To improve our Civic's interior, we've installed an Art Morrison bolt-in four-point cage (which the company is quick to point out isn't meant to protect you in a collision, but to look good), two new seats from Arospeed, which are actually rebadged versions of Recaro's "Speed" model and three Faze auxiliary gauges inside a three-gauge pod from R1. Installation was relatively simple. We tapped Thai Nguyen of Serenity Sound and Performance in Fountain Valley, Calif., to be our wrench. And even though it was tough at times, he made quick work of the installation.
There were snags, however. Art Morrison points out in the instructions that a certain degree of "customization" is required for installation. The cage is a bolt-in and a snug fit. This is good because you don't want it rattling or moving around, but at the same time, it made installation a chore.
Furthermore, the support legs of the kit connect to the hoop with two clamps, requiring holes to be drilled into the pipes themselves. Getting the alignment right was difficult, and added considerable time to the install. In fact, it required more than one drill treatment to get the holes properly lined up, and eventually, we resorted to the BFH to get the bolts pushed through. The kit also requires the removal of the rear speakers because the support legs mount in the trunk. It took twice as long to install the kit as we had initially anticipated, but it does look good, and is totally rattle free. And aside from losing the speakers, there was no cutting of any body panels required, also a plus.
The gauges also presented some challenges. The pod contains a boost gauge, mechanical oil temperature gauge and electronic coolant temperature gauges. We had originally intended to have an oil pressure gauge instead of the boost gauge but Faze uses its own pressure sender for the oil pressure gauge that was incompatible with the supercharged engine. The only available mounting point for it is on the back of the block, under the intake manifold. Normally, this isn't a problem, but the location of the supercharger and the relocated alternator made installing the sender impossible.
In addition, none of the fittings supplied with the mechanical temperature gauge worked with the B16's block. We had to go hunting for fittings, finally finding a 3/8-inch fitting that worked perfectly. Otherwise, the routing of the wires and electronics was straightforward and simple, as gauge installs go. They look good on top of the dash, and the bright blue "indiglo" hue is easy to read at night. The easiest part of the whole install was the seats. Old seats out, new brackets and sliders from Long Beach, Calif.-based Wedge Engineering fitted, new seats in. Everything lined up perfectly. The only snag was cutting off a small tab that was blocking one of the mount holes for the seat, but it was no big deal. The seats feel great, with excellent side support, nice firm butt and back cushions, and grippy fabric. They sit a little lower than the stock seats as well, making for a more comfortable, sporty driving position.
There's more to come with this project, stay tuned.
 |
This clean, flat piece of dashtop real estate will be where we mount our gauges. | 
With the seats removed, the main hoop of the Art Morrison cage was test fitted and marked. It's a tight fit, and took a few kicks to get into position. |
The rear seat--including the seatback--was removed to ease installation. | 
The rear speaker shelf was removed, and you can kiss these speakers goodbye as well. The support braces extend through the shelf, and the only good way to route them is through the speaker holes. | 
The rear beams were fitted, marked, and the mounting holes drilled. Although it may be tempting to drill into the frame rail for added support, remember that this is not a functional cage, and doing so will simply make the install more complicated. We drilled between the rail and the spare tire well. |
The holes for mounting the hoop were marked and drilled after the hoop was removed. | 
The hardest part was drilling the holes for the bolts that would hold the support beams to the main hoop. It required precise measurements, a drill press, and a little luck. | 
When luck fails, it's good to have a BFH on hand. Finesse didn't get some of the bolts into place, so we resorted to brute force, which was much more effective. |
The clamps that hold the three pipes together are solid and secure, and the cage hasn't rattled yet. | 
The cage comes with tangs welded to the hoop, incorporating it into the seatbelt mount. Lining up the cage with the bolt hole in the B-pillar was exasperating. | 
The support beams bolt to the floor of the trunk, and eat up a rather significant chunk of room. |
We said you'd loose the speakers, and this is why. We'll be fabricating something to fill the ugly speaker holes in the future. | 
The seats were the easiest part of the whole install. They come ready for the sliders to be mounted. | 
With the sliders screwed on tightly (don't skimp here...make sure they're on correctly), it the next step was the mounting bracket. |
The brackets bolted to the ends of the sliders without trouble. Really, this is very straightforward stuff. | 
The stock seatbelt buckle mounts directly to the new seat mount. The new mount even incorporates a stop that keeps the buckle at the same angle as the stock seat. | 
The only bit of cutting required was to remove a small tab of metal that was blocking the bolt hole for the seat mount. It took about 30 seconds per side, and could be avoided if you want to hassle with installing the mount to the car, then bolting the seat to the mount. |
Serenity Sound had a B series engine out of the car, making photography much easier for us. We picked this hole (usually filled by a plug) for the oil temperature sensor. | 
The Faze kit did not come with the correct size fitting, so we picked one up at the local hardware store. If you're doing this install, you'll need a 3/8-in fitting. | 
To prevent leaks, wrap the threads in yellow Teflon tape. |
The temperature probe fits just fine in the head. Tightening it down was NOT easy, however, as the mount for the distributor is in the way of just about any tool. | 
The electronic water temperature was much easier to install here, right next to the thermostat. | 
We chose this line for the mechanical boost gauge to read from. |
A "T" junction made quick work of it, and a short length of rubber tubing was zip-tied to the hard nylon line that came with the gauge. | 
All the lines for the temperature gauges were routed through the firewall next to the battery. | 
The nylon pressure line for the boost gauge went in on the other side, next to the brake master cylinder |
 | 
The power supply lines for the gauges, and the pressure line, were routed down the side of the dash under a panel, which has obviously been removed here. | 
To make things a little easier, the power supply for the gauges (which are backlit in blue) were bundled together. |
Somewhere in this mess, find a power lead for the gauges. Knowledge of what piece of spaghetti does what is helpful. | 
We mounted our WHO pod on the dash, test fitting the gauges and making sure everything was aligned before taping it in place. | 
Everything is secured to the back of the gauge securely with tiny little nuts. The two studs on either side of the gauge are for mounting brackets that weren't used here. |
The vacuum pipe for the boost gauge bolts onto the back of the gauge itself. The curly nylon line was not easy to route, but should straighten over time. | 
We tapped a hole in the back of the pod to neatly route all the lines. | 
The fully assembled interior. The gauges (hidden slightly by the wheel) are well within the driver's sight line. |
The pod matches the interior color of the Civic well, and though it hardly looks stock, it at least blends well. | 
The seats are super comfortable, with great grip. The roll cage--'scuse us, appearance bar--is tough to photograph without cutting the roof off the car. But take our word for it, the effort of installation was worthwhile. | |