Import Tuner Civic VX – Project Sipper Sheds Weight with Seibon

Import Tuner magazine introduced Project Sipper, ’92 Honda Civic VX in Part 1 of their August issue with plans on building a fuel-efficient car.  The mission is to build a “reliable daily driver that has excellent fuel economy and looks appealing without a spaceship body kit, ugly wheel covers, or teardrop-shaped nose cones”.
From Import Tuner’s 1992 Honda Civic VX – Project Sipper, Not Your Typical MPG Car: Part 2 Article
Continuing where they left off from Part 1, we gutted the interior of the car (minus the OEM driver seat) and weighed the car to the tune of 1,987 pounds, a weight difference of 132 pounds from the factory 2,119 pounds.

Shedding the Pounds
In a quest to shave additional weight, we spent a day at Seibon Carbon to undergo an exterior transformation replacing the OEM doors, hatch, and hood with some lightweight carbon-fiber components. Seibon takes pride in handcrafting their products using quality carbon and resin components for a quality finish that looks good.

WEIGHT LOSS BREAKDOWN

Carbon-Fiber Parts
OEM Hood vs. Seibon Carbon: -10.7 pounds
OEM Doors vs. Seibon Carbon: -34.8 pounds
OEM Hatch vs. Seibon Carbon: -5.6 pounds
Carbon-Fiber Weight Savings: -51.1 pounds

EXTERIOR MAKEOVER/BODYWORK

After our trip to Seibon Carbon, Project Sipper made its way to Chuck’s Creations Paint and Autobody who provided a fresh makeover to the Civic’s body and paint.
Chuck smoothed out years worth of dents and dings to the body panels before his son Joey prepped and painted the Civic using Mariner Blue (DU) found on the earlier-model Mazda Miata. The interior was cleaned up and resprayed using the original Honda white.

Stay tuned for part three, as we focus on additional aero and interesting engine modifications along with some slick mods to further decrease the overall weight of our Civic.
Read Import Tuner’s complete article here: http://www.importtuner.com/tech/1310_1992_honda_civic_vx/viewall.html#ixzz2dCQRAmPI