The Shadow Type R Build

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Two years in. Man it feels like forever ago that I picked my R up. I actually just got my two year anniversary card from the lovely greeting card division at Honda about a week ago. There was no complimentary screen cleaning cloth included this year. Shame. But to think, two years of enjoyment driving and learning about this car, both in how it handles, how it comes apart (and how it can make my wife squeal like a piggy when I manage to scare her.) Seeing how it comes apart is why we are all here though - what can be adjusted and what can be made better. I'm ready to dive in with some long awaited updates. So grab your tools - we're going to need a file for this one.


It really has been awhile since I last updated this page, but I will make up for it in a picture heavy post that makes your phone lag when trying to open it. That is because I haven't exactly been forgetting about the car, it just kept turning into a situation of "oh, I will update the thread later, once I have this next part on. No one wants a half-assed update." So we got a big one. Full of plot holes and spelling errors.


First up was a set of Radium Engineering dual catch cans. Now let’s get a disclaimer out of the way first – I’m not here to say catch can’s are a miracle cure and contain angel tears, or that they are the bees knees, or anything of the sort. I do think they do something though, even if that something would not normally effect the normal usage of the vehicles in its expected life. I do however want to do anything preventative maintenance wise that could help. So I already had a Mishimoto PCV side before, and everyone said that was likely the main culprit area. And it was – I haven’t caught a ton of blow by but there has definitely been a few ounces over several thousand miles. But – when I went to install my PRL intercooler and piping over the winter I actually found oil in the factory pipes. It was only a few dribbles but enough to make me want to add the CCV catch can. I won’t go into too much detail here as I actually whipped up an instillation video for Radium that details the process (probably too detailed honestly.) The video is linked below if you are interested. The PCV side mounting scheme and bracket were very similar to the Mishimoto method, and the CCV side had a similar idea but involved more hose re-routing as it mounted to the passenger side engine mount. The Radium cans look cool, feel slightly nicer than the Mishimoto ones, and even come with a dipstick to check the level. Neat. The lessons learned during this go around were:

  • You are going to struggle getting the barb fittings into the hoses that Radium provides (great seal, great big pain in the ass to assemble.) Get a vise to hold the fitting.
  • Measure twice, cut once. Don’t mess up because
  • When you pull the coolant hose off, coolant just keeps on coming out. Be ready.
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The look of this set is nice and matches the rest of my engine bay well, especially since I have Radium’s coolant expansion tank. I’m not incredibly happy with the hose routings that result from the CCV can mounting location though – that will take some time to figure out how I want to clean it up. Since the photo was taken I did add a few zip tie based swivels that are at least stopping the hoses from rubbing. More to come later on this.


The next update involves a super-sized bundle of Titan7 boxes at my doorstep. Man it was like they built a cardboard castle outside my house. I didn’t have much involved in this install, basically went to Discount Tire, got a set of Michelin PS4s (265/35/18) and mounted them up. I have the Kics Iconix lug nuts holding them on. I will say the lug nuts felt a little stiff going on, don’t know if that is my wheel studs or the lugs, but no impacts were used in an effort to prevent damage. They did eventually go on and seemed to break in a little so that is a plus. Make sure to up the torque spec to 103 ft*lbf too. The setup is sexy though – I am super happy with this. Just be sure to take care when installing your center caps. Yes, I was using a hammer against a block of wood, and yes, I still missed.
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Despite my blunder I still want to end this section on a good note with a picture titled “The hell is this?!”
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Anyway. Things were quiet for several weeks while I waited for the next biggest thing since sliced bread: the HKS oil cooler. I want to start by saying this is more than a performance part, it’s a work of art. Very well made, all pieces were high quality and it was just an impressive and all encompassing kit. Seriously, HKS provides you with everything you will need. Technically. Just don’t lose any of the itty bitty screws or washers, because there are no extras. And I guess they didn’t include any metal wire to secure the heat wrap for the remote oil lines. Outside of that this kit was awesome. And it was kind of nice being able to build the radiator and duct work on a bench like an old school erector set.

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Make sure you have some time set aside for this install. Getting to the above point wasn’t bad and could likely be done in an hour if you rushed through. The vehicle side requires some prep work though – get ready to pull the bumper and the whole under engine body panel. You will also probably need to take a few extra pop clips from wheel well liner on the drivers side to be able to flex it and get more room when installing the cooler. You will want to take your time and make sure you modify the factory parts correctly, mainly when installing the mesh screen on the wheel well lining and modifying the brake duct bracket. And this little bastard – he takes forever.
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I used a combination of a Dremel, small files, and a blowtorch to get these holes out. It isn’t perfect, but no one will notice or care except me. I know I could have used a box cutter instead, but I’m not convinced my results would have ended up much better. I think the wheel well liner turned out ok though.
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Once you actually get to putting in the cooler it is a little finnicky. You kind of want to have the brackets a little loose to get everything lined up and then torque everything down. At least it should be that easy. Apparently my car has an ever so tiny factory defect of missing a welded nut inside the frame rail. Where HKS wanted me to put a bolt I had a hole, but no threads. I ended up actually taking a tap set and threading that hole, hollowed out the metal bushing and used a larger bolt. It looks odd having the larger bolt, but you also never see it so oh well.it works. Took a lot of extra time though. And then, there was this stupid bar in the way. Again.
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I’m actually surprised that the hoses were able to assemble onto the new oil filter plate because of the monocoque bar. It is tight, but everything went together. And again, it looks wicked good.
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And as an added bonus having the bumper off allowed me to tackle another problem! Not only was I missing the threaded location above, but apparently my crash beam was assembled to the car just low enough that the tow hook bracket I got from Evasive would not assemble. I tried doing it through the vent in the bumper first, but when it wouldn’t fit at that point I had to wait till the bumper came off. I was able to loosen all the bolts securing the crash beam (which involves loosening the headlights and moving them out of the way) and got the beam shifted up and re-secured. I also knew it wasn’t going to play nice with my Hella horns, which were already a tight fit, but I was actually able to get them oriented in such a way that everything fit nicely. I did have to notch one bracket in a very small way to mount the horns like I have them. I don’t fully love how the forward horn mounts, but it will work. And I can keep an eye on it for awhile or come up with something better. Pretty low on my worry about list.
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And I think that’s about it this time… I feel out of breath. I guess I also did throw my Girodisc titanium front brake shims in as well. Why didn’t I put them in when I did the brake job earlier? Because they didn’t come in the mail at the right time. No pictures for this, it was pretty unexciting and simple to do. Brakes still work good and that’s the main thing!

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I also still have my Karcepts rear sway bar to install, but with the headache in my oil cooler install I didn’t get around to it. There is always another day. Even so I think I am good to go to my local track next month as I sit and I am getting excited. In the meantime, there will just be more time for things like the focus of this piece, titled “Dancing and re-flashing.”
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Link to the catch can install video:

 
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Well I'm going to do exactly one of the things I said I wouldn't do in my last post, and that is to update this thread with a meager post. But I actually was able to squeeze in my Karcepts rear sway bar in an early morning effort last weekend. We can all thank my wife who woke up for work late, and whipped us both into a frenzy when she jumped out of bed. So I was left with ample time to do what most parents should do early on a Saturday - sleep. Off to the garage it is!

The stock bar actually came out easy - took a bit of Tetris related skills to maneuver it out without dropping the exhaust, but once the metal mounts were pried off of the rubber bushings it came out easily. This thing was actually heavier / sturdier for a stock bar than I was expecting. The Karcepts one is nice though, and it assembled easily being a modular design. Torque wrench access was not the best though. I will also say that when setting the end link lengths the instructions stated that a stock ride height should measure 14.5" but I only measured 14". This surprised me since I only changed to the Titan7 setup, still stock height. I went with the 14" end link length though and it seemed to be working well. No glaring issues have appeared other than a few clicks from the bar when driving slowly through a crappy parking lot but I was warned about that. Stinks that you are recommended to drive 500 miles before changing the stiffness setting though. Things to look forward to!
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In other news, the oil cooler seems to be running well. No leaks, and no overheating (obviously shouldn't overheat unless I was racing it, but hey small victory regardless.) You can hear a small "hum" when the car is idling and the music is down. The instructions stated there would be some additional NVH - honestly I don't feel anything and the noise is so small I would barely even call it additional NVH. It's a very subtle sound. Almost soothing. Like waves of cooling washing over your engine - or a gentle autumn breeze whisking away the heat.

I also got my replacement winter wheel setup. Had some issues with the lug nut / rim combo when I was running the Motegi setup. The open ended lugs they had sold me were not holding up so Discount Tire actually owned up to the mistake and offered to trade me rims entirely. I'm on some Liquid Metal rim now. Not fancy at all. Not even super pretty. But it is only the set to run when temps are too low for the PS4s so I don't really care. I will get a shot of them on the car this fall.

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Until next time I am keeping it brief!
 

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Nice update!

Little question, do you lift the R from the part where the jack stand is in your picture? I haven't lifted mine and I've been told there's some places you shouldn't lift it from.
 
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Nice update!

Little question, do you lift the R from the part where the jack stand is in your picture? I haven't lifted mine and I've been told there's some places you shouldn't lift it from.
I think I might have once or twice in the time I’ve owned the car but generally try not to. They “should” support the car since they are the jack stank points, but I’ve also seen the pictures of peoples cars that basically bent around being supported in this area. I think as long as used correctly it would be ok, but I always try to use the front and rear center jack points. Back one is real easy to get to by the muffler, the front one is a pain and all the way behind the engine (basically under the where the infotainment screen is.). Hope this helps!
 

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I think I might have once or twice in the time I’ve owned the car but generally try not to. They “should” support the car since they are the jack stank points, but I’ve also seen the pictures of peoples cars that basically bent around being supported in this area. I think as long as used correctly it would be ok, but I always try to use the front and rear center jack points. Back one is real easy to get to by the muffler, the front one is a pain and all the way behind the engine (basically under the where the infotainment screen is.). Hope this helps!
Got it! thank you!

I got this, hoping it works!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KW4F5PG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 


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Looks like you have just over a month on the dual catch can but do you think its collecting more? How much more in the first res then the second? I have a cheap generic catch can and the first month or 2 it collected a lot, maybe 0.5oz and the following months has collected only some drips. Makes me wonder what happened.
 
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First track day down! I went out to Blackhawk Farms Raceway in Wisconsin last week and had an absolute blast. It’s not Laguna Seca or anything, but for the Midwest I am happy to have a track within driving distance period. And there was a brother Type R there! I was in the Novice group mainly since I had never been there and I wanted to get some advice from one of the seasoned instructors. The other Type R was also in the same sessions as me which was a really cool comparison (his car was all stock.)

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Man, people were not kidding with how capable this car is though. It really can carry tons of speed through corners and just always felt super stable. I never once felt concerned about losing control. So I’m not sure if I really have enough skills to be paying all of my bills, but the only car who even came close to giving me a run for my money was that other R. Maybe the other drivers didn’t want to push it to the limit but I was never passed once the whole day (and that wasn’t due to me being a wiener and just not letting them.) I'm thinking I will move into the intermediate level next time.

On to my take-aways:

Turn the damn cruise off… seriously. I drove for two and a half hours to get to this track, thinking the whole way I have to turn off the cruise control so that traction control is enabled. Guess who still somehow forgot. Next time I suppose.

The thing I thought most impressive during the event was the stack up compared to the other R. We chatted between heats and felt that we were driving comparably in the turns, but he couldn’t touch me on the straights when I could open up. We started a few sessions where I saw him keeping up with me initially but I would lose him once we floored it. Modifications for the win.

Similar to the note above, I’m also thankful for having done several of my mods. The front brakes / rotors / titanium brake shims I think are all in everyone’s best interest. I had no issues with warping and I know I got those suckers hot (the center sections of the rotors are a noticeable different color now.) I didn’t experience any fade though, and I still have Brembos and not brownbos! Hondata is also definitely worth it for the extra power compared to the stock R. And finally – the oil cooler. I know the question we all want to ask is did you experience any overheating. And to an extent, I did - my temp gauge peaked around 80%. I never hit limp mode thankfully, but my point is I hit that with the oil cooler – without it I am sure I would have been a pretty bitchy camper. Temps came down easily during cool down laps, but the weather was surprisingly nice that day, low 80s with moderate humidity. Anything hotter and I could have easily been in trouble. I’ve heard overheating issues are related to how hard you are driving the car and I will say that I’m a part of the not messing around club when on the track, so that may be a part of what I saw. I think I will be researching more cooling mods in the coming months.

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A personal note for me is to get better with the GoPro… I mounted mine to the dome light, but it didn't hang down low enough. The camera tended to focus only on the interior of the car and everything outside was washed out by the brightness difference. So all my session videos are essential garbage. Several choice words escaped my mouth when I realized this. I will do better. I have an extension arm in my Amazon cart for next time. I am also waiting for the photos the professionals took to become available and I will throw one up here once I have them. All I have now are the photos my wife was able to get, which I thought still did a good job capturing how scenic this place was despite being a race track.

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Otherwise modifications have been slow – I haven’t seen a whole lot of new items being available lately. And despite me wanting a harness bar and 5 point setup they will have to wait… I did manage to get all three Spoon Sports blue mirrors installed though. I dig them. The wide angle took a few days to get used to and be happy with how they are all adjusted, but they really do give a better range of views. Essentially I can still see a car in the side mirror when that car’s headlights are just outside my window. The anti-glare kicks ass too – really makes night driving more enjoyable.

I also want to mention that while the Karcepts bar is nice and the ability to adjust is always a good thing, the damn thing is noisy. I ran the race in position 2 on both sides (stock setting is position 1 on both sides.) The thing creaks and clicks pretty noticeably. I have greased up the pivots twice and have checked all my torques. I’m hoping that it was really just being worked hard by the race that made it noisy again – I just gave it the once over again and it is behaving for now. All in all it is doing what it is supposed to though, and the quick adjustment does work well. At the next race day I want to play with the settings between heats to try and dial in what works best for me.

Looks like you have just over a month on the dual catch can but do you think its collecting more? How much more in the first res then the second? I have a cheap generic catch can and the first month or 2 it collected a lot, maybe 0.5oz and the following months has collected only some drips. Makes me wonder what happened.
And yes – the catch cans. Sorry it took so long to reply to you. I wanted to wait until after the race to empty these. Essentially they had a little over 2000 miles and a track day since they were installed, and I got maybe 0.1 oz from the PCV side and literally not even a drop on the CCV can. There was oily residue in the CCV side, but not enough to pool up and pour out. So oddly enough they are catching less than I measured previously with the Mishimoto one. Not sure if that is due to the different brands, if the engine behaving differently or what. Does seem strange. I will continue to monitor.

And we can’t have an update without a picture of my little girl (after she finished stuffing herself full of lunch.) I call this one “Again with more ricer crap?”

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That wraps up this issue. I am hoping to try and get back to this track later this summer – there is a time trial event in September that should have registration opening up soon. Otherwise I have a goal to hit the Road America track north of Wisconsin next year. I’m going to sign off after my ramblings, but here is a sneak preview for the next update once the rest of this package gets here in a few weeks – a little alcantara and titanium!

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And remember, there is a little captain in all of us.

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Is that human blood up there?
Yes - I apparently cracked open a knuckle during the oil cooler install. I ran into issues and was quickly taking photos to send to the supplier for assistance, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't feel like tearing it all apart after the fact just for a better photo once I realized I had bled on the frame.
 
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Speaking of oil coolers though (referencing the above post) something I meant to include in my track day recap was that I added some additional insulation around one of the oil cooler lines. During the install the instructions mentioned to relocate this wire harness, but I never felt super comfortable at how close it was to the oil line. So I found some additional hose insulation and just wrapped it around the oil line and secured with some metal wire. Not pretty, but effective! And it made me feel better about running the car hard and getting the oil hotter than normal.

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(Sorry for adding another picture with my blood in it.)
 


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It's official - I'm sounding the all clear. This thread and my R are still alive and well, albeit a little neglected and missing a few chips of paint. I suppose that tends to happen as we turn from summer towards the holidays and even more so with little "mechanics in training" running around (or the less popular term of "future indentured laborer.") Speaking of holidays, who else is from the Midwest? Who else got to celebrate the lesser known holiday of White Halloween? Literally 4 inches of snow the week of trick or treating. Gives new meaning to being a diehard in the quest for candy.

Anyway, working back towards the main topic here I do have a couple of updates this time around. In this double wide episode of what's in your R we will survey a crispy shifter piece ala Hybrid Racing, and a lovely dish of suspension upgrades from the house of RV6 Performance. Before diving in though let's start with a recap of the end of summer in which I was able to get into my first time trial event at my local(ish) track. To start this adventure we will kick off with the latest caption this image, titled "How Many Times Must I Tell You, That Is NOT How You Bleed The Master and Slave Cylinder!" Like I said, I had many other projects to keep me busy this fall.

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In all seriousness though I love Time Trials. Now don't get me wrong I got a lot of benefit and enjoyment out of the instructor led event I did first, and think I would always like to do this when visiting any tracks for the first time. However going to the time trial event definitely got me into the not f*cking around crowd. Excuse my French. All but one guy were out there really trying to push themselves and gave an extra intense feeling to the event. I learned three things:
  • First, for my first time trial event I felt like I held my own, typically landing in position 8 of 16 for all heats, and averaging only about 1-1.5 seconds behind all but the top two racers.
  • Second, those top two racers mentioned above? Holy damn they were gods among mortals. They killed it. The best racer, with his best lap in the final heat whooped me by over 5 full seconds. Skills to strive for.
  • Third, I learned about brake fade and cooked my set of front pads. These were my GiroDisc S/S pads. (And as a secondary effect I learned about excessive pad buildup.)

Here's a video of my first heat of the day where a Porsche passed me without a point (which was against the rules, pissed me off, and was my motivation for trying to keep my ass up with him and led to cooking the brakes.) So yeah, great way to start my first heat. Also, don't mind some of the laps where I had a terrible line… I definitely let emotion get in the way of calm and smooth actions.



So on the bright side I'm glad I didn't do more damage. I was worried that I boiled my brake fluid at first, which did not seem to be the case or at least wasn't the primary problem. Thank you GiroDisc titanium shims - I'm very happy I stomached that extra cost. I did let the car cool down and checked things out after that first heat and was convinced that it was the pads. I figured they would still at least give me some track time at maybe 75% effort on my part so I very gradually and carefully kept pushing the car harder in the remaining heats, and ended up landing sub 1:23 in my last heat (personal best.)

I also learned a lot about brakes in general. I didn't exactly know what I had done to the pads at the time of leaving the track - all I knew was they faded that first heat, most of the stopping power came back after that, and the brakes had a nasty judder on them after leaving the track. Now I had judder after the first track event and it went away after a few days. This time though, it didn't. This is where I learned about pad buildup on rotors and the real benefit to having race pads. I was sure I had excessive pad buildup and that was the source of my judder - I was just surprised it wasn't going away. I even tried re-bedding the brakes to try and help, and it honestly didn't. Now I accept that I took the irresponsible route and should have pulled the pads out far sooner than I did, but in reality it took me about 2 weeks after returning from the track to do it. Pads are below, and as far as I am concerned I cooked those puppies, and that was part of why my judder wasn't getting better. So I pulled the pads, pulled the rotors and actually took some sandpaper to the faces to scrub off the buildup. Thankfully I had kept my old stock front pads and they still had plenty of life on them. So they went on and at this point that judder is all but eliminated (sanding the rotors helped immensely, but it took a little continued daily driving to really get it to be imperceptible.) As a closing note, I want to say the GiroDisc S/S pads weren't bad by any means - I actually liked them for daily driving. Just don't think they will hold up on the track.

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So at this point I will give my brakes a little love over the winter. Planning to at least replace the rear pads and re-build the front calipers. While inspecting everything I noticed at least one piston boot was torn, so to be on the safe side I will take care of that. I know I will be plan to run the Raybestos track pads in the future, but I guess I haven't made up my mind on if I want to try only running them or keep OEM for daily and swap at the track. Decisions. Here's a photo for the recap session titled "I'm Number 1 Bitches!"

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OK that was a longer of a recap than I figured it would be. On to new business! Got the Hybrid Racing short shifter installed after the track event! I did go a little fancy and got the alcantara shift boot and a new knob, but that's going to be the extent of my foray into that realm. I see other guys going with alcantara steering wheels, and boomerang trim pieces, and instrument cluster pieces, and it's just too much for me… My personal tastes aside, the Overland Design shift boot is top notch, and I can only assume their other pieces are of equal quality. If extra fuzzy parts are your thing you ride that train. Here is my current shift knob setup, with the fun title of "It's like a baby's arm holding an apple."

Honda Civic 10th gen The Shadow Type R Build IMG_5008.JPG


I do dig the HR shifter though. It took a little getting used to, mainly with the gate spacing changes, but the thing is pretty damn smooth. I'm not going to get into the whole "Acuity vs. Hybrid Racing" debate. Different strokes for different folks. I did think one really cool bonus to the HR shifter was they didn't design it to require base bushings like the stock setup or the Acuity model. Solid chassis mount. Sweet. Anyway I really enjoy this shifter and honestly it seems to keep breaking in and getting smoother the more I use it, or I'm just finally getting used to it. I am on the tightest setting both for gate spacing and throw. The throw reduction isn't extreme and actually feels natural. Like I said it was the change in the gate that I felt more, where I kept hitting the wall between 3 and 5 when making the 2-3 shift. Things to get used to, but it is worth it. The install isn't super hard just tedious as hell to pull the whole center console out.

Honda Civic 10th gen The Shadow Type R Build IMG_5002.JPG


I did make a YouTube install video, and it's linked below. Main things that were tricky were unclipping the wire harness (just tight clips) and getting the shifter cables from the stock shifter housing (they were attached much tighter than I figured they would be.) Otherwise once you wrap up the install make sure you angle the dog leg piece correctly - I was rotated a hair too far clockwise and at time I realized the shifter was binding against the console trim when going into reverse. Make sure you've got clearance to that shift boot trim on both the left and right sides. One last daughter photo for this post, called "Who Likes Short Shifts?"

Honda Civic 10th gen The Shadow Type R Build IMG_5007.JPG


Ok final piece of new business this time around - the RV6 Performance solid front compliance mounts and spherical bushing kit. This one deserves some special thanks and recognitions though: First, to RV6 themselves for all of the help along the way with getting these installed. There wasn't a ton of information available on how to do this, and RV6 answered all of my questions as I worked. I actually whipped up an install guide to help anyone else who wants to do this - linked below with the shifter video. Second I want to thank my wife for giving me being supportive, giving me time to work and listening to me bitch and moan. Third, thank you to Scott F. for loaning me some tools and insights on pressing out the bearings, and finally to Zach W. for telling me, and I quote, to "Take off your bitch mittens and get some work done" when I was nervous about initially taking the bearings apart.

Honda Civic 10th gen The Shadow Type R Build IMG_5239.JPG


So I apologize - I have started detailing my thoughts on this modification but I want to withhold my opinions until I can get some more miles on the parts. More to come - but the one thing I will say for sure is I can't wait to get back on a track next year with these.

Man this post was a full one. And with only two new mods to talk about, and one of them is left on a temporary cliff hanger… weak. Other than getting some long term feedback on the RV6 parts this will probably wrap up the year - I will likely park the car for the winter season hibernation very soon. This will give me time to tinker with a few things though. Currently I know I will be moving from the Mishimoto intake to the PRL high volume intake, and this will include the turbo inlet pipe upgrade. I also have some Hybrid Racing shifter bushings to swap in to replace my Acuity ones (just to keep everything in that setup with the same supplier.) I also think I will be doing the DIY grill cutting to get more flow to the radiator (since my wallet doesn't currently support that bitchin' Varis hood.) I also want to rebuild the front calipers, change brake pads all around and re-bleed with Motul RBF600. Engine and transmission oils will also get replaced. I still have those Spoon rigid collars to install too - I swear one of these days I will pop them on. And who knows - maybe I will get lucky and get some other cool parts over the winter. Until next time!


Hyrbrid Racing Shifter Install:



RV6 Performance Solid Control Arm Bearing Install Guide:
https://www.civicx.com/threads/rv6-...l-bushing-install-guide-for-fk8-type-r.43137/
 
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ebatr24

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Wow this budget friendly build doesn't seem so budget lol. Nice build!
 
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TheShadow

TheShadow

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Wow this budget friendly build doesn't seem so budget lol. Nice build!
Thanks! But yeah... I ended up enjoying tinkering with this car pretty badly and it's taken more of my time and money than I figured it originally would. It's been a process over a few years!
 

Topsportsman916

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Cool build!! I'm jonesing to buy some parts & start tinkering on the car. Just got to get my wallet in line first !!!! Keep us posted on your build !
 

frtorres87

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Love this thread. Great progress on your R.
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