Although he promised himself that he would not dump any money into the Civic (after all, this was supposed to be just a daily driver), Jay had a hard time driving his sad, stock car while his project Accord was being worked on. He figured some wheels and tires would spice it up enough until his Accord was finished. But the first set of wheels simply did not fill the fender well to Jay's liking, so he replaced them with bronze 19-inch Konig Heliums wrapped in Toyo Proxes FZ4s rubber. That basically triggered the start of yet another project vehicle. Thus followed Eibach's Pro Kit along with Koni Struts to address ride height. Now the Civic had a perfect stance (with improved cornering ability). A DC Sports front strut brace and rear lower cross brace were bolted on to further enhance the handling. After that there was no stopping Jay's out-of-control need to modify any car in his stable.
Of course an audio system had to come next. In anticipation of that system and its extra weight, Jay made a trip up to Wilwood Brakes for some serious stopping power. There, Allen Nicholas set him up with a 12.5-inch cross-drilled and slotted front brake system using Wilwood's Dynalite four-piston calipers.
To improve airflow to and from the engine, an Injen Technology intake system along with a DC Sports Header and DC Sports TCS Cat-Back Exhaust were added. Attention was then moved to the outside of the Civic. Jay spiced up the bodylines with an injection-molded urethane body kit from Kaminari. The kit was painted factory Honda Nighthawk Black Pearl by Wally Teklak of import-famous Body Pro's in Garden Grove, CA. Then the factory hood was removed in favor of an OE-style carbon-fiber hood, also from Kaminari. Finally the yellow-tinted factory bulbs in the headlamps were replaced with a pair of real HIDs from FET Catz.
The Install
Choosing the product was easy for Jay. At the last CES he attended a particular item caught his eye, the Kenwood KVT-911DVD. He loved the fact that it featured a touch-screen monitor and the ability to manage all of the functions he wanted to incorporate, including a TV tuner and 5.1 surround sound. Since continuity is a high priority, Jay insisted that the rest of the system be composed of various Kenwood gear.
Once all of the gear was in hand, Jay employed a local stereo shop to do the work, but when the car was finished the install did not live up to his standards. Insisting that the install needed to be more exciting and different, he enlisted the experience of his friend and tech editor for CA&E, our own Casey Thorson. Keeping in mind that the Civic would likely show at events such as Hot Import Nights, Casey drew up a trick design for what was not the typical import install.
With the help of contributing editor Scott G, Casey got started building the trunk with a false floor. He used 1/2-inch MDF, spacing it up 1-inch to allow for the necessary room to place both the neon and wire for the system under it. A tub was then constructed out of 5/8-inch MDF, fiberglass and Duraglass in the spare tire well. Casey then continued to cut out the trim ring for the top of the tub. This was constructed of a seamless piece of 1/4-inch aluminum on top of a 1/4-inch piece of frosted acrylic. Once the basic floor was built, Scott G fabricated the 2-inch steel tubes that would become the main structure for both the amprack and speaker enclosure. Because the spare tire well is slightly skewed to the driver's side, the bar structure was built asymmetrically. This allowed for the "landing strip" on the right hand side of the trunk that was cut from a sheet of 1/4-inch aluminum. The 2-inch-diameter holes in the "landing strip" are backed by frosted acrylic.
Due to conflicting schedules, the progress of the system slowed. Jay and Casey agreed it would be best to hand the remaining construction over to expert installer, Brandon Inouye of SQ Audioworks. His first task was to handle the construction of the enclosure for the single Kenwood KFC-XW10dB 10" subwoofer. That took several days to complete due to the compound curves and the abnormal mounting methods used in the design (note: no mounting screws are visible). To form the enclosure, he first made a frame using 1/2-inch MDF. Shape was given to the enclosure using grille cloth and by backing it with six layers of fiberglass mat. Duraglass was used on the front of the enclosure, sanded smooth and prepped for painting. The enclosure and tub were then painted Nighthawk Black Pearl to match the car. While these pieces were being constructed, all of the metal work was sent out to be powder-coated silver for some extra contrast.
With the pieces back from powder-coating and the remaining panels covered in black vinyl or paint, the trunk of Jay's Civic was ready to be assembled. Brandon constructed some additional detail pieces such as the frosted acrylic under the amps and the rear deck panel that encases the navigation unit. Twelve neon tubes from Speedpeople.com were used to light up the trunk.
Brandon used Scosche 16-gauge wire from the Kenwood eXcelon KAC-X501F four-channel amp to the Kenwood KFC-P503 components mounted in the factory door locations and to the pair of Kenwood KFC-XR600 coaxials in the rear deck. A Kenwood eXcelon KAC-X401M mono-block amp pushes the sub by way of Scosche 12-gauge wire. Power wire and distribution were also products of Scosche.
Up high in the dash, the factory unit was pulled and replaced with a Kenwood KVT-911DVD and a Kenwood KSC-700CCS center channel speaker. Brandon fabricated a black acrylic plate to mount these and flushed it into the dash. Complementing the head unit, a Kenwood KDS-900 processor and TV tuner were mounted under the front seats. The KVT-911DVD also acts as the command center for the Kenwood KNA-DV2100 navigation unit. Complementing the high-end Kenwood equipment inside is a stylish full leather interior by Autoleathers.com. The red stitching matches the color of the neons in the trunk and the leather inserts were stamped to make them look like carbon-fiber. Hell, this leather looks better than some of the carbon-fiber hoods we have seen at some shows. To finish off the carbon-fiber theme, Jay installed a full Tora Sport Carbon Fiber dash kit. Finishing touches include a Sparco shift knob, some Razo pedals, and a billet aluminum cigarette lighter.
With the Civic finally done, the Accord done, and the Avalanche underway, Jay knows he has a serious problem. He can not kick this bug of modifying cars. Luckily for him, his wife Christina is a very cool lady. She understands his problem, and although she doesn't have a car habit like Jay, she enjoys rolling around in a nice car as well as her husband does. And there is no doubt that Jay's Civic has one of the hottest installs for the night shows.
DRIVER PROFILE
Jay Friedman is sales manager for the magazine Import Tuner, which is appropriate considering what a car nut he is. Actually, that's an understatement. He's diseased, having been infected with the car bug at a young age. At 31 years of age (and a member of Showtime Customs), Jay has owned and built a 1985 Honda CRX, a 1967 VW Bug, a 1990 Nissan Hardbody, a 1991 Honda Civc SI (built four times before it was stolen), a 1997 Honda Accord LX, and also a 2003 Chevy Avalanche. You see, as soon as Jay got into his buddy Steve's tricked out 1981 Toyota Celica when he was 15 years old, he was ruined, and has been going non stop ever since. While looking at the list above, you can see he has been quite partial towards those of the "H" type, and we're not talking about Hyundais here. It's all about Honda. Currently in his stable are five vehicles.
TechBOX
Wheels: 19-inch Konig Heliums; tires: Toyo Proxes FZ4s
Cosmetics: Custom interior by Autoleathers.com
Handling: Eibach's Pro Kit; Koni Struts; DC Sports front strut brace and rear lower cross brace
Brakes: Wilwood Dynalite four-piston calipers, Injen Technology intake system; DC Sports Header and TCS Cat-Back Exhaust Body: Kaminari body kit, carbon-fiber hood, FET Catz HID lights, Tora Sport carbon-fiber dash kit, Sparco shift knob, Razo pedals, and Leather interior by Autoleathers.com