I have one as well. I purchased it from another member here. It is in excellent condition as far as making a mold is concerned. I am looking into two options. Fiberglass is one, and a roto-molded plastic is the second. For that matter, CF-1 will do carbon fiber, but they are not close to me. If and when I get some information, I will let you all know.

I looked into it a while back. The variable vanes on the turbo are controlled by the ECU, which are virtually impossible to find at this point. You can retrofit a a different turbo, but I would rather start with a 2.7 and build my own turbo system. I am picking up a 2.7 in the next couple of weeks. Just need to find the time to run down to Oregon.

More info about the c20a turbo can be found here;
http://dwolsten.trip...les/jan89a.html

*edit* It seems the ebay engine does have an ECU. Very interesting!

Makes sense to me. Small diameter lower profile wheels/tires on the driven end of the car to effectively change the final drive ratio, improving acceleration. The rears I would assume to be your standard street rims/tires. If I am correct, I would recommend putting small diameter, narrow rear tires on as they would save you some rotational mass and theoretically improve acceleration as well.

Any pictures to rub it in with? I would have really liked to have been there.

Big suprise. Something has come up and I cannot make it. Next local meet that gets posted, I am keeping my mouth shut. It seems every time I commit to going, life gets in the way. Hope you guys have a blast. Make sure to post pics!

I will be there. No dyno runs for me though (although that is an exceptional deal, think he'll give a raincheck?). I have an undiagnosed noise from the right rear wheel and do not want to take any chances. Wish I had the time and garage space to diagnose and fix it, but it is not a possibility at the moment.

The NW Alfa Romeo Club is hosting a track day at Pacific Raceway on the 18th. A really great bunch of folks, and any brand of car is welcome. Previous track experience is required. For details check out this link. The links on that page should answer any other questions. Hope to see a few of you there!

I am interested. I am just south of you in Washington. I will send you a PM.....

Well, I honestly have no idea on pricing yet. I will hopefully be able to take it out to the shop later this week. I figure the more pieces made, the cheaper it would get. I will post it up as soon as I know more. I would think the C I V I C lettering will be there, but I will make sure before saying yes. If this proceeds, I would need a firm commitment from interested parties (ie; a down payment) as I cannot afford to pay everything up front.

Every time one of these is up for sale, or mentioned, there seems to be quite an interest in having replicas made. I recently procured one from another RPR member that is in spectacular shape. Given its age, I would say 9 out of ten. I also happen to know of a small local company that specializes in fiberglass reproductions of '32 Ford roadsters and coupes. I intend on taking the spoiler down and getting a price worked out to do a run of these. Anyone interested?

FWIW, I also know of a carbon fiber place that could do the job also. The big problem there is that they are not located near me. I figure it would be marginally cheaper to do fg anyway, which should be more appealing to the masses. Either way, it should come out much lighter than the stock piece's rather portly 20 lbs.

From the looks of the poll, it appears as though Olympia is the spot. I recall someone mentioning meeting up in front of the Capitol building which sounds like a great spot to me. Time-wise, how does noon sound? Does that give everyone enough time to get there?

Umm, the point is that it is filled with pictures of the cars that we all love. I am not interested in using it as a step by step tuning guide.

I was at the Portland Historic races over the weekend and came across a vendor selling rare and out of print books related to cars and motorsports. I asked if he had anything Honda. He produced a Motorbooks Ltd book (I am sure you all have seen them before, usually titled "How To ________").

At first, I figured it was one of the commonly availible editions you can find at any bookstore with information alsmost strictly relating to 92+ models. I quickly realized my mistake as I perused the pages. S800's, 1st-4th Gen Civics, CRXs, early Preludes, and more! I flipped to the inside front cover and checked the date. Sure enough, 1990! I told him I would take it.

He was about to ring it up when he noticed a post-it stuck inside. Apparently it is extremely hard to find, and the post-it was a reminder of this along with a price; $50.00. He put it on hold for me and is going to double check on the rarity. I am looking forward to hearing from him!

I vote for early-mid August. Say the weekend of the 13th through 15th?

If it were actually JDM, wouldn't "NO SMOKING" be written in Japanese? We should have stickers made up with the Japanese translation for 'SUCKER' and stick them on various parts to sell on Ebay.

You could just use adjustables and not adjust them.

If you reach proper torque, you should not be breaking any fasteners unless they are defective or damaged in some way. That is what torque specifications are for.

Generally, I think the minor gain you would see versus the headache and expense of finding Ti fasteners would probably not be worth it over all. I would suggest reducing friction in the engine by having dry film lubrication applied to various moving parts instead. Not only should it theoretically free up a few horsepower, it should greatly extend the service life of the components. I had this done to the internals of the transaxle in my track car, and was so impressed with the change in feel I had all the parts in the new engine done as well.

For some information on this coating (along with various other ceramic coatings) check out Performance Coatings webpage. They are here in Washington state, but a similiar service is probably availible in most states.

Although it apparently does not look the same anymore, I like lofreq's hatch;

Might as well throw one of mine in there too,

Agreed. Why is it that most people cannot appreciate a wide variety of cars? The 80's were a lackluster time to be a newer car enthusiast (I am being realistic here, even if it ruffles some feathers on this 80's dedicated board, and two of my three vehicles were built in the 80's). We are living in a golden age when it comes to automobile quality and performance, and a suprising number of people seem to take it for granted, or even worse find it offensive in some way. If I were willing to go into debt for car ownership the decision on which car I would purchase would be an agonizing one. Even the short list of likely candidates seems to go on for ever, and that list does include the SRT-4.

The SRT-4 is an exceptional value as a car generally and an even better bargain considering its extrodinary performance, both in a straight line and on the race track. For proof, refer to recent issues of GRM and there efforts with an SRT-4 in the auto-x arena. Additionally, the Neon was not exactly a slouch prior to the release of the SRT-4 version. The ACR version dominated in its respective class when new.

I guess the point is that I would like to see more people open their eyes to the possibilities out there. There is a strong chance that dramatically increasing fuel costs will yet again cut into the overall performance being offered in vehicles, let alone the inevitable replacement of the standard internal combustion engine with hybrids and alternate fueled vehicles. When that happens, we will all be reminiscing about the 'good ole days' just like our parents (and grandparents?) do about the performance cars of the 60's. Enjoy it while it lasts!

How many of the half dozen 1g CRXs and 3g Civics are board members? I have seen numerous mentions of GRM $200* Challenge cars under construction, but do not know the status of them. Just call it curiousity. There were also four 2g/4gs. All the above finished in the top two thirds of the field.

Agreed.

Vanessa Marcil from "Vegas", and some soap opera.

(sorry for the extra large picture)

The fuel tank is not something that could easily be replaced with something off the shelf. The filler neck comes up through the mount for the spare tire. It doesn't matter much either way, the new tank was already built when I posted this thread. It is actually in the car at this point.

Now I just need to determine where the rear lower control arm bushings were sourced from. I think they were Corvette pieces to match up to the hubs. Actually, does anyone have a picture handy of a close to stock 3g rear control arm and hub assembly?

Since purchasing my Civic it has had a strong raw fuel smell. It was bad enough that I could not park it in the garage or the kitchen and living room would reek of gas by morning. (Don't worry, I bought a car cover so it has not been exposed to the elements) Obviously fuel leaks are a very bad thing, especially when your fuel tank is in the front and the engine is in the rear.

I perfer to do work on my vehicles myself, but in this case I felt better entrusting the repairs to someone more experienced. I was hoping it was just a bad fuel line or the like, but it turns out it was a little more involved than that. To make a long story short, the tank was beyond saving.

Being as the tank was hand made, the new one was not cheap. Considering the amount of work that went into building the car, I definately feel it was justified spending the money. The fact that I no longer have to worry about the car catching on fire is a huge load off my mind as well. I look forward to picking it up and getting to drive it again! I am having withdrawals.

(For those that follow the link, don't let the name fool you. They work on everything, not just 4x4's. They are one of the few shops I would trust to touch any vehicle of mine.)

I am definately interested. I have tried to get to several of the recent BC meets but something always comes up. I did not vote, but Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia would all work very well for me.

Catherine Bell from JAG.