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Cruise Mode: Justin Pillay’s B18C-powered EG Civic

22 December, 2016

 

NZPC: Hi, Justin. That’s a pretty rad Civic you’ve built — what made you choose a Honda chassis?
Justin: It was originally my daily-driver, and I got a new job that required me to buy something newer, but I’ve always owned Hondas. So, I bought a 2008 Civic for the new daily and started what was supposed to be a weekend swap on the EG. Once I decided there was no time limit for swapping it, I began to look at rebuilding the motor instead.

It’s an exceptionally clean example —were you going for a ‘sleeper’ vibe with the build?
I’ve always been a fan of Honda OEM styling. It was not exactly a sleeper to start with, but I did want the car to look like a tidy Civic to the regular eye, and only someone who knew their stuff about Hondas would be aware there is a bit more to it.

Do you like to carry out most of the work yourself or get the experts in to sort it out?
The things that I’m confident about, like suspension and interior pieces, I’ll do myself, but, for the engine and drivetrain bits, there were a few Honda builders I had always wanted to work with on a car of mine, the likes of Lynn Rogers and close friend Duane Rawlinson, so they helped put my set-up together.

Yeah, sometimes it’s best to leave it to the guys who know what they’re doing. Have you had the chance since to test it at any track days?
I’ve taken it to a round of Nightspeed Drag Wars and ran a 14.1-second pass without launching it. I also took it to the NZHondas North Island Mega Meet, which was hosted at Hampton Downs raceway; that was a good chance to test it out and see what the complete package could do. I was pretty impressed with how it went.

Awesome. The power-to-weight must be crazy. After testing it, would you have done anything differently?
[Laughs] It would have been nice to have finished it quicker so I could have enjoyed it more with fewer time constraints, but it has been a pretty enjoyable build over the years.

Cheers for chatting with us, Justin.

Name: Justin Pillay
Location: Auckland
Occupation: Account manager

Make/Model: 1993 Honda Civic GTi
Engine: Honda B18C 1797cc four-cylinder, B18C2 crank, Type-R rods, Type-R pistons, ARP main studs, baffled sump, ported and polished head, Type-R valves, springs, and retainers, Type-R camshafts, Pro Wholesale adjustable cam gears, ARP head studs, Skunk2 intake manifold, three-inch alloy intake pipe, Blox Velocity air-intake kit, Mugen four-into-one headers, Fujitsubo Legalis R 2.5-inch exhaust system, Type-R injectors, Walbro 500hp fuel pump, iridium platinum plugs, 8mm Eagle ignition leads, three-core alloy radiator
Drivetrain: Factory five-speed, Buddy Club short shifter, Exedy HK04HA Single Sports Series clutch, Type-R flywheel, Type-R LSD
Interior: Recaro black SR3 front seats, Civic Type-R rear seat, ’96 Type-R steering wheel,
EG6 manual cluster
Exterior: Full respray in Taffeta White, Spoon Style front lip, Spoon Style carbon-fibre spoiler, Spoon Style wing mirrors, Slipstream fibreglass bonnet, EK Civic side skirts, NZ Glass headlights, OEM fog lights, USDM red/clear tail lights
Wheels/tyres: 15×7-inch (+35) RAYS TE37, Toyo T1R 205/50R15
Suspension: Daiyama coilovers

ROTARY CHIC

6 September, 2024

Kerry Bowman readily describes himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Citroën fan and a keen Citroën Car Club member. His Auckland home holds some of the chic French cars and many parts. He has also owned a number of examples of the marque as daily drivers, but he now drives a Birotor GS. They are rare, even in France, and this is a car which was not supposed to see the light of day outside France’s borders, yet somehow this one escaped the buyback to be one of the few survivors out in the world.
It’s a special car Kerry first saw while overseas in the ’70s, indulging an interest sparked early on by his father’s keenness for Citroëns back home in Tauranga. He was keen to see one ‘in the flesh’.
“I got interested in this Birotor when I bought a GS in Paris in 1972. I got in contact with Citroën Cars in Slough, and they got me an invitation to the Earls Court Motor Show where they had the first Birotor prototype on display. I said to a guy on the stand, ‘I’d like one of these,’ and he said I wouldn’t be allowed to get one. Citroën were building them for their own market to test them, and they were only left-hand drive.”

Tradie’s Choice

30 August, 2024

Clint Wheeler purchased this 1962 Holden FJ Panelvan as an unfinished project, or as he says “a complete basket case”. Collected as nothing more than a bare shell, the rotisserie-mounted and primed shell travelled the length of the country from the Rangiora garage where it had sat dormant for six years to Clint’s Ruakaka workshop. “Mike, the previous owner, was awesome. He stacked the van and parts nicely. I was pretty excited to get the van up north. We cut the locks and got her out to enjoy the northland sun,” says Clint. “The panelvan also came with boxes of assorted parts, some good, some not so good, but they all helped.”