As a child post of the parent post to the Penang entry I did just a while ago, this is a continuation with the Honda.
The heart in her is not like a majority of other Honda Civic's, that are swapped with B20 engines for higher torque but lower redline. She is still a standard B16A, and its what I'm happy to see and have.
When I mention uneven door gaps, this is what I meant. A potential indication of crash damage that may have landed on this unit sometime long ago.
But, overall, for one, the interior is pretty original, with the factory seats still in, however the gauge cluster is an automatic cluster and the car is a manual, and the steering wheel has a cover on it, which is also in pretty worn condition. Overall, there was to my knowledge, no undercarriage rust and the owner had just driven to Genting and back with it, so there shouldn't be much of an issue.
And so the next day came and at a JPJ nearer to Penang Island, and after handing over the registration and settling other things like insurance, this Honda Civic SiR is now mine to maintain.
Firstly, the exhaust drone is terrible. I at this time don't know what had been done to the exhaust system, but whatever it is, its horribly loud. The drone is the worst I've had to sit in in everything else so far, and I've already thought the Elan was pretty bad in terms of noise.
Second, the shifting is really poor. It could be the shifter bushings or something else, but the play in each gear is really, really bad. It is a complete contrast in comparison with the Lotus, and that's not good at all.
But the suspension, which are SDW coilovers, are adjusted well enough and are good enough on the roads, albeit somewhat bouncy, but it is a lower car compared to the likes of the Airtrek or an Innova.
The video above illustrates how much play there is in each gear. It is safe to say that I am already looking for a replacement for bushings and a short shifter, if not a linkage too.
Also, rust. There are two spots on the car that I am aware of, one in the engine bay and the other pictured above, at the rear right quarter panel. Luckily, they appear to be surface rust. But I cannot confirm currently with the one in the engine bay because in a diabolical twist of fate, the bonnet latch broke when I came to take delivery of the car.
Plus, not to mention the doorcards are also not in very good condition, and are mismatched front and rear
And the windscreen has a huge slit plus other small cracks behind the banner.
Additionally, the shift boot is not secured.
Tyres are a few years old, and the wheels I'm not 100% sure if they're replica's or genuines. Anyhow, I will look to replacing them with something else eventually.
According to window stickers, the last service the car had was just over a year ago.
I tried to remove the add-ons on the dashboard, but in my inexperienced method of doing so, the residue is still on it, oops.
Not to mention that the dash itself actually has cracks in them, which is just as well.
Well, the driver's door trim is also held on with just a piece of tape, and the handle is cracked.
But honestly, under direct sunlight, or really, to take a look at it from farther away, it looks so nice.
I'm debating on after restoring the rust spots, the car should be resprayed to something red. But I'm so split on doing that after looking back at the car. The white does it oh so well. Perhaps I can incorporate the red into something else instead of the body itself.
~Linus
Read More: Future second car choices in MYS?
