98 Civic EX K20 Swap Thread - Project Track-ho - Page 8 - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

TayloMade07 · 09-10-2007, 12:20 PM

im looking into those PIC coils as well... are they fine for the street set up? and did you get the 8 way dampening ones or just the adjustable ones? i think there called the apex?

kommon_sense · 09-10-2007, 01:08 PM

I thought that you were going to buy my konis

There are 2 PIC product lines. The PIC Selects, and the PIC Apex's. The Selects are adjustable. The Apexes are not. Coilovers are fine for street use, it is all about what spring rate you get. I'm running 10k/8k and love them. Very smooth and compliant. Any stiffer and your car would likely skate on the street whenever it hit a bad bump.

If someone is more concerned with comfort over performance and just want coilovers to drop their car, then I'd recommend going with a softer rate like 8k/6k. And save a few bucks by getting the Apexes instead of the Selects.

Since I'm building this car to have fun on a road course, I wanted the stiffest rate that I could get and still be tolerable on a long drive to a track (i.e. 6+hrs).

www.picperformance.com

BlackBob · 09-10-2007, 01:52 PM

Nice man,
I can only hope that my V6 swap for my MR2 goes anywhere NEAR as smoothly.

kommon_sense · 10-24-2007, 06:49 PM

Some overdue updates. I got busy preparing for the Synergy Racing Fall Fling event @ VIR in Oct. Had a great time. Have a few good pics to show from that as well.

Time for some new track shoes. They aren't pretty, but they are great for track and a lot easier on the wallet than other options.

A set of rota 15x7" 40mm offset wheels.

Some 205/50/15 Falken Azenis/RT615

A budy made some new mounting brackets for my skunk2 front strut tower bar. Notice the change in the bracket. This new bracket moves the bar further back towards the firewall. If you use the hasport ekk2 mount kits, the bar/bracket hits the valve cover.

Had about 1k miles on the motor at this point. So with the new valve springs, it was time for a valve adjustment.

This valve adjustment tool is a must have with a k-series head. I paid about $20 for it on amazon.com . Several valves were a little loose, but all within spec. I like to adjust them to the tighter side of the spec. There is a new chain guide for the '07 civic si. I forgot to order it to replace my current chain guide. I'll have to do that next time I adjust the valves which should be soon, now that it has had some real punishment placed on it.

kommon_sense · 10-24-2007, 07:05 PM

So, car is together. Time to get it aligned and on the scales.

I did the basic corner weighting in my garage. The method is *VERY* simple.

0. Disconnect front and rear sway bar endlinks
1. Measure droop on wheels. Droop is how much it hangs. Jack up one end, measure to make sure both wheels hang the same. Adjust so that they are the same. Do this for front and rear.
2. Jack up front of car. Put jack in the middle
3. See which tire lifts off the ground first.
4. Adjust/Lengthen coilover on the *opposite* corner of the car. So if LF lifts, adjust RR.
5. Drive car around the block and park it. Go back to step #2.

I did this method on both the front and rear of the car until I got it as close as I could get it. When I got it on the scales, the guy was shocked. My corner weights came out to this :

LF 765 RF 775
LR 471 RR 485

So that makes my crossweights 1250 and 1246. Only off by 4lbs

And I did it in my garage with a floor jack and a tape measure.

So next step was to get an alignment. I ended up with the following :

Front Camber : -1.75
Front Toe : 1/16" toe out
Rear Camber : -1
Rear Toe : 0

Here is what was left of my b-day cake. A friend who makes custom cakes made me one like a race tire

I cracked my last helmet at an indoor karting track. So never take your good stuff to a crap track!!! Had a Bell sport 3. I bought the newer Bell M4. It has a wider eyeport which really improved my visibility and breathing. My old helmet felt stuffy.

A friend gave me a set of piloti driving shoes a while back for being in his wedding. Gotta, say these are actually kinda nice.

If you don't have a cage/harness, then you've gotta get a CG-Lock. This thing is great. About $40 and 80% the holding power of a harness. I never had to adjust my belt or seating position a single time while on track. This is not a safety device. It just keeps your butt in the seat so you can focus on driving.

instant_classic · 10-25-2007, 06:16 PM

this thread is awesome, great deatiled info, thank you for sharing this experience with all of us and congradulations on a successful swap, sounds like everything is turning out nicely!

kommon_sense · 10-26-2007, 08:25 AM

Thanks man. It was a lot of work, but the payoff @ VIR was more than worth it. I'll post up a few pics from the event.

dom yo · 10-26-2007, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kommon_sense

Thanks man. It was a lot of work, but the payoff @ VIR was more than worth it. I'll post up a few pics from the event.

aww man your shit is so awesome
you should have said something about going to VIR!! maybe you did and i didnt see it

i would have gone if i knew you were going to be there, VIR is pretty sweet and plus id love to see your car in person, so the K is running good in it now right?

kommon_sense · 10-26-2007, 10:47 AM

I was originally planning for Road Atlanta, but they moved their date and it didn't work for me or my buddy that I do events with. So we ended up @ VIR. We will probably be back out there beginning of next year.

The car drove great. At the end of one session a guy driving a viper walked up to me and said this :

"You taught me a lesson in dignity. I thought I was driving fast, but then there is this civic in front of me that I just can't get around and you kept pulling away from me in the corners. I was recording my session and I'm gonna have to throw that tape out. I can't show anybody that!"

Other cars that got passed : Atom, Ferrari, several Porsches, Vipers, etc...

My only problem was braking. I just didn't have enough to stop the car effectively, so my next installment will show my solution to that

I ended up with a check engine light later in the day. Turned out to be my primary o2 sensor. I haven't investigated it yet. I might just have a damaged wire. I spent so much time under the car during the build, that its nice to not have to wrench on it for a while. But I need to get this fixed soon because its nearly time to get inspected.

dom yo · 10-26-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kommon_sense

I was originally planning for Road Atlanta, but they moved their date and it didn't work for me or my buddy that I do events with. So we ended up @ VIR. We will probably be back out there beginning of next year.

The car drove great. At the end of one session a guy driving a viper walked up to me and said this :

"You taught me a lesson in dignity. I thought I was driving fast, but then there is this civic in front of me that I just can't get around and you kept pulling away from me in the corners. I was recording my session and I'm gonna have to throw that tape out. I can't show anybody that!"

Other cars that got passed : Atom, Ferrari, several Porsches, Vipers, etc...

My only problem was braking. I just didn't have enough to stop the car effectively, so my next installment will show my solution to that

thats awesome! damn i bet that was fun
its a shame you cant get a copy of that tape hahaha
definitly let me know the next time you're heading to VIR i'd love to go

what are you planning on doing to help the braking problem

kommon_sense · 10-31-2007, 10:17 PM

Finally uploaded some pics from the event. The event was sponsored by Synergy Racing which is a Porsche race team, so there were some true dedicated race cars out there...

FYI, that is a 15" brake rotor. lol

Turns 2/3 - A lot of people spin coming through here.

The twins... Not terribly fast...

First time that I'd ever seen one of these in person. And yes, I did pass it

I also almost ate it going into Turn 1 because his brakes are way better than mine

Me and my buddy. We had a little bet. Whoever was the slowest car had to buy hot wings. He got me this weekend, but his big brake kit and race compound rubber helped him out... I've got something for him next time

instant_classic · 11-01-2007, 05:40 AM

Those pics are awesome! Race day is always so exhilarating, the few times I've dabbled in autocross it was always great. Someday, I'd like to get into some road racing and have a dedicated track car, but that will come with time.

The atom is a sweet ride though! I was watching some 5th gear when Jeremy Clarkson took the wheel of one and he said the car pulled so hard and was the most intense ride he's ever driven. If you do a youtube search, I'm sure you'll be able to find the clip. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the engine in the Atom is a supercharged Civic Si engine making about 280 hp? Like I said, I could be wrong here, I'm just going from memory.

Anyway, thanks for the upload man, your ride is awesome!