Few guys dream about hooking up every factory option when they buy a new car. Then again, most guys aren't David Andrade, who took a once forgotten '95 Civic coupe and turned back the clock, building a daily driven show stopper with a bevy of JDM original equipment.
Honda Tuning: You mention on your tech sheet that the coupe chassis was purchased in 2004 from a neighbor, a vehicle that seemingly never moved from the yard.
David Andrade: The guy who lived next door kept the car in front of his house, and every time I'd come home, I'd always see it there. I had another car at the time, but I'd always wanted a '95 coupe and no one ever had coupes to sell, only hatchbacks.
HT: And it sounds like the former owner tried to rice out the Civic.DA: It had a body kit, white interior, 18's, a spoiler-I saw the car and knew I could turn it around.
HT: What was the goal at that early stage?DA: I've never liked body kits. My whole thing is, aftermarket parts aren't meant to be on the car. I basically wanted to take the car back to OEM, make it look really clean and make it a little faster.
HT: Which is why you chose the B16, correct?DA: Yeah. So I got the car, and at the time I had some friends who had just put a Type R front end on an Integra, and they both kind of introduced me to JDM.
HT: You indicate that the '05 Eibach meet was also an eye-opening experience.DA: The Eibach meet is what made me want to build a show car. I was done at that meet; to me, my car was nice and I liked how it looked. But then I realized that, when people saw my car, they really liked the way it looked. It made me think my car is actually good, and I started to feel like I could take it to the next level, basically a really clean OEM/JDM ride.
HT: Which doesn't seem like it would be too hard, given how minimalist JDM is.DA: I actually made the car simpler and cleaner in between the Eibach meet and the [HT] photo shoot. The main thing I wanted [from the car] was basically, if I walked onto a dealership in '95 and got every option for the Civic that I could get, that's what I have on my car, down to the upgraded rear disc brakes.
HT: So how did money-or lack thereof-influence the build? Were you sponsored for anything? Or did you buy when you could afford to buy?DA: I haven't had a single sponsor for my car. I want to find out about sponsors now because I want to do a K-series swap, but so far it's been all out of pocket. I worked to make my car better.
My girlfriend was a really big help, too; she's been behind me the entire way. Having a girlfriend, most want to go out, want you to buy them stuff, but she knew we couldn't go out every weekend because I was trying to save up for parts or whatever. She's been at my side the entire time. Luckily, the car was my only [financial] expense, besides a cell phone bill and insurance. All my money went to my car.
HT: How do earn a living?DA: I sell professional audio equipment, like for club installs and stuff like that.HT: Did you do any of the project work yourself? If so, in which areas?DA: I've done the smaller things myself, and originally I was doing all of the work. I changed all the body parts and did some of the body work myself. This last time, though, I had the fuel setup, paint, and wire tuck done professionally. As far as the little stuff, like changing the header or pulling out the A/C system, I did most of that.
HT: Did doing the work yourself help save any money?DA: Yeah, a little, but most of the money is for parts, not for labor. Rims and seats can be pretty expensive.
HT: When would you say the project work began?DA: I was driving the single-cam motor around for a while and it felt nice; single-cam VTEC was cool before I ever felt a B-series motor. At first, I just wanted to make the car fast, so I put the B in and I left it there for a year. After that year, I just wanted to get it painted one color. By the time I took it to Eibach, the coupe had only the swapped motor and custom paint. The Eibach meet helped me decide to build a new car, so it's basically been a year and a half.
HT: You said you had a bad experience with the shop that did the engine swap,Diabolik-was it that they were shady? Were they trying to screw you over?DA: They were real shady. The first transmission they tried to give me was all jacked up-no third gear or reverse. So I took the Civic back to them and said something's wrong with my car, and they tried to tell me that nothing was wrong with it. I said, I can't put it in third gear-how can there not be anything wrong with my car? I wound up getting a new transmission, but I had to pay for it. I never got anything done there again.
HT: This is a JDM B16, correct? You list compression as 10.4:1, which is from the stock USDM B16, but the CTR slugs you use actually should raise compression to 10.8:1.DA: Yeah. The main reason I went with the B16 is because I wanted the motor that came with my chassis in Japan. At the time, everyone was telling me to do a GSR swap, and I thought the GSR is cool, but it's not the motor that was meant for my car. I wanted to build my coupe like it was from Japan..
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