2004 Honda Civic SI

Ryan O'hara's '04 Civic SI
For many, cars hold a special place in the heart. No matter how ugly, rusted, or decayed they may be, they're what get us from points A to B; they're responsible for late-night cruises, long weekends of wrenching, and even longer friendships. Wherever they may lie now, whether junked and cubed or sold off to someone else, you can never forget your first.

Ryan O'Hara agrees. He fell in love with his first car and loved it until the day it died. Shortly after pocketing his freshly laminated license, Ryan longed for a car of his own, more specifically, something of the Honda variety-maybe a CRX. But his parents thought otherwise, suggesting a Ford, a Geo, or some other domestic. Despite the advice, Ryan's mind was set on the CRX, and there was very little that could be said to convince him otherwise.

After months of searching, he found a mint condition model for sale, which in hindsight was far from mint. "It had a crappy re-spray, shoddy bodywork, and lots of rust," Ryan says. "On top of that it was an automatic, bad for racing but good for me, since at the time I couldn't drive stick." But as a good owner should, Ryan loved that CRX as-is, blind to its laundry list of imperfections.

"After buying it I was pretty much hooked," he says. "I joined some Honda forums and was able to see what others were doing to their cars."

As a poor college student with little funds for mods, Ryan took pride in simply owning the car and keeping it clean. And for months, that's just what he did. He washed, polished, degreased, and maintained his new toy-waiting for the day when he could do more than give it baths-which came sooner than he expected. One fateful winter evening, no more than 30 seconds from his doorstep, Ryan's CRX began overheating. Still a noob to the car world, he kept driving. Bad idea. "I heard some sort of explosion from my engine bay; there were fumes everywhere, fluid shooting out of the hood. Turns out the radiator overflow tank had exploded and my head gasket had blown. My engine was shot," he says.

After careful research and sleepless nights, Ryan decided that the best thing he could do for his wounded CRX was to give it new life in the form of a DOHC ZC engine transplant. A couple of weeks later and the car was back on the road, two cams and all. "It was like a totally new car," he says.

But the newly swapped engine brought with it a new fire inside of Ryan, and he was hooked. Following a few minor mods, he decided that he needed something newer. The car was close to retirement age after all. "Once I started looking for a new car I knew it had to be a Honda; considering the fact that there were hardly any EP3s on the road, my decision was easy. I thought it would be cool owning something unique," he says. But finding an EP3 was tougher than it seemed. The model had been discontinued in Canada, where Ryan resides, and local dealerships had limited supplies. After a seemingly endless search, Ryan stumbled upon exactly what he wanted. He snatched it up as quickly as possible, drove it off the lot, and with that began a build that would last for no less than four years.

"I had plans to make some changes before I'd even purchased the car. I didn't like the look of it with the tiny stock wing and, without the lip kit, the front end looked kind of minivan-ish," he says.

With little money and even less time, the body kit was completed knock-off style with cheap parts that never quite fit right. It satisfied him for the time being. "I realized I could buy an entire knock-off lip kit, painted and installed, for half the price of the real stuff. It was easier and quicker to finish the car that way," Ryan says reluctantly.