We have our newest project vehicle on our hands here at Turbo. Making its debut is the eBay Project Integra. Putting our all-motor Project Integra aside, we have joined with eBay to produce an all-new project car.
The folks at eBay Motors approached the Primedia import automotive group of magazines and asked us if we wanted to build them a car made from all eBay-purchased parts. They certainly didn't need to tell us the vast array of parts available on eBay as we are veteran eBay purchasers, so we knew it was definitely achievable. The eBay Motors Editors Challenge is a competition where Primedia magazine staffs are grouped into 10 teams and given up to $25,000 each to buy and modify a car, truck or motorcycle using eBay as the vehicle and parts pipeline. The entries would be tested in a number of empirical categories and voted on by "eBayers" so performance and style are at issue. All the entries will then be auctioned on eBay with the proceeding going to Charity Cars, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping those who help others.
This Integra is a joint project involving Turbo, Import Tuner, Car Audio & Electronics, Honda Tuning and Super Street. True, the idea that all these titles and the vibrant personalities behind the logos can get along and pull this off is in itself ludicrous. Heck, our offices are 40 miles apart. But we all decided to rally. We took the name Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DVAS) and set out to conquer ... kinda.
With Honda Tuning in our group we couldn't spend $18,000 on a Supra and boost it to kingdom come with the remaining $7 Gs. We had to go with a Honda/Acura product. In the end we elected to reflect, go retro and represent the core of the import movement. So we purchased a ratty 1994 Integra LS for $3,675 and set out to prove that this "founding father" of the import scene can still pack a wallop. OK, there was a little "path of least resistance" thinking involved.
We had the ideals but no direction and the car languished while waiting for someone to start buying her parts and more importantly installing the stuff. Each magazine had its own responsibility and each would write about its portion of the project. We had a feeling we'd end up doing the wrenching, so we took over things.
As you can see from the "before" pictures, there is a lot of work to be done. We bought a banged up diamond in the rough with an engine that barely passed smog and had more than 165,000 miles on the odometer.
In order to get her body back to form, we'll need a new paint job and some minor bodywork. We at Turbo plan/hope to go with a steel gray color as to not deviate too far from its original color scheme. We're hoping for this so we don't have to pull the engine for a color-change paint job. But this is shaping up to be a color-by-committee thing, so who knows what color it will turn out to be.
Now that the DVAS eBay Project Integra is underway, it has been a mad flurry of purchasing parts. We have a more targeted plan in effect-Type-R upgrades that include interior, five-lug suspension, wheels and many interior and exterior accents. Feature Editor Scott Tsuneichi has been the eBay guru scoping the site for parts.
Turbo's portion of the project will be under the hood where we plan to boost the beast.
However, the first parts score was a set of Tanabe coil-overs with front and rear strut tower braces and lower front and rear tie bars. The entire combo was scored for $1,300.
The second score was locating a fully built LS/VTEC engine with turbo kit. The powerplant was advertised as fully upgraded with a knife-edged, heat-treated crankshaft, Saenz rods and low-compression JE pistons. Up top sat a DOHC Civic Si cylinder head and intake combo. A custom turbo kit with 3-inch exhaust system came with the engine purchase.