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As promised, some pics of my rear engined Civic

16K views 45 replies 34 participants last post by  ma70tt  
#1 ·
Hope its OK that I posted under the G1 section. Nothing else seemed fitting.

Its an '84 Civic powered by an C25A Acura Legend 2.5L V-6. The bodywork (front and rear bumpers, quater panel flares, fender flares, and rocker extensions) was hand built. A very interesting mix of parts were used during construction. '87 Corvette brakes all around, a Porsche 944 airbox, and 240Z rear suspension bits are some of the highlights, along with many more custom fabricated parts like lower rear control arms.

The car was constructed in the early 90s. It was featured in Sport Compact Car back in February of '94, and again in Turbo and Hi-Tech Performance in February of '97. Full documentation of the build comes with the car. Judging by some of the articles that were in the documentation, the builder toyed with the idea of a Whipplecharger at one point. Also in the binder were articles pertaining to the Ford Festiva/SHOgun, the Renault R-5 Turbo, and the Puegot 205 Turbo 16. All of which share the design of a pint sized hatchback with a big/powerful motor in the back.

There is a ton more to learn. In the next few days/weeks as I work my way through the paperwork I will post any other interesting and pertinent info. Also, I will see about scanning some of the dozens of pictures that document the build.

For now, here are a couple of current pictures;
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#6 ·
I am really excited to take delivery. I think I failed to mention that I have not done so yet. The previous owner and I agreed that I had 30 days to pay for the balance of the car. It would be close to impossible to get a loan, as the credit union would just look at it as a twenty year old Civic. Additionally, I do not want a car payment.

Blue_Raspberry said:
That is very creative. Whoever built that did one hell of job. She's very clean too.
I wish I had half the talent of the original builder. It has been garaged since the build, but it is really clean for a twenty year old car.

Kylefire5 said:
is it real lous and hot when driving?
It is very quiet inside. There is an insulated cover that goes over the engine. It was removed for the sake of pictures. A little early to say that it does or does not get hot, but I do not anticipate that being the case. In the engine bay pics you can see the heat insulation that lines the "enigine bay"

Cole Austin said:
Got any track times? that thing prob moves.
I recall seeing a quater mile time of 14. something. Not the quickest thing in the world. Its really built for cornering/road course use, not the drag strip. Like I mentioned in the first post, there is a lot of technical data on Whipplechargers in the documentation for the car. My guess is that one was considered to bring power levels up so that the car would keep up with Porsches on the straights as well as the corners.
The SHOGun was one of the main inspirations for the project.
 
#8 ·
Small correction. In my last post I said that the SHOgun was an inspiration for the car. I was incorrect. The receipts from the build date back to 1987. Two years before the Taurus SHO was released, and something like 6 years before the SHOgun.
 
#12 ·
Handling is excellent. When the car was completed in '92 it pulled 0.94g on a 100 ft skidpad on street tires. Tire technology has come such a long way in the last twelve years, that I would not be suprised it could get much closer to the magical 1g mark on modern rubber.

The builder of the car ran it at Pacific Raceway (used to be Seattle International) and Portland International Raceway, where he routinely outran Porsche's and the like in the twisty bits.

I will get my scanner running tonight and scan some of the pictures from the build also.

Just for the record, I am lurking around here quite frequently. Just trying to pic up tidbits of info when and where I can. Once I actually take delivery of the car, I will probably have some questions. My posting will increase correspondingly.
 
#16 ·
OMG thats a classic! i remember seeing that before. pls pls pls keep everything as it is. we have 1 86 crx and 2 88 HF 88 Si crx's and one 88 civic dx hatch ( rip i miss her ) i love the old school styling!
 
#17 ·
There are no plans for any major changes in appearance. As mentioned earlier, different wheels. This is to update the look a bit, and to make the car a little bit "mine" if you know what I mean. Other than that, I am kind of curious if there are any flush mount headlights from later models I could swap in in place of the sealed beams.

Any serious reconstructive surgery would be disgracing the car and the builder in my mind. He put five years of his life into it and a hell of a lot of thought. I may have felt a little different if it were not for the fact that I have been familiar with the car (and a huge admirer) since the early nineties when I saw it at a car show.

Powerplant-wise, I have some serious thoughts in mind. If my plans come to fruition, the whole G1 Legend community will benifit. I will keep everyone posted on that stuff as it progresses. I do not feel the least bit bad about adding power, as it looks as though the builder had plans to do so himself. Lots of info on Whipplechargers in the binder that contains the car's history.
 
#18 ·
i stil cant believe u got a big fat piece of history! that car is a gem! if only i had one i would put it in my living room n just completely stare at it! the work behind it is amazing. only a few builders can really make something like that.

wel thanks at least for keeping everything intact. panasport type rims perhaps ? u jst gota keep it old school pimpin
 
#20 ·
c25ahatch said:
Other than that, I am kind of curious if there are any flush mount headlights from later models I could swap in in place of the sealed beams.
E-Code aero headlamps DO exist for that year Civic, as I have seen them in performance upgrade articles from that time period. The hard part will be finding them - they were rare then, probably even rarer now. They were / are bolt-in plug and play units, using H4 bulbs. I would check with Jackson Racing for a start. If I remember correctly, it was Oscar Jackson that modified one, and it was written up in a magazine article (which I probably still have buried in my basement.)

Nice Hot Rod, by the way.
 
#21 ·
c25ahatch said:
I am kind of curious if there are any flush mount headlights from later models I could swap in in place of the sealed beams.
You have to drill out the headlight housing spotwelds to the front rad support, then you can bolt up the 86-87 headlight systems. The plugs are a bit different, but splicing the old plug in will make it all good.

You have no idea how good it is to see this car back in action. Seems the previous owner kept it all to himself.

Thanks for sharing!
 
#25 ·
So far it is great overall. It has a couple minor issues to be worked out. Nothing major though.

Performance is adequate for now. :D After I finish up the new motor for my other car I will be delving into this one. Once things are under way I will let everyone know. Being as the Legend/c25a-c27a aftermarket is rather soft I am going to have to develop some of the stuff I want. Anything I can come up with that will cross over to Legends I will be offering for sale to the community. I am getting a bit ahead of myself there, stay tuned for details in the coming months.

The original owner had a best 1/4 mile time of 14.9 @95 mph. I do not think he made many passes, and may not have given it all it had. I am confident that I can improve that mark by a few tenths. (an online calculator shows 14.5 at 95 mph given the 150ish hp/tq vs 2400 lb curb weight) Only time will tell. Looking forward to the local dragstrips opening up in the spring.

Handling is also quite good. I have not pushed it very hard yet. Again, I am eagerly anticipating the opening of the next auto-x/open track season. Truth be told I am so used to front engine/front drive cars that this will be a bit of a learning experience. With such a short wheelbase, rwd, and 60% of the weight in the back I imagine it may have some Porsche 911 like tendencies at the limit. Snap oversteer is not my favorite thing in the world. Especially in a car that has handmade one off bodywork.