Feature: Budget Build

One of Robert Reese's aka Bob (co-owner of RCAutoworks) favorite all-time automobile projects would have to be... well, his own shop project. A 1995 Honda Civic hatchback. You all know the 1995 Honda hot hatch. Not only is it incredibly popular among the import tuning crowd, but is also the most stolen car in Illinois, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. This is unfortunately where our tale of the RC Autoworks shop car must begin, as just another statistic.

“An original long time customer called me, informing me his brothers car had been stolen from his house, recovered by police, and was pretty much gutted,” recalls Bob. “All the wires to the ECU were cut (about 45 in all)—it was pretty much a wiring nightmare, and he knew it was going to be way too much work to put into it, so the insurance company gave him $1000, and I ended up buying it from him for $1000.

“This is my own personal car,” says Bob. “It is what we are calling a budget build to prove that you can have a 10-second car without spending a pile of money.” If Bob had to put a price on the build so far, he would say that it has only cost the shop about $1,500 in parts. To remain at this price, however, this Honda does not feature much of anything beyond the essentials, which includes an H22 motor, Precision turbo kit, Skunk2 head package, custom intake, and K Sport Suspension.

“The rest of the car is pretty much stock, which is what we're all about,” says Bob. “The trim molding was painted black because I liked the look, but other than that it pretty much has a stock appearance.” RCAutoworks is not about the flashy stuff (bling), fancy lights, and ginormous wings. The interior is gutted, leaving only enough room for a seat, steering wheel, shifter, and maybe a couple of useful switches here and there.

“It's all about speed, baby,” says a very confident Bob.“This car is meant to be a sleeper.”

“The Honda makes over 300 horsepower on low boost, drive shaft shop, a bone stock transmission, and OEM bottom end—it has run a 12.7 at the track on all motor, and 11.6 on low boost, and that was a bad pass,” says Bob. “We know that with a little tweaking we could get a high 10-second pass out of her.”

Openclutch: What is the Civic packing under the hood?
Bob: It has a full Skunk2 Pro series and Precision SC61 turbo, which is the older line of Precision products. We are using an older turbo because a buddy of mine sold it to me for pretty cheap, and we're trying to keep things as budget as possible. However, the setup has been nothing short of great. We are also running a Precision 46mm wastegate, which is still fairly new in the market. At the time we installed it earlier this year, it had not even been out a week.

OC: How does she sound on the street?
Bob: It runs open down pipe, so this thing is loud. It does not really sound like a Honda. I put my head down and look the other way whenever a cop drives by. There is just no other way to put it. I scare the sh** out of people walking by.

OC: What Suspension set up is on the Honda?
Bob: Full K-Sports suspension and Power In Control (PIC) lower control arms.

OC: Pump or race gas?
Bob: It runs on regular 93 pump gas. We don't call it a daily driver, but it still gets some street time.

OC: What about slicks?
Bob: We are using smaller 22-inch slicks right now. It was the only slick we had at the time, which is pretty much considered an all-motor slick. For a turbo car you'd want to go 24½-inches, so that is definitely one thing that is limiting the car from the high 10-second range. We run Circuit 8 wheels for its daily setup.

OC: Was there anything particularly cumbersome about this build?
Bob: The only big pain in the butt was the transmission. It is an H22 motor, and the H-series transmissions are pretty much... well, I don't know what the word is I would want to use, so let's just say we don't like them. We have gone through about three or four of them all together over the life of the car.

OC: Do you have any future projects for the Civic this winter?
Bob: It's going to be getting a bottom end. We also plan on putting in a roll cage, racing seat, and five point harness. No brands in mind yet.

What could you do with only $1,500 in your pocket? A set of mediocre chrome rims, a tune, and a carbon fiber hood, or maybe just an eBay turbo with enough race gas to get you to the end of the track before the engine explodes. A $2,500 budget import dragster is what I'd call an extreme budget build under any circumstance, but especially when the result is a '95 Civic with over 300 horsepower, which on low boost (on a bad day) could lay waste to most V8's, including a handful of supercars.

So, what exactly should be the definition of an extreme budget car? When one man's $2,500 becomes what has taken another man over $25,000 to achieve! I may never look at a $5 birthday check from my grandparents the same way again...