TDSAutoMag

Bringing you guys some more Honda related content today in the form of Jim’s DC5 build. Although swap cars are the go to in recent times, its nice to still see someone putting their effort & attention towards something else. What makes this all the more interesting, Jim got rid of his swap car to pursue this DC5 project. Even typing it sounds like a rather odd decision to make but to get a greater understanding of this decision, lets cycle back a few…

Throughout the years Jim owned a few Hondas but his most faved was his DC2 Integra GSR. After parting ways with it Jim took a break from the car scene with the intentions of returning with a DC5 but unfortunately things seldom go to plan & he wasn’t able do such. Being a fan of the coupe styling he stumbled upon a EJ coupe for sale which was already K-swapped & selling at a price which made the opportunity worthwhile. What drove his decision even further was the timing, we were in the early stages of swaps & there were only a handful knocking around the island inclusive of race cars.

At the time, Jim was well ahead of the curve & chose to stick with the coupe. Over time he dove deeper & deeper into the build trying to fill a void as this still wasn’t his dream build. Having a fondness for the EM1, Jim thought this will be his final attempt & it should check all the boxes for the Civic. He went ahead & ordered a complete front end for the car converting it from 96 to the 00 spec. Along with this also came a full colour change. To give you guys some scope on the coupe, I’ve included some photos as it went through the final stages before completion… 

 

In addition to the front end, Jim changed out the rear bumper & taillights to match those of a EM1 Civic… 

For Jim the car simply couldn’t have been complete without the addition of his all time favourite wheel, a set RPF1s…

A glimpse of the 99-00 front end conversion equipped with fog lights as well… 

During the rebuild Jim went ahead & refreshed the entire suspension setup where he added a set of Tein coilovers, he colour matched the LCAs to the wheel nuts & he also added a subframe brace & tie bar combo…

 

Within the engine bay saw a colour change to a yellow hue & the K20 motor was swapped out in favor of a K24 power plant with all the associated goodies… 

Given the dedication, time & effort Jim poured into the coupe there should be no reason why he wasn’t satisfied. Although the car was nicely put together it still lacked something which it could never achieve, it wasn’t an Integra! No matter how much Jim tried to fill the void the heart wants what the heart wants. After a while he finally decided enough was enough & opted to say farewell to the coupe & parted it out. 

The plan was naturally to get on the hunt for a DC5 as they held a special place to him & this would be the new base going forward. However, this was proving to be more of a challenge than he initially expected. As it stood, the market was flooded with EP3s imported from the UK & there were even a few FD2s popping up for sale as well. Once again Civics stood out more than what Jim truly wanted & for a brief moment he even began to consider the prospects of a EP3. Given the compromises Jim would have to endure for the price point, it really wasn’t worth it & he opted to sit patiently until a suitable DC5 presented itself. Although this meant sitting on the sidelines, Jim was adamant he wasn’t going to make any more compromises on the journey to his dream build. 

It wasn’t much longer before Jim would come across a DC5 that proved to be suitable enough based on his standards. He & the owner came to an agreement & Jim was finally the proud owner of his very own DC5…

A first look at the newly acquired DC5 Integra Type S. The car was converted a while back by one of the previous owners & now had a JDM K20A motor…

Jim’s initial plans were to pull apart as much as he could to have everything cleaned… 

He even went as far as to remove the headliner to have it throughly cleaned… 

 

The next hurdle was tackling the engine bay. Having lusted over a DC5 for such a long time Jim already had a vision in mind & went to work on executing it… 

 

 

First thing on the list of things to do was attack the wiring & begin the start of a wire tuck which he will be doing in several stages… 

 

 

Testing testing testing; coming to the end of the first phase which was the lighting harness…

 

 

While Jim was at it, he opted to change out the wiring that was used to relocate the battery… 

 

In the midst of the teardown for cleaning & tidying up, Jim removed the RBC manifold with the intentions of stripping it & applying a fresh coat of paint… 

 

When Jim purchased the car, the clutch was all but destroyed at that point in time & would require a replacement… 

 

Having completed most of the dirty work, Jim was still on a mission to tidy as he made changes… 

Having pulled the gearbox, he cleaned & stripped as much of it as possible before applying some fresh coats of silver…

With the paint dry he worked towards getting things back together…   

Of course this couldn’t be done without a new clutch…

 

Jim opted to go with a Competition Clutch 6 puck with springs moving forward. The plans for the car is to not only have a daily driver but at some point the car will take a beating & Jim was bent on ensuring he wouldn’t have to look back at the driveline anytime soon… 

After going through the effort to tidy up the gearbox, there was no way the old rubber & steel lines were going back on. Jim ditched the factory 3 piece setup for a much sleeker teflon coated braided line option… 

 

Focused on the appearance of the bay & still wanting to ensure everything functions as it should, Jim went ahead & picked up a Trac Tuff billet water bypass adapter…

Jim did his research & quickly pulled the trigger on a RRC intake manifold with a Skunk2 throttle body…

 

Looking much better in black than the factory light gray; a few moments before it was fitted back into the car… 

Wanting a better routing on his intake, Jim picked up some 3″ aluminum pipe… 

A quick comparison of the old verses the new setup… 

 

Not taking his eyes off the goal, Jim still went ahead & applied some black paint to the recently acquired RRC intake manifold… 

A look at the finished product… 

A glimpse of all the goodies Jim has in store for the engine bay; He opted to swap out the current fans for a pair of slim fans which will not only fit a lot better but also improve flow… 

While he was at it, he purchased a billet upper coolant neck as well… 

A few close ups of the Trac Tuff unit now fitted to the K20A motor… 

A few shots of the engine bay as it starts to take shape… 

A look at the dated & worn out OEM shifter cables… 

A comparison between the OEM clutch line & the teflon coated braided line that Jim will be upgrading to… 

Speaking of upgrades, Jim was not about to carry on without swapping out the dated shifter cables for something of higher quality. He went with a set of Hybrid Racing upgraded cables that will be able to withstand the beatings that will come their way… 

A look at the cables after they were fitted to the gearbox with new hardware… 

Jim was all about ready to hit the streets when an offer came through on the wheels he bought the car with… 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking a look & stay tuned for more to come on Jim’s DC5 build…