The Joker
 

OK guys, I have been lurking around the forms for almost a year now, I think it is about time for me to start my own project thread. I have a 185K mi. purple 1994 Honda civic DX! Some of you may have seen my introduction post a few weeks ago, but if you haven't this is my storm chasing car! 40 plus MPG is really really nice compared to 16-18 that I got out of my land rover and F150, while nowhere near as nice, I am absolutely in love with this car! sorry its dirty :(

I ordered an MPGuino 2 1/2 weeks ago, but it is not in yet :( I also have an MSD A6 to install, just need the time. When I get around to it I will do a write up on this thread with tons of pictures.

My ultimate goal is to get at least 55 MPG while driving the speed limit, and have a fast sporty little car.

With my two days off for new year I removed my grill block and installed some extremely bright HID "fog lights" they only draw about 6 amps, so better for MPG :cool: . Also, I've replaced my overly worn upper control arms with some nice tubular adjustable upper control arms. Lastly, I reinstalled my pizza hubcaps.

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps635be36f.jpg
Unfinished light covers, they will be painted black as to blend in with the grill. And I already have the Plexiglas to fill the hole. They also work as a partial grill block!
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3adbbf35.jpg
This picture was taken by my friend last night on my cell phone. These are only the fog lights!
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...psa7097c91.jpg

Here are some pictures of the control arm swap. The rubber bushings actually fell out when I took it apart! While I had the suspension apart I went ahead and installed the lower control arms and a sway bar from a 93 civic SI (only 60K mi). As some of you might or might not know, the DX did not come with a sway bar, and different lower control arms are used on the cars with sway bars. Sorry, I really don't have any pictures of that part of the swap.... You have to remove the exhaust and shift linkage to install a sway bar on this car. It is a nightmare!

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps763bde38.jpg
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps625328f7.jpg
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7c5c82a2.jpg
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps010efd77.jpg
Here are a few other pictures.
My front bumper with my home made inner fender liners, and a partial airdam prior to adding the fog lights, and removing the crappie ones that were on there.
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...pse242a317.jpg
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...psf18f676d.jpg
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...psb96ac6e6.jpg
I think it could be possible that my car has the transmission out of a CX or VX!! But I am not certain... Look at the picture below (taken by the passenger, not me..) And tell me what you think.
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6a9355fe.jpg

you do some nice creative work!

Thank you :D I grew up in a body shop, so fabrication is Something I have done for years.
Everything on this car was just recycled scrap material. I could have made it look factory"ish" but that takes more time and $.

If any one is in the Lubbock area PM me and I am always willing to help on any projects!

Looks nice. What do you use for your front license plate bracket? I tried to make one for the pass side but there was no good place to bolt into.

Also, how'd you make the rear skirts? Everything looks so professional :)

Actually all that I did was drill holes in the bumper while I had it off and bolt it on with washers. It's not exactly the best way to do it, but since I already had it off I decided I might as well block off another turbulent hole!

I do plan on making a curved license plate frame, just so it looks like it's supposed to be there.

Subscribed!

Just a real quick question. Do you think my car has the original Trans? at 60 mph I am somewhere around 2200 rpm.

http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6a9355fe.jpg

Nice work, but looking at the bottom 4?" of the rear wheel skirt, doesnt the rear have quite a sharp angle to it back to the original body? Wouldnt that create drag?

Like the hids!

Yes, there is about a 2" lip at the back bottom edge. I was hoping for a clean seperation to get around the curvy rear bumper, which creates horrible turbulence. I have some huge improvements to make to the rear of this car.

Project update!, well sort of... tomorrow night, i will be driving back down to my home town of Brownwood, Tx. From Lubbock. The trip is 462 miles there and back. I plan on doing this on one tank!

I am going down there to install my mpguino, and rebuild my stereo system. I know I will do a write up on the mpguino, I don't know about the other though... This dsnt seem like the right forum for that. lol If I did, all of you guys here would more than likely say "you could save 200lbs by taking out the subs and amp!"

I know I can nudge 46mpg... My goal is to only use ~9 U.S. gallons just at 51 mpg!! however, without an mpguino, at least on the way down there, I don't know what speed will yield the best mileage... Time is not really an issue, what speed would be best? 45, 50, 55? idk... You have seen my slight arrow improvements. What do you guys think?

I would guess somewhere in the 45 mph range. You have a 12 gallon tank right? I think you can make it. :thumbup:

Wow, 51mpg would be impressive. If you can safely do it, try 45mph the whole way. You'll have higher engine load and therefore better efficiency for every drop of fuel.

Do you know if the rear window has attached flow?

I know that under 50 miles an hour I do have atached flow. (by watching the snow fly off ) after that, however I really doubt it... It seems a little too steep, need to do some tuff testing I guess.

It might be cheating the system, but I am going to fill up with ethanol free gas.
As a side note leaving out in 10 to 20 minutes.!

It's been awhile since I've updated, I have been saved the last three or four days :/ feeling a little better now though. As it turns out, I did not have the patience to drive 45 miles an hour for 5 hours hahah!
I did get a record highway tank though! 45.78MPG
Fortunately, this is a car that a lot of people have had before, and they fine tuning of the MPGuino has already been done!
Man, everyone on here says how much of a difference and instead a readout helps... But I never would have imagined this much!
For just over 50 miles I drafted behind an 18 wheeler at 60 through 65 miles per hour and for those 50 miles or so I've averaged 52 MPG!!!
http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6cbb9b7e.jpg