS-Rs shared its exhaust manifold (dimensions anyways) with the regular Integra. The 94-99 Integra GS-Rs had shorter exhaust manifolds that ended right at the collector and needed a longer catalytic converter. I can only assume that, due to VTEC, Honda felt it needed a longer converter? With the switch to OBD2B in 2000, they streamlined the headers throughout the lineup (sans Type R), so using an LS one on a 2001 GS-R would fit with no issues. It also helps that it keeps the header from being hacked together so I can keep this in as original condition as possible.

The C.A.R.B. number attached to these, E.O. # D-164-8, is dated 21st of September of 1999 (but the proposed list attached to the document is from the 29th of March, 1999). As you can see by the following pic, mine is dated May of 2000. Either way, it's practically a 20th century part

What's interesting about the way domestic manufacturers do things, it is a bit unorthodox when they try and shove that 5.0 liter V8 mindset into a 1.8 liter four-banger. Why you may ask? Well, although the install was straightforward, the ease of install was painful. For example, the header came with a gasket. It did not fit 😐 wasn't even close. I bring this up because all anyone had to do at the factory was test the gasket against the exhaust manifold you are shipping out that is right next to you. Never mind the fact that the gasket wasn't even made out of metal and most definitely would've burned up the second the engine fired up. Next example; if you were to install the header against the head right away, you'll find out that the location of the top plates (the one showing the manufacturer and the C.A.R.B. E.O. #) actually prevents the nuts from even touching the studs. How in the hell did this get missed during testing??? It's almost like they never touched an Integra in real life to test it. You actually have to put the header on halfway and just enough to have some threads visible to clear the plates and screw the nuts on. And finally, the collector flange was just so ever slightly too thick to attach the spring bolts on to. With enough persuasion they do eventually screw on, but man, what a pain.

Here it is all installed in the engine bay peep the DC Sports Direct Air Charger intake, GS-R specific too! Maybe I'll make a post about that one soon. I've done quite a bit since February and I feel like I'm playing catch up with not posting for a month

 

[Gerarghini]

PART 3: (D)efine (C)ool (Sports).

So it's been a while since I updated this To be honest, half the reason is because I have it in my head that all upgrades or modifications to a certain category (like exhaust, suspension, etc.) should be complete before I do my show and tell. Alas, from now on, I think I'll just post as I feel Besides, even this build thread is supposed to be a call back to the days of honda-tech.com and team-integra.net forums and the constant bashing over topics that we know all the answers to today (gotta love the 10 page arguments over whether lightweight crank pulleys are harmful to an engine or dissecting a PCV system to its barest form).

Today's post covers a recent purchase I made. If you venture over to eBay and type in "Integra strut bar," you will find an endless stream of strut bars for this chassis. It's one of the easiest "mods" to do, especially on the cheap when you have no money to really play with. I remember being 17 and my first "upgrade" on my first Integra was a front strut bar. It wasn't a nice one, was like $30 off of eBay for some no name generic strut brace with flimsy brackets and metal thinner than soda cans. But it's the satisfaction factor you get, especially when it's your first time messing with cars.

Since my car didn't come with one, I first ventured out to find a stock GS-R one. However, once I did get one, the itch to get an aftermarket piece stayed and I knew I'd be replacing it very soon. Not with something like this though...

Trust me, I had the full eBay line-up on my first Integra. Felt real cool with the deleted rear seats and the C-pillar bar. Kill the game I said. How naïve I was.

I first started with an RE Works by APC Strut bar. I had this exact same one on my old RS Integra so it was nostalgic for me to come across it once again If you didn't know, APC (American Products Company) was one of the "pioneers" of the early import tuner scene... unfortunately. The Pep Boys special. See, APC parts were cheap in both aesthetics and value; these are one-half of who you wanna blame for all the "Altezza-style" tail lights you still see today. The other half lies with Mitsubishi and Toyota for even letting cars like the 3rd gen Eclipse and IS2/300 come out with such ugly tail lights APC as a company died in 2009 and I have a soft spot for them the same way someone has a guilty pleasure; the products they made were so bad yet were so prevalent in the industry that I felt it was only just that something APC be attached to this car. I decided, then, that this was it.

Problem? It didn't fit Okay, well, it technically does, like the holes and length all lined up and would work, but I faced an issue. My old RS did not have cruise control, so the cable that went atop of the driver's side strut did not exist. On this car, since it does have CC, the bar interfered with it in such a way that made me not really wanna try any further. Even if the cruise control does not work (yet), I didn't want to remove the module to get it to fit, so the APC bar, excuse me, RE Works by APC. I abandoned the venture and continued my search, eventually coming across one made by Neuspeed!

Neuspeed is mostly known these days for their wide array of aftermarket offerings for German brands Audi and Volkswagen. It's not rocket science but "Neu," stands for, well... new, in German. Mind-blowing information, I know. Anyways, they had been offering go-fast bits since their founding in 1975 for the aforementioned German brands, and, like many, offered these same bits on the import cars of the 90s and early 2000s.

But only Hondas. Least they covered damn near all of them.

At this point, I was still undecided what kind of strut bar I wanted, but seeing one of these pop up for cheap made me go ahead and give it a shot. It's supposedly the best aftermarket bar you can get given the way it ties the shock towers is pretty unique. Unfortunately, I didn't go far with it because the one I got was unpainted and needed to be restored. Simple enough, but I didn't feel like doing so when the stock OEM GS-R bar was pretty good. I wanted a bar that I could just throw on same day, and I couldn't quite do that with this one yet. I still have it, but maybe for another time.

I kept looking online, on the off chance that I would find the elusive Comptech front strut bar. You never really know what you have until it's gone, because in 2018, I actually owned one and was in the process of restoring it before I did a 180 and got myself an RSX and got rid of it. SMH my head. And now, since then, I haven't been able to find another one or even see one pop up here in SoCal. SMH my head again. Oh well. Regardless, during my search, I came across a great deal for these bad boys:

Obviously not from DC Sports themselves, but I found a seller on OfferUp selling both the front and rear strut bars for a very good price. Some bozo on eBay is trying to sell a set for $700!

Style over substance? Good enough for me to be honest. This isn't supposed to be a race car or anything anyways Front and Rear OG DC Sports strut bars. Would've been perfect had they been anodized and carried the original DC Sports logo that wasn't slanted, but, especially here, beggers can't be choosers. Real big fan of the ugly Comic Sans font too, this looks like a website that comes preloaded on any generic website builder

Here they are on the car itself. Peep the other engine mods that deserve their own post and please ignore the stained and ugly rear carpet, I am working on it.

One small problem with this rear bar though. Because the Integra sedan doesn't really benefit from extra bracing in the rear (as opposed to the coupe/hatch with the giant opening in the back), the Integra sedan does not have provisions/pass-thrus in the trunk side garnishes for the easy addition of a rear strut bar. Even the Type R variant of the sedan does not have a rear strut bar and, as a result, the rear trunk lining is exactly the same between all sedans. So to put the trim back in, I have to make holes in the ones I have in order for them to fit back in. But we'll cross that bridge later.

I can, however, let you know that I feel absolutely no difference between these bars and the stock one, so there's that, at least

*CR-V update soon, hopefully. TBH though, I haven't really done much to it; it's just been acting as my daily/2nd car. No funny business here except it loves to burn oil, as these usually do.