#ChelseaTheCivic, Part 3: Aftermarket Headers and Hondas

Last season, I was in a rush to get my car together.  I skimmed over a lot of details while doing so in an effort to pass competition school with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) and to race with my friends in the Honda Challenge H4 Series which we were reviving in the Northeast.

In the process, I ordered a DC Sports header with a 2.25" collector for an exhaust system that had a diameter of 2.5".  I was struggling to make it to my first event of the season at Lime Rock Park to test the car.  And on my final weekend before trailering up to Connecticut, I was faced with the dilemma of making this header work with my exhaust system.

With no flux wire or gas, and minimal welding experience, I welded the monstrosity you'll see above.  This monstrosity is a 2.5" PLM (Private Label Manufacturing) test pipe.  I thought I had a 2.5" collector on my header, but this is when I first discovered that I was mistaken.  As a result, the collector on my test pipe did not fit and I was forced to improvise.  So, I cut the flange off of my 25-year-old catalytic converter, cut the flange off of my brand new, shiny test pipe, and welded it onto the test pipe.

As you may be able to see, this last-minute concoction left a leading edge entering into the test pipe, providing for turbulence and most likely a loss of power.  On the dyno at Lime Rock Park after a race, my car had less horsepower than the three other H4 cars dyno'd-- most likely due to this and my janky intake, which I will not discuss in this post.  Additionally the welds were not very good as you can see below...however, the test pipe held up for a full season of racing.

When the off-season came, I knew I had to put this on my list of improvements for the 2019 racing season.  So, I started by purchasing a $211 PLM header off eBay.  

If you'd like to see more photos like this, you can follow me on Instagram:

This header is a replica of an SMSP Tri-Y Header.  It has a 2.5" collector and is a 4-2-1 which leads to less turbulence and higher flow than the 4-1 DC-Sports header I was previously using.  It's also fully stainless steel, very light, and tig-welded together.

The reason I was able to get this header for so cheap is because it is an open-box sale.  PLM and 1320 Performance are two brands which both sell a lot of headers for Honda.  And they have sales like this going on a lot of the time.  

Think of it.  

Your Facebook friend car meet fanatic wants to make 5 extra horsepower on the butt dyno.  He or she goes on eBay and buys a brand new, shiny, tig-welded header that has no damage at all and intends to put it in a car that is likely daily driven, and if not, is street-driven in his or her leisure.

This header is shipped through FedEx, UPS, USPS, or another service that throws the box around, sets it on fire, or dips it in a bath of acid (they damage it).  It gets to the customer, and they no longer want it.

As a racer, you can take advantage of this scenario by buying the scratched or minorly dented header second-hand, and you have a new, but unboxed item delivered to your door for a fraction of the cost.

Next, I purchased a new PLM test pipe.  This extendable test pipe was ~40-50 dollars and its length can be adjusted to fit your new header to your existing exhaust.

I mounted the header, mocked up the test pipe and got to work cutting and welding.  Having a vise is great for almost anything in the garage.  I even use it to hold pipes or other objects that need welding as I don't have a welding table, I have a wooden table.  The picture below shows one section of my three-piece test pipe in a vise with a white mark around it where it is to be cut.

  After cutting, I then mocked the test pipe up between the header and the exhaust one more time and welded the pipe in the appropriate spot.  This time I used flux core wire, to preclude accelerated rusting as seen on my older test pipe.  A better weld with less slag and less porosity would likely be achieved with gas, but this blog is about doing racing on a budget, so forget about it.

Mounted up, this is what the test pipe looked like.  It fits well, not pulling the exhaust too far forward or pushing it too back.

I also noticed that the SMSP tri-y header was touching the oil pan after I installed it.  Even in a 25-40 minute race, conductive heat transfer from a header to an oil pan could be bad.  You see, exhaust gases leaving an internal combustion engine's cylinder are typically around 1,000 degrees F (based on passing knowledge).  I knew I had to increase the clearance between the header and the oil pan.

Oil pans are cheap and made of soft, malleable, durable steel.  Headers are expensive and made of more expensive stainless steel.  When push comes to shove, one must give-- and in this scenario, I made the pan give with a hammer-- I mean I massaged it gently and carefully as I am a skilled fabricator:

In the above picture, the horizontal lines at the bottom of the pan mark where the header and oil pan were originally touching.  The dots at the top of the oil pan tell me in which order I need to torque the oil pan bolts.  5 bolts tells me that a given bolt is the fifth bolt in the sequence, 17 dots tells me it's the seventeenth bolt.  There are over 17 bolts on a B Series oil pan.

The hardest work was complete, but the last thing to do was to install the O2 sensor.  The problem with this is that on a 1992-1995 Honda Civic with a B Series Engine from an Integra or something similar is that the O2 sensor wire for the B Series Engine is too short for the Honda Civic engine wiring harness.  As a result, you have to lengthen it.  I began by cutting my brand new Denso sensor in half.

Next, I grabbed some wire, measured from the sensor to the connector in the engine bay, and cut the appropriate amount to connect the O2 sensor on the Integra engine to the Honda Civic harness.

Here's a tip: when you take apart any electronics for anything, save the wires.  Good wire is hard to come by at local hardware stores and if you can find it, you have to pay for it.  I save wire from cars that I part out, or machines that break around the house.  I then take these wires and use them in automotive projects.  I haven't spent money on wire in three years.

Then I grabbed my soldering gun and got to work.  I cut all wires needing connection, stripped all said wires of their insulation, soldered all wires together, and added heat shrink around the soldered connections to prevent damage via water intrusion or other external factors.

Here is the heat shrink I applied.  You can get it from a local hardware store, a local auto parts store, or online:

Lastly, I taped the wires together and wrapped the lower part of the wires that sit next to the header with insulation.  I was careful to wrap the soldered joints with tape so that they would not flex.  I was also careful to ensure an equal spacing of tape about the length of this loom of wire.

The finished product is shown below:

Lastly, I installed the O2 sensor...

...And I fired up the car.  The car was difficult to start at first, but ended up idling and running with no check engine light at temperature for several minutes.  The car was sitting for months not having turned over and it didn't even need a jump start.  I love this Honda.

I have some actions going forward to make the car faster, but for now I am focusing on getting it on track next month (April of 2019) at Lime Rock Park for testing with NASA NE.

I appreciate you all reading and wish you the best.  Peace!

Thunder at the Glen with NASA Northeast 9/28-9/30/18

Thunder at the Glen with NASA Northeast

9/28-9/30/18

Two weekends ago, I went to Watkins Glen International with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Northeast (NE) Region.  It was their fourth race weekend of the season and my third race weekend ever, so I tried as best I could to apply the lessons learned from my first two race weekends to improve my car setup and driving style.

My journey started at 5:00 AM when I left my apartment near Philly for my job in Central Jersey.  I had recently regreased the wheel bearings on my dolly for the first time ever and replaced the idler and tensioner pulley on my truck to try and remedy a noise that ended up being a water pump.  With no time left, I decided I'd keep an eye on my mechanical troubles and trudge forward.

After the work day was complete.  I conducted my four hour drive with my trusty steed and my speedy race car.  Once at the track, I met up with my friend Anthony and another fellow Honda Challenge driver, Mike Fries, and we all chatted for a while before I set up camp inside of my truck.

Normally I sleep inside a tent, but by recommendation of my friend Alex, I tried the truck.  And I have to say, sleeping inside a truck during the Fall at Watkins Glen is MUCH warmer than sleeping in a tent.  If you get cold?  You turn the heat on and let the truck run through the night.

The next morning, I got up, got in my car, put my NASA NE Volunteer shirt on, and I drove to the garage to help the NASA NE Volunteers with technical inspection.

With NASA NE, you have the option to volunteer and accumulate "credits" for track days.  If you've been volunteering for some time and you get the swing of things relatively quickly, you can even volunteer and drive at the same time.  You don't get credits in the latter case, but it's a great incentive to socialize and develop relationships with great people.

As a volunteer, you'll get to meet racers, learn driving skills, develop wrenching skills, and have a great time meeting new people.  In the pic below you'll see my buddy Alex helping me record data in his NASA NE Volunteer shirt with my good friend TJ who is an instructor with NASA.

Below, you'll see my buddy Ben adjusting scales after a Thunder Group car (a really fast Corvette) came through to check their weight.

The test day went well and the car was well balanced at this fast and relatively loose track.  Though I decided I would need to up my rear bar rate and increase my front spring rate in the long run.  I learned that my top speed was about 113 MPH on the back straight at Watkins Glen at the time.  Ken, the points leader in H4 wasn't there to shake his car down, but Damien was and he and I battled for a long time.  His car was down about 7 MPH on the back straight compared to me due ot his aerodynamics having more drag.  You'll see Damien's car below.

On Friday night, we enjoyed a track walk and a night out on the town.  Mike Fries of Honda Challenge H2 shared his expertise with us, discussing the corners and their constantly changing camber angles.  It served me and Damien greatly as we listened.  Kallie and Ken, our competitors were either off elsewhere or on their way to the track due to life catching up with them beforehand.

Saturday was the first race day.  It was a bright, sunny day, and our first practice and quali sessions resulted in providing the best conditions for me in the 139 car-- pumping out the fastest time of H4.  I blacked out my competitors' last names and times for their own privacy.

However, as usual, Ken pulled a rabbit out of his hat and managed to FLY by the competition.  With Spencer of Honda Challenge giving him LoBuk Motorsports Coaching, he really had some great knowledge backing him up.

I secured P2 by the skin of my teeth, getting lucky when an ST5 car wouldn't let my competition, Damien, by as I struggled with fuel starvation through corners and overheated tires.  Below you'll see a picture of myself and then Damien and Kallie on track (silver Civic and dark silver Integra, respectively).

After Race 1, Ken, Dame, and I went to WalMart to get some beer, some fire wood, and a pumpkin that we put on top of Kallie's car while she was asleep.  IT WAS HEAVY.  They made me grab it from the bottom of the cardboard bin!  You'll see a pic of Dame holding it.

The next morning we woke up and it was damp out.  The radar said that it would be dry for the whole day, but it ended up raining throug practice/quali...  I utilized the conditions to my advantage despite being scared and qualified first once more!

Given the results from the previous race and from previous race weekends, I was confident Ken would secure first, but what I thought would be a predictable race ended up being a tight race between me, Kallie, and Dame.

We all ended up finishing.  There were a lot of incidents and two major full-course cautions accompanying those incidents.  However, Ken, Damien, Kallie, and Myself were able to get through with no major issues.  Kallie did give me a little love tap (my first race contact), but I was able to catch it in T1 and win the race!

In a way, I was lucky that there were so many incidents.

My driver side, 35-dollar axle from RockAuto ended up failing after one practice session and 2 or 3 laps on track.  When I inspected it after the race, the heat damage was apparent...and very blue!

After the race, Anthony and I drove home together since we live so close and we got back safe.

It was a great weekend to be there and I am thankful for people like the Casellas who help organize events like this and to organizations like NASA that make it possible for amateur racers to have such a great time.  Papa Joe Casella is shown policing the event (and his dog Axle) in the pic below.

Lastly, thank you all for reading!  Until next time, keep following my Instagram account at @EJ2_TRACK_RAT and my Facebook Page.

Thanks all :)

#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