Spent a little time on some interior stuff.
Stole the steering wheel off the EK to test fit the Works Bell hub on the GD3.
I think 350mm is too big in this car, so I'm looking for a 330mm wheel before finalizing the bracket for the cruise buttons.


Another little mod I do to all my Hondas is this Spoon Sports rearview mirror overlay



It's a convex and anti glare lens, which really helps with lowered cars at night.
Here's a picture of the stock mirror lens:



And here's a pic of the Spoon lens installed:



I also received the backup camera and new carpet, so I'll have to find some time to install all those, which should really bring the car together and finally make it feel more mine.
And being Thursday, I washed my car as promised.

 

Decided to take advantage of the last couple warm days and try out a couple different sets of shoes on the car to see what I want to do with it.
Thinking about buying some 16x7 +40ish wheels to put winter tires on and raising it a hair.
Wish I could find a good CE28 copy, but everything I've found doesn't look right.
Might end up with silver Rega copies or bronze TE copies for winter duty.

16x8 +35 Advan RG-D2215/45/16 Falken RT615k+



16x7 +33 TE37 OG215/45/16 BFG G-Force Sport Comp-2



16x7 +36 Wedssport SA90205/50/16 Nitto Neo Gen



16x7 +35 Enkei RPF1Two pine 2x4s to simulate tire (SEMA spec)

 

Man, 16" wheels look so good. I can't wait to throw on my TE37s when I get my tires. I have a 350 mm wheel in my Fit currently (MOMO Mod. 69) and I am wanting to try a 330. I think I'll try a deep dish wheel this time around since I find the steering wheel in these cars to be rather far from the driver unless you sit super close--like a bus driver's seating position. A 330 mm wheel will also mean more steering effort, which is something I would not mind because I find the steering to be rather soft at times and would prefer more "weight."

The reverse camera is very handy and I love the incognito look with the license plate bulb lens cover integration--it's what I have on my Fit as well. I, too, have the MTEC shifter spring and, while it really boils down to preference, I would recommend a heavier shift knob than the Spoon one you currently have; it'll help a lot with the stiff feeling and make it easier to move the shifter.

 

I love 16s, I think they look best, just really limited tire availability which sucks.
These OG TEs are my old set I sold off, and now I'm kinda wishing I hadn't.

I agree about the steering wheel position, that was a big factor in me replacing the one in my car.
I tried a 320mm Momo and it was just a little too small and blocked the gauge cluster from my seating position, that's why I think a 330 would be perfect.

I also thought about a heavier and taller knob, I have a Karcepts one in my EK that I love and could try on the Fit, but the EK isn't driven in the winter and the Fit will be.
It's been sub 30°F here the past week and a metal shift knob is very uncomfortable in those temps, that's why I went with ole reliable and out the delrin Spoon on the car.
Not sure if there are any weighted and taller knobs that are still delrin on the outside and have a similar teardrop shape as the Karcepts knob, but something along those lines would be optimal.

 

16" Wheels and 350mm steering wheel for our Fit. Wish I would have gone with 16x8's instead of 16x7's, but no rubbing is nice!

 

Check out the Hybrid Racing 130R shift knob. It is delrin on the outside and weighs 103 grams. It's what I am currently running and I love it.

For reference, the Karcepts shift knob should weigh 155 grams.

https://www.hybrid-racing.com/produc...rin-shift-knob

 

I really like the look of your car, I actually kinda wish mine were silver.
Silver cars hide all the dirt and black cars show everything instantly, definitely harder to keep looking nice.
Also really like that Mugen wheel, I wish they offered that in a 330mm.

 

Great suggestion!
Hadn't seen that one before, I think I'm gonna order one and see how I like it.

While I'm at it, anyone know of a mid deep 330mm steering wheel that's actually round on the outer circumference?
I don't like the ones with the lumps on them, looking for something along the lines of a Momo Monte Carlo (only available in 330mm or 350mm) or Personal Neo Grinta (has lumps) or Keys semi deep (available in 325, which I'd consider if it didn't have the giant font embroidered on it).
I wish all those wheels had a baby in the form of a semi deep, perfect circle, perforated leather 6 bolt wheel.
A man can dream.

 

Thanks! I wish I had your wheel collection! Especially the Advans! Those were on my short shopping list when I bought the OZ's. Was either those, CE28's, or the OZ's. Only reason we landed on the OZ's is I could get them way, way quicker. I did the brake upgrade and then found out none of our wheels cleared the calipers.

 

A dished wheel would be nice! I'm using a Daikei adapter plus a 2" spacer to bring the wheel back to what I consider a normal position. The stock wheel is just so far away!

 

I got the Advans secondhand for a great deal, and they are like new.
Super pumped about owning those.
CE28s have been on my short list for the longest time, they're one of my favorite wheels ever.
I really wish there was a halfway decent replica that didn't look goofy and was more true to the original (most I see are too aggressive offset and either have a huge lip or the spokes are way too concave) because I would love to have a set on the car as winter or daily wheels since the Advans have 200TW tires on them.
.
That's why I want a mid deep wheel, I think an actual deep dish would be too close unless I used a short hub, which wouldn't work with the cruise retention I'm looking at doing.
Looked at the Nardi offerings, I'm just not super into the split three spoke design.
To me that's a look best kept for the RWD/drift guys rather than an everyday/grip car, just personal preference.

 

Let me know what you decide for a steering wheel. I'm in the same boat as you and want to try out a 330 for my next wheel. Also, I definitely want to try a non-flat wheel. In a perfect world, I would love something even thicker than my MOMO Mod. 69, which is already thicker than the Monte Carlo.

 

I'm kinda thinking that I'll either end up with a Personal Neo Grinta or Nardi deep corn (both in 330mm).
I've owned both of those wheels before (both in 350mm) and they're both high quality, I'm just being picky about aesthetics at this point.


I got to spend a little bit of time working on the Fit again this weekend.
I replaced the Megan axleback for a modified to fit EP3 muffler.
The Megan is just a little too loud for my taste, and the EP3 is a little too quiet, so I may end up snagging a used Yonaka axleback to make fit and see how that sounds.


Megan axleback weight:



Megan axleback installed:



EP3 muffler weight:



EP3 muffler installed:
​​​​​​



The muffler is much heavier, but much quieter.
I'm not a huge fan of how much lower it sits compared to the Megan, and it has a small leak at the flange even with a new donut gasket.
All in all, it's an improvement in my book, but I would still like to revisit the axleback and make something better.

 

The Hybrid Racing 130R shift knob showed up this morning.
it's not quite as weighted as I would like, but it is a bit taller and more ergonomic for my large hands.


Here is the Spoon shift knob installed:




Here is the Hybrid Racing 130R shift knob installed:




And here's a side by side comparison:




The 130R has quite a bit more girth, which is more comfortable to me (I wear a size L/XL work glove for reference), plus it doesn't have the rougher 90° between the side and top like the Spoon knob does.
Overall pretty happy with it so far, the added height makes the stiffer shift spring feel better as it was too stiff with the Spoon shift knob installed, I just wish it were a little bit heavier so it would really fall into gear like my Karcepts knob does on my EK.
Going into gear takes a little less effort than before, which is a welcome addition.
The stock shift spring and Spoon knob felt too loose, the Mtec spring and Spoon knob felt too tight, the Mtec spring and HR 130R knob is just right.

Thanks again for the recommendation USDM!

 

Glad you like it, Seb. I also have the Hybrid Racing short shifter and shifter cable bushings; I love the setup. I do wish the 130R knob was even a bit taller and heavier myself.

Truth be told, I'd love to have something at the height (and feel, of course) of like a CAE shifter:



In other news, the Sparco R383 steering wheel has caught my eye due to its 330 mm diameter and, apparently, thick grip. Not a fan of the horn button fitment (same with the MOMO), but it should be able to be modified like the MOMO to sit flush. I will have to see if I can find one to hold in person and go from there. I couldn't find any data from Sparco regarding the actual thickness of the grip, but if it's thicker than my current MOMO, then we are heading in the right direction. I don't have very big hands, but I'm not a fan of thin steering wheels where you can fully grip around the wheel because I can feel the actual structure of the wheel and it digs into my hands and makes driving for anything more than 30 minutes uncomfortable.

 

Shift cable bushings are next on my list, do they also make shifter base bushings for this car?
I've installed Acuity ones on an 8th gen Civic before and it completely transformed shift feel.

I like Sparco wheels, my first ever aftermarket wheel was a Sparco 325 I bought for a purple (red camelia pearl) 1995 Civic Coupe I had senior year in high school.
I thought I was Paul Walker or something.
My only gripe is that the logo is yellow and clashes with the interior.

I found out that Yokohama Advan and Personal have a limited edition 330mm steering wheel.
It looks awesome, but it's $550.





In other news, I got a pair of these to play around with:



I'm pretty excited about them.
Got the pair for $200 dropped off to my door and the fabric is actually in really good shape on both (not worn or ripped as they usually are).
They have been sitting uncovered for a long time so they need a good deep clean and do have a couple stains but I'm confident that they'll clean up nicely.

 

I'm not sure on the shifter base bushings since I have the HR short shifter and can't use the shifter base bushings even if I wanted to, so I never bothered to look into it.

 

We addressed the shifter part of the car back in 2008 when there were a lot fewer options. Ours has a Mugen shifter with a billet aluminum knob that a friend of mine literally made from a raw block of aluminum. For having 200,000 miles, it still feels pretty good.

Have a set of Acuity bushings for underhood, but haven't installed them yet. They will get added when the transmission comes out to install the Quaife diff and ClutchMasters complete kit. Since the wife and I are so used to the way it feels with the Mugen and heavy aluminum knob, we'll probably stick with them for life.

 

I think my car has a Buddy Club shifter, which I believe still uses the rubber base bushings.
I have to pull the whole car apart to replace the carpet, so I'll be checking then what shifter it has and what bushings are on it.
I think Hybrid Racing makes both the base bushings and shift cable end bushings, so I might go with those to appease my matching OCD.

 

I THINK GD and GE are the same shifter bushings, because shifters are the same, right? . After enough research I found what cars match up, bought these for my GE8 and they work great. https://www.ebay.com/itm/313472290878