Saving a car from the scrapyard is more than a noble quest. It’s thrifty. It’s green. It’s flat-out cool. If you want to see how it’s done, consider Speed Academy’s heroic resuscitation of a $300 Honda Civic.
The Civic’s revival will be featured in a two-part video series on the Speed Academy YouTube Channel. “My neighbor told me that he was sending the Civic to the scrapyard. But then he asked me if something could be done with it,” said Peter Tarach. He’s the co-founder (along with Dave Pratte) of the Toronto-based Speed Academy YouTube channel.
It took a few weeks for Tarach to consider how to restore the Civic. The build differs from Speed Academy’s usual approach. The little Civic Coupe is a fun lightly-modded automatic-equipped daily driver—not a high-performance track beast. Much of the work involved fixing what was broken, rather than shaving tenths off a lap time. That said, the Honda will hustle through the twisties faster than a stock Civic and look cooler, too.
The project is sponsored by eBay Motors. We’ll follow Speed Academy’s progress here on the eBay Motors Blog.
Making a Thrifty Daily Driver
Replacing the exhaust system is a common repair on a 16-year-old Civic. This one had to be swapped out from the rear bumper to the cylinder head.
The 2004 Civic Coupe doesn’t have a JDM engine, and it’s not turbocharged. While manual-equipped Civic coupes are desirable, the Civic in question is an automatic. But that all works when the goal is to build a thrifty and fun daily driver.
In the two installments, Speed Academy will demonstrate how to turn a tired Civic DX Coupe into something you wouldn’t be embarrassed to drive.
Fortunately, Tarach and Pratte aren’t afraid of unconventional swaps. Speed Academy is one of the best car-build channels on YouTube.
After several years working at Modified Magazine, Tarach and Pratte launched the channel in spring 2014. Since then, Speed Academy has rolled up more than 60 million video views. They have 350,000 subscribers. The channel’s no-nonsense hands-on segments feature an endless string of interesting enthusiast cars.
The channel’s extensive playlists include a notable series of Honda K-engine swaps. Those past projects featured a Nissan 240SX, Mazda Miata, Suzuki Swift, and an EK Civic hatchback. But that’s just the boys getting started. Put a twin-turbo Chevy V-8 in a Porsche 911? Been there. Drop a Tesla motor in a Lotus Evora? Done that.
Magnificently Mundane
Tarach’s neighbor was going to give the Civic away for free. Instead, Tarach insisted on paying the scrap value of $300 Canadian. That works out to roughly $225 in US money.
The 2004 Civic’s paint was in remarkably good shape, considering its age. But several little rust spots were addressed.
With just over 200,000 kilometers (124,274 miles) on the odometer, there’s still plenty of life left in the Civic. It was a fair price, given the investment in parts and labor necessary to make the little blue coupe ride like new.
The deeper that Speed Academy dug into the project, the more issues they found that required attention. “It had the typical Northeastern rust,” said Tarach. “But it was better than most.”
While the project was mostly remedial, the boys couldn’t resist adding a slew of tasteful modifications. A simple bolt-on under the hood, a sweet suspension system update, and some cosmetic mods, along with a distinctive wheel and tire combo, set this critter apart from the crowd.
Stay tuned here throughout October for the details, including expert advice and a rundown on the necessary aftermarket parts sourced from eBay.
