Where It Began

Let's get up to speed on my project car. Two years ago I was sitting around with a friend, talking about cars and trying to come up with interesting ideas for my first real project car. This project had to be cheap & simple, it needed to have exceptional parts availability, it had to be fun, and it had to be eccentric. I've always been a fan of sleeper cars, and wagons. My friend pulled out his phone with a smirk, and told me I had to see what a modified Honda CR-V looked like. I gave him a bit of side-eye, but when I got a peek at some of the other tastefully modified CR-V's out there, I knew we were on to something.

Found A Rust Bucket

A couple weeks later, I found a good candidate for the project. I drove a few hours and took it for a test drive. It was slow, felt unstable, and needed a lot of work. So naturally I forked out the $500, loaded it onto the trailer and took it home. While loading it off the trailer, it blew a brake line. Moments later it blew a fuel line.

I got to work, and started stripping the car down. The interior came out, and all the soundproofing was stripped out. All the brake lines and fuel lines were re-plumbed. Suspension was rebuilt with new bushings and balljoints. I would scavenge through the local junkyards, and grab the cleanest parts I could find. I would scour the various used parts for sale on Facebook.

During that first season, the car was refreshed. Then it was slightly modified with basic parts like exhaust, suspension, wheels & tires, and a small handful of imported JDM goodies. Near the end of the season I decided to enter my first autocross and I was instantly hooked. The feeling of pushing the limits of your car while your tires beg for mercy was like nothing else. After that race I did what any sensible motorsports enthusiast would do. Add horsepower.

VTEC Just Kicked In Yo!

I acquired a B16 VTEC head, and swapped it onto my B20 block, allowing the engine to breath better. Plus popping VTEC in a CR-V is just awesome. I hit the dyno and made a bone-shattering 155whp. I didn't have a baseline to compare to, but I can only imagine how little power the stock B20 with over 250,000km really made. 155whp wasn't much, but it was a start. Successfully building a frankenstein B20VTEC was quite satisfying for a newbie like me.

The next season I made it out to several autocross races with a few different clubs. I also had the pleasure of lapping the car at Toronto Motorsport Park which was a total blast.

Broken Car

One of the most hilarious moments of this journey was a mechanical failure during an autocross event in Barrie, ON at the beginning of 2017. I was on my third or fourth run of the day. About half way through the course, I was navigating through a sharp right hand corner and I heard a loud, metallic pop as I felt the rear of the vehicle lose traction slightly. I made it through the corner and threw the car into a sweeping left turn where it regained traction. Past the sweeping corner I went into another right turn and the vehicle spun around on me.

Once the course was clear, I exited the car to discover one of the rear wheels was definitely sitting at an alarming angle. Upon closer inspection, I found that an adjustable control arm had stripped out, compromising the integrity of the rear suspension. After a long tow truck ride home, me and my friends inspected the car, and made a parts list.

The next morning I found myself at the junk yard. Not only did I find the parts I needed, but a few upgrades too. It was an overall successful mission, and the car was back up and running within less than 24 hours.

Where Are We Now

It is currently winter, and the car is in storage, and in pieces. In order to assist the little B20VTEC in making more power, it's getting fully rebuilt and fitted with a turbo system. The engine block will remain stock, and it will be run on low boost with a target power of about 250whp. It's getting upgraded rod bolts, valvesprings, and cams; and a collection of gauges to monitor the motor's health.

Mods

The following is a list of modification done to the vehicle. I almost definitely won't remember everything...

Engine

B16 VTEC head
ARP rod bolts
ARP head studs
BWR breather/catch can
Automatic P05 ECU - converted to manual P28, socketed & tuned
Yonaka jumper harness
Walbro 255 fuel pump
GSR water pump
ACL race oil pump
Felpro gaskets & seals
Custom power steering bracket
Injector Clinic 1000cc injectors
Generic fuel pressure gauge
Yonaka EK-B motor mounts
.50 trim generic turbo (in progress)
Yonaka half-radiator (in progress)

Exhaust

PLM RMF Header
Custom downpipe
Yonaka Catback
Custom turbo manifold (in progress)
Vibrant high-flow catalytic converter

Suspension

Fortune 500 Series coilovers
SPC adjustable upper ball joints
Ingalls adjustable rear upper control arms
Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings

Drivetrain

Competition 12lb flywheel
Competition Stage 3 ceramic clutch
Honda S2000 clutch master cylinder w/ custom adapter plate
K-Tuned slave cylinder
K-Tuned braided hydraulic clutch line
Honda Element rear differential (in progress)
Cheddas Auto short shifter

Exterior

JDM wing with LED 3rd brake light
50/50 Depo tail lights
Rear JDM parking mirror
Honda Accord OEM front lip
Painted headlight bezels
OEM painted power mirrors
JDM Integra Type R wheels

Stereo

5-channel 400W Alpine amp
Kenwood head unit
1x10" JL Audio subwoofer

Interior

Integra seats
Integra rear headrests
Fire extinguisher
Custom OEM clock volt meter
AEM UEGO wideband o2 gauge (in progress)
Autometer boost gauge (in progress)
Autometer oil pressure gauge (in progress)
Autometer temp gauge (in progress)

Here's some bonus pics. I'll update again in the future as the rebuild and turbo installation make more progress. Thanks for reading! If you want to stay updated on the build, make sure to give me a follow.