#ChelseaTheCivic, Part 1: The Beginning of EJ2 Track Rat

Nowadays, it’s easy to watch people bask in the glory of their accomplishments without seeing the hardships they encountered along the way. Social media connects us to thousands of people so easily, and with a wider lens always comes less detail.

Figure 1: Ken and I Repairing my Civic at 2:00 AM After I Hit a Gigantic Pothole on the Way to the Glen for a Track day

In this fast-pace, modern culture, we praise people who can “stay out of the weeds”-- quickly assessing situations and solving problems efficiently. But sometimes, we gain a better perspective on not just racing, but life, when we dive in head first and learn the back story behind the success.

Figure 2: Getting Focused Before my First Ever Race

My story begins in 2016 after I graduated college with a humble 1993 Honda Civic. I named her, “Chelsea the Civic.”

Figure 3: My 1993 Honda Civic

I bought Chelsea because I wanted a second car so I could start taking track days more seriously. I wanted something that I could push to the limits, not worrying about the cost of damaging my daily driver, while improving my driving technique at the same time.

Figure 4: Autocrossing Chelsea the Civic with the Philly SCCA on Hoosier Slick Tires and Stock Suspension

The car possessed several little-known performance benefits to the general public.

From 1989 to 2001, Honda Civics were designed with optimal suspension geometries, similar to those seen in sports cars. With a double wishbone suspension up front and a rear trailing arm suspension in the rear, the 92-95 Honda Civic is a great track car platform to start with.

Figure 5: Front Double-Wishbone Suspension Typical of 1989-2001 Honda Civic

Figure 6: Rear Trailing Arm Assembly Typical of 1989-2001 Honda Civic

Additionally, the 92-95 Honda Civic, colloquially named the “EG” for its Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) counterpart and American Si hatchback, shared the same basic chassis design with the 94-01 Acura Integra, resulting in a vast level of aftermarket support and interchangeable parts.

For example, one can easily swap an Integra Type-R motor into a 92-95 Honda Civic-- a motor with >100 HP per liter and a redline of 8,400 RPM.

Figure 7: EG Civic with a Type-R Swap Belonging to 2016 NASA East Coast Honda Challenge H2 Champ, Spencer

Chelsea the Civic started out as a street car before I turned her into a Honda Challenge H4 race car, and the journey has been wild. I drove the car hundreds of miles to and from events for two years, doing over 50 track days during that time.

I only did basic maintenance and ran a relatively simple setup with the stock D15B7 engine, producing a whopping 102 BHP from the factory. And only recently, I made the jump into wheel-to-wheel racing-- swapping a new motor into the car and caging it.

Figure 8: Damien and I Entering Turn 1 at Lime Rock Park

This EJ2 Track Rat Blog Series will document the build progress of Chelsea the Civic over the years and my progression from autocrosser to track day enthusiast to race car driver. Similar to other posts on EJ2 Track rat, my goal will be to show readers how easy it is to develop as a driver and get on track. But also, I hope readers will learn that racing is not a much larger expenditure than track days-- if done right.

Thanks for checking in.

--Dillon

#TrashTeg, The Chronicles; Part 1-- A Free Car

In the Winter of 2017, our friend Ryan told all of the Junior Varsity Honda Challenge (JVHC) Squad about a free car he had found on the Chump Car Forum in Delaware.

Within a day at most, my buddy Alex drove down to Delaware from Philly to check the car out. He brought with him: a case of beer to show gratitude, a license plate, and his own self off the couch. Total cost? About $40 bucks.

And so The Chronicles of #TrashTeg began. Alex picked up an Integra for free, with the catch that he remove it from the seller’s property. Not only this, but Alex was told that the car had a bad head gasket! And would likely need serious work.

Figure 1: #TrashTeg

Either the same day, or the next, I went over to Alex’s and with the help of our friend Adam, we started the car and slowly troubleshooted an issue that started as overheating and climaxed in not-starting.

Figure 2: Video of Alex, Adam, and I putting water in the radiator

After some water and a new distributor cap, rotor, and plugs, we had the car running. My boy put the classic PA tag on and he ripped it up and down the block and it didn’t smoke. So we decided we would try and track it.

My Goal? To get Alex in a Honda just because. Alex’s Goal? IDK. Our Goal (I Think)? (I think) our goal was to make a freakin’ race car!

But for real though-- Alex and I both knew we wanted to race wheel to wheel. We both talked, and still talk, regularly, about endurance racing with AER or in Lemons, since our friends do it. We talked about having our own race team together. I was already building my Civic in his garage. So, I guess, impulsively and rationally it was a pretty good decision to pick the car up. What’s the worst it would do? Take up space?

Figure 3: Using #TrashTeg as a Vise to Break a Motor Mount Bolt for #ChelseaTheCivic

As is apparent in the figure above, the #TrashTeg proved to be very useful just in its presence, initially.

I told Alex I would help him get the Trash Teg on track if he would track it. He agreed. So in return for lending me his space, I would give or sell to him second-hand parts from my build and my own services at the least, in return.

Figure 4: Roll Bar, Harnesses, and Seats All Installed on a Budget

Stay tuned into the #TrashTeg: The Chronicles Series on EJ2 Track Rat. And you’ll find a story of building a cheap, capable track car, to use for driver development and (eventually in some way) racing-- including tips on how it benefited the driver and can be applied to the reader’s own driving style.

Figure 5: Trash Teg at Lime Rock

Thanks for reading.

--EJ2 Track Rat