Over the summer months, photographer and office boozehound Clutch tried to educate Dan and myself on the merits of swappa crates. Apart from doubling as a seat or all-purpose storage device, the crate is also perfect a the messy drinker. According to clutch, it doesn’t matter which crate the empties end up in: for example his favourite drop, Double Brown, can be mixed with bottles of Heineken resulting in a green, brown mix of bottles. No one complains if crates are returned this way, as long as there are 12-bottles, all is well.

Clutch’s crate logic, is also relevant to modifying a car and one person who agrees with it is Whangarei local Mike Templeton. Sure his 1994 Honda Domani isn’t wooden or a crate, but with the number of pieces swapped in and out it, you’d be forgiven for thinking so. But the similarities between Mike and Clutch don’t end there; just as Clutch was buying bottles before he went the crate route, Mike was purchasing Honda parts before he even had a car to put them in. But his plan was not to get happy, it was to modify a Honda Civic EG9 sedan. But sometime during the planning stages, he must have sunk a couple himself, because he ended up parting with his cash and bringing home the Domani. Being a performance front-wheel drive made the car fairly unusual in New Zealand’s drift capital of Whangarei where it seems nearly every second ride is a drift spec rear skidder.

But this didn’t make it unique enough for Mike; he had far bigger plans, not to mention a whole pile of parts waiting to be fitted. The most notable was the rebuilt DC2 Integra B18C engine. While the B18C is nearly as good as it gets in terms of Honda power, Mike decided it would benefit from a bit more poke

While the B18C is nearly as good as it gets in terms of Honda power, Mike decided it would benefit from a bit more poke and undertook a full rebuild. He had no desire to go down the forced induction route, so raising the compression was the easiest way to gain more power

and undertook a full rebuild. He had no desire to go down the forced induction route, so raising the compression was the easiest way to gain more power. To achieve that, Mike sourced Civic Type R pistons to raise compression to a high octane only 11.5:1. Besides the pistons, the rest of the B18C’s bottom end was up to scratch, but was freshened up with new rings, bearings and seals anyway. As with Clutch’s drinking habits, work on the rest of the motor could be called excessive. Starting with a pod filter mounted within a Workshop X carbon fibre air box, oxygen is sucked through a Simota intake pipe before being swallowed by an enlarged throttle body. From there it’s a short journey through the stock intake manifold before the 98 Type R Integra cams and valve springs seal its fate.

Once through the pressure cooker exhaust gases are sent south through Integra Type R headers and a 2.5-inch exhaust with JRS droopy tipped muffler. Of course, without some serious fuel system work those newly replaced pistons would be a melted mess, so Mike revisited the Honda parts stash to sort that out. As a result a DC2 Integra pump hides in the stock tank feeding fuel through stock lines and an adjustable pressure reg before hitting the stock B18C injectors. Getting things moving is a set of Bosch spark plugs and Bosch leads that rely on the brains of a DC2 Integra ECU for orders.

Due to the extra 50kW now being generated in the engine bay, Mike wisely decided to upgrade the stock radiator to a thicker Civic style core. Although the Domani is essentially from the Civic family of cars, they were never marketed as a performance vehicle and never came with such a potent engine combo. Luckily for Mike though, family ties meant the engine could bolt straight in using stock mounts, as could the DC2 Integra gearbox he mated it to. Better still, the DC2 Integra axles worked with the Domani hubs with no issues at all, while an Exedy clutch mixed with a lightened flywheel and feeding through the DC2 LSD, ensures that the only slippage comes from the tyres.

The mix and match build of the car didn’t end there though, as research had shown Mike that suspension from both the Integra and Civic families could be swapped over. As such, DC2 sway bars can now be found on each end, as can Type R strut braces. Although the integra springs and shocks could have been used to get the desired ride height and handling, a set of Bilstein height adjustable coil overs wrapped in Jamex super lows with keepers were chosen instead. Attached to the Domani hubs are now larger DC2 Integra callipers complete with J’s racing hard-compound pads. Most people would see this as enough of an upgrade, but not Mike; he also fitted Integra rear callipers and discs.

With so many goodies on the inside, it should come as no surprise that the exterior also saw its share of blood, sweat and tears. Being friendly with the lads at Workshop X paid off after it was discovered there were no decent front bumpers to be had, meaning one had to be built. James from WSX adapted a C-West bumper originally intended for an EK Civic and also grafted on Online Motorsport Civic side skirts and a matching rear lip.

Sure 18s or even 19s may have fitted under the arches, but they would have thrown out the balanced look. Instead Mike opted for 17×7-inch Advanti Nitros wrapped in 205/40R17 rubber.

Mike then removed the original aerial and boot lock before Krystal Klear Car Painters coated the whole package in PPG silver. Aiding the slick exterior look are 35 per cent tints all around, clear side repeaters on the front guards and perfectly suited wheels. Sure 18s or even 19s may have fitted under the arches, but they would have thrown out the balanced look. Instead Mike opted for 17×7-inch Advanti Nitros wrapped in 205/40R17 rubber, which fills the gap perfectly.

Speaking of gaps, the interior of the car was beginning to look a little bare. But this was easily sorted with installation of 2000 Integra Type R Recaro front seats and an EG9 Civic twin-seat rear. With the fabric now clashing with the stock door trims Mike decided that rather than re-trimming he would modify the doors to match the slick outside appearance of the car. While doing this PPG silver was also applied to various other parts of the interior to liven it up somewhat Adding colour is the reprinted silver 240kph and 11,000RPM tacho (to which the original gauges were recalibrated), while AutoMeter oil pressure and air/fuel ratio gauges fight for attention in the custom gauge pod.

In-car entertainment comes from a VDO Dayton 4403 headunit, which sings through JBL front and VDO rear speakers.

GETOLO has had lots of parts come and go, had a few breakages and many of its innards, in theory, shouldn’t be there at all. But while our photographer’s good times generally last only a night, Mike’s party has been going for three years now. However, even the staunchest party animal has to take a breather, and by the time you read this, Mike will likely have swapped GETOLO for another venue.

Specs

1994 Honda Domani

Engine: B18c, (JDM DC2 integra) Civic type R pistons, new rings, bearings and seals, 98 spec integra type R cams and valve springs, WSX carbon fibre cold air box, Simota pipe and filter, enlarged throttle body, DC2 Integra fuel pump, adjustable fuel pressure regulator with gauge, Bosch 8mm leads, Bosch super 4 spark plugs, Type R stainless headers (heat wrapped), 2.5-inch steel exhaust, Coby, JRS muffler with drop tip, SIR civic radiator, DC2
integra computer.

Driveline: Factory DC2 Integra gearbox, Lightened flywheel, Exedy heavy duty clutch, standard LSD, DC2 Integra drive shafts

Suspension: Bilstein circlip height adjustable shocks, Jamex springs with keepers, DC2 sway bars front and rear, type R front strut brace, custom rear strut brace

Brakes: DBA drilled/slotted rotors, DC2 Integra callipers, J’s racing pads, Rear DC2 Integra discs and callipers

Wheels and Tyres: 17×7-inch Advanti racing Nitros, 205/40R17 Nankang NS2

Exterior: Custom made C-west front bumper, online side skirts, online rear lip, all fitted by James @ Workshop X, Aerial and boot lock filled, full re-spray in PPG silver by Scott @ Krystal Klear Car Painters, 35% tints, clear side indicators

Interior: 2000 integra type R front Recaros, EG9 civic 2 person rear seats, Type R steering wheel, trust gear knob, Autometer air fuel ratio meter, Autometer oil pressure gauge, custom gauge pod, reprinted factory gauges in silver with 240km speedo and 11000 rpm tacho, Door inserts and other interior panels painted silver

I.C.E/Audio: VDO Dayton 4403 head unit, JBL 6-inch front components, VDO Dayton 6×9 (rear)

Performance: 0-400m: 14.4sec

Driver Profile

Michael Templeton

Age: 23

Occupation: Auto electrician

Previously Owned Cars: 86 Mazda 323, 89 DA6 Integra, 92 EG6 Civic, 82 Starlet, 81 Suzuki little van, 89 GT Legacy, 90 Toyota Levin, 87 B2000 ute, 94 DC2 Integra

Dream Car: RR phantom

Why the Domani? Something different, but still able to bolt on many different Honda parts

Build time: 3 years

Length of ownership: 3 years

Jordan thanks: James the fibreglass magician  @ WorkshopX 09 4307555, Scott @ Krystal Klear Car Painters 09 4596668, Rick and the boys @ Whangarei Instruments 094383063, Brad @ Custom Paint Shop 09 4375916 www.custompaint.co.nz, Tania, Cory, Bung, Justin, and all the Whangas boys for your on-going support