Feature: Sick Set Up

There aren't a heck of a lot of 10-second Honda Civics out there, and even more appropriately, there aren't many as clean as Brandon Rick's (a.k.a “The Brick”). Brandon's nickname is kind of like “The Rock”, except he prefers to flex his muscle through the fenders of his “Built” Honda Civic. This was his very first car he ever purchased as a teenager back in 2004, but thanks to a fender bender, it sat around for several years while he tended to other car projects, including a 500 horsepower 1996 Civic hatchback.

“Not a lot of people have clean Civic Coupe's in Wisconsin in the 92' through 95' range,” says Brick. “They are usually rusty and pretty much trashed.” This is one of the reasons Brandon chose the Si as his current project car. The early Civics were a bit understated to say the least. Nowhere is this fact driven more clearly than Honda's early slogan, “It will get you where you're going.” This sounds about as tempting as the hospital slogan, “If you don't die, we just might cure you.”

Not many competitors expect much out of a Civic, explains Brandon, “Muscle cars, if I try to race them, they kind of look at me like, really?” Duh, muscle heads, the cut away front license plate, with over-sized intercooler peaking out should give you at least some clue as to its potential. But then again, there are a lot of posers out there with 3M hood scoops, fake intercoolers, and large anchor weights (a.k.a. “wings”) attached to the trunk with glue, tape, hope, and a few prayers (you know who you are).

It wasn't until 2009 that Brandon got the urge to get his old Civic out of extended hibernation and build it to JDM specs. While there are certainly a lot of opinion about building a JDM Honda, the Brick prefers to keep his lean, clean, and low profile. And when I say, low profile, I'm definitely not talking about hugging the curbside with a lowered body kit, but rather maintaining its OEM appearance with a few subtle cues of its menacing nature.

It's the little things that count, according to Brandon, like JDM sidemarkers, corner lights, yellow fogs, OEM “thin” side moldings, black painted roof, EK side skirts, and a mirror-like 'Pepsi White' paint job you could practically perform a Brazilian bikini wax, just by using the reflection alone. In addition, Brandon has shaved the engine bay, and tucked all the wires and brake lines, giving the Civic an extra clean bikini wax of her own.

The bodywork was the hardest part, according to Brandon, who credits most of the work to Brent, Matt, and Mike of Bob Motorsportz. But the most difficult part of something doesn't always describe where the majority of the reward will be. Let's pull back a few layers of this cars a-'peel', and get to the juiciest part of this story... the motor.

Brandon's Honda Civic makes over 500 horsepower, and can clear a quarter mile in around 10-seconds. The motor has been rebuilt with JE 9.1 pistons, Eagle rods, OEM bearings, Supertech springs, GSR cams, and balanced and boosted with 25psi from a GT3582r turbo breathing through three inch pipe. On a clear stretch of road, Brandon can lay waste to a Ducatti 1000GT, which is no easy feat for any four-wheel vehicle.

Which reminds me, Brandon would also like to put a thank you out to the pied piper of Milwaukee Wisconsin, Bee, of Beeyound Engineering, for playing out a solid tune on the Civic, making its mini-me mouse motor a real rat killer.

As old man winter prepares to force many street racers to trade in their imports for ice skates in Wisconsin, the Brick has his own down time planned to make the most of it. Like a bear going into hibernation, when the Civic emerges next year it is going to be revived by a 40R turbo, closed deck block, and 32 lbs of boost. Brandon estimates this combo should put him in the 9-second range, with over 600 horsepower to the wheels. But he's not going to stop there.

The winters in Wisconsin are lo-o-ong, which means he's also going to have time to custom fabricate an entire cage, a chute, and experiment with some various traction alternatives to give the Civic some much needed grip out of the gates.

You might be thinking to yourself by now, Wisconsin must be primarily made of snow, cheese, Ducatti's, and rusty Civics, but their import scene is actually quite well versed, according to Brandon, who prides the majority of his customers as hot import enthusiasts. Bob Motorsportz is Brandon's shop, in case you didn't make the connection earlier. He has several customer projects in the works at the moment, one being a Nissan 300ZX from one of his crew members, who plans to drop an LS1 between the fenders just to see what will happen when he mashes the gas pedal. A lot of white smoke would be my first guess.

Experimenting is what it's all about when it comes to making the most of any import. Brandon advises anyone who is interested in turning their own Honda into a 10-second car, to take it slow. “Don't rush into things,” says Brandon. “That's when mistakes happen.” Take each project one step at a time, and make sure everything is done right before moving onto the next. Of course, it also helps to own your very own automotive shop when it comes to building your dream car, but we can't all have everything!