Twister8008's PMM Machine Build

twister8008

twister8008

Well-Known Member
859
480
Omaha, NE, but I am a Wisconsinite
Vehicle Model
Civic SI
Body Style
Coupe
Greetings! My name is Ricky, Ric, or "Red" and I am married with 4 kiddos. I am a meteorologist in the Air Force and currently stationed at Offutt AFB, NE. I have had a hard time keeping cars in the past and it is my goal to pay this one off and keep it forever. I somehow was able to buy it for $17,900 so my note is still way under KBB’s value. Upon arrival from Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan, I started a lease for a 2010 Genesis Coupe Track model ride. It was a blast to drive, but then I realized my lease was not going to be a good deal for me. I started to panic and did everything I could to get out. I was able to get into a 2010 Honda Civic SI (4 door). I held on to that car for almost a year and grew tired of the “family mobile” look. That was its demise. . .

I started looking at the Honda CRZ. I traded into a 2011 CRZ and liked it. The hybrid “sport” engine moved it quite well, and I could fit my bike in the back easy. The problem and the demise of the relationship was that it was only a two-seater. This caused issues with me bringing co-workers out to lunch etc. That was its demise. . . I held on to that car for a whole 4.5 months.

At that time I said screw it. I am getting my dream car. Not quite an STI, but I couldn’t afford that. I bought a 2011 WRX limited and started adding parts here in there. I told my wife that I would never get rid of the car. I didn’t upgrade anything that modded the engine, but I did upgrade to the SPT exhaust. I had that car for a year. Then an STI came along. . . That was the demise of that relationship.

I could finally have my dream car. My wife gave me the green light and I was dropping off the keys. I loved my car’s power, but hated the awful gas mileage. I averaged 15 mpg BABYING my engine. My mileage would go in the crapper any time the boost kicked in at 3K rpm. This equated to about 69-70mph. Basic freeway driving was in boost. I was ok with it though. I had my $550 payment, but it was all good. Our family car was paid off. I modded the car with bolt-ons, basically every STI part Subaru sold. I sunk some money into that car, but hey, I was keeping it FOREVER. :( Here is the build thread: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gr-members-journals/254082-2012-sti-hatch-black-dream.html Then came the baby. . . That was the demise of my STI.

We had to upgrade our family car to a 3 row SUV. We decided on a 2014 Honda Pilot EXL. At the same time, I decided to cut our payments down by $200 and turn over my baby. I surprisingly do not miss my STI now.

Now to a new chapter. This is my PMM 2013 SI Coupe. It didn’t take long until I started tinkering with her. :) I am going to attempt to build this thread from the beginning. My overall modifications are listed below. I LOVE this car. She is more fun to drive, AND I have more coin in my pocket to do upgrades. :o) I really like my gas mileage compared to the STI. I am not avoiding driving my car places now. I have zero regrets. :) That’s got to be a near-record-length intro. Hahahaha! Enjoy the thread!

CIVIC SI UPGRADES

http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/twister8008s-pmm-machine-build

Current Modifications:

Interior

Honda Rubber mats and trunk tray (Honda)
12" Boston Sub and Kicker 300.1 amplifier (Previous Car)
custom packers cup holder cover (YOSPEED)
Blox Racing Limited Platinum spherical shift knob (Blox Racing)
JDM Steering wheel emblem (corsport)
Red Interior illumination kit (Diode Dynamics)
LED license plate, trunk, map, and dome bulbs from (diode dynamics)
Custom Door sills (YOSPEED)
Leather seat covers
Viper 5706v remote study/security system
Sirimoto Baysavers Washer Kit (Procivic)
Eclipse sunshade

Exterior

Window Tint (35% rear and 50% in the front.
JDM emblems on front and rear (Pro Civic)
Top Window Tint Strip
Debadged all rear badges and removed DOHC Stickers on the side
Yellow Fog lights from UNIQUEMODZ.net. (Lee Johnson)
smoked backup light tint (Slickmod on Ebay)
Side window visors (HICUSA)
Rear window visor (HICUSA)

Performance

Kraftwerks Force Induction w/ 110mm pulley
1000cc Grams Injectors
Kraftwerks Billet Alluminum Blow-off valve
Sirimoto Front Strut Bar (Procivic)
Full Race 3” catback exhaust (axionindustries)Hybrid Racing base and cable
Full Race 3” catted Downpipe (axionindustries)
Vit Tune (www.vittuned.com)
Hondata Flash pro
Buddy Club Short Shifter (team3d)
Shifter Base and Cable bushings (Hybrid Racing)
DW 65C Fuel Pump
Exedy Stage 1 clutch and lightweight flywheel (Corsport)

Stability

205/55R16 WS70 Blizzak Snow tires (Tire Rack)
HFP Suspension (College Hills Honda)
Progress 24mm Rear Sway bar (team3d)
Boomba Racing Engine mounts (front and rear) (Boomba Racing)
Sirimoto Front Strut Bar (Procivic)

Future Ideas

Blinking tail lights
Air deflector for the hood
Ground underbody spoilers from college hills Honda
Side body moldings from college hills Honda $162
2012-2015 Honda Civic Si K-Tuned Crash Bar $149
Blox Billet Oil Cap - Red $37
Honda/Acura K-Tuned Billet Oil Cap $53
Honda/Acura K24 K-Tuned Billet Oil Dipstick $85
2012 Honda Civic Si Sedan Password:JDM Dry Carbon Kevlar Cooling Plate $319.99
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2012-2013 Honda Civic Coupe Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood - VSII Style $775
Ktuned Fuel Rail/gauge combo (Search online) $206

Here she was after my 4 hour trip back from the dealership. Untainted... ready to be driven :o)



Pictures and additions coming in the future
 
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The first thing I needed to do was get Snow tires STAT! It was in the middle of October in North Dakota. That meant snow. Tire Rack answered the call.





Due to the snow, I was stuck with interior modifications during the harsh, ND winter. We had 57 days of less than -25F!!! I decided to have Dave from YoSpeed hook me up with a custom cup holder cover to dress up my interior a bit.

 
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My sub and amp were next. I had the 12" Boston Acoustics sub in my WRX and STI and now it was time to move it over to my new ride. I would like to have a mount in the wheel well area, but that is way expensive and not a priority at the moment. Plus, I like that I can take it out now if I want to be lighter.

 
My next mission was to de-badge and remove the DOHC side stickers. This wasn't too much work, since the car was basically new still. Temperatures were in the 20's so the adhesive never had a chance to really "cook" on yet. I also plasti-dipped my honda badges. This surprisingly lasted all winter until now (August). Not too shabby at all. I was ready for a change anyway.



Work in progress:











No DOHC Stickers!

 
I missed my STI suspension a lot and my wife was nice enough to let me make a rather large purchase after buying a car and snow tires. I purchased the HFP suspension so I could keep my suspension under factory warranty. I had the dealer install it as well. Thank you College Hills Honda for the great price!! The ride was COMPLETELY different after the install. I could feel every little bump around me, and the wheel gap was significantly reduced. I didn't want to slam my car, but rather upgrade its performance.







I also hit 1500 miles around this time as well...

 
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First time I could really take pictures of her









I next wanted to update the shifting mechanism, because I felt the throw was way too long and much different than my STI. After A LOT of research I decided on Buddy Club. I couldn't believe how many conflicting reviews existed on the net and these forums :) In addition, I bought base and cable bushings from Hybrid Racing and a new, shiny Blox Racing shift knob. Unfortunately, I erased the photos on my phone of the install. :( I worked with my old man while I was home on leave between military training.

Here is final result

 
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While at military training, I decided that I had too much free time so I needed to upgrade my car more. :) I purchased a flash pro from a member here so I could get rid of the rev hang. After messing with the maps, I still wasn't happy with my selection and was afraid I was running rich. I decided on an e-tune from Vittuning.com after the rave reviews on here. The rev hang was instantly gone and I was happy... for a month. I didn't want to take on a DP install on my own, and there is no where in Minot that will do the work. I discovered a muffler shop by the base would do the install so I pulled the trigger on a new, Full Race catted DP courtesy of axion industries. Vit graciously restarted the tuning process again. The results were amazing after a couple of tunes! The problem was Montgomery, AL was such a big city it was near-impossible to do engine pulls. I used freeway ramps and looked forward to returning to desolate ND.

 
While in training, I decided to order some more parts and share some more quality time with my father. I left the house for the military when I was 18, and it has been almost 16 years now. I need to spend some time with my dad doing something he loves...working on cars. I ordered a Progress 24 mm sway bar from from Team3d and Moog bushings. I also bought front and rear torque mounts from Boomba Racing. The car vibrated a little more than I was expecting at first, but now I like it. I thought we did something wrong, but it settled down. I took the car out on an extremely curvy road with my father and we wrapped most curves at almost double the recommended speed. Good times! I see summer tires in my future after the all-seasons wear out.



 
I purchased a JDM steering wheel emblem from Corsport. It is a great product. Make sure you follow their directions by installing more 3M tape around the "H." I didn't, and almost had to purchase another. Luckily, all was well with the world and I was able to safely pull it off and reinstall.

 
My next fun purchase was lighting. I bought all of my lighting from www.diodedynamics.com. They have awesome customer service and make a fine product. I swapped out all of my lighting with bright, white LEDs. In addition, I purchased red LEDs for the driver and passenger compartments. I had to drill a 3/4 inch hole somewhere to install the switch. First, I was going to hide it, but then I figured why not make it look like it was MEANT to be there. You can see the switch in the picture posted above to the left of the AUX cover. Here is the result!



 
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Meanwhile, I am still tuning with Vit. I saw a great deal on the Full Race catback and decided now was the time to pull the trigger. I don't have any pictures of the catback in the box, because I had very limited time to install the pipe without getting charged two hours for the lift. I also had to get home as quick as possible that morning. It was my first real car job by myself, and I was really proud of myself for completing it.

 
Along the same timeframe, I was talking with Dave from YoSpeed about hooking me up with some more of his fancy engraved items. I like the plate frames and the battery tie-downs, but I was not ready to commit just yet. I will most likely be moving my battery for an Injen or PRL intake next year and then the tie down may not work. The plate frame is nice, but I am leaning towards a Hondata frame. I decided on door sills to protect the nice paint. Some Wisconsin pride also! :o)

 
The next task I took on was ordering and installing yellow tint for my fog lights. I thought I was going to be able to just stick them on, but quickly discovered it was much more involved than that. I learned how to remove my fog lights and take them apart to install the tint. I think it turned out really well. Another notch in my belt. ;o)









 
It was time to remove the plasti-dip from my car, because chrome was showing all around the edges. That was fun... I replaced it with JDM badging from Procivic.com. They have a great video on how to remove the badges. This was my confidence builder to start ripping things apart. I soon found out their demonstration model, a 2014 sedan, was much different than a 2013 coupe. There was no big plastic piece to remove in the engine bay to free up the grill access. I realized this after popping all of the fasteners. I didn't want to dismantle something that would be difficult to put back on, so I opted to kill the emblem. I pushed a credit card to get under the badge and then carefully broke it in pieces. The interesting thing is that it was even different under the badge compared to the video. The left side had a tall, plastic volcano looking thing that would interfere with the application of the JDM badge. I used a blade to gently cut the plastic down. I only stabbed it through my finger once. LOL! There was a lot of empty space that I filled up with 3M tape just to make sure it stayed fastened. It didn't sit IN the plastic, but rather rested on the inside edge. The extra tape ensured ti stuck in the middle on the "H" as well. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of that part.















The rear badge was also different. They showed pins under the trunk lid. I removed the mat and then realized the pins were visible though the spot where the license plate bulb was located. Oh well. I was able to reach in with a needle-nose pliers and break the pins off. The emblem was left intact. I then noticed that there was no reason to mark the emblem, because it was actually inset into the car unlike the video where it was flush.









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Finally, I purchased a 1-month e-dyno subscription on flashprotuning.com to see if all of my mods were worth it. I would say yes. :) I may be able to tip the 200 Whp scale next year when I install the intake. We shall see...

 
Awesome thread man! Looks like things are going great and you have one of my favorite mods. SNOW TIRES! hahahah
 
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