An email dropped into my inbox a few days ago, it was a reminder from Greenlight that the insurance on my little Honda Del Sol was due for renewal. This came as a bit of a shock, not due to the price I must stress as that was very reasonable, but as I could scarcely believe it had already spent a year in my ownership. As I thought about this for a while it became slowly more plausible, as I reminisced about events and memories that had come and gone in the previous 12 months. My initial disbelief stemmed from the fact I felt I had achieved very little with the car whose V5 I had scribbled on in the dying embers of May 2015.
It is all relative of course, and as I scroll through the pictures on my computer hard drive whilst writing this post, I have actually done a little more spannering than I realised. It is only in comparison to my previous “big” project – the MX5 – that it seems a bit of an anti-climax. In the initial 52 weeks of owning that car I had turned it from an all-but-standard roadster, into a slammed, stanced, caged and bewinged chunk of internet infamy.
I can of course offer you all kinds of excuses as to why this build has been a bit of a slow starter – the main culprit being that it was forced to share affections with my R27 Clio for the first 6 months, a car that always demanded first dibs on my wallet as it was the daily driver. Then for the remaining term I have had to put my disposable income on lockdown, as I try and scrounge as many pennies as possible for an impending house purchase. Nevertheless, some things have happened, and these things I intend to document for your perusing pleasure in this post.
I pulled the plug on the Husky project a few days into May last year, and the grinding dust had barely settled on the weld-torn garage carpet when the Honda moved in. I feel like I bought it in bit of a hurry too. I had been cyber window-shopping for a while as I became more and more disheartened with the Hillman, and as soon as I decided to kill it off I knew a Del Sol would be replacing it. I went to view a white one initially, with a B18C4 swap from an MB6 Civic. The advert promised the earth, but unfortunately the car delivered none of it; it was an absolute pile. I came away somewhat dejected. I always try to be obsessively honest in my own for sale adverts, so the realisation that this concept is far from universal left a very bitter taste in my mouth.
A short while later I found another for sale, with a description that seemed to contain far more facts and a satisfying sense of authenticity. It was priced a bit on the high side, but a viewing revealed it to be exactly as promised, and the seller Grant was very hospitable. I think I must have got a little glossy eyed as I chucked in an offer there and then, which was gratefully accepted. In hindsight I definitely paid over the odds for it, but I struggle to grumble, it just caught me in the right place at the right time, and I have to be content with what I got.
So what exactly did I get? A late ’93 UK model VTi in Milano Red, with a manual roof, the fabled B16A2 powerplant and a manual gearbox. A little rough around the edges maybe, but predominantly original and unmolested, and above all – honest. The icing on the cake though, the USP if you will, was that it had just 53-thousand miles on the ticker, a stack of paperwork heavier than the car itself, and an original service book with more stamps than the Royal Mail. Here it is in all its newly purchased glory, parked up outside work behind the only thing on the estate that could make the paintwork look respectable.
The first modification I made was to remove the rear spoiler which, although standard, wasn’t at all to my taste. Perhaps it just wasn’t lairy enough. Whilst I was at it I removed what little was left of the badging on the bootlid. I then dug out the scissors and masking tape and set about re-teaching myself the art of cardboard aided design. This is something that was used an unfathomable amount in the Mazda build, and is a hugely rewarding, if time consuming, process. I was back in my element; I hadn’t built any ridiculous aero appendages in ages!
Sadly these items have yet to make it out of those initial R&D stages, but fear not as I intend to rectify this very soon.
It was around this time that I attended a track day at Pembrey in the Clio, during which my friend Max decided it would be a jolly good idea to do an impression of the boulder from Indiana Jones, whilst strapped inside his MX5. Unsurprisingly the car was a bit of a mess, and I felt exceedingly bad for him. I didn’t feel my sympathetic offer of a lift home was going to cut it, so being the super generous chap that I am, I decided to give him some money as well. In a totally unrelated exchange he let me unbolt and keep the wheels from his now deceased vehicle – a set of 15×6.5 Advan RG’s, which had somehow survived the ordeal. The downside was I also had to give them a lift home – it was a bit of a squeeze!
A trial fit the following day revealed the offsets to be most agreeable. I decided to order a fresh set of tyres for them instead of taking the chance with the Nankangs, which had partially vacated the beads during the tumble. Having previously used NS2R’s and AD08R’s, I chose to have a go with the obvious alternative of Federal 595 RSR’s this time around. In 195/50/15 flavour they were stupendously cheap, and so teeny weeny I was able to fit all 4 in the boot of the Clio! I had the tyres swapped over and chucked them on the car. They could certainly use a refurb, and the overall style is a little underwhelming, but my lord are they light, and nobody can argue with the JDM points!
I gave the new additions the necessary initiation with an evening burn around the lanes alongside my friend Chaydon and his AE86 Trueno Coupe.
It is patently obvious in those last few photos that there was absolutely no way it could remain at the stock ride height – it looked as if it may fall over at any moment, even whilst stationary. What is less obvious is how monumentally poor the stock brakes were, and this was next on the list. After a bit of Googling I discovered that MG ZR160/ZS180 stoppers were a straight bolt on upgrade, and as luck would have it I found a set on Ebay for much cheapness. I bought them alongside some EBC Yellows and enlisted the help of a ramp, and my friend Frank, to bolt it all together. Please note I also straightened up the rear number plate after seeing this photo!
Next up was some weight saving, first via some loss of material from the arse end. Aerodynamics has taught me that the parachute effect caused by a lot of rear bumpers is very bad indeed, and the easiest way to combat it is to drill out some whacking great holes, which is exactly what I did. Predominantly though it was just down to me being bored and thinking it would look cool.
Obviously I had to offset this at the front somehow, just in case the change in weight balance were to destroy the handling, and what better way to do this than with a big old slab of carbon fibre. This time it was less about looking cool, and more due to the fact the old steel bonnet was almost dangerously heavy. Having gotten used to opening up the aluminium noses on the Mazda and Clio, whenever a fluid check or noise investigation was required, the first time I popped the latch on the Honda I nearly dislocated my shoulder. So it simply had to go in the bin, its replacement sourced via a Facebook page and delivered right to my doorstep in exchange for not-very-many notes.
I had plans to install my special “Kingston” edition wheel in front of the pilot seat once the Clio went up for sale, but in the interim I managed to score this similarly sized (but far worse quality) number from Ebay for less than the cost of a Nardi horn-push. It was a vast improvement on the standard wheel, but did smell a bit like a toddler’s piss-proof blanket.
I was having some real issues bleeding the MG brakes and regaining a decent pedal, so I decided to invest in a master cylinder and servo from an EK9 Civic in the hope it would improve things. This involved making up a short length of copper pipe, and the ever-enthusiastic Frank having a lie down. Unfortunately it seemed to make minimal difference, but at least it is future-proof.
Then finally it was time for the long overdue coilovers to make themselves known. I had originally intended to buy a set of Meister R’s brand new, and had a long chat with one of the guys there about options and prices. But when I spotted a set of nearly new Zeta R’s just across the bridge in Wales for a huge saving over list, I simply couldn’t turn them down. Apparently these had only covered 500 miles, but it must have been 500 miles over silk pillow cases as you’d have been hard pushed to tell they weren’t box-fresh. They were a joy to install as well, the obvious advantage of such a low mileage and cared for chassis is that the nuts and bolts hidden underneath come apart with ease. I managed to restrain myself from winding them all the way down, instead leaving roughly an inch between tyre and arch lip all round. I must be getting sensible in my old age.
I then joined Frank on the final hoon in his supercharged Mk2 MX5. This was a sad day for both of us, as we had spent a great many hours in the garage together building it, and many more out and about enjoying it. There was an upside though; the Honda felt fantastic with its new pogo sticks at each corner, an unbelievable improvement over the ancient standard units. Considering it was a good 50 horsepower shy of its RWD counterpart, there wasn’t a great deal in it through the twisties!
The downside of being able to throw the car around a corner so much faster, was that I inevitably ended up either with my face stuck against the door glass, or sat on completely the wrong side of the car. The stock seat was not particularly supportive it has to be said, although it is very comfortable – I am sat on it now whilst typing this! When I heard Franks plan to strip his Mazda for parts I immediately shotgunned the passenger Motordrive bucket seat. It is a slightly odd shade of blue, but it is great quality and he kindly let me have for a steal. I hastily reverse engineered the standard seat, mating the runners together with the sidemount ones off of the new seat, attacked it all with the welder and a can of satin black, and hey presto… it was in!
And as mentioned above, I saved the old one from the bin by turning it into my new PC chair. Verbal exhaust impressions whilst operating Microsoft word are entirely optional, but difficult to resist.
In the last few photos the more eagle eyed of you may have spotted the lack of number plate on the front bumper. This is because part way through fitting the brakes Frank thought it would be a great idea to remove the plinth it was attached to and throw it away. I have run a few cars in the past without front plates and never had any bother from the boys in blue, but as aforementioned I am now old and sensible, so I decided it needed to go back on. Not before it lost a few unnecessary square inches via the jigsaw though, as maybe I’m not completely sensible just yet. Fuck the system… in moderation.
Then I parked next to a lawn mower. No real back story to this, I just thought it would be funny. I’m still considering swapping the engines over as the mower is packing considerably more torque.
A few times since purchasing the car I thought the engine smelt a little warm, especially coming to a standstill after a long dual carriage way stint. I could well have been imagining it, but I figured I’d find out for sure by digging out a Stack oil temperature gauge I had bought from my friend Steve for the Clio ages ago, but never got around to installing. My friend Aran donated a pod he had spare and I made up a little loom which spliced into the connections for the heated rear window switch. I chucked the sensor into a sandwich plate behind a new oil filter, topped it up with some shiny new Shell Helix, and went for a razz to check it was working. It was, and guess what? I was imagining it, 6 months later and I’m still yet to see any dangerous numbers.
I figured I hadn’t used any power tools for a while, so I enlisted the drill and hole saws to Swiss cheese the front bumper. This was mainly to hide the huge holes left by Frank’s ham-fisted removal of the number plate plinth, but would also help deliver more nice cool air to the radiator.
Back to the rear end, and I had been craving a JDM number plate panel since first buying the car, as I think they look far better proportioned with a square plate than the UK equivalent. I had been keeping an eye on the ‘Bay for a while but they all seemed to be fetching mega money, so I had managed to restrain myself thus far. But then one came up on a Facebook group which was a lot more reasonable – it had a little bit of damage and the paintwork on the lamps was flaking, but seeing as the rest of my car was hardly concourse I decided it would be worth a punt. As soon as it was bolted on I knew I had made the right decision. I have been meaning to give the lamps a lick of paint, but unfortunately it keeps on slipping down the list!
It was around about this time that I decided to part ways with the Clio, in favour of something a little more economical for the commute to and from work. So it came off the road for a bit of a spruce up ready to sell, and the Honda took over daily duties. I soon determined the bucket seat was a touch stiff for extended use, so I unpicked the base and back cushions and shoved in a little extra padding. Coincidentally the padding had come from the old computer chair that the Del Sol seat had replaced. It’s like the circle of life, but softer.
The Clio sold at the start of December which left the Honda as my sole means of transportation over the Christmas period, during which the illogically spacious boot came in extremely useful. I did find a moment spare between shopping trips to throw some water over it, although I seem to recall it only stayed this shiny for about 4.7 seconds.
In the New Year I managed to secure myself a new daily in the form of a Skoda Fabia VRS, which allowed the Honda to return to the garage and my fingers to get fiddling once again. The holes in the front bumper had started to annoy me a little, they just didn’t flow at all well with the rest of the front end features and made it look like it had either an odd polka-dot moustache, or several too many nostrils. Sadly filling up a hole is exceptionally more difficult than creating one (innuendo bingo anyone?), so I was on the lookout for a new bumper. I had noticed a listing for a brand new pattern one during one of my frequent Ebay sessions, and when I struggled to find a decent second hander I threw in a cheeky low ball offer on it. To my dismay it was accepted, and it arrived with me the very next day. I teamed it with a Mugen style lip I had purchased from Spirit9 a couple of weeks previous, and bolted it up. I didn’t see any great point in getting it colour coded only to result in making the rest of the car’s paint look even worse, plus I didn’t think the bare plastic look was especially horrendous anyway. At some point I may decide to chuck a fresh coat over the whole car, but until then this will do just fine.
Now I had worked out how the bumper came off, I decided it was high time I fitted the Mishimoto radiator I had been putting off for a good 5 months. Once the stock one was removed it became obvious that this was a good decision, as it was in a right old state! The replacement was a far larger full length item from an EK Civic, so there was no way it was ever going to drop straight in. I made up some new 2.5mm steel brackets and welded them to the lower crossmember, then installed a couple of rivnuts on the slam panel to bolt the top brackets to. I sprayed some fresh cavity wax in the recesses, threw on a layer of satin black, plumbed in the new rad, and wired up a couple of slimline fans on the back of it. I believe the phrase is – “like a glove”.
You may think that the radiator is a tad overkill on this build, and you’d be right. However it is totally future-proof should I ever decide to go a bit nuts under the bonnet. Truth be told though it was only really purchased as a deal sweetner on another item… A pair of K-sport front brakes. They were bought at a point in time when the MG setup was giving me a load of grief and I was fast running out of ideas. As they were advertised at well under half the price of a new set too, it took me very little time to decide they were a brilliant idea. As with the radiator I figured the 6-pot callipers and 286mm 2-piece discs would be monstrous enough to stand the test of time, however the build should develop. Space behind my tiny Advan’s was at a bit of a premium, so a pair of Tegiwa 15mm spacers were required to get everything spinning freely.
They bled up beautifully, and felt great on the test drive around an industrial estate near home. However the first time I tried to navigate a right hand bend at any great pace there was a hideous grinding noise from the nearside. I presumed it would be the dust shield catching so I got under there with a big screwdriver and bent it out the way. This solved nothing, and it turned out to be something far worse – the clearance between the bottom balljoint and the back of the rotor was pretty much non-existent. Some Googling revealed a few posts on Honda forums of this issue arising, without any clear resolve. I first tried some small spacers behind the bells but this was unsuccessful, as there simply wasn’t enough meat on the hub to centralise everything. In the end I bit the bullet and sent the bells and calliper brackets off for machining, to remove enough material to let the whole set-up sit 3mm further out, away from the balljoint. Once they were back I bolted them together with a load of new high-tensile hardware, and was overjoyed to discover that the clearance issue had been eradicated. I could once again corner at maximum velocity!
I had the machining sorted out by a friend who worked at a large engineering shop on the same estate as my work. Unfortunately, as it was simply being done as a favour, it was not exactly a speedy turnaround! So in the interim period, as the car was stuck on stands in the garage, I decided it needed a little more bark which could be achieved by fabricating a decat pipe. I removed the crusty catalytic converter and built a jig around it using some old bits of box-section, to ensure the end flanges stayed in the correct place. I then chopped the middle out and cut a length of 2.5″ straight pipe to replace it.
It was at this moment I realised what a travesty it would be to have the exhaust gasses burst out into all this lovely new space, only to be forced back into the drinking straw dimensions of the standard centre pipe. So I welded the flange onto the manifold end, ditched the jig, and got back under the car to tear the rest of the system off. As this was being done on a budget of about 20 pence, I sourced a few old damaged exhausts, cut off the bent bits, and selected the sections which seemed to bend the correct way. This included a resonator box off of some kind of Audi, which happened to be conveniently close in size to the stock unit. These were then trimmed and tacked together, offered up to the car, and adjusted accordingly before final welding.
I finished it off by modifying the tailpipe slightly on the already present stainless backbox. I wasn’t very keen on the way it chamfered back in on itself, so I lopped the tip off to make it look a bit more “Jap” and gave it a little bit of split and polish. Much better.
This all sounds very straightforward in retrospect, but in reality it was an absolute pain in the arse. And the brain, and the back, and the shoulders, and… well everything really. Next time I attempt to fabricate an exhaust system I will make damn sure the car is on a ramp to begin with! All things considered though it was a great success, it fits beautifully with no rattles or knocks, and there is just one tiny blow on the clamp at the back which should be an easy fix. It is still lovely and quiet at cruise, but sounds race-car rowdy when the throttle is buried and Vtec engages. The best thing is it cost me absolutely bugger all, aside from time and some minimal consumables, which inevitably leaves more cash in the bank to enjoy it! I took the car for a quick blast over to my friend Chaydon’s workshop to revel in my hard graft. It felt great driving it again after a couple of months out of action. The Skoda is certainly quicker, but nowhere near as much fun as this thing.
A few days later, and just a few days ago, I met up with Chay again for a proper drive. He has recently taken delivery of a new Corolla – a rather special Levin hatch with a supercharged 4AGZE under the bonnet – and this was the first time for ages that we both had our toys working at the same time. We covered about 100 miles around the back roads of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, stopping off in Dursley to see his friend Rob and catch up on the build of his Corolla race car.
And this is what it’s all about. You can lose days buggering about in the garage, and as much joy as I get out of fixing and fabricating new things, you simply cannot beat being out for a good hoon on a warm and sunny day, with your mates and a screaming B-series for company. I’m sure this will be the first of many this summer, and I cannot wait.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I’ve been up to for the last year, and I shall try not to leave it so long until the next update! Thank you very much for reading.
Wreckless Abandon 