background:
the car was bought on 6-6-06 right after high school to get me to college. the car soon received headers, intake, exhuast, koni/gc set up, upgrades pads and rotors. had no problems keeping up with sti's/evo's in the twistys (downhill of course). the car was also plagued with accidents/little problems, none of which where my falt. prerunner rear ended me, then a kid backed his passport spare tire on top of my hood, rear ended by a semi in traffic (he never noticed he hit me and left the scene on top of that, found out it was an illegal with no license). forward to about dec 08, clutch starts slipping and 3 gears popping out at times. with little money at the time i was unable to fix it so i parked it at my rents house. a few months go by and i end up buying a bike, and then trying to fix the car. bought about 600 bucks in parts, and end up being fired for almost no reason. the car sits on the back burner till recently. i was looking at other cars to swap all my parts too but one day i thought "well why dont i just dump all the money into this car, its still clean title some how and i dont think i would be totally happy with another car", so i got a wild hair up my *** and ordered a ton of parts, and deicide to break the curse. now im here, back on another honda forum, posting where im at a month into the build.

where im at today.
i have a bad habit. when i brake/replace something, i always have to make it better. at times, it can save money, most the time i end up sending a whole lot more than i need.

base:
'97 honda civic ex coupe 5 speed, milano red

parts on car:
koni shocks/gc coilovers (i think 375f/450r)
omni power lca's
no name front camber kit/rear shimmed
megan strut tower bars (front, rear, and lower tie bar)
megan toe link
axxes pads (probably spelled that wrong, its been a while)
brembo blank rotors
aem cold air intake
dc headers
custom exhaust (2.25 piping, 24 inch resonator, vibrant muffler)

parts i had from before being fired:
eibach rear sway bar kit
eibach rear camber kit
blox studs and nuts
blox magnetic drain bolts
ebc green stuff pads.
rebuilt tranny with 1500 miles
exedy stage one clutch and lightweight flywheel
energy shifter bushings

parts i have ordered/have after 0ct 8?:
yonaka radiator (problem 1)
new rad hoses
blox rear end links
eibach front sway bar
door actuator (drivers door didnt work)
honda sway bar mounts
rear disk conversion (problem 2)
beaks subframe reinforcement kit
paint for rims and calipers (hx rims to baby type-r's)
new front wheel bearings
brake lines for conversion
fuel filter
new front ball joint

parts i need/want:
new battery
paint the car
window visors
ebc pads for the rear
new tires (stuck between falkens rt-615k, bridgestones 960as pole positions, and fuzion hri's, last two is cus i work at a tire shop that carries thoses)
lots of machine work (see problem 2 again)

problems and hiccups:
problem 1: radiator hose size. the yonaka seams like it was made for a b16, cus my stock hoses dont want to go on. will a diffrent, larger set of hoses fit?
problem 2: i have to get 2 bolts edm'ed out, i have the sleeve to the lca bolt frozen on. along with pressing the wheel studs in, im looking at an eazy $200+ bill at the machine shop. thats on top of 135 bucks in machine shop dues and 100 bucks in bearings to press some 25 buck studs in. thanks honda for that design.
problem 3: even after draining most the tank, how hard is it going to be to get this car to start after sitting 3 years.
problem 4: im lazy to do the clutch. i know how for the most part, its just a lot of work and i have to do it on a day i have some one here to help.
problem 5: cant chose a tire, but i thinking the rt615s, but i like to drive a lot...

lastly, how the car sits as of 4:38, nov 1st:
rear suspension is 90% apart, trailing arm is out, new camber kit is in, just have to disconnect brake hoses/e-brake lines to fully disconnect. waiting on the beaks reinforcement kit to put the sway bar on the car (aka as honda got me the wrong bolts 3 times). new to me rear rotors are turned and waiting for new pads.
front suspension is also 90% apart, waiting to remove one more axel and replace the clutch/tranny. rotors are cut and new pads and waiting near by. tryed doing the sway bar today, but i coulldnt manage to get the sucker out. think i need to raise the car some more so i can twist it out.
door is fixed, but need to put set back seat back in fron draining the gas.
exterior build will be last, but it definally needs one. car looks like a proper beater right now.

pics of the car when it was newish...

and how it sits now...

ill post more soon

 

the car looks good and like it's well on its way

 

Problem 3 shouldn't be that big of a deal since you have drained most of the gas out already. Clean car and welcome to hcf.

 

wheels

done for the day

 

Problem 1: The radiator could be meant for a b16, as they came in the 99-00 Civic SI. The radiators are identical with the exception of the hose inlet/outlet diameter. I believe a D series outer diameter is ~0.95" and a B series is about 1.1". Now, if you get B16 hoses, the hoses would be too big for the water outlets on the motor side. That and the upper hose is shaped differently IIRC.

You can either buy a another radiator, or work these on. I have an aluminum radiator which has the B16 inlet/outlets with a set of silicone hoses (D series motor). Yes, it was an incredibly tight fit, but they are on. You can use silicone grease (the stuff that comes with the ES suspension bushings) to help. You can also try to boil the hose ends to allow them to be softer and easier to work with. Try and get the hose on half way, and use a flat head screw driver to work the rest around and onto the radiator while pulling/pushing the hose towards the radiator. If your radiator has plastic end tanks, like a stock replacement, I am not sure if this would be a good idea as it may crack/break.

Once the hoses are on there for awhile, if you ever have to take them off, putting them on again shouldn't be as much of a struggle.

 

cv thanks for the help. i was kinda thinking the same thing, but didnt think of a boiling trick, ill have to try that once i put them on for good. fyi, the yonaka is a full aluminum radiator. not baller by any means, but it gets the job done.

 

good luck with the build. subscribed. i am finding that the builds are by far the most entertaining thing on the site. props on the klx. just got rid of my klx300r, it was an 06 model.

 

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anyone know where to get those spacers. i could REALLY use some info, i got blox extended lugs and studs and want to use them with the baby-r's.

 

just want to put up an update:
the ebc pads, beak subframe kit, and tuner to ball type conversion washers have been ordered. i got an email from beaks though saying they hit a snag in production and i probably wont see my kit till the end of the month. guess the eibach sway bar and blox adjustable end links are going to have to wait longer before seeing the car. glad i found the conversion washers though, blox black lug nuts and studs with the baby-r's should look killer.
other than that, i havent had any time to work on the car. next day off is thursday, and i want to get the trailing arms ready and maybe on the car, finish the rims (atleast wet sand a paint 2/3 more coats), finish the front sway bar install (need to barrow a jack from work to get my car high enough off the ground to get it between the shifter linkage and the body). im almost thinking of putting the axle back in, and towing the car to my work and having the clutch/flywheel/tranny done by a tech so i can say f-it. im lazy, dont have an air compressor, and dont have any help at home doing it, so its basicly worth the money for me. if i do that, i want everything else done on the car before i do, so i can drive it from there to the dmv, then smog. ill try to remember to take some pics of the rear suspension and more of the car so you all can point/laugh/poke holes in/scream wtf.
still can chose a tire, but the ziex 912's got a great review here (http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/cheap-skates/). almost half the cost of the rt615, and better tire than the hri (build quality, the hri cups and can be loud. if your read the piece, zri is a better than a hri, but no 14's), might have to get it. i had the 512, and while it did have decent grip, but can be twitchy at the limit (fwd = pushing and tire spin, easy to handle for the most part), and they do get slimy when really hot. also a bum alignment will kill those tires quick. just scared to get the rt615, once you get a uhp tire, i bet you cant go back.

 

worked on the car today, but was also dragged away for a while to do two oil changes for some friends, and did a lot of driving around for the machine shop and tools, so i didnt get as much done as i would have liked. either way, the front sway bar is now in, the trailing arms had there field trip to the machine shop, and even one is 80% in. some of those pics i promised.

eibach (26mm) vs stock (22mm)

every build thread need an engine bay shot. aem cold air with the oh-****-its-raining-dyi short ram, dc headers, painted valve cover (kinda dirty), megan strut tower bar (pos), yonaka rad (also pos).

front suspension after today

rear suspension, missing the sway bar

todays money shot

got a little antsy, had to see what it will look like. i think it looks killer, just need to paint the car once im almost done.
all and all, i still have tomarrow to work on it, try to get the trailing arms all the way in and maybe try to finish painting the rims so i can order tires.