2005 Honda Civic EP3 Type R

[S-JM]

Hello,
Not sure how to describe my history with the forum, or my car history to be honest. I've been on and off here for years after a couple of RS purchases, namely a 172 Cup and a 197. It's been a couple of years since the 197 went but I still frequent the forum, so thought I would at least create a topic for the current car.

The car history has been mixed - in the past 10 years I've had a 1.2 Clio, 172 Cup, 1.4 Ibiza SC, 197 Lux, 1.2 Ibiza FR and now an EP3.

This post is a bit of a look in the past as I've had the car for just over a year. Prior to buying this I didn't own a car for a short period of time as my commute was on foot, however the freedom factor started to get to me so started to think about buying another motor.
The EP3 has always been on the 'must own at some point' list so there were no other cars I was considering, however the issue with finding one of these cars are:

• Finding one that hadn't been ruined or modified
• Find one that didn't have gaping holes within the chassis floor

It was a struggle, and I didn't have much faith in many ads I came across. I even went to see an FN2 instead as saw the values were dropping, but I knew deep down it wasn't the car I wanted.

Then I saw an ad for a 90k miles EP3 in Nighthawk Black, unmodified apart from a curious custom exhaust, it was a little over budget for these at the time but knowing it was under 100k miles, unmodified and had a fairly clean bill of health, I decided it was worth the punt.

Quick trip over to the wrong side of the Pennines and we were greeted with this:

It appeared to have covered barely any miles in about 4 years. The previous lady owner must have not gotten much use out of it. Only MOT concerns were headlight bulbs, service history was partial and did include a clutch change back in 2017.

Speaking of which, on idle there was a considerable whirring noise which we diagnosed as a shot clutch release valve, something to add to the to-do list.

In February/March I got a few bits sorted, including a full headlight refurbishment as well as a brand new Exedy clutch kit and M-Sport flywheel fitted by Grinspeed. It turns out the recently fitted clutch was absolutely fooked - as they didn't choose to change the flywheel. Brand new clutch on 12 year old flywheel? Oooft. We also discovered small loose metal shards behind the flywheel in the housing, worrying.

Meyle HD droplinks were applied, as well as Pagid blank discs and PBS road/race pads (squeak squeak). Still no idea where the exhaust came from, I can just about make out 'Fabrications' on the backbox but still no clue. The tips are slightly larger than standard and it is slightly louder, nothing too antisocial though and no neighbours have complained (only the Mrs).

It passed its MOT last July with no advisories, to which I replied 'are you sure?'

Which brings us to this year - the car has only had a service since and has just kept plodding along with no complaints. It's approaching the 100k mark now, and is now a daily as I have moved in with the Mrs, so probably covering about 30 miles per day. I did have a wobble a few weeks ago and intended on selling in exchange for something with modern comforts and a better MPG, I even took sale ad pictures and wrote an actual advert, but I can't get myself to part with it!

Going forward, I'll be tidying up the exterior further and giving it some proper loving, potentially get some new rubber. I'll keep this updated as much as I can, for now a couple more

from last year!

 

[Rojer]

Love these cars, Grinspeed are also a great indie. If the exhaust says Fabrications on it, it may of came from Solid Fabrications.

Have you got evidence of the chain and tensioner being done? If not i would recommend it.

 

[Cookson]

Always loved these little bread vans, but there's no way I could do my daily commute in one.

 

[S-JM]

Love these cars, Grinspeed are also a great indie. If the exhaust says Fabrications on it, it may of came from Solid Fabrications.

Have you got evidence of the chain and tensioner being done? If not i would recommend it.

Ah cool, I'll check them out!

That's on the radar, among other things, I'm not aware of it being done at any stage.

Also can anyone tell me how to edit posts on here? I'm looking everywhere for an edit button on my original post as I've mucked up the images.

 

[leeds_182]

I’ll give you £2800 for it.

 

[S-JM]

I’ll give you £2800 for it.

Come on, you've sold both your Volvos, not just the one, the piggy bank must have at least £2,850 in it now.

 

[leeds_182]

Come on, you've sold both your Volvos, not just the one, the piggy bank must have at least £2,850 in it now.

I had to buy the kids shoes.

 

[BaileyWolves]

I had a pre facelift ep3 which was a one owner car with 88k on it I replaced everything over time and it ended up with kpro decat m2 and tegiwa manifold and intake made 245bhp was absolutely epic still regret selling her to this day

 

[Dafydd]

I had an 03 with 19k on it at 4 years old. Loved it. Great reliable car

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Always loved these little bread vans, but there's no way I could do my daily commute in one.

Why? They make a great daily IMO, and I generally don't like them. (He says having owned 4 of them)

 

[BaileyWolves]

Gearboxes are the best and vtec is infectious

 

[S-JM]

Why? They make a great daily IMO, and I generally don't like them. (He says having owned 4 of them)

Yeah it's actually pretty nice as a daily, smooth as silk, only downside is that this is a non-AC model so summer is a bit of a 'mare.

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

Yeah it's actually pretty nice as a daily, smooth as silk, only downside is that this is a non-AC model so summer is a bit of a 'mare.

Bet there's not many AC models that still actually have working AC anyway lol

 

[Ian_182]

Bet there's not many AC models that still actually have working AC anyway lol

That includes FN2 models mine hasn’t worked for the last 5 years.

 

[Cookson]

So seems I may have been wrong about them then lol. All I ever read was that they were underpowered rot boxes that needed to be revved to 8.5k to make them go anywhere and that you HAD to have a 5" exhaust tip and a 3ft long tow eye.

Whats the crack with common faults on them? Do they need cambelt and cam chain doing like the golf GTis?

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

So seems I may have been wrong about them then lol. All I ever read was that they were underpowered rot boxes that needed to be revved to 8.5k to make them go anywhere and that you HAD to have a 5" exhaust tip and a 3ft long tow eye.

Whats the crack with common faults on them? Do they need cambelt and cam chain doing like the golf GTis?

You forgot zero steering feel lol


Chains can stretch yeah and a lot have been done. Not an expensive job iirc

 

[BaileyWolves]

I had the vtec lowered on mine to 4,500k with the map makes it so much better to drive

 

[S-JM]

Gearboxes need checking, it was difficult to get it into gear some times however now it's smooth as ever.
Check for rust/rot, timing chain as mentioned.
Mine makes a horrid crunching noise when starting up some times, this became identified as the 'K20A sneeze' and is actually a normal trait.

 

[Cookson]

So something like this would be OK? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honda-Ci...188565?hash=item3423b252d5:g:WyQAAOSwOfFeVotM

Although I guess I'd have to budget for a clutch on that kind of miles

 

[F12 Josh]

I had the vtec lowered on mine to 4,500k with the map makes it so much better to drive

My last one had a map and was somewhere around there, completely different to the standard car, much better at both low speed and making progress. It had one of the Tegiwa M intakes too, expensive at nearly £400 but what a noise!

Calipers are another common problem, both fronts and rears like to seize for fun.

That one looks great in black.

 

[BaileyWolves]

My last one had a map and was somewhere around there, completely different to the standard car, much better at both low speed and making progress. It had one of the Tegiwa M intakes too, expensive at nearly £400 but what a noise!

Calipers are another common problem, both fronts and rears like to seize for fun.

That one looks great in black.

I think the vtec entry point was something to dependent on the manifold ect to get it at the sweet spot on the map sometimes this is naturally lower when mapped. Yep I had calipers calipers calipers lol 😂 the tegiwa induction was amazing with the cold air feed in the scuttle panel

 

[Iain C]

My brother has a facelift 04 plate car in cosmic grey. Hes had it about 8 years. Its been totally reliable.
I dont like it much tho. Engine is great if you can be bothered to wait for it, handling is good but feedback isnt great.

 

[Philip.]

Nice EP3!

I absolutely loved mine. Longest I’ve ever had a car!

 

[pepinosport]

THat Civic looks gorgeous! enjoy it!
I didn't enjoy EP3 ownership... owned a pre-FL from april to july 2018, the shortest I've had a car. I had it at the same time than my 182 and the Clio was a better daily: engine was intoxicating, but I preferred the mid-range on the baguette. Steering on the Honda was the worst I'd ever seen. Hopefully I traded it for a C30 T5.

 

[Ben Cook]

My mates from when we went to Bedford in Jan. Stripped out with cage, coil overs etc. He absolutely loves it!

 

[dann2707]

This looks super clean dude.

I'm just about to get mine mapped, running an rbc manifold, 4 2 1 manifold and k100 so hoping for 230bhp ish!

 

[BaileyWolves]

This looks super clean dude.

I'm just about to get mine mapped, running an rbc manifold, 4 2 1 manifold and k100 so hoping for 230bhp ish!

You should see that easily mate what intake have you got ? TDI north did mine

 

[S-JM]

This looks super clean dude.

I'm just about to get mine mapped, running an rbc manifold, 4 2 1 manifold and k100 so hoping for 230bhp ish!

Cheers man, fingers crossed for you, enjoying your thread!

Isn't @leeds2592 your tea maker? I live 3 doors down from him so I'll have to invite him round to put the kettle on when I clean it this week!

 

[BaileyWolves]

I miss mine 😢

 

[Cookson]

My autotrader/ebay search is full of these and FN2s now, FFS

 

[S-JM]

I had quite a few more pictures to post but it hit the limit (because I duplicated everything like an idiot).
Here's some more from throughout the year:

The recent storm also decided to deface my rear Type R badge too, got a replacement somewhere so that's a job for this week, it was slowly peeling itself loose anyway.

 

[BaileyWolves]

They do suffer from poor steering feel I refreshed the rack and eibach springs and camber adjusters and a geo set up had the car handling spot on !

 

[leeds2592]

Cheers man, fingers crossed for you, enjoying your thread!

Isn't @leeds2592 your tea maker? I live 3 doors down from him so I'll have to invite him round to put the kettle on when I clean it this week!

How very dare you. I was an integral part to the mr2 build! 😂

Ley me know when and I'll bring the volvo round for you to do as well, it hasn't been washed since before last year's CSF!

 

[S-JM]

Had a bit of an early spring clean over the weekend, also treated myself to a Karcher last week so wanted to clean everything in sight!
Replaced the rear Type R badge, old one came off pretty easily after I utilized the Mrs' hairdryer, always get interesting looks from passing neighbours when using one.

Gave both the Civic and the 308 a good wash, neither will likely move much over the next few weeks so may as well look good standing still:

 

[leeds2592]

Can do mine as well next time....

 

[S-JM]

Can do mine as well next time....

Sorry mate, direct neighbours only sadly...did next doors 108 too whilst I was at it

 

[Danith]

Nice clean example. A rarity these days! If you're north west I thoroughly recommend Tensport Performance in Burnley. That's where my Ep3 goes.

They have lots of parts on the shelf too as Vtec Monkeys (breakers) is in the same unit. I've had mine since 2012 now, so need to ask anything let me know.

 

[dann2707]

What's it like rust wise? My mate had one that was quite crusty for the year whic surprised us when we removed the bumper

I'm going to be selling my k100 ecu soon if you haven't already got one btw!

 

[S-JM]

What's it like rust wise? My mate had one that was quite crusty for the year whic surprised us when we removed the bumper

I'm going to be selling my k100 ecu soon if you haven't already got one btw!

Pretty solid from what we've seen, was under it a few times last year and was surprised at how well it looked. Small bits of corrosion at the back below the boot floor, bits of surface rust on the springs too which can easily be replaced.

There is a small level of anxiety attached to the car at times as they are renowned for rust, whenever I hear an unfamiliar noise (not that you should ever hear one) my first thought is that's probably something underneath trying to rust itself free - definitely not a healthy feeling to have. But my mindset is that it was very cheap in this day and age and at 15 years old so these things are to be expected - I'm doing what I can to keep it on the road as long as it's affordable, as there may be a point where it needs work doing that simply isn't worth the return on investment.
People are starting to report these as an appreciating classic but I think we're still a few years off TBH - this is a 100k miles rattle-box, not a 90s Cossie after all.
Quite happy tootling around in it for the time being, however when the day comes that the value peaks above what I paid I may start considering parting with it for something newer.

 

[S-JM]

Nice clean example. A rarity these days! If you're north west I thoroughly recommend Tensport Performance in Burnley. That's where my Ep3 goes.

They have lots of parts on the shelf too as Vtec Monkeys (breakers) is in the same unit. I've had mine since 2012 now, so need to ask anything let me know.

Sorry just seen your reply - I'm in West Yorks and TBH there aren't many Honda specialists around these parts. Any easy jobs I have friends that can help me out. I follow VTEC Monkeys on FB, been very tempted at so much aftermarket stuff however I'm trying to refrain as want to keep it OEM as possible!