The Acura Integra Type R is a great performing car. In building the Type R Integra, Honda Motor Company took an Acura Integra and shed some weight by eliminating a few of the creature comforts. Honda engineers also armed the Integra with a potent B18c5 engine. The engine was complemented with a close-ratio, limited-slip-differential-equipped transmission.

Photos by Michael Ferrara Story by Sami Sharaf

Combining the Type R’s VTEC powerplant with a supercharger system could have great results. You could be hitting the streets with power to spare. Back in 2001, a customer of Modacar Auto Accessories of Livermore, California contracted the tuning shop to install a supercharger on his 2000 Acura Integra Type R. For a short time, this customer was flying high, mashing around town in his force-fed Integra Type R (ITR). He was having all the fun he could. That is until he proceeded to crash the car in less than a week’s time.

In just a few short days, the supercharged Type R was wrecked, totaled and owned by the auto insurance company. Talk about a buzz kill. Giving up on the project, Modacar’s customer then offered the staff the opportunity to purchase the smashed-up ITR from his insurance company. Due to the severity of the accident, the damage was extensive. Surprisingly, most of the valuable components remained untouched during the roll-over. Modacar decided to pick up the car as a parts donor. The Type R held all the parts while the crew at Modacar shopped around for a Civic hatch to receive the healthy organs.

Stripped Shell

The search was on for an inexpensive Civic. A few phone calls later, a ’99 Civic CX was located. The Civic carried a Theft Recovery title but it was said that no body damage was present. When the tow truck arrived with the new car onboard, the crew quickly noticed that the Civic was missing a bit more than what was said over the phone. Notably, the doors, hood, fenders, hatch, bumpers, lights, and interior were nonexistent. Needless to say, there was a long journey ahead to make this Civic even look like a car again. To make matters worse, the entire factory wiring under the dash for the lights and the engine were completely hacked.

Road to Recovery

Modacar salvaged connectors at local junkyards to reconstruct the car’s wiring. Meanwhile, the B18c5 was disassembled and the shortblock was put in the hands of Terry Tinney Performance Motors to complete the machine work. The factory sleeves were cut out and replaced with high-nodule ductile-iron sleeves from Golden Eagle Manufacturing. With a change of heart, the supercharger system was not going back onto the B18c5 engine. Instead, forced induction was tossed in favor of a high-revving all-motor power. It was at this time that the bore size of the B18 engine was increased from the factory 81mm to 84.5mm. The enlarged cylinders accept a set of Wiseco pistons in an 11:1-compression ratio. The set of forged-aluminum slugs make the connection to the factory ITR crankshaft via Eagle Specialty connecting rods.

On the top side of the engine, DNR Performance executed a port and polish and matched the combustion chamber to the new 84.5mm bore. Uptop, Toda Spec-B high-lift camshafts were fitted to orchestrate the opening and closing events of the Toda valve springs and Skunk 2 Racing retainers. An Edelbrock throttle body allows air into the port-matched ITR intake manifold. To fasten the cylinder head to the engine block, AEBS Racing head studs sandwich a laser-cut head gasket to ensure a proper seal between the two halves. Once the engine was assembled, the newly- built B18c5 engine was matched to an Exedy three-puck clutch and Toda lightweight flywheel to transmit power to the LSD-equipped ITR transmission.

Fuel supply came in the form of a Walbro 255 LPH in-tank fuel pump. The Walbro pump feeds a quartet of RC Engineering 310cc/min fuel injectors. The air/fuel mixture is ignited by NGK spark plugs assisted by an MSD Ignition 6AL ignition system. With Casey Horner behind the computer screen, tuning was accomplished with a Hondata S200 engine management system. Revving up to 9200 RPM, the Civic laid down a solid 210 horsepower to the wheels and 158 Lb/Ft of torque as recorded on a Dynojet 248 dynamometer.

Driveline & More

A number of remaining usable parts were also scavenged from the Type R. The 5-Lug knuckles, brakes and suspension components were bolted onto the EK. Tein RA coilovers set the ride height on all four corners. Wheel gap was eliminated with a set of Work Super Wheels’ RSZ-Rs 16 inch. The Works were wrapped with Toyo RA-1 tires. Power Slot rotors teamed with Hawk Performance HPT brake pads work in unison with Spoon Sports brake calipers. At this point, the car ran but was still missing the majority of the body panels. Locating the body panels took about two months to complete. The Civic’s body received a carbon-fiber hood and carbon-fiber front lip from Vision. Japanese Civic Type R headlights, taillights, mirrors and wing were also fitted onto the Civic body, transforming the car into a Civic Type R look-alike. After fitting the EK with the new body panels, the Civic was sprayed a factory Honda S2000 silverstone metallic hue.

Flagship Car

With the overwhelming amount of work that went into this build up, the Modacar crew takes a lot of pride in their efforts. Even with its show- winning paint, the Modacar team wanted to flex their muscles on the dragstrip. They filled the tank with VP Racing Fuels’ 100-octane gasoline and threw on a pair of BFGoodrich G- Force T/A drag radials. With this setup, the Civic clicked off a 12.60- second ET at 107 MPH. When the team began this project, they only had one goal. Their goal was to make the car fun to drive. As simple as it sounds, it was a big task but it’s been accomplished. Now the car gets regular usage at local track events and time attacks.

SPEC SHEET

VEHICLE
Year / Make / Model:	1999 Honda Civic CX
Vehicle Weight:	2350 Lbs.
Launch RPM:	6000 RPM
Shift RPM:	9200 RPM
Best ET (1/4):	12.60 @ 107 MPH

ENGINE
Engine Code:	B18C5
Displacement (cc):	1956.3 cc
Bore & Stroke (mm):	84.5mm / 87.2mm
Peak Horsepower (@ RPM):	210 HP @ 8300 RPM
Peak Torque (@ RPM):	158 Lb/Ft
Dyno Type:	Dynojet 248
Pistons/Compression Ratio:	Wiseco Pistons / 11:1
Connecting Rods / Crank:	Eagle Specialty / ITR Crankshaft
Block Modifications:	Golden Eagle Sleeves
Machine Work:	Terry Tinney Performance Motors
Camshafts:	Toda Spec-B / Toda Cam Gears
Valves/Springs/Retainers:	Toda Springs / Skunk2 Retainers
Cylinder Head Mods/Gasket:	DNR Performance Port & Polish
	Laser Cut Stock Head Gasket
Head/Main Studs:	AEBS Racing Head Studs
Intake Manifold/Throttle Body:	Ported ITR Manifold / Edelbrock TB
Injection:	RC Engineering 310cc/min
Fuel Delivery:	Walbro 255 LPH
Engine Management:	Hondata S200
	(Tuning by Casey Horner)
Ignition:	MSD 6AL
Spark Plugs:	NGK Spark Plugs
Exhaust Manifold:	JDM ITR
Exhaust System:	Comptech Race Exhaust
Cooling System:	Fluidyne Full-Size Radiator
	Dual 12-Inch Electric Fans
Oli System:	Z-10 Crankcase Ventilation System
	GReddy Oil Cooler

CHASSIS/DRIVELINE
Front Springs (Make & Rate):	Tein RA Coilovers
Rear Springs (Make & Rate):	Tein RA Coilovers
Front Shocks (Make & Rate):	Tein RA Coilovers
Rear Shocks (Make & Rate):	Tein RA Coilovers
Suspension Components:	Comptech Rear Sway /
	Tie Bar Combo
	SPC Rear Lower Control Arms
	Ingalls Toe Links /
	Energy Suspension Bushing
	Spoon Sports Strut Tower Bars
Transmission:	US ITR
Final Drive:	JDM 4.7
Clutch / Flywheel:	Exedy Three-Puck Clutch /
	Toda Flywheel
Differential Type:	Factory Honda LSD
Wheels (Make & Size):	Work RSZ-R
	16×7-Inch
Tires (Make & Size):	Toyo RA-1
	205/45/16
Brakes (Front & Rear):	PowerSlot Rotors / Hawk HPT Pads
	Spoon Calipers / ITR 5-Lug