1998 Honda Civic - Back From The Dead - Project Civic

There comes a time for every automotive enthusiast when the desire to move forward and do work becomes a feeling you can no longer ignore. For me, that time came a few months back when Modified introduced its newest project car, my ’98 Civic hatchback. I knew I wanted to get my old girl back into the line of duty; after sitting in one place for months and months, I felt silly not doing anything with it. Having owned this car for the better part of six years, it was time to take the car to the next level. But before I could get ahead of myself, the Silver Bullet needed some work.

We needed to replace both axles and tie-rod ends, then upgrade the lower ball joints.

The first thing I had on my (long and intimidating) laundry list was basic maintenance. After hoisting the car up and examining the underbody thoroughly, we needed to change out the axles, tie-rod ends, ball joints, and upgrade the brake pads and fluid. For the purpose of keeping things easy, we went with OEM replacement parts for the axles and tie-rod ends. We also replaced the worn lower ball joints with MFactory extended lower ball joint that act as roll center adjusters.

Don’t even think about trying this without a hydraulic press (and plenty of patience).

On the EK chassis, it’s necessary to remove the lower arm to access the ball joints. This is a matter of only a few nuts and bolts, the fun part is pressing out of the old worn units and getting the new pieces in place. Oftentimes, it’s possible to remove ball joints without a hydraulic press, but getting a new piece in place is a different story. As you can see from the photos (page 65, top-right cluster), you basically have to balance the arm using an array of steel blocks and then slowly press the ball joint into place. We ended up finding a large socket to place over the top to act as a sort of sleeve on which to press. Be careful not to rupture the ball joint by pressing too hard, too quickly or with a setup that isn’t the right diameter to clear the joint’s outer casing. Another helpful tip for this is to set the new ball joints in your freezer for a while. As they get cold, they shrink just a bit and become easier to press in.

Old versus new. Sloppy, unresponsive steering can result from worn tie-rod ends.

The reason we chose to go this route, as opposed to simply replacing the worn items with OEM pieces, was in pursuit of better handling. Even small pieces, as simple and seemingly minute as ball joints, can seriously improve the overall feel of turn-in and steering response. If you’ve never considered this modification, I highly suggest doing it. The two best bang-for-your-buck modifications I’ve done over the long and drawn-out course of this build are the LSD (MFactory 1.5-way) and extended lower ball joints. The difference in driving feel and overall handling these parts make is simply massive.

New pads and better fluid should really highlight the capabilities of the Mugen Active Gate brake rotors.

New pads and better fluid should really highlight the capabilities of the Mugen Active Gat

The last item on our initial repair list was the brakes; the pads I had on the Civic were worn out. Skimping out on cheap brake pads is one of the worst things to do; it’s not worth sacrificing performance (or, more importantly, safety) just to save a buck. To step things up a notch, we turned to Mackin Industries, the U.S. importer for Project Mu and other top-tier JDM brands. After discussing the goals for our Civic, we decided to go with the Project Mu B-Force pads, a middle-range and mild street pad. Project Mu has a wide array of offerings if you want a pad with more bite, but with these rougher pads there are sacrifices that must be made, namely noise. Also, the B-Force pads don’t require a warm-up period like many race pads, so that’s a very useful tidbit to keep in mind when purchasing brakes for a street car. We also took this opportunity to bleed the old fluid and freshen up with Project Mu G-Four 335 racing brake fluid. With a higher boiling point than most conventional brake fluids, this is a great way to ensure consistent pedal feel and reliable performance.

By Nate Hassler

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