Motor Sports...Kind of

[andyman97]

So, back in 2001, I bought my first brand new car with the intent of modifying it and making it really fast. At the time, I didn't know a whole lot about engines or how to make a car faster but I wanted to learn. So I bought a 2002 Honda Civic Coupe and started modifying it.

I bolted a basic turbocharge onto it and did some other minor upgrades. By the spring of 2008, I finished the car and started showing it at car shows. I rebuilt the engine with forged internals, revamped the fuel system, rewired the entire engine, completely redid the interior, brake system, suspension, you name it. I took first place in a few shows in spring/summer 08. Here are some pics of the car after I finished it.

By the time I was done with it, the car was making 489 horsepower to the front wheels and about 360 lb/ft of torque. It was a monster, seriously. This thing was ridiculously fast and so fun to drive, it handled like it was on rails. So around fall/winter of 08, I knew I was going to have to spend A LOT more money to take it to the next step with new paint and some other modifications to keep it competitive but I decided it wasn't worth the money, as I'd already spent soooo much to get it to where it was. So, I decided to get rid of the car. I sold all the parts off and sold it off.

In December of 08, I bought an 03 Accord Coupe, EX V6 6 speed with leather, used. It was beautiful. I did some minor aesthetic things, like wheels, I did honda factory suspension to lower it a tad, honda factory lip kit, and some window tint. This thing really moved and was a fun daily driver for two years.

So after we got Kaya, I happened to be at the Honda dealership, getting an oil change. I was looking at the new models on the show floor and happened across the new accord crosstour. I sat in it, checked out the back seats, the cargo area, and the body lines. I really liked it. I wanted a four door that was bigger, with a decent engine, and lots of room for the dogs plus any cargo, as we'd just made a drive to New York for the holidays.

After talking it over with Jolie, we decided it would be a worthwhile investment for me to get one, so I negotiated and picked one up. I haven't looked back and I love the new car. Jolie finally drove it this weekend and she really loved it, too.

So, as you can tell, I'm obviously a fan of Hondas. Great motors and great engineering, I love these cars. How many times I've wanted to find a little Honda CRX to pick up and modify. Ah, but no more garage, so I have to curtail my hobby for a bit, lol. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the porgression and pics.

[Comeflyaway]

I miss your civic

I like the random picture of Max chewing on your teins... lol

[andyman97]

I miss it more, lol. And yeah, I had to throw that in for good measure.

Posted from my HTC EVO 4g.

[Miya]

Awesome work! Love the pic of your husky "helping out" Great mods, love the look of the civic, job well done with that!

[Roxy1]

very nice job Andy- ahh but now you have to play soccer, I mean Husky Dad.

[Dunc]

You must have a great paying job Andy as like you am in to my cars and can see what you have spent there I have a 17 year old MX5 enuos and planned to do a similar thing myself but every time I find the money to do stuff on it Sue find something else it need spending on

Takes a great talent to do that to a car to that length

[andyman97]

Thanks, guys. It was definitely a labor of love. It wasn't a cheap hobby, that's for sure but it was a progression over 7 years.

Posted from my HTC EVO 4g.

[vinny1275]

490 HP from a little 4 pot? No wonder you needed forged internals... that exhaust manifold was a work of art... Did you fabricate the stuff yourself, or buy them in?

Claire and I are partway through building our own car - need to get the engine back together after replacing the piston rings last year (!) and try and get it registered and on the road.... some build stuff here

[meeshsalts]

I built 3 rally cars over the years. restored Austin Healey 3000's,

My rally cars were used in forest';s at weekends and took us to work during the week.

The very first car I bought was an Big Healey the same colour as this picture

I restored it to full rally spec but coloured brown over cream rather than the black over red the one in the picture is.

We kept her 7 years and over that time restored 2 others. The money we made paid for 3 years rallying my brother and I did trying to get a works drive , in the end we came close, so close but ran out of money. My brother never rallied again but I continued Co-driving and did work with works teams.

I still miss my Healey 26 years later, I tried to find out were she was now but have been unsucessful so far.

She had a engine built by a cosworth Formula engineer all forged and f1 pistons. We recond she proguced almost 400 BHP, not bad for an engine designed 65 years ago. No turbo just triple weber carbs.

[andyman97]

Wow, you guys take car building seriously! Nice. Vince, I checked out your blog, holy crap, what a project! That's similar to what I want to do with my dream car...a 73 Ford Grand Torino running the 428 Cobra engine on an AEM EMS, converted to direct port injection and a DIS for coil on plug accurate spark.

That's only a 2.0L Pinto engine you're working with? Only a 4 cyl? I've heard good things about the megasquirts, a lot of the guys I knew who built neon srt-4's (turbo neons stateside) used and loved them.

I didn't do any of the fabwork, the intake and exhaust manifolds were beautiful. The exhaust manifold was a fluke. I got lucky with it, it was a one-off that never made production, due to the lack of popularity for the single cam 1.7L I was using. The intake manifold was also a one-off from a buddy of mine in Jersey who did welding and fabrication, primarily on large boats but builds race cars in his spare time. He was very good. I never had the materials or equipment to really learn to do fabwork but I would have loved to learn. Ahh, how much money I could have saved with a tig welder!