help me make a rwd civic?

[style54109]

I was thinking, and even though it may be a dumb idea, what if I could make a civic rwd with spending a bunch of money. The pieces would be cheap and eventually you could bolt a bigger engine into it and still maybe be able to drift.

Probably not though if I dropped a bigger engine into it, but maybe without it.

I know civics aren't anyone's favorite cars, and i could probably go find somebody that has done it but i want an idea from people that know what it takes to drift and not just modify their car.

thanks.

['97 S14 SE Turb]

Two letters:

MR... Do what was done in Japan, where a CRX Del Sol was converted to mid-engine rear drive.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Originally posted by style54109
I was thinking, and even though it may be a dumb idea, what if I could make a civic rwd with spending a bunch of money. The pieces would be cheap and eventually you could bolt a bigger engine into it and still maybe be able to drift.

Probably not though if I dropped a bigger engine into it, but maybe without it.

I know civics aren't anyone's favorite cars, and i could probably go find somebody that has done it but i want an idea from people that know what it takes to drift and not just modify their car.

thanks.

yeah an MR conversion. Try to find an NSX. get the engine and Drivetrain. Custom fit the whole thing in a hatch-back.

Just a though. If you know what you're doing, you may want to try it.

[panda_3ight_6]

My friend was talking about putting a F20 with S2000 drivetrain into his integra... sounded cool....

[style54109]

MR wont work cause I already bought the coupe. sorry

If i had the money for an S2000 don't you think I would be driving an S2000, not some little civic? Are Integras FR, cause if they are I might be able to put the drivetrain right into it. Never really thought about Integras.

I'll think about finding a Hatch instead, but is might not fit even with everything, but then i would have to custom fit almost everything.

thanks.

Think it would work better with a different car?

[FC3S]

Integs are FF.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Originally posted by CRASHDRIVE
yeah an MR conversion. Try to find an NSX. get the engine and Drivetrain. Custom fit the whole thing in a hatch-back.

Just a though. If you know what you're doing, you may want to try it.

nevermind... Scratch this idea. Civic hatchback is pheasable but, it might not be an ideal drift machine.

The weight distribution will be way off. Might as well get an S2000 after all the fabrication cost.

[J-BloodAE86]

WHY? why choose that car and not a lighter, cooler, and less hated car? you have you fabricate the whole rear suspension, motor mounts, and exhaust piping. And how are you going to get air to the radiator and intake? And how would to connect the pedals and shift lever to the tranny? and what engine would you use anyway, its not like you are making more power, you cant fit anything but a B series back there. its absolutely pointless and expensive.

its not impossible though, and in the right aplication its really usefull and cool. For example Z Cars in England has made two MR old school minis. Both used yamaha R1 engines, one had two and the other had one. almost perfect weight distrubution and about twice the power then the stock engine, and if you have the double its four times as powerful. 160 hp for the single, 320 for the double, all powering 600kg of car witht he REAR WHEELS. thats a beast, and a helluva lot better than a civic. the single engine car does a 4 second 0-60, so the double engined car has got to be around 3 or less. amazing...

[s13/350z]

Im just wondering why eveyone wants to make a FWD honda, RWD, after cost of parts albor and overall time you could have enough for an nsx maby 2 used s2000. if your doing all this to drift get a real car, if your doing it for show then GL to ya and hope you got deep pockets. Dont think bout thi big stuff think bout all the little stuff. Like the fact there is no "hump" on the floor board of the car to run your tranny stuff(like rwd cars have), and little things like that youd have to fab. Like I said if ur rich and have a point for it GL if ur doin it for fun u are wasting money and time on such a project that would probally take the average motor head a year or so to complete IF money was not a factor.

[WildSe7en]

Originally posted by s13/350z
Im just wondering why eveyone wants to make a FWD honda, RWD, after cost of parts albor and overall time you could have enough for an nsx maby 2 used s2000. if your doing all this to drift get a real car, if your doing it for show then GL to ya and hope you got deep pockets.

I second that

[TokyoDrifterxo7]

most of you guys dont know what your talking about. Yes there is a hump in the floor board. It is possible but the civic chassis is pretty week dude. You would have to do some serious stiffening to drift it. You could put a F20c in it, it's been done but i dont recommend it. if you have an excellent welder and alot of money and time then maybe you can somehow hook up the 240sx suspension and motor to the civic. But you can always buy a 240sx with perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Theres other options dude, if your for real on this, i can tell you how. But it's gonna cost atleast $20,000+ Il do it for you for $50,000. I wouldnt recommend doing it to a good civic. I would just go to a honda salvage yard and pick up a shell. Remove everything down to the chassis, and acid dip the frame. Cut away at the frame and get a lotus elise B18c conversion kit and somehow mod it to work. Or you can go the cheap way and buy a 88-91 civic wagon. They are AWD and week. lol, just remove the front axles. If you are gonna do all this just to drift a civic. DONT DO IT. It's *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*in stupid IMO. Just drift on a FF setup if you want to drift your civic.

[mranlet]

Sigh...

I am going to be starting the build of an AWD CRX in the not-too-distant future, but the realm of RWD Hondas probably won't be too far away.

Why RWD Hondas? Because there is a copious amount of Hondas around, they're reliable, the aftermarket is enormous (not only engine parts, but suspension, chassis, wheels and tires, aero kits, and anything else you can think of), they have built in some nice features on some models, including double wishbone suspension on all the CRX's which is superior to just about any strut setup on anything else, they are light...need I go on?

There are a number of RWD Integ's popping up in Japan, most of the ones I've seen use SR20's as the motor of choice. Most of the popular Hondas have a big enough exhaust tunnel that a driveshaft will fit through, especially if the exhaust is re-routed (side pipes, 2 low-profile pipes, etc). And, if it doesn't fit, it's no catastrophic thing to cut into the metal and weld on something else. People act like it's impossible to modify frames on unit-bodies, but if you cut out the pieces and mark out where you want it just about any fabrication shop will do it FOR you for next to nothing. If you have a welder and the skills yourself, it's virtually free!

There's always going to be people saying "ooh, that's a bad idea, I wouldn't do it if I were you" or "you'd risk losing a perfectly good car" or "you'll dump in a lot of money for not much in return", but you know what? So what if nobody's done it before? So what if you lose a car? So what if you spend a bunch of money? The first few guys who swapped in RB motors to their 240sx's probably spent way more money than anyone thought they ought to, but now any one of us can get the swap done for no more than $5k. I've lost a car or 2 over the years attempting stuff that didn't seem possible, but if I were to try it again I know what not to do and could probably nail it. If you're afraid of spending money and risking something, then you'll never get anything done.

If sometime in the near future it was possible to get an Integra or Civic and $5k later you could have a SR-powered RWD car that is just over a ton and has an enormous aftermarket support, wouldn't the worl be a tiny bit better? Come on, RWD Hondas could be one more addition to the very limited realm of good drift cars...

Don't confuse me with those "Honda4Lifer's" as my heart lies elsewhere, but at the same time I can recognize an excellent platform when I see one.

My advice to Style:
If you really want an easy way to make a "RWD Civic", then do a body-drop. Build a space frame that will recieve all of the Civic suspension pickups, fuel tank, master cylinder and so on. Get a RWD motor and trans and differential and install them into your frame (I would suggest a swapped-out KA since they are plentiful and cheap and most still run pretty well and could later be swapped for an SR or FJ or RB) and then graft on the Civic body, doors, hood, glass, and whatever you don't want to throw away. Even though it won't be a true RWD Civic, you will have a RWD car with the profile of a Civic much the same way higher classes of racing have merely the profile of the origional car, and you will have been able to get rid of all the excess metal in the engine bay, trunk, floor (especially if you give your frame an aluminum or CF floor) and get a formidable weight savings. Yes it would be a lot of work and yes you risk destroying a car and yess you will need to spend some money but in the end you will have an amazing acomplishment that you can look and say "I built that"!

IMO - Any true hot-rodder would jump at the chance to do something nobody else has...

I don't know if I've rattled any cages, but I kinda hope that I have. If I've made any enemies then I'm glad, because I don't want to be asscosiated with nay-sayers anyway.

-MR

[J_cham979]

Well to be honest, i dont know much bout civics but could it be possible to use a S2000 drivestaff and engine in a civic? i dunno much bout car tech stuff so im just guessing. if a S2000 drivestaff is to expensive u could try a AE86 one. but i dunno...

[SlideRiceFC]

They've been doing a rwd civic buildup in Honda Tuning magazine. And no, I'm not a Honda Tuning reader...thank God.

[mranlet]

Yeah, but it's a MR setup, which would be tough on a coupe without the body drop...

Besides, MR cars can be tough to drift (tougher than FR at least). Of course, look who's talking - I drift the AWD :P

-MR

[SlideRiceFC]

ah, true...it is MR. I didn't even really read it. A co-worker had it and the "AE86 Killer" headline caught my attention.

Originally posted by mranlet
Yeah, but it's a MR setup, which would be tough on a coupe without the body drop...

Besides, MR cars can be tough to drift (tougher than FR at least). Of course, look who's talking - I drift the AWD :P

-MR

[pitchedUP]

why build a AWD crx when you can just buy a stock AWD civic wagon(its not a DX but i think it says 4T or AWD on it, its been a long time since i researched that car). Honda built an AWD civic wagon back in the day. Its a EF chassis civic, so im guessing that some suspension parts for the other EFs would fit. In japan they ran the EF wagon with a ZC so that would be a pretty good swap for that car.

here is a site of some guy with a AWD civic: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/8997/

also the AWD system on the civic wagon is an earlier version of the one on the CRV, so maybe you can upgrade the AWD system.

[TokyoDrifterxo7]

You can bolt a ZC right up to the drive train. The drive trains aernt the strongest but it's worth a shot. Ive thought about doing it at one time.

[jdmdrewS14]

wow, ive said it before and ill say it again. Hondas arent made to drift. I know some of you will say what about the s2000 or the NSX. Please dont waste your time. s2000 and nsx's are the only hondas I like but keep it at the drag strip buddy. My friend has the nicest civic and personally i think he did a good job at moding it out but if he tried to drift it I would turn my head in discust. SO Dont drift your civic. Or try to make it RWD. By the way my friend is gettin a 240 cause he cant stand FWD.

[Chas]

There already is a AWD civic, just make it pure RWD.

hypothetically you could make either a RWD integra or civic. The parts would be barrowed from a CRV, and the chassis would be cut to hell, but with time, money and skills, this can be accomplished. But CRV axles and driveshaft size is no where near the 240sx's. Which in turn would give you the usual weak Honda axle problem. That can be solved with more money, but I would just say F it and buy a S2000. It would be cheaper.

[mranlet]

Well, it looks like my AWD will end up being pirated from a Galant VR-4, Eclipse GSX/Talon Tsi or EVO with the mighty 4G63T. If not the Mistubishis, then I'll see if I can get ahold of the AWD and SR20 from a Pulsar GTi-R (they come with ITB's).

I know that there was an AWD Civic. I had to make this sentence because you can't include the words "fast", "drifting" or "powerful" in the same sentence as my previous statement - it's illegal and I'll have to beat you... But really, being satisfied with the performance of the AWD Civic is like being happy with the performance of the 127-HP Integra ZXI...or the AWD Sportage.

It wouldn't be that hard to make a RWD Civic (who cares if you cut it up, there's a million of them running around) using a 240's drivetrain. Many Datsun 510 owners swap in the left-for-dead KA24's and non-LSD rear ends, which can be had for less than a grand, yank a driveshaft and some mounts from a junked car and you'd be in business.

For those who say that it's a bad idea, just ignore this thread

-MR

[TokyoDrifterxo7]

il definately give madd props to whoever that can pull it off. Me myself want a AWD civic, but not for street drifting purposes. Rally racing

[mranlet]

I'll build my CRX and when I get it to work, I'll build your Civic

-MR

[style54109]

Yo now. Don't rag on me because I want a civic. Just because they have so many cheap pieces, swapable parts, and low insurance. If you are going to talk about your own car then just open a new thread, not to be mean or anything, but it works better that way.

No really sweet ideas so I guess skrew it.