Hello! I've been lurking here for several months now after finding that this forum is the absolute best for researching all manner of obscure vehicles. I've been driving at grassroots-level drift events for about 7 years now, but this year I finally get a chance to do some wheel to wheel racing, as a local team has invited me to drive with them in Champcar, in their hybrid k24/k20 8th gen Civic. I haven't driven a fwd car since high school, but I'm hoping to keep the car in one piece and not be absurdly slow.. So here's what's in my garage/driveway, with an unofficial list of my plans for each vehicle:
'84 RX-7: I've had this car nearly 15 years now, it was my first car in high school, and at this point it's become like an old friend. The car would easily be outrun by a modern Camry, but I have yet to own anything more fun to drive. Bought it with 71k miles, it now has ~ 155k on the original 12a. Weber 48 IDA, custom exhaust by Defined Autoworks, FC oil cooler, lots of suspension work. Right now I'm very slowly putting together a bridgeported 12a to swap in at a later date, using one of the motors I bought with a stack of FB parts someone was trying to get rid of, other than that the plans are to try and find a period-correct bucket seat with decent support, and eventually find someone who knows how to build a proper 4 link so the rear end has better travel and correct geometry while being so low. All my sweatshirts smell like Klotz..
'02 IS300 Sportcross: For 6 years I daily drove a 2wd Colorado pickup, and once I sold that, this was the first car on my bucket list so to speak. They're uncommon, so I flew to Miami and drove this one back to avoid rust. Since then I've 5 speed swapped it using sedan parts and a Supra flywheel, replaced the coilovers and had it painted. I drive this to work every day in the warmer months, and it's usually the car of choice for long trips, though the cruise doesn't work since I ditched the automatic. Reasonably fun to drive, fairly practical, inline six is nice to listen to, plus it makes great torque compared to the FB. Not too much else planned for this car other than to drive it, maybe find some cleaner interior pieces and a 3.9 ratio diff for better jam around town. Low mileage examples of these cars are almost nonexistent, and IS300 owners are typically a little rough on equipment, so finding seats and plastic bits that aren't beat up is a tough task.
'91 Montero: After years of driving lowered cars, I started looking at these on a whim after thinking it'd be fun to camp in the back of a 4x4. A month or so of research later, I flew to Montana with a friend to buy and drive this home to WV. Incredible trip including Glacier National Park and the Badlands. No modifications besides the wheels and stereo, I love the look of this thing as-is and the blue interior really sold me. I've taken care of a lot of neglected maintenance so far, but the 6G72 needs new heads as the valve guides have dropped and are causing a lot of oil usage. Luckily reman heads seem to be available and affordable, I'll get into it after I replace the motor mount on the wagon and can go back to daily driving it. I'd like to replace the shocks with something a bit nicer, Bilsteins maybe? Other than that I'm fairly happy with the truck, I just wish it had a little more power to maintain highway speeds. The a/c works great, as does the cruise control and the bouncy driver seat. I'd love to drive it to Maine or Moab in the next year or so.
Finally the Civic, this isn't mine but since I'll be racing it this year I thought it deserved mention, K24 block with K20 head, mild suspension work. I honestly don't know a ton about Hondas, I'm just excited to start racing..
wonder if you can get whitewall 10 ply tires in 15? Keep the hubcaps.....
