TDSAutoMag

 A few days ago marked the two year anniversary of The Driver’s Seat. Two years in and I’m even busier than when I first started. That in itself speaks volumes especially when the idea for this whole thing practically came out of nowhere. I guess part of it came from being around the performance scene here in Barbados and having a few close friends with some high quality builds which I thought deserved recognition. That reminded me of a few builds I follow and/or ones I may randomly come across on the internet from around the world. With the idea rough in my mind I sat and thought to myself about what or who actually covers this type of stuff here; – from a raw and uncut driver’s perspective, showcasing the other side of a build that one may generally not realize by seeing the car making its way around on the streets or out competing at an event, or even on display at which ever launch – and I basically came up with a blank. This then gave me a push to give the idea some additional thought.

I wanted to basically tell the driver’s perspective of what a build entails aside from the high end parts and thousands of dollars spent, I wanted to cover the real side of things that people don’t see. To show that an expensive parts list doesn’t mean that in an instant things will go smoothly nor does it mean that the car will be overwhelmingly fast. Having quality parts sometimes just means reliability; it is more so the combination of parts that make a difference. Another thing I’ve come to realize is not many people know about the stress and effort that is put in to make a car ready for the next upcoming event or the late nights spent troubleshooting trying to solve what was in the end a very simple or complex problem.

With a clearer sense of what I wanted to achieve, I went out and started asking around about several builds that were either in the works or were upcoming that would fit under this description. Once I had a list of builds to choose from I started moving forward with the idea and initially had serious difficulty when it came to piece together a post but as time moved forward it became easier, and as they say the rest is history.

The responses and the feedback I started to get was a bit overwhelming and quite frankly it still is to this day. But to wrap it up in a nutshell, thanks to all my viewers who have made a silly idea into what it has become. And I hope knowledge and motivation can be gained through these posts to help build and improve the standards of our culture.

Moving forward with today’s post, I have something a bit different for you guys. Normally on the site, the main focus is on performance cars from the perspective of going faster, whether it be in a straight line or going around a corner. From setting records to simply being for one’s own personal enjoyment. However, the build I’m going to show you guys today, is neither going fast in a straight line nor will it be around a corner but it still will be very much based on one’s enjoyment.

Some of you who were following the site would remember Shane ‘Schoolboy’ Miller from his feature. Since then Shane has ditched the Toyota world once again, simply because it just didn’t provide what he was seeking. And ironically enough, he picked up the same brand which he left Toyota for the first time, Honda. Basically to sum it up, the limits in which he wanted to push the Corolla wouldn’t have been easy and/or remotely cheap as he would need to do a significant amount of fabricating and probably some custom suspension pieces. After coming to this realization, Shane started looking around to see what other cars out there could achieve a similar goal. He was then torn between a Toyota Altezza and a BMW 3 Series. But the more research he did, the more he realized what he really wanted was another Honda. This time around he was swaying more towards a 4 door Civic.

After looking at several 4 doors that would have needed more attention than he was willing to dedicate, he then landed on what was a gem in his eyes, it was exactly what he was looking for and he knew instantly that he had to have it. The interior was in good condition, the body could use a little work but he didn’t mind too much, what was important was how well the car was maintained overall. Another added joy was the fact that it is a SiR which are relatively rare and after previously owning a SiR in the past it was good to have one again and enjoy the niceties that

came with them, especially the sunroof.

The goal Schoolboy has in mind for this new project is to go as low as he possibly can and still be able to execute the basic daily duties. As he said “he already did the function thing and this time around he wants to base this build on form”. The Corolla was the beginning but he was never able to push that to the extreme as he plans to with this build. Being a big fan of the stance scene for some time that is where the bulk of the motivation came, the remainder was from scene here and realizing that most of the stanced cars popping up are either Toyota Altezzas or BMWs. He thought it was time that someone show the true capabilities of a Honda in relation to stance and prove that a Civic can battle in that league. Schoolboy has no plans of doing an engine swap for this build. After starting to collect the necessary parts for the build he realized that once you go beyond a certain point its really either form or function. Plus he likes the idea of maintaining the originality of the SiR.

Today I’ll be giving you a first look at when Shane brought the car home and the process leading us up to the car’s current state.

How the car sat the first day Shane brought it home, the car was bone stock except for a trunk lip spoiler. Shane couldn’t have wanted a better base to start with.

Sitting on a set of original SiR wheels…

Full side view…

In just a matter of time it was legal and ready to roam the streets.

Shane wasted no time and quickly a pair of fog lights were bought and being installed…

Along with the fog lights, a Type R front lip was purchased to finish compliment the front end…

Night shot testing out the new fogs…

Shane being his usual meticulous self took a shot during a wash…

After having a pretty decent sound system in the Corolla, Schoolboy was quick to make this his own and wasted no time and went to work on piecing together an even better system. The Poineer Premier deck was tossed and a double din Poineer AVH-X Series DVD deck was installed.

Working our way to the trunk area where you will find a 1600 watt Powerbass amplifier boosting the signal from a pair of Hifonics Zues 6.5″ door speakers and a pair of Pioneer 6.5″ PRO Series Mid-Bass Driver at the rear with Powerbass horn tweeters to give that sharp but clean note. At the opposite end you will find a 2000 watt Powerbass bass amplifier powering a 2400 watt Massive Audio Toro 12″ subwoofer. So much for leaving trunk space for groceries.

After the sound system was complete the transmission decided it wasn’t having it anymore and started messing around. Being the die hard performance junkie Schoolboy is, he quickly started looking around for a gearbox to perform a manual conversion but to no avail he wasn’t able to source any. Which was probably for the best knowing this build could have taken a sharp turn in a familiar direction.

When that didn’t come through it helped him to keep focused on the initial plan for this build. Schoolboy then tore the transmission down and had it completely rebuilt to ensure everything runs smoothly from here on out.

With the car down for repairs to the tranny, Schoolboy took this time and pulled apart the brake calipers for a service…

Had everything stripped and cleaned…

While he was at it, Shane decided it would be a good idea to have the strut bar removed and stripped…

Front and rear brake calipers being prepared for paint along with the strut bar….

Being the guy Schoolboy is he strayed far away from the norm and landed on a custom metallic green hue for the brakes and strut bar…

Schoolboy also took off the sway bars and had it painted as well…

A full rebuild kit was installed and the calipers were put back together…

The freshly painted calipers are back on the car and during this time Shane took the liberty to install some ARP extended wheel studs.

Another addition to the setup came in the form of Skunk2 full coilovers to handle the height adjustability that will be needed once everything is complete…

Knowing the type of guy Schoolboy is, naturally the next phase that would follow would be to have the car body worked in preparation for paint…

Back from body work and sitting in the driveway…

Interior fully stripped and the car will soon be making its way over to the painter…

A few more shots of how the car sits before it is sent off to be painted…

The bulk of the work was done to the passenger side…

Front right side fender and driver door…

A closer look at the areas above the windshield on either side of the car…

A view of how things are coming together, Shane went ahead and purchased a set of green lugs nuts to match with the custom green on the brakes.

And on that note, that’s a wrap for today’s post. I hope you guys enjoyed a first look at Schoolboy’s EK4 Build, thanks for taking a look and be on the lookout for much more to come from this build.