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My love for stance started naturally by browsing the MKIV Volkswagen forums. I owned 4 MKIV's in a little over a year and learned a lot, but for now I am done with them. Moving on to something more reliable until I finish school. I am a documenter to say the least, so I want to keep all my progress piled into one thread. This is my newest project. Purchased on April 27th, 2011. 1994 Honda Civic CX hatchback with fresh JDM D15B swap (will be kept stock, sorry boys). Engine has 45k on it, runs beautifully, gets 40+ mpg's, couldn't be happier. Exterior was in overall good condition, I would say a 9/10. No major dents, just a few dings and some oxidation on the roof. Interior was also a 9/10, everything is there and in good shape for the most part. Came with cheap KYB suspension, eBay type-R lip and eBay intake.
My plan is to create a nice and sexy daily driver. This is how it sat a few days after I bought it, I had already switched out the stock tails for these at this point:
This was a perfect candidate for me to learn on. I'm pretty new to everything, and I learn everything online and learn by doing. The first thing I did was replace the clutch as it was starting to go, it was my first time really getting in there and taking stuff apart, and it went smoothly:
I also installed a B&M dual bend short shifter with new Energy Suspension Shifter bushings, but I don't have any pictures of the setup.
Next was audio. I don't have any pictures but I installed a Kenwood Excelon head unit and some Polk coaxial speakers, man what a difference. Sounds great! It was my first time soldering, here is the finished wiring harness:
Next was suspension. The KYB suspension rode like shit, wasn't adjustable and wasn't low enough for me. Stance is very important to me, so I had to upgrade. Out with the old:
And in with the new:
Function&Form Type 1's purchased new. Not the nicest setup, but affordable. I'm happy with them. After I installed them:
Next was wheels. I searched around for quite a bit and discovered Stance Mindset wheels and fell in love instantly. They were perfect to me. Low offset, step lip, had a Euro style to them. I had to have them. A few weeks later, they were at my doorstep.
Comparison: stock vs. Stance Mindset.
It was love! 15x8 +25 with 195/50/15's
At this point, I figured it might be a good idea to get an alarm installed because there was some sketchy stuff going on my neighborhood and I'd be super bummed if my hatch got stolen. So I had a local audio shop install an alarm for me. I'm way more comfortable leaving it on the street now
Next was paint prep. This was by far the most labor intensive part of my build so far. It also sucked because I work on my car at my dad's house, which is 30 miles away from my house, so every time I went to work on it, I had to drive it home at the end of the day. So I always had to put everything back together so I could go home. Definitely inconvenient, but whatever. I wanted a really clean body. My plan was to shave all emblem holes, license plate holes, fix dings and dents, etc. This was my first time doing body work of any kind, so it took some trial and error, but in the end it was all worth it. Starting prep:
Went to a local meet/show with my ghetto ass setup haha, my buddy's Mazda3 and my hatch:
Bought a different hood because mine had a weird dent in it. Ended up selling it for more than I bought this one for
and started prepping it:
A buddy of mine helped me weld up the emblem holes because I don't have a welder (Thanks Joel!) and I grinded them down and filled them and smoothed them out. I don't have pictures of the end product, but here's some progress shots as well as my buddy's 59 Chevy that he is working on:
Here are some shots the day I started painting it. The emblems and license plate holes are shaved, the body is fully prepped, and I had all my equipment ready. My dad has a huge army tent that he let me paint the car in. My dad helped out a lot by getting the tent, air compressor and generator ready. He also helped me with some masking. Painting the car was a 2 day process. Day 1 was door jambs, hatch jambs, hood and bumper. I let everything dry overnight so I could put the doors back on and spray the rest of the car. Day 2 was everything else. After weeks of driving around a christmas-themed mess of a hatch, I was so excited to finally have it all one color again.
To anyone interested, the paint I used is an Epoxy Primer. How it works is you get one gallon of primer and one gallon of epoxy hardener. When you're ready to paint, you mix equal portions of each into a cup and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes so the two can fully react with each other. The next part is optional. If you want, you can thin the paint down with Acetone. Basically, the more thinner you mix in, the more shine it gives it. I wanted a semi-gloss look so I added a decent amount of thinner. Each batch of paint I mixed up was:
6oz. of primer
6oz. of epoxy hardener
3oz. of Acetone
and that's what gives it that sorta shine.
The BEST part about this paint is it can used as a sealer/top coat. AKA, it wont fade off in a year into a dull chalky mess, it will keep this finish. Plus, if I decide in 2 years that I'm ready for a legitimate paint job, all I need to do is quickly scuff the primer and it's fully prepped for paint.
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Got it all back together and was pumped on how it turned out
Put my Ex/Si lip on and took some better shots. I am painting the grills black soon, and also getting the windows tinted 20% all around. I have a JDM 2-piece SiR wing coming in the mail which I will be painting the same color as the car (either that, or I'm selling the SiR wing and getting a subtle duckbill, not the super inclined one but the mellow one, and color matching that).
More updates below!
My plan is to create a nice and sexy daily driver. This is how it sat a few days after I bought it, I had already switched out the stock tails for these at this point:
This was a perfect candidate for me to learn on. I'm pretty new to everything, and I learn everything online and learn by doing. The first thing I did was replace the clutch as it was starting to go, it was my first time really getting in there and taking stuff apart, and it went smoothly:
I also installed a B&M dual bend short shifter with new Energy Suspension Shifter bushings, but I don't have any pictures of the setup.
Next was audio. I don't have any pictures but I installed a Kenwood Excelon head unit and some Polk coaxial speakers, man what a difference. Sounds great! It was my first time soldering, here is the finished wiring harness:
Next was suspension. The KYB suspension rode like shit, wasn't adjustable and wasn't low enough for me. Stance is very important to me, so I had to upgrade. Out with the old:
And in with the new:
Function&Form Type 1's purchased new. Not the nicest setup, but affordable. I'm happy with them. After I installed them:
Next was wheels. I searched around for quite a bit and discovered Stance Mindset wheels and fell in love instantly. They were perfect to me. Low offset, step lip, had a Euro style to them. I had to have them. A few weeks later, they were at my doorstep.
Comparison: stock vs. Stance Mindset.
It was love! 15x8 +25 with 195/50/15's
At this point, I figured it might be a good idea to get an alarm installed because there was some sketchy stuff going on my neighborhood and I'd be super bummed if my hatch got stolen. So I had a local audio shop install an alarm for me. I'm way more comfortable leaving it on the street now
Next was paint prep. This was by far the most labor intensive part of my build so far. It also sucked because I work on my car at my dad's house, which is 30 miles away from my house, so every time I went to work on it, I had to drive it home at the end of the day. So I always had to put everything back together so I could go home. Definitely inconvenient, but whatever. I wanted a really clean body. My plan was to shave all emblem holes, license plate holes, fix dings and dents, etc. This was my first time doing body work of any kind, so it took some trial and error, but in the end it was all worth it. Starting prep:
Went to a local meet/show with my ghetto ass setup haha, my buddy's Mazda3 and my hatch:
Bought a different hood because mine had a weird dent in it. Ended up selling it for more than I bought this one for
and started prepping it:A buddy of mine helped me weld up the emblem holes because I don't have a welder (Thanks Joel!) and I grinded them down and filled them and smoothed them out. I don't have pictures of the end product, but here's some progress shots as well as my buddy's 59 Chevy that he is working on:
Here are some shots the day I started painting it. The emblems and license plate holes are shaved, the body is fully prepped, and I had all my equipment ready. My dad has a huge army tent that he let me paint the car in. My dad helped out a lot by getting the tent, air compressor and generator ready. He also helped me with some masking. Painting the car was a 2 day process. Day 1 was door jambs, hatch jambs, hood and bumper. I let everything dry overnight so I could put the doors back on and spray the rest of the car. Day 2 was everything else. After weeks of driving around a christmas-themed mess of a hatch, I was so excited to finally have it all one color again.
To anyone interested, the paint I used is an Epoxy Primer. How it works is you get one gallon of primer and one gallon of epoxy hardener. When you're ready to paint, you mix equal portions of each into a cup and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes so the two can fully react with each other. The next part is optional. If you want, you can thin the paint down with Acetone. Basically, the more thinner you mix in, the more shine it gives it. I wanted a semi-gloss look so I added a decent amount of thinner. Each batch of paint I mixed up was:
6oz. of primer
6oz. of epoxy hardener
3oz. of Acetone
and that's what gives it that sorta shine.
The BEST part about this paint is it can used as a sealer/top coat. AKA, it wont fade off in a year into a dull chalky mess, it will keep this finish. Plus, if I decide in 2 years that I'm ready for a legitimate paint job, all I need to do is quickly scuff the primer and it's fully prepped for paint.
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Got it all back together and was pumped on how it turned out
Put my Ex/Si lip on and took some better shots. I am painting the grills black soon, and also getting the windows tinted 20% all around. I have a JDM 2-piece SiR wing coming in the mail which I will be painting the same color as the car (either that, or I'm selling the SiR wing and getting a subtle duckbill, not the super inclined one but the mellow one, and color matching that).
More updates below!
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