It's called OEM+ right?
Each of us can only say what we feel when it comes to the solution of that question. Some may want their car to be on steroids, nursing a bottle of nitrous-oxide and more juiced up than the Russian Olympic Team, and others love a car that breaks everyday, (I swear that’s not what FORD stands for). At the end of the day, we all need a hit, because driving is our passion.
What does driving mean to you? If you can’t answer that question you probably don’t belong here. As an enthusiast, we can answer that question, but we know it’s a trick because there’s no single answer to it. Each of us can only say what we feel when it comes to the solution of that question. Some may want their car to be on steroids, nursing a bottle of nitrous-oxide and more juiced up than the Russian Olympic Team, and others love a car that breaks everyday, (I swear that’s not what FORD stands for). At the end of the day, we all need a hit, because driving is our passion.
Duane’s Honda back in 2018
Consuming this hit; now, this is where the passion starts, some of us are like addicts, and just like in a world of addictions, there’s the high functioning addicts, those who make it into an art-form. The real connoisseurs, make it sure it’s the purest, the cleanest and of course make sure it doesn’t interfere with other aspects of your life. Work Hard, Play Hard. Duane’s EG hatch, is his passion. He’s a real connoisseur. It’s been a little while since we left off with his project car. It’s driving now and I had the pleasure of heading out for a shoot with him. This is his rendition of Honda’s EG hatch. He’s built his Honda around what he loves to do, and that’s drive.
cruising on the roads 2019
Duane’s has still been dialing this car in, it takes a while because its a process, but so far he has had no regrets with the build. Project cars are never really finished to be honest. His car is a weekend warrior, it usually sits in the garage, till the weather is good, and the mood is right, when you can drive and just escape the stress of the week, or simply to enjoy the hard work put into building the car.
A JDM purist.
Honda maybe the most iconic Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) brands on the planet. This is something we’ve definitely covered before though, usually when it comes to Honda, it’s a whole subculture behind those who modify them. Calling out of Osaka prefecture in Japan, the Honda community there has been seen as the home of JDM car culture, and especially Honda’s subculture birthplace. It may be shocking but, most of the JDM culture we see today, is really a bastardized version of what this influence really meant.
Duane’s car screams 90’s JDM overtures. His RPF1s aren’t cambered out of usefulness, and his modest Osaka JDM rear wing politely fixes the OEM solution. These rims are extremely light, it helps save weight, and obviously, fitment is everything when it comes to filing the wheel arch, these are quite pleasing. The wider tire definitely gives way more grip.
The inside is where the magic happens though. He’s very carefully, kept the interior pristine, its the OEM Honda EG hatch set up, just sporting a few gauges and a MOMO wheel. His AEM wide-band looks like it came out of Honda factory like that. I love the way everything really feels like a 90’s era project. His car was actually an automatic before the swap, but he’s kept the standard dash cluster for now, with the idea of switching it to the cluster from an S2000. In my opinion small things like that, makes the car a bit more interesting, it tells it’s story really.
a view from the office
A basic set up is far more driver oriented.
Duane’s Honda, is by no means a Russian Olympian, it’s not juiced up, but it offers a particular driving experience that was craved for back in the era of the 90’s. He’s swapped the factory D series for in favor of the Integra Type R’s B18C. Technically, this makes his EG Hatch a Type R Honda? I’m probably starting a huge fire by saying that. Swapping the Engine was really easy, but he took on the extra task, of adding air conditioning to the car, and in Barbados, it really is worth it. A few weeks of planning and fabrication and adaptation of some pipes and hoses and he was was well on his way to luxury. The B18C in this car, makes around 180hp, which means he gets about 150 hp to the wheels. It’s a modest amount, but it does the job on this ultra light chassis. It’s really around the perfect performance to weight for a fun B road killer.
Cooled by mishimoto
B roads in Barbados
Where would you say is the perfect road in Barbados? Our roads usually spark debate, but don’t forget that we have some of the best tarmac rally stages in the Caribbean. When we talk about B Roads though, we mean those that are out of the way, not really connected to the highways, somewhere in the back country.
Barbados may have one of the most dense road networks in the world. On the upside of this, it means some roads maybe grow into obsolescence not by choice but simple pragmatism. Leaving them pretty lonely and pretty important for a weekend warrior. So instead of taking that left, you usually take when you know the road, how about you take the right and find out where that road leads you, because some of the best roads maybe sitting under your nose.
A good weekend bash, coming to an end, it’s always a good time to check in on the family, and see how they are faring, because we know the week is ahead, it’s a shame weekends don’t last forever. Maybe the fact we don’t always have the chance to drive for the sake of it, makes the ritual a lot more mystic.
RESPONSIBILITIES
I’m extremely pumped to have had the chance to shoot this JDM gem. It’s a new year with Sleeper Forest, and there’s so much to look forward to this year! New opportunities and new projects always bring new and exciting content to the website.
This is Alex and I’m signing off for now, happy motoring everyone!
Making a K20 Fit
SDRR was founded in 1999, they specialize in the the repair and made to order assembly of hydraulic and air hoses, metal lines and control cables for agricultural, construction, marine, automotive and industrial applications. When the guys at SDRR, told SF to come down to take a look at their project car, we were naturally super excited
Companies are teams of people working together. Good Companies are made of good teams, this is why building a good team is always stressed upon when striving for excellence. A few companies may pay for their workers to go to the beach together, or play a sport together, but SDRR Hydraulics and Industrial Spares Inc is a little different. Instead of going to the beach, or playing a sport, they decided to build a car. This is a company retreat I can get behind.
JabarI works at sdrr barbados
SDRR HYDRAULICS AND INDUSTRIAL SPARES INC.
SDRR was founded in 1999, they specialize in the the repair and made to order assembly of hydraulic and air hoses, metal lines and control cables for agricultural, construction, marine, automotive and industrial applications. They also provide spare parts, lubricants, accessories and industrial supplies from industry leading brands such as Aeroquip, Deutz, Tamco Tools, Permatex, Wix and Phillips 66 Lubricants. They were also known for project car they had in the works, for a while now, they were posting progress images for a few years on social media while it was being built. When the guys at SDRR told SF to come down to take a look at their project car, we were naturally super excited.
An unlikely FIt
This Honda Fit wasn’t their initial idea. In fact, they were learning towards something German, but a Honda as a project car was tossed around as an idea in the office for a while and it eventually stuck. This chassis was one of the younger ones they found and it carried the RS badge from factory, which meant it was a 7 speed automatic 1.5 L Ecobox. This didn’t matter though, as they had plans to make this all change.
Now you must be asking yourself “but Maurice it’s just a Honda Fit,how is that special?” well besides the monocoque chassis which makes it very light weight and rigid. The Honda fit, is a biological descendant of the Honda Civic. This is gives it some measure of credence to it’s family occupation, that of being a track day bully.
Engineering a Race Car
Building a race car, actually starts with tearing said car apart and preparing it from the ground up. SDRR did not hold anything back when they were building this car. The chassis of the car wasn’t perfect when they started though, it suffered from front end damage when it was bought. That was fixed.
Looking into the cockpit of the car we can see the changes made which makes the car very track day oriented. Everything is now displayed on a Racepak cluster which covered the OEM cluster, the only thing it’s used for now is the fuel gauge. Making it super easy to track rpms and road speed and other miscellaneous things which are now easy to keep track of.
Bucket Seats and a detachable racing wheel were also added to, as well as a racing harness. these are super essential for safety of any occupant in the car. These seats were imported along with other important bits needed to make this car what is.
K-tuned Shifter
For the shifter, it was replaced by a K Tuned Race Shifter, ensuring gears aren’t missed, which can lead to lost time on the track and the easy to reach hand brake is right next to the shifter, for those really really, sharp corners should they show up. A swirl pot tank, was also added to the fuel tank this ensures there’s always positive pressure for fuel when taking high G corners.
Swirl pot and battery in the back
And, of course the part that ultimately stops the family from stepping into the rear of the car. The roll-cage, which was actually fabricated here on the island was installed. The battery of the car was moved to the middle of the chassis making some space in the engine bay, but it also helped to change the weight balance of the car. The Honda Fit actually has a really odd layout. It’s fuel tank sits in the center of the chassis, so the weight of a full tank of gas, the weight of the engine, and the driver all sits somewhere in the middle of the car.
“It handles extremely well, despite its suspension layout is very basic.”
Although the Fit wasn’t originally going to be their first choice when looking for a car to build. I’m sure they’re glad they did.
The engine
So, I know you clicked, because you saw K20, and nothing gets a JDM fan, or a Honda lover going as much as that one letter followed by 2 numbers. Creative builders have been finding ways to utilize this engine in as many ways as possible, from standard Honda to Honda swaps, to really weird Toyota and Nissan swaps.
The belly of the beast
Inside this Honda Fit, sits a 2.0L K20 engine, from a DC5 Integra Type R. Although this is a Honda to Honda swap though, it is rare swap to do so rare in fact, most parts were fabricated so it could work. Although the swap has been done before there aren’t many direct bolt on parts for this swap. The engine harness was built by Rywire. All of the braided brake lines, fuel lines, oil cooler lines and clutch lines were done by SDRR.
Just enough room
Although it’s stock the engine really hauls this car along, Type-R engines are amazing. The car weighs in at around 1085kgs (2392lbs) and with an engine making 214 whp its moves. The engine is managed by a Hondata ECU and was tuned by Fabian Tudor here in Barbados.
How Fit is it?
The car was built for the track and it has been doing well around our local track Bushy Park in both track days and Drag racing events. The car has done about 1:15 around the track and has done 8.9 seconds in the 1/8th of a mile at Drag racing events.
The biggest accomplishment is being able to finish this project. We all know how project cars go, a lot of them are never completed but after 4 years of work this one is up and running. K-swapped Honda Fit.
We love builds like these, putting a more powerful engine into a light chassis, conceptually simple but still complex. It’s always nice to see people getting together through their love of cars and getting things done. It’s a beautiful thing really.
For the love of HONDA
Recently we had the pleasure of meeting Duane Skeete. He and his father are building a hatchback EG Honda Civic. This Honda is Duane's third or fourth Honda I believe, so he knows his way around the platform. The car isn't done yet but we can already tell, It's going to be clean...and quick.
Hondas are great cars.
However, as we all know they sometimes receive a lot of hate in the car community. Honda owners are stereotyped to be young kids who rice their cars and install tasteless exhaust mods (huge fart cannons on the exhaust)
When in the hands of the right person however, great things can happen.
Recently we had the pleasure of meeting Duane Skeete. He and his father are building a Hatchback EG Honda Civic. This Honda is Duane's ninth Honda I believe, so he knows his way around the platform. The car isn't done yet but we can already tell, it's going to be clean...and quick.
Duane and his father have been building this car for the past 3 years or so, you would never know they aren't even mechanics.
Pops
Their attention to detail on this build is amazing, everything is immaculate, this is mostly because of Duane's father, he believes in keeping his work shop tidy and cleaning and maintaining his tools well.
“A tidy man = A tidy car.”
The shell is currently empty for the most part but the engine is mounted. A Honda B18c motor rests under the hood. Pulled straight from a Type-R these naturally aspirated motors make close to 200bhp, in this tiny, light, 2door hatch the power to weight ratios are going to be a bit crazy.
B series
This car is Duane"s first engine swap, but you'd swear he's a veteran. He gets the majority of his information online. That's the beauty of hondas, there's so much information available about them and aftermarket part support as well. It's a good platform to start on if you want to modify or build a car. Unlike my subaru, the engine bay is a nightmare if you don't know what you're looking for.
Over the years Duane has amassed quite the number of parts for the car.
Brace for the incoming parts list.
- ASR sway bar kit for the rear which includes a chassis reinforcement plate, sway bar and rose joint end links
- Top fuel carbon intake
- Momo race steering wheel
- K Sport coilover
- K Sport lower control arms - Voodoo line
- Skunk 2 front and rear camber adjustable arms
- Blox Mini Race muffler and 2.5" mandrel bent pipe
- NRG weighted shifter
- B&M short shifter
- Hasport engine mounts
- Energy suspension complete bushing kit
- New genuine Honda Si front lips and fog lights and varies clips, bolts, etc
- Fully rebuilt GSR front and rear brakes
- Hondaata s300 ECU
- All the bolts in the engine bay were replaced as well because they were all rusted
Duane admitted the list is long. Almost everything has been replaced, even all the door and trunk strips, windshield rubbers, seals around the tail lights and new tail lights. He has a lot more planned for the car, like a full aftermarket exhaust but such is the nature of project cars.
When we first got there to photograph the car Duane and his father were already working on it, they try to every weekend. The plan for today was to install the shifter, bleed the brakes and do some work on the engine loom.
We were impressed when we saw them fidgeting with the loom but we were assured there are wiring diagrams online and it only looks hard. Beautiful how cars can bring people together.
Duane said the car should be running in a month or so. We have high hopes for this build and we'll up date you guys as it goes along.
Till next time.
-Maurice
There's a Honda Buried Somewhere
Charles doesn't just own a cool Honda, motorsport has been in his blood for a very long time, he started navigating in Rally at an early age of 16.
I absolutely love hearing a good story from someone much older and experienced than I am, especially if it's about driving or building a car from a period before I was around to know it. This little Honda somehow survived a death at the hands of neglect and now it's alive as proof that some patience, ingenuity and passion can go a long way. Along with some help from friends who are mechanical engineers.
Meet Charles, I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Classic Car Show in July, he really loves his S800. He had a long history of the car to share from when he found it to when it was finished, and the process he had to go through to get everything working at tip top shape. Rumour has it there's another Honda S800 Coupe buried somewhere on the island now because of this build, it sacrificed itself so that the other one could be finished.
Charles came across an advertisement in the local newspaper back in 1990. The previous owner owned both an S800 Coupe, and the Cabriolet, but the Coupe was too badly rusted to be salvaged. This Cabriolet on the other hand was plagued with some engine trouble. It sat for a long time, and eventually the owner sold it. When Charles got the car, he was able to use the coupe for spare parts and build on the cabriolet. Albert, a friend of Charles who is a mechanical engineer, took up the work on the engine of the car getting it running again.
With engine work out of the way, it was time to order the parts that the car needed, and he found a dealer in Sherwood Forest, England to send him all the original parts for car. The entire restoration of the car took around 2 to 3 years to finish.
“Robin Hood drove a Honda.”
What makes the S800 so special though? At the time Honda produced these cars their speciality was motorbikes. This led to the cars being an interesting mix of motorbike and car. The engine used is a 791 cc, twin overhead light alloy engine. It makes 70hp to the rear wheels, and in a car that only weighs about 771 kg.
This car's weight and power and size matched up directly with some other European sports cars of the time, cars like the Triumph Spitfire and the Austin-Healey Sprite. It has one thing they can't compete with though and that's the sound of the engine. Hearing those cams rev up to 10,000 rpm is ethereal.
The car currently has its own garage at home, where it spends a fair amount of its time. Charles isn't the type to allow his car to sit in its garage and gather dust though, he built it because he loves it and he believes it deserves to be driven. He takes it for a spin at least once a week, on a Sunday, making sure he can have clear road where he can hear this engine sing.
I wholeheartedly believe in this as well. In modern times, we have come to know Honda for producing cars that are pretty well rounded, even their sport cars hardly skip out on creature comforts which make for a comfortable driving experience. Owning a piece of automotive history like this, reminds us where things come from. Honda's ability to break into new markets really has been amazing over the years, taking their mechanical know how, from motorbikes, into cars and improving on them, even having a few super cars under their belt.
“Oh yeah, the sound is very nice. ”
Check out the video down below.
Charles doesn't just own a cool Honda, motorsport has been in his blood for a very long time, he started navigating in rally at an early age of 16. It's really always a pleasure a meet someone that has a love of cars that has stayed strong over the years, and I hope he is able to continue to cherish his machine for many more years to come !
Alex - Until next time, happy motoring!
A Daily Joy
We may not realise it but we actually ask a lot more from a daily than we do a track car. Track cars usually tend to be fast, loud and "high fashion", like $25 New Balance stylish.
What would you say makes the perfect daily driver?
For me, it has to check a number of boxes, has to be good on fuel, comfortable with modern amenities of life all packed into something that's nice to look at when you do that car lover double take after you park. We may not realise it but we actually ask a lot more from a daily than we do a track car. Track cars usually tend to be fast, loud and "high fashion", like $25 New Balance stylish.
This build is a little different though, you see, the owner isn't Chris, this is a gift to his wife. When he moved to live here in Barbados, they had to sell her 90's Hyundai Coupe and he in a sense owed her something, and this where this Honda comes into play.
Chris sent me the lead on this beauty, while she was still being built. I had the privilege of seeing Daniel in action in this shop, Autoderm. By the way, go check out his page on Facebook, he does amazing work. Daniel, is a very interesting person, having lived in China while in college, he spent loads of his time hanging out with the elusive underground racing and drifting scene over there. He is a true car enthusiast in the purest form.
Without any doubts, I can say he really loves his wife.
The car on the inside is stock, its a Honda Civic 1.5L Turbo, I will vouch it's still capable of giving some unsuspecting opponent the chop, from a Traffic light start or side by side pull on the highway. It makes around 175 hp, at 16.5 psi, the turbo helps a lot with the torque output of the engine making 162 ft lbs of it, but get this, still makes 35 miles to the gallon. That's even better than most econoboxes, and it's still fun to drive. Honda is onto something here.
The results of the wrap as well as a few cosmetic modifications really push the looks of this car over the edge, from looker, to double take material. Chris actually brought to my attention, that this Civic, looks like a later iteration of the 90's Hyundai Coupe, in some respects.
When we really go in depth on the looks of the car though, first and foremost the wrap was chosen for the protection of the paint, but with the results here, I'd opt to wrap any car and not for the protection.
Beefing up the visuals of the car, are the aftermarket add ons, the wing of a period correct Honda Civic Type-R was added as well as a rear diffuser.
A front splitter was added to the front of the car, as well as side skirts, and it sits on 19" Konig Intention Rims, they really do complement the overall angular shape of the car.
Looks like an F117 Nighthawk
“It’s a sort of elegance, the way the matte black highlights the subtle curves of the body panels. ”
Check out that quad exhaust.
In the end though, many persons daily an unremarkable car, sometimes we find ourselves behind the wheel of a car so forgettable, you can't remember where you parked, thats a fact. Having something interesting as a daily driver can really change your day for the better.
Is this car quite possibly the perfect daily driver ? I myself wouldn't go as far as to say that, but it really does score pretty high.
Alex - Until next time, Happy Motoring.
Vtec Meet Up
Honda, Honda, Honda, but not your grandmother's Honda. Hondas are pretty common cars on the road, and to modify them you really have to be creative about it.
The advantage of covering a motorsport event, is the chance to meet up with the spectators, persons who are also motor enthusiasts. They gather up in the parking lots and turn the parking lots into meets for themselves as well.
Ever had that feeling of walking in a candy store as a youngster, and literally being incapable of finding the first place to focus your eyes on? Imagine you could feel that way in a car park.
Honda, Honda, Honda, but not your grandmother's Honda. EKs, DC5s, DC2s, EP3s the full assortment. Hondas are pretty common cars on the road, and to modify them you really have to be creative about it. But when you are, the results totally worth it.
This Honda, really took my full attention though,as well as everyone else's, when the hood came off, the whistles went out.
Feast your eyes on this K-Swapped Honda, you haters. Seriously though, unless you really hate Hondas, anyone with an appreciation for modified cars would really love this build.
Hondas are all about the small details you add that make it yours.
She's quite something.
With the car being a platform, and so many aftermarket parts being available for them, and the owner really took advantage of this, and went all out on his build.
The rear seats were deleted, and a roll cage installed, along with a Takata 5 point harness.
Adding a Dragon? Now that's some personality.
A thriving Honda community is definitely alive and well here in Barbados. Look out for more Honda content coming soon!
Alex - Happy Motoring!