Building for the road course...again

I have reshipped now.

Went through staples so I could shop around a few shippers. According to the dude NOBODY wants to cross the border. He hit me with a “Goodluck” as we looked at the options.


FedEx ground being the cheapest at $75…to bad FedEx has cancelled all ground shipping. Too much hassle apparently so they are only doing air to the USA. $365…

DHL started at like $400+…riddle me that. I get packages from Japan via dhl and I think the most I paid was $100cad to ship cams, timing chain, tensioner, all sorts of shit in the package. INSANE.


Ended up with purolator. $91. In December they were charging a 30% markup to cover tariffs. I asked dude if that meant I wouldn’t have to pay and he just LOLd was like naw, you pay the markup then you pay whatever customs hits you for. Fuuuuck that.

Ended up with purolator in the end since that additional fee wasn’t applied. Buddy said it must’ve ended in 2025 so that was OK.


ETA is the 7th. Here’s hoping.

May that guy get lots of blowjobs in 2026
So this guy paid for half the engine that’s currently in the civic. When I popped the engine back in July I was like borderline fucked. Buddy sent me a few bucks USD and thanks to the exchange rate it ended up being like $330. Almost half of my $700 engine. He’s a true enthusiast and just doesn’t wanna see shit die. He owns a few Midas auto shops so I’m not sure if he writes shit off or just isn’t worried about spending a few bucks.

I wanna put his forum user name on the car LOL he’s a sponsor for sure
 
I have reshipped now.

Went through staples so I could shop around a few shippers. According to the dude NOBODY wants to cross the border. He hit me with a “Goodluck” as we looked at the options.


FedEx ground being the cheapest at $75…to bad FedEx has cancelled all ground shipping. Too much hassle apparently so they are only doing air to the USA. $365…

DHL started at like $400+…riddle me that. I get packages from Japan via dhl and I think the most I paid was $100cad to ship cams, timing chain, tensioner, all sorts of shit in the package. INSANE.


Ended up with purolator. $91. In December they were charging a 30% markup to cover tariffs. I asked dude if that meant I wouldn’t have to pay and he just LOLd was like naw, you pay the markup then you pay whatever customs hits you for. Fuuuuck that.

Ended up with purolator in the end since that additional fee wasn’t applied. Buddy said it must’ve ended in 2025 so that was OK.


ETA is the 7th. Here’s hoping.


So this guy paid for half the engine that’s currently in the civic. When I popped the engine back in July I was like borderline fucked. Buddy sent me a few bucks USD and thanks to the exchange rate it ended up being like $330. Almost half of my $700 engine. He’s a true enthusiast and just doesn’t wanna see shit die. He owns a few Midas auto shops so I’m not sure if he writes shit off or just isn’t worried about spending a few bucks.

I wanna put his forum user name on the car LOL he’s a sponsor for sure
That's awesome he's helped out. Every little bit of help like that goes a long way to keeping something alive.
 
Well dampers have successfully arrived at my guys in Baltimore!! He will be reshipping tomorrow.


Tracking didn’t show any fees required so I’m super confused on wtf went on here but whatever
 
Hmmm. So things I did differently

Purolator instead of UPS
300 declared value instead of 1200
HS number provided in box(this is the tariff code for Mac struts/dampers. The code comes back as 0% tariff)
I also provided an RMA number in the box


Anyone of those things might’ve been the answer here
 
Last edited:
Last package was opened and destroyed.
Wonder if this one was even opened.


Either way huge thanks to my k20 forum buddy. Total life saver here. I guess I should ask fortune to ship to his address and have him reship to me maybe
 
Well dampers have arrived at FA. They’re doing their thing now. No rush since it’s cold AF for another 2 months at least.


Ordered the last of my JDM valve train. For a grand total of $450cad we have a proven 9500rpm setup. Insane considering my ferrea retainers are currently like $500++++ from the US.

The jdm parts direct from Japan have been a life saver. Don’t want to think about building a car that I can’t get everything from Japan in today’s day and age. Would be a nightmare
 
It’s the only way this is staying any sort of affordable. Without that option there would be nothing. I’m not paying 1500+ for the same shit I bought 14 months ago for 1050. Shits ridiculous.


Oem parts ain’t cheap either. $430 for a vtc gear from Honda. OR $200shipped to my door from Japan. It’s awesome
 
Received an invoice from Fortune Auto today outlining the changes/parts list. Shout out to them for the sponsorship hook up because they truly saved me some good cash. Wouldn’t be doing this without their help.

We are getting:

- Custom length/stroke dampers front and rear

- Valving to be done based on the cars actual weight, weight distribution, and suspension geometry front and rear including calculated/simulated wheel rates, including wheel size/offset

- helper springs with couplers/perches for front and rear

- some nice new locking collars since mine got mangled during aggressive disassembly

- a pair of 18kg(~1100lbs) swift springs for the rear to try. More rotation more better. 2026 goal: never lift. WOT for dayssss

I’m excited for all these changes. I didn’t really know originally what they were gonna do. We discussed everything everyone in my other thread brought up. There are some serious suspension guys over there who made some good suggestions. The engineer saw it in the videos so I think it’s going to be a noticeable change. Hopefully for the better.

Have an entire bushing kit for the rear of the car to go in as well. That’ll be a big refresh. Everything back there is 282k km original from 2007


They offered to rush the dampers for me which is very nice of them but…There is more snow outside than I’ve seen in the last 3 winters combined. It’s been -27c all week. It’s no rush lol.

I am excited for this. Maybe not a fun power mod or something but for me maybe as exciting!
 
Service that good I might hit them up for some new coils; the KWV3s are a bit dated at this point and almost impossible to adjust (due to rust/etc). Don't need anything super special like what you got though.
 
Service that good I might hit them up for some new coils; the KWV3s are a bit dated at this point and almost impossible to adjust (due to rust/etc). Don't need anything super special like what you got though.
They do have off the shelf setups for speed3. Both 500 series and 510. 510 being the more track focused piston.

I have 510’s but with some serious customization now
 
Well first deposit put down for a 2026 time attack event. Organizers needed a minimum of 30 deposits to make this event happen. Calabogie motorsports park. Its about 5-6 hours from home. One of the best tracks around. Very challenging to drive with a moderately high average speed.

I was here once in 2021, it was actaully the first time my civic ever touched the track. I bought it, put brake pads on it, a rear sway bar, and drove 5.5 hours to this track after owning the car all of 3 weeks.

Footage here from a local guy. I have video from 2021 but my passenger is talking the entire time so its not great.
Very excited. My usual buddies wont be attending since competing here is very intimidating. I get it. Its no joke of a track.
Excited for the 2026 season and driving somewhere i havent been in a long time. Little nervous yes? But thats how you know youre alive lol. Gotta feel it or whats the point
Over a 2 minute lap. I assume I’ll be around 2:35 or so. Car will be begging for mercy. Event is end of august. Maybe I’ll have my new engine by then.

 
Back
Top