Keef's Car Thread | Wheels on the Bus | 09/08/23

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Keef

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United States
Dayton, OH
GTP_KeefRacer
GTP Keef
Latest post of the RX7, #875.


1991 Mazda RX7 GXL

Exterior:

Rolled and flared front fenders
Yellow vinyl fog lights
Custom flame broiled rear bumper
JDM speed-induced paint chipping

Interior:
Momo Monte Carlo 320mm steering wheel
Nifty matching shift boot
Ebay hub and hub extension
Memory Fab S68 bucket with Recaro mount

Suspension and Chassis:
Stance GR+ Pro coilovers (Super Sport rear dampers), 9k/7k spring rates
Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings
Racing Beat rear toe eliminators
Mazdatrix front strut tower brace with engine torque brace
Mazdaspeed hard rubber engine mounts
Mazdaspeed hard rubber transmission mounts
Custom-designed front subframe brace

Wheels and Brakes:
Enkei RPF1: 17x9 +22 all round (effectively +17 rear), painted Horizon Gray Metallic
Rear wheel spacers, 5mm
Buddy Club bronze aluminum lug nuts
Optional H7 package A: 4-piston front calipers and vented rear discs
Russell stainless steel brake lines

Engine/Engine Bay:
K&N panel filter (woot)
Racing Beat downpipe and presilencer
Custom stainless steel cat-back exhaust

Drivetrain:
Useless factory viscous limited-slip
Clutch works good so whatever
Custom mysterious clutch fluid leak






...






I've always wanted to make a thread about my car. Ever since Azuremen and Joey did it I've been totally jealous of them; they were like gods to me. I'm so excited!

Recently I pretty much decided I don't feel like buying a race kart. Mostly because none of my friends are into the idea at all, and it'd be tough to even play with the thing by myself. So now that I've got some money saved up from the past few months I've built a new interest in my car. That's really where my interest is--in hanging out with my buddies taking apart and putting together our cars, new parts, old parts, etc. Karting just doesn't feel like a hobby I'll ever get into.

So, now I guess I'll take a picture and words to sum up my 1999 Civic Si (EM1) and what I've done to it and what it's done to me over that last year or so. Long first post is long...

Way back in the fall of 2007 I lost the car that really got me into the scene. It was the first time I ever really worked on a car extensively in my own garage. It even took me to the Tail of the Dragon, which I've posted about before. It completely blew my mind, and I learned so much during my short year-long ownership of my 1996 Del Sol VTEC (EG2):

MyCar44.jpg


MyCar74.jpg


Bummer. After two long months of searching, I finally found what I wanted. It wasn't the greatest, it had a lot of miles, and it was overpriced, but damn it, I was scarred and I wanted what I wanted. So I bought it.

MyEM103.jpg


MyEM102.jpg


So I was happy that I had the same engine, the same transmission, the same this and that, but much more comfortable and practical. Sweet. over the year I did some things to it, but not much. In fact, my cousin gave me a Christmas gift right after I bought the thing:

MyEM108.jpg


A tidy little subwoofer to compliment the stereo that was already in it. It might not make the car go faster, but hey, it was free.

I plowed through the snow pretty well in it. One time I was going great through a foot of fresh snow, and I got stuck. In mud!

MyEM109-1.jpg


MyEM112.jpg


During the spring I blew a crappy Nokian tire in downtown Dayton:

MyEM114.jpg


MyEM116.jpg


MyEM118.jpg


I replaced the brakes with shiny blank discs from Brembo and Hawk HPS pads, I replaced the sway bar bushings (which didn't do much) and the shifter bushings (which didn't do much either), and I added these fancy braces to the chassis:

MYEM127.jpg


MyEM122.jpg


Those aluminum strut tower braces worked far better than I had ever expected. The car felt immediately more solid as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, with much less noise, flex, and man, when it hit a bump it hit a bump!

Eventually I got the autocross itch, and I ended up buying something that would allow me to have some fun.

MyEM139.jpg


DSCN1975-1.jpg


DSCN1978-1.jpg


Black 15x7 Enkei RPF1 rims with a +41mm offset wrapped with 205/50-15 Falken RT615 tires. I ran my first--and only, so far--autocross soon thereafter. I did well, it being my first experience at really thrashing my car without fear of hitting anything hard. I've got a lot of learning to do though.

Well that was fun and all for the rest of the summer, but soon enough it started dipping below 40 degrees every now and then. The Falkens became very slippery on the road in those temperatures. On one ~30 degree night I went to put the car away and drove it around the block. It felt like I was driving on squares, and when I parked it and knocked on the tires they felt like the hard plastic of my dashboard. Time for winter tires!

MyCar109.jpg


Since then I've had a baby...
























MyCar102.jpg


MyCar104.jpg


Yeah. That really put a damper on things. Since then I've been saving up for the kart I've now pretty much decided not to buy. So, now all I've got to do is see if I keep my job through the rest of the winter. If everything goes my way I might just start buying parts again. Until then I'll just let this thread wander it's way down to the bottom of the page. I may resurrect it to post about my upcoming trip to Detroit, and hopefully some parts and fixes and whatnot in the future.
 
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What a good story! For some reason I thought you had a blue Si. Weird...

What would you be thinking to replace it with? Surely some other kind of Honda? I really can't think of any kind of Civic I'd want other than what you have there, perhaps its awkward Acura cousin instead.

BTW: A meet-up of your Si, Joey's Cooper and my Celica would be epic. Just sayin'.
 
I'm not planning on replacing this thing anytime soon, that's for sure. I might try to find a very well-kept and low-mileage EM1, but I'd probably end up stepping up to an RSX Type-S. Of course, I know nothing about them, so I'd have some research to do.
 
I never read about the new rims you bought, did you post that in the GTPremium section? Just to say, they are absolutely adorable, some sweet kick-ass rims! 👍
 
Great story. Didn't remember reading about your Enkei's. 👍

My buddy is trying to get an Si of the same age, mainly because his dad is selling his El Camino. In fact, love the way this Si was so subtle, yet quite a capable performer when tinkered with.
 
Awesome thread, cool story to go along as well. May I ask what happened to your del sol? I don't remember reading what happened to it. This thread makes me want to make a thread about my Police Interceptor as well, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be as exciting as the other car threads.
 
I'm kind of far away, but I need to come too so I can run circles around all of you. :D

EDIT: Your car needs lowering asap.

You guys are just lucky I leave so damn far away. Else I'd pwn on you with superior handling and curb weight :sly:

Nice write up Keef. Drop the car an inch and do what else you can get away with in STS. You are lucky in that you can do that, my car is banned from STS, I get SP or SM2... :(
 
Excellent Civic; I haven't seen an Si that nice since middle school!

It's all... put together. I didn't know they were made like that. There must be some hint of rice somewhere...
 
EDIT: Your car needs lowering asap.
Everyone around here calls it the CRV.

Nice write up Keef. Drop the car an inch and do what else you can get away with in STS. You are lucky in that you can do that, my car is banned from STS, I get SP or SM2... :(
I'd love to build the thing for SM2, even if it wouldn't be very competitive. At least it'd be a baller street/race car.

Sum up: idiot tourist, PT Cruiser rental, not Keef's fault.
Correct! It was so unfortunate. I had taken that day off work with my cousin and I was on my way to pick up new ey glasses. Totally a waste. Had some great times in there.

It's all... put together. I didn't know they were made like that. There must be some hint of rice somewhere...
I try to be the anti-rice, but Perfect Balance sometimes disagrees. The closest I come is the stereo and free subwoofer. Hey, I mean, the quality of what was already in there is fantastic. Gotta have something to listen to because that stock uxhaust just whispers. I plan on fixing that with a straight axle-back soon...:drool:
 
It's all... put together.
That's because all it has done to it visually is a set of Enkei wheels. (Mine are lower offset Keef! I got's mad tyte wider stance! )

I try to be the anti-rice, but Perfect Balance sometimes disagrees.
Not so much rice, but you spend more than you need to. You payed 40 bucks for a set of Password JDM shifter bushings, when Energy Suspension makes a set for 15 bucks, and it didn't fix your sloppy shifter. Which I told you it wouldn't because I went through the same thing. I also went ahead and bought myself a short shifter, which did fix the sloppy shifter, and I still payed less than you did.

I'll bring some K20 to the party. :D
I guess I'll have to make my circles a little bigger to fit all of you inside...

:sly:


Oh by the way Keef, I'm getting a disk brake convesion for the rear and an upgrade for the front for free. Woot for my friendly friends.👍
 
Don't worry, you won't be having to go around me. I'll be circling you. :mischievous:

:lol:

You all still have FWD. So you won't be doing any mad tyte drifts, yo. And you all weigh a good 500 pounds more than me. So I'll just be like "oh yeah" and out stop and turn you all!
 
Don't worry, you won't be having to go around me. I'll be circling you. :mischievous:
Not with your stock Civic you won't! :mischievous:


EDIT:
Azuremen
You all still have FWD. So you won't be doing any mad tyte drifts, yo. And you all weigh a good 500 pounds more than me. So I'll just be like "oh yeah" and out stop and turn you all!


Your car: 2195lb Curb Weight
My car: 2222lb Curb Weight


Not 500lb. Also, mine has manual mirrors, manual doors, manual windows, no cruise control, no ABS, and the entire A/C system removed. Along with a aluminum coilover suspension and 9lb wheels.

I'd be willing to bet my car is lighter.

Even then, you'd still destroy us, but oh well. Your car didn't cost $2,900.
 
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Your car: 2195lb Curb Weight
My car: 2222lb Curb Weight


Not 500lb.

I think thats a shot at Joey and I...

Celica GT: 2755 lbs
Cooper: 2546 lbs

Hot damn my car weighs a ton. Thank God for the Camry power!
 
Holy crap! Really? I didn't think your generation of Civic was anywhere near that. Hmmm, well, I guess that makes me the fat bastard of the group.

I feel so special being JDM Tyte.
 
Cruise control, A/C, extra bracing underneath the rear window that you don't have, and the chassis as a whole is almost a foot longer than yours. Plus the Si has bigger, heavier stock wheels and tires and heavier front brakes. Even the front wheel bearings are bigger and heavier. Then you've got the larger front sway bar and the rear bar and hardware that the lesser models don't have. It all adds up.

Thank goodness I'm light.

EDIT: My Del Sol weighed in the mid-2500s somewhere, thanks to a lot of steel needed to reinforce (poorly at that) the floppy frame you get when you chop the roof off an already economy-engineered Civic. Honda went and gave the best hardware of the EG generation to the worst platform of all of them.
 
Cruise control, A/C, extra bracing underneath the rear window that you don't have, and the chassis as a whole is almost a foot longer than yours. Plus the Si has bigger, heavier stock wheels and tires and heavier front brakes. Even the front wheel bearings are bigger and heavier. Then you've got the larger front sway bar and the rear bar and hardware that the lesser models don't have. It all adds up.

Thank goodness I'm light.

EDIT: My Del Sol weighed in the mid-2500s somewhere, thanks to a lot of steel needed to reinforce (poorly at that) the floppy frame you get when you chop the roof off an already economy-engineered Civic. Honda went and gave the best hardware of the EG generation to the worst platform of all of them.
I forgot about the engine too, IIRC it weighs somewhere around 100lb more than a d series.
 
I wouldn't call it 100 pounds, but it certainly would be heavier because of the larger head with all its extra mechanicals. The blocks themselves only differ by around 5 pounds. I'm not sure how much heavier the transmission is, but it's meant for much more powerful engines so I'm sure there's a difference.

I still feel it's decently light though, considering the new cars weigh over 2800 pounds. And they've got to handle that extra weight and worse distribution with a lesser suspension design. Double wishbones FTW.
 
I am a god to you, be sure an bow :lol:. Great story though, I love reading about other people's cars. It's always nice to see the evolution of something and how people go about changing things the way they want to.

BTW: A meet-up of your Si, Joey's Cooper and my Celica would be epic. Just sayin'.

Summer isn't that far away. We should plan a meet somewhere obtainable in a weekend since my job won't let me have time off for anything. Dayton is what in the middle of Ohio? Probably somewhere like Blowing Green would be a decently central location, although I haven't the foggiest idea what's in Blowing Green, OH. Also since Brad and I have Michigan plates we are like shinning beacons of prey for the Ohio Highway Patrol so we can't really do anything cheeky and get away with it.

I'm kind of far away, but I need to come too so I can run circles around all of you. :D

I'd hope so, my car really isn't modified in anyway other then some new tires. If M7 ever gets around to making components for the non-S Cooper I'll do some suspension work to my car, but for the time being it's just going to ride mostly stock.

I think thats a shot at Joey and I...

Celica GT: 2755 lbs
Cooper: 2546 lbs

Hot damn my car weighs a ton. Thank God for the Camry power!

No your car weighs almost a ton and a half :P. My car is still fairly light all things considered though, I mean it has 6 airbags and pedestrian absorbing bumpers. Not to mention traction and stability control and whatever else the Germans thought the car needed...those crafty krauts.
 
Summer isn't that far away. We should plan a meet somewhere obtainable in a weekend since my job won't let me have time off for anything. Dayton is what in the middle of Ohio? Probably somewhere like Blowing Green would be a decently central location, although I haven't the foggiest idea what's in Blowing Green, OH. Also since Brad and I have Michigan plates we are like shinning beacons of prey for the Ohio Highway Patrol so we can't really do anything cheeky and get away with it.
Lmao! It's Bowling Green! There's the university and not much else. I'm surprised the place hasn't gotten bigger being that close to I-75 and Toledo.
 
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