What is the Honda Civic Jordan?
To commemorate the Honda (Mugen) Jordan F1 team, a 500 car limited-edition Civic VTi (EK4 3-door) was created with their own Eddie Jordan signed plaque, located on the centre console, with production starting in 1999.
A 1.6-litre, 16v, 4-cylinder, 160bhp VTEC B16A2 engine, 5-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive.
Superbly finished in Sunlight Yellow (aka Pheonix Yellow) as were all of the Jordan models – paint code Y-56.
Yellow and Black leather interior with the Jordan logo (Buzzing Hornet) stitched into the seats and carpet.
A decent video to summarise and illustrate the car in its best light: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSZzgVhTrU&pp=ygUSSG9uZGEgY2l2aWMgam9yZGFu
The one in my garage!
Introducing the project! A car which has served as a donor car itself probably raises more alarm bells than just a normal bare shell, but regardless of its history, we are only interested in its future.
Boasting poor previous repair attempts, plenty of rust and virtually nothing overly positive at all (except maybe the fact I do now own all of the Jordan specific parts) we have it in the garage – and that’s enough for me!
Here are some images of it from the moment it arrived (getting it home was fun….!).
The Plan?!
While it may seem a million miles away, and actually there’s no immediate plan to make fast progress with any of this, the intention with this car is to restore it to its former glory, in a complete and comprehensive restoration from the very bare metal!
Focusing my attention on the shell first, removing rust and adding a temporary coat (to preserve the exposed metal as I navigate through the shell completely), aiming for blasting (more detail on this at a later stage with a number of options and suggestions for debate), priming and painting, before building the car to a rolling chassis and then focusing attention to the interior and engine.
An unusual debate which will feature at some point, will indeed be the decision around what engine to include in the car. Choices ranging from the original B16A2 or the more modern powerhouse, the K20A, that shipped in the Honda Civic EP3 from 2002-2006, or even something else like a B18 that have featured in some of the real world examples I’ve been fortunate enough to get a look at it recent times. I suspect the purists feel the B16A2 is the correct choice to return the car to its original specification!
No doubt this journey won’t be without its challenges, you know with me not being a mechanic and all, it’s pretty clear there’s a very good community of enthusiasts, (who have already provided some great help!) who like me, believe these cars deserve to be saved and kept in a respectable condition – with the occasional drive a requirement for maximum satisfaction!!
Thanks for reading and hopefully you enjoy what’s to come!
