big_pete
RMS Regular
Love this car. Wouldn't mind a passenger lap next time it's out 
My 2003 Civic Type R EP3
- Thread starter Neil_M
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Neil_M
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Love this car. Wouldn't mind a passenger lap next time it's out
Any time Pete... I'll hopefully be there the next two sessions (weather pending).
I should have some more headroom for the next session
... It's tight for me with a lid on and I'm ~ 6ft.
Neil_M
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Pushing the car harder and harder on track really highlights the lack of support in the OE seats... So time to get some bucket seats. I ended up bracing myself using my left left against the dash, so not ideal... I also hoped to save some weight and lower the seat, as I found the OE position to be a little high for me, especially with the steering wheel not being telescopic.
Plenty of research went into the seats. The main concern was after measuring myself, that most seats are made for fairly short people, so the harness holes aren't safe to use in the event of an accident. This narrowed down the seat choices dramitically. GSM were full of advise, so well worth speaking to. I've also found the quality of many seats to be quite poor, material doesn't last, poor mounting locations etc etc. The Bimarco Seats kept coming up as a great value seat with FIA approval...
2x Bimarco Futura's arrived and with help from @aza89 they were loaded into the car to take home.
For a few days I did a bit of a @Carson and sat on these wearing only my pants throughout the house...
Bolting on the mounts. They are on sliders, I may change them to solid mounts, but a little adjustment is useful at this stage.
The OE seats are removed. A fairly easy job with four bolts and one wiring plug.
It was an ideal time for a good hoover of the carpets.
The carpet shampoo may have been used too!
SRS wiring has been bypassed and tucked out of the way.
The first seat is installed, and test fitted to my position.
Both seats in.
I have to say I'm very happy with the value of the seats. They seem to be of good quality too. Their fitment was bang on too.
The OE seat belts aren't compatible with the bucket seats. So while a set of harnesses were on the cards when a cage comes, I'll push these up the list so I can get using the car. Not ideal, as I prefer having the harnesses cage mounted, but the MOT testers prefer and many others use the OE rear seat belt mounts. They will be the next update.
I have the driver seat set one above the lowest setting, so I can go a little lower. Again it's a case of seeing how I find the position after a few drives. I have left out the slider bars for easy adjustment (saves a gramme), but they are easy adjusted using your fingers.
Weight wise despite their advertising of 8-9KG, the Bimarco seats came in at 12KG. The mounts were 3KG. Weight savings is a nice secondary benefit. Compared to the OE seats I saved 3KG a side. More weight should be saved by removing the OE belts.
I do have much more head room and sit quite a bit lower, with much more support, so win win all round.
Can't wait to get a good drive in them!
Plenty of research went into the seats. The main concern was after measuring myself, that most seats are made for fairly short people, so the harness holes aren't safe to use in the event of an accident. This narrowed down the seat choices dramitically. GSM were full of advise, so well worth speaking to. I've also found the quality of many seats to be quite poor, material doesn't last, poor mounting locations etc etc. The Bimarco Seats kept coming up as a great value seat with FIA approval...
2x Bimarco Futura's arrived and with help from @aza89 they were loaded into the car to take home.
For a few days I did a bit of a @Carson and sat on these wearing only my pants throughout the house...
Bolting on the mounts. They are on sliders, I may change them to solid mounts, but a little adjustment is useful at this stage.
The OE seats are removed. A fairly easy job with four bolts and one wiring plug.
It was an ideal time for a good hoover of the carpets.
The carpet shampoo may have been used too!
SRS wiring has been bypassed and tucked out of the way.
The first seat is installed, and test fitted to my position.
Both seats in.
I have to say I'm very happy with the value of the seats. They seem to be of good quality too. Their fitment was bang on too.
The OE seat belts aren't compatible with the bucket seats. So while a set of harnesses were on the cards when a cage comes, I'll push these up the list so I can get using the car. Not ideal, as I prefer having the harnesses cage mounted, but the MOT testers prefer and many others use the OE rear seat belt mounts. They will be the next update.
I have the driver seat set one above the lowest setting, so I can go a little lower. Again it's a case of seeing how I find the position after a few drives. I have left out the slider bars for easy adjustment (saves a gramme), but they are easy adjusted using your fingers.
Weight wise despite their advertising of 8-9KG, the Bimarco seats came in at 12KG. The mounts were 3KG. Weight savings is a nice secondary benefit. Compared to the OE seats I saved 3KG a side. More weight should be saved by removing the OE belts.
I do have much more head room and sit quite a bit lower, with much more support, so win win all round.
Can't wait to get a good drive in them!
Last edited:
MarkM
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I have Futuras too, fantastic support and really quite comfortable
Lappintyre
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Epic amount of work and detail has gone into this! Fair play
big_pete
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svensktoppen
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That's a very good upgrade, as you say good support on track really makes a difference.
Was going to say about harnesses, didn't realise you were still using reel belts. The harness really is necessary on track with sticker tyres or you'll be thrown around inside like a doll.
But you don't want to be using them on the road, find a way to make the reel belts work for that. Safer too - because the harnesses are such a pita on the road you'll end up not doing them up properly, and if they're not done up properly (tight enough that you can barely breathe and can't move) then they can be quite dangerous.
The same by the way is true for a cage without using a helmet as you will bang your head on the cage. Worth keeping in mind when designing the cage if you intend to drive on the road as well.
Was going to say about harnesses, didn't realise you were still using reel belts. The harness really is necessary on track with sticker tyres or you'll be thrown around inside like a doll.
But you don't want to be using them on the road, find a way to make the reel belts work for that. Safer too - because the harnesses are such a pita on the road you'll end up not doing them up properly, and if they're not done up properly (tight enough that you can barely breathe and can't move) then they can be quite dangerous.
The same by the way is true for a cage without using a helmet as you will bang your head on the cage. Worth keeping in mind when designing the cage if you intend to drive on the road as well.
Neil_M
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Thanks as always for your input.
I know all about it, so being strapped in will help loads. They should work well with the seats.
I don't use the car much on the road, so running only harnesses will be fine. Happy to accept the compromise when I do. If anything it adds a little sense of occasion.
Neil_M
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I didn't expect them to be quite as good. Certainly not for the price I paid.
I was actually hoping for even more weight to be reduced... But realistically I'd have to go for carbon/kevlar jobbies at the price of the car, which really isn't an option. Either way, I doubt I'm at the level where I would notice a few KG either way.
I wouldn't mind finding a few more quick wins to reduce weight of the car, without major compromises.
Neil_M
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Ta very much Tom. It is or was (lol) a great value little car.
Pretty brutal to drive on the road, but you can't have everything.
A few choice mods really does transform them.
A few more OCD and cool updates should pop up next week, depending on the post...
Thank you kindly sir!
Neil_M
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Not a massively interesting update, just a little OCD.
The front crash bar on the Civic has seen better days... While I painted it previously, it did have quite a bit of rust. I was intending to remove it at some stage to paint it and change the very crusty bolts...
Most of the used crash bars on eBay are rotten too... however this one luckily popped up. It's only really heavily covered in dust... Note the Honda stickers are still present.
Naturally it had to be cleaned up and painted satin black.
The front end still looks very fresh after the POR15 treatment. Not bad after minimal prep.
One of the bolts was siezed solid, so the weakest point was a captive nut, which ended up being held with an open ended spanner while I had a ratchet on the bolt. The bar was slightly bent out of the way to give me access to the captive nut.
A few traditional nights working in the dark after work...
Every fabricators friend, JB Weld! It was used to hold the stainless nut in place.
You can see I also cleaned and washed out the front legs...
The radiator and condenser were also washed. The front legs were also coated with POR Metal Prep. As were some of the front areas removing the crash bar has given me access to, inner box sections etc.
Starting to paint with POR15 here... The front legs, brackets etc were treated now they are exposed.
The front legs and box sections were then coated internally with Bilt Hamber products for extra corrosion protection.
The new crash bar about to go on, along with new Honda bolts.
It's on and looking very tidy. It actually looks lob sided here, it's just how the photo was taken. The BFH was present.
It now looks very fresh, ideal for hanging things on.
The bumper was refitted and the brake ducts were adjusted... I shortened the hoses a little to tidy things up behind the bumper.
I was in Blue Peter mode, so while the bumper was off, I decided to do some research for a winter project...
The front crash bar on the Civic has seen better days... While I painted it previously, it did have quite a bit of rust. I was intending to remove it at some stage to paint it and change the very crusty bolts...
Most of the used crash bars on eBay are rotten too... however this one luckily popped up. It's only really heavily covered in dust... Note the Honda stickers are still present.
Naturally it had to be cleaned up and painted satin black.
The front end still looks very fresh after the POR15 treatment. Not bad after minimal prep.
One of the bolts was siezed solid, so the weakest point was a captive nut, which ended up being held with an open ended spanner while I had a ratchet on the bolt. The bar was slightly bent out of the way to give me access to the captive nut.
A few traditional nights working in the dark after work...
Every fabricators friend, JB Weld! It was used to hold the stainless nut in place.
You can see I also cleaned and washed out the front legs...
The radiator and condenser were also washed. The front legs were also coated with POR Metal Prep. As were some of the front areas removing the crash bar has given me access to, inner box sections etc.
Starting to paint with POR15 here... The front legs, brackets etc were treated now they are exposed.
The front legs and box sections were then coated internally with Bilt Hamber products for extra corrosion protection.
The new crash bar about to go on, along with new Honda bolts.
It's on and looking very tidy. It actually looks lob sided here, it's just how the photo was taken. The BFH was present.
It now looks very fresh, ideal for hanging things on
.
The bumper was refitted and the brake ducts were adjusted... I shortened the hoses a little to tidy things up behind the bumper.
I was in Blue Peter mode, so while the bumper was off, I decided to do some research for a winter project...
svensktoppen
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Serious ocd there, brilliant
No point putting other stuff on top of POR15, it's excellent
No point putting other stuff on top of POR15, it's excellent
Neil_M
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Time more a more fitting update on the Civic...
With the seats in and the OE seat belts not working with them... Harnesses were ordered.
A lovely set of red Schroth Clubman harnesses arrived. Thanks to @aza89 for confirming red was the way forward.
They are "distinctive" through the windscreen.
Some test fitting.
I'm not the biggest fan of using the rear belt mounts for harnesses, despite the MOT test preferring them. Roll on a cage, harness bar and getting the angle of the harnesses more appropriate.
Now that I'm properly strapped into the car... Time for Kirkistown.
A quick photo from the first session line up...
This very cool Dimma kitted 205 will bring back from memories us older members of RMS...
I finally rigged up the GoPro. It wasn't the most ideal of locations, more due to the movement / flex.
The Civic parked up looking pretty.
After session two or three...
Just for interest sake I thought I would test the temperature of the exhaust manifold. Note she had time to cool down by this stage.
The front discs, again given time to cool.
This was either from the calipers or brake disc bells.
Either way it was good to see the heat being kept away from the bearings.
The inlet manifold is usually pretty hot after a session too...
A traditional lunch and bottle of water.
Wheels looking a little dusty at the end of the day.
I have to say the Civic performed faultlessly all day, she really done me proud today.
I also got beat my personal best time and clocked a 1:11.9. Very happy with that.
The seats and harnesses are a massive upgrade. While they didn't save loads of weight, the support the provide is very worthwhile. You also feel what the car is doing as the weight is transferred about in the car, so very much a driver feel mod.
Great chatting to a few much more experienced track day go-ers today too. Always a great day out, with a good bunch of petrol heads!
As mentioned above I set up the GoPro, mounted to the back of the passenger seat. Excuse the footage not being flawless.
With the seats in and the OE seat belts not working with them... Harnesses were ordered.
A lovely set of red Schroth Clubman harnesses arrived. Thanks to @aza89 for confirming red was the way forward.
They are "distinctive" through the windscreen.
Some test fitting.
I'm not the biggest fan of using the rear belt mounts for harnesses, despite the MOT test preferring them. Roll on a cage, harness bar and getting the angle of the harnesses more appropriate.
Now that I'm properly strapped into the car... Time for Kirkistown.
A quick photo from the first session line up...
This very cool Dimma kitted 205 will bring back from memories us older members of RMS...
I finally rigged up the GoPro. It wasn't the most ideal of locations, more due to the movement / flex.
The Civic parked up looking pretty.
After session two or three...
Just for interest sake I thought I would test the temperature of the exhaust manifold. Note she had time to cool down by this stage.
The front discs, again given time to cool.
This was either from the calipers or brake disc bells.
Either way it was good to see the heat being kept away from the bearings.
The inlet manifold is usually pretty hot after a session too...
A traditional lunch and bottle of water.
Wheels looking a little dusty at the end of the day.
I have to say the Civic performed faultlessly all day, she really done me proud today.
I also got beat my personal best time and clocked a 1:11.9. Very happy with that.
The seats and harnesses are a massive upgrade. While they didn't save loads of weight, the support the provide is very worthwhile. You also feel what the car is doing as the weight is transferred about in the car, so very much a driver feel mod.
Great chatting to a few much more experienced track day go-ers today too. Always a great day out, with a good bunch of petrol heads!
As mentioned above I set up the GoPro, mounted to the back of the passenger seat. Excuse the footage not being flawless.
svensktoppen
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Get 888 on for next year and you'll see 1:10 no bother
Then make sure to head for Mondello, look up the OTD days
Then make sure to head for Mondello, look up the OTD days