All people, whether they realize it or not, are affected by cars. Some hate them and others like them, fewer still become permanently intertwined with their transportation devices. This obsession can vary from someone that considers themself an enthusiast all the way to a full-blown neurotic addiction. Thomas Strom has nicely settled himself into the latter category.
Even to the untrained eye, the level of physical cleanliness of his 20-year-old Civic is, to be put simply, astonishing. The hatchback literally appears as though it is no more than a few hundred miles old, in fact the fit and finish of the car rivals that of the brand new 370Z we reviewed earlier in this issue. The front end, headlights and all, don't even show a hint of ever coming in contact with a rock or other debris. The moldings and weatherstripping are still plush and soft. But what the untrained eye could easily overlook are all of the rare and discontinued parts that have been bolted up to this Honda masterpiece.
Before we get into the details of how and when, we must first look at why. Why would someone restore what most would consider an old, worthless, non-performance vehicle? For many EF builders like Thomas, including our very own Jon Wong and Charles Trieu, the desire to build this chassis comes from past longing. "I always wanted one of these cars," Strom tells me. "I couldn't afford one of these when they were new back in 1989." As a freshman in high school Thomas knew that one day he would own an EF. "I wanted to build this car because I've never seen a clean EF. I see EGs and EKs everyday. Building an EF is much more difficult to people who are hardcore Honda fans; they know this and appreciate it when they see one."
Prior to building this incredible example of a 4th gen Civic, Strom had started building a 1991 Si. As time went on Thomas realized several mistakes he made by choosing the 1991 model. "The `91 always felt heavy, I hated the seat belts in the door, and there were some JDM parts I wanted, such as the front seats, that wouldn't fit on the `91 floor pan." As fate would have it, the car was rear-ended and Thomas collected the salvageable parts and started looking for an `89 model.
While Thomas is now an independent Honda service specialist, he was at the time working for Auto Adventure, a large Honda and Acura wrecking yard in Portland Oregon. For additional parts, the company would often import pieces from Japan and occasionally they were able to scrounge up some new OEM JDM stuff. Luckily for Strom, he was able to source out many of the JDM components on his car brand spankin new. "Almost everything was bought brand new. The bumpers, filler panels, carpet, headliner, seals, quarter plastics, consoles, etc. are all new." Thomas elaborates, "The body parts were bought new at the dealer in Japan and put into our containers. It's hard enough to find decent used stuff."
Once Thomas had amassed an enviable amount of now extinct new-in-box JDM pieces, it was time to repaint the car. After getting the runaround for four months at the first shop he went to, Strom decided to stop by a local shop with a good reputation for painting spectacular customs. "I went to Speeds Auto Body and talked to the head painter Ron Herman. When I walked into the shop he was buffing out the paint on a `65 Chevy Malibu that he had painted two days beforehand. I told him I was looking for someone to finish my car that would treat it how it deserved to be treated," Strom explains. "I told him that it was my hot rod, my restoration project." And with that, the two agreed on a price and a month later the Civic adorned a new Championship White paint job, free of any flaws.