When was the last time you saw a really nice EF Civic just out and about driving? Chances are never. For some reason they're almost always really busted-up. There are cars people keep nice and others that are abused and the EF chassis typically falls into the latter category. Sometimes you'll run across the ghetto street racer EF that's fast as hell but uglier than sin. There's also the occasional grandma in her super-cherry Si. Problem is, the EF Civic is so often overlooked, and when it isn't, it's done wrong.
Fortunately there are people out there like Anthony Keever who are still interested in tuning the EF. It's nice to see a younger person take on an older chassis and add some new school flair. This is a far cry from the die-hard mid-to-late 30s EF owners, but Anthony has still retained the old school look. It's old school and new school, JDM and USDM. In other words it's 100% badass!
On the exterior, Anthony decided to make his own shade of gray, leaving out the pearls and metallic that have become increasingly popular in the Honda scene. I've always been a huge fan of flat colored EFs so kudos on the paint! To keep on track with the SiR theme, he added a complete front end along with moldings, rear bumper, rear lip and taillights. To top it off he color matched the moldings and ran a pin stripe - the correct way to paint a SiR. For some reason a huge misconception has grown, most likely due to false info on the net, that SiRs had black moldings. They did not.
To kick up the exterior a bit he added the highly sought after Chargespeed front lip. It's undeniably wicked and adds some aggressiveness to the front end. The mirrors were tossed aside for some Vision MCs, which just like the moldings, were painted correctly. Perched atop the hatch is a Live Sports replica wing. Due to the replica's one-piece design it ironically fits better than the real thing, which is simply an add-on cover for the EF9 SiR wing. The rest of the exterior trim, seals and garnishes were all sourced brand new from Honda for that fresh from the showroom look.
It's funny this super-clean EF started out life like the aforementioned more common variants. Furthermore this often-overlooked chassis was nearly overlooked by Anthony, it was only due to pure luck that the car became what it is today. "The project actually started as my cousin Pat's car" says Keever. "He totaled his first shell just hours after getting it running. The wrecked shell and the GS-R motor sat in his backyard for several months, then after purchasing two other shells and tearing them down he kinda lost his motivation."
At the time Anthony was in the process of tearing down his CR-X, selling his EK and looking for his dream car, the coveted S2000. "The last thing I was looking for was another project." Anthony tells me." But Pat gave a price for the shells, GS-R motor, JDM front and a few other parts he had stashed away that I just couldn't turn down." Keever also came to the realization that many of the parts he was trying to sell from the CR-X would swap over to the hatch and thus the process began.
Once the car was back from paint Anthony attacked the interior and continued the SiR theme. Installing JDM SiR seats is no easy task in a USDM '90-91 model. "A lot of people said it was basically impossible to fit JDM SiR front seats in a USDM '90-91 Civic and have them fully functional. It took a lot of modification but I made it work." Another part that took a lot of modification was the AP1 S2000 gauge cluster retro fit. Although the cluster is from a much newer chassis it looks right at home inside the bezel.
Next up was the engine bay where Keever again mixed old school style with new school tech. A Chasebays engine harness and brake line tuck keep the bay nice and simple. Gold washers and purple nuts were used to accent the bay throughout. The Mugen 4-1 header was installed using titanium cap screws, a nice touch. But the winner in the customized department has to be the EK9 Mugen air box which Anthony disassembled then remolded. The custom fiberglass lower section makes this piece fully-functional.
Everyone knows that wheels can make or break any car. This is never more true than with old school cars. But once again Keever came through with a set of white 15" Mugen CF-48 that look amazing on the car. Matching the contrast piping on the moldings these wheels are the icing on the cake. Hopefully this isn't the last time we see the EF tuned by a younger generation. Can the EF make a comeback in 2010? Only time will tell.
