As I sit at LAX awaiting my flight to Vegas for SEMA, I look back at all the crazy stuff that had gone on the past two weeks. My mind’s a little daze as I decided to go out last night and I haven’t slept, so I figured Mouse’s Si would be a perfect article candidate to write while under the influence. Having owned a 1999 Civic Si myself, I frequented ClubSi.com often and was always a contender for the wheel whore award. Running right up next to me was another Electron Blue Pearl Si, particularly Mouse’s that thought he could hang with changing wheels. When I made my plans to fly out to Los Angeles, I knew I had to meet up with Mouse’s complete project and to get some snaps like no one has ever seen.
I met up with Mouse at a Burger King and proceeded to drive around looking for a location to shoot. The lighting wasn’t the greatest, as I apparently brought clouds and rain to LA with me that week. It was weird to once again sit in the passenger seat of a 99-00 Civic Si, especially one that was B18C5 powered. That’s right, Mouse detonated his stock B16A2 – much like I did – and replaced it with a brand new 2001 Integra Type-R transplant. While having the new Type-R motor sitting fresh at his friend’s garage, he decided to pull the head off and jam in a Spoon Sports 2 Layer Head Gasket, pumping up the compression just a tad notch. He mated the stock transmission back to this long block, and swapped out the stock Si (weak!) clutch for a Type-R model, along with its flywheel. With the swap, Mouse decided to utilize an OBD2 Civic Type-R ECU for the tune along with an APEXi V-AFC for fuel and VTEC tuning. For the normal in and out bolt-ons, Mouse went with an AEM V2 Cold Air Intake, forcing air into the motor and through a DC Sports 4-2-1 Header and out an AEM Limited Production Cat-Back exhaust. I’ve been around in this industry for a really long time, and this was the first time I had ever heard and seen this exhaust myself. Mouse then decided that he <3 JDM and became a JDM whore himself. Spoon Sports goodies adorn the engine bay with 8mm spark plug wires, carbon/kevlar spark plug cover, valve cover, radiator cap, oil cap, and the ever popular Spoon socks. A Spoon Sports thermostat along with a fan switch was also installed to provide optimal cooling capabilities in the Si. A Pivot Racing Grounding Kit was installed for a more efficient ground, and Mouse never has to worry about his car dying thanks to an Optima Yellow Top Battery.
The powertrain setup is really not that shabby in Mouse’s Coupe, considering that the B18C5 powers the Type-R Integra just perfectly. On the exterior however, Mouse kept it clean and conservative, not even slightly hinting what’s underneath the hood. Again, sport’ing JDM, Mouse went with JDM Civic Type-R headlights, and JDM Civic SiR folding mirrors. The mirrors are actually a nice touch to the car, setting it slightly apart from the rest of the stock body Si’s out there. Up front, Mouse decided to install OEM foglights and in the rear the finishing touch was an OEM rear lip. Everything on the car was match painted to the smooth shade of Electron Blue Pearl.
Now back to being a wheel whore, Mouse had gone through many many sets of wheels before sitting on the ones he’s comfortable with now. 16×7″ genuine GAB Sports Rims adorn each four corners of the car, in a lovely and contrasting shade of red. Sporting a +38 offset, the GAB wheels sit slightly closer to the fender than the typical +42 offset wheels that most Honda applications take. Making sure the rims are securely fastened to the Power Slot slotted rotors are Buddy Club Racing extended lug nuts.
Helping the car sit comfortably on the lightweight GAB wheels are Skunk2 coilovers, along with a Skunk2 rear camber kit. Up front a USDM Integra Type-R front strut bar buckles and stiffens the front chassis a tidbit. In the rear trunk, an AC Technica Rear upper strut bar can be seen, and gleaming beautifully underneath the chassis of the car is a DC Sports lower rear tie bar.
Taking a seat inside Mouse’s Si, the car is definitely a complete daily driver package as his in car electronics don’t lack at all. However, with the daily drive comes comfortable seats. Recaro SRD seats can be seen in the driver and passenger side in a lovely matching shade of Avus Blue. The rear seats were also upholstered to match the front Recaro’s, along with the front and rear door panels, and his arm rest. All the interior reupholstering was done courtesy of Apollo Interiors in Alhambra, California. A few more JDM goodies can be seen in the interior, including a Spoon Sports black duracon shift knob, JDM Civic Type-R shift boot, air vent w/ pocket and lightly decorating the gauge cluster is the Civic Type-R Carbon Fiber overlay.
Oh yes, in car electronics. Since this is Mouse’s daily driver, commuting in LA traffic absolutely sucks (as I learned the past two weeks). An Alpine CVA 1003 in dash monitor can be seen in the center console, along with an Alpine six disc changer in the glove. Mids and highs are also courtesy of Alpine, in their Type-S series speakers. For those long rides and long shows, Mouse has a Questar In Dash DVD player installed, along with a Sony Playstation 2 hooked up to the Alpine unit. Bass is plentiful in this Coupe, thanks to two 12″ Rockford Fosgate HX2 subwoofers, powered by two 600 watt Tornado Amplifiers.
All this makes for a fine package, as Mouse’s Si is definitely one of the cleanest around. You all can argue JDM this, JDM that all day long – but Mouse’s car functions in all forms. I can guarantee that this is his daily whip, and he’s just another guy like us – trying to make a dollar out of a dime. Big props to Mouse for sticking with the project and turning it out complete as he did. Tunerzine.com appreciates having the chance to shoot it and bringing it to our audience. Hope you enjoy the shots.
Gallery
