The rear suspension is only slightly more advanced. Once again all of the links are stock and have some very old rubber bushings. Ground Control coilovers are installed as well. It looks like we need to add a helper spring to keep the main spring from rattling around under full droop. A Progress adjustable 22mm swaybar is installed in the rear and is one of the main reasons this car handles so well. Your eyes do not deceive you, those are indeed drum brakes. ITC rules forbid replacing brake calipers so we’re stuck with these.We popped a drum off to inspect things. I believe these are Porterfield brake shoes (they are the only company I can find who still make performance brake shoes for these old Civics). Stainless steel brake lines are also installed. It’s dusty under here but the wheel cylinders are in good shape and the drums are round. All of the springs and hardware look to be in good shape as well.I was surprised to see the stock oil pan on the engine. This has to go. We’ll be replacing it with a baffled oil pan that not only protects against oil slosh but adds some capacity as well. The crank pulley also needs to be replaced with a proper harmonic balancer. Every bit of power counts in this engine. Note the single accessory belt which means this car has factory manual steering. We were told this car had its timing belt replaced last summer so that’s one less job we need to do. We found the valve cover gasket was leaking so while we have that off we can check the valve lash and inspect the timing belt.Our plan is to do a nut and bolt on the car, change all the fluids for peace of mind, and do a few autocrosses with the car to assess it. According to the seller this car has held lap records at a number of local tracks, though it is unclear when those records were set. We were hoping to do those events on these old tires but since they’re splitting we will have to replace them.For everything else we will keep it cheap for now, then spend money if we decide this car is worth the trouble. The chassis is a solid foundation: it has its share of battle scars but it is rust free and has only minor body damage. The engine is strong and the gearbox is grind free. While the suspension is worn, those Ground Control coilovers are worth their weight in gold. With some additional development we can bring this car into the 2020s and make it a competitive racecar once again. In our next installment we will take care of the immediate maintenance and repair items and take it on its first shakedown runs. Stay tuned!
A “Petty bar” is one that goes from a point high on the main hoop to a point in the passenger footwell. The internet generally agrees with this, though I saw one post that described it as reversing what must have been common practice at some point in NASCAR where the diagonal in the main hoop was low on the drivers side and high on the passenger side, leaving the section over the driver unbraced.
Following closely!
My friend and I have a similar EF 2dr, with a D15b high comp vtec fuel injection engine
We got to throw the original dual carb out as the class restrictions were CC only 🙂
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A “Petty bar” is one that goes from a point high on the main hoop to a point in the passenger footwell. The internet generally agrees with this, though I saw one post that described it as reversing what must have been common practice at some point in NASCAR where the diagonal in the main hoop was low on the drivers side and high on the passenger side, leaving the section over the driver unbraced.
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve updated this piece accordingly
Following closely!
My friend and I have a similar EF 2dr, with a D15b high comp vtec fuel injection engine
We got to throw the original dual carb out as the class restrictions were CC only 🙂
Any FB / IG page that I could follow?