This Homemade 1989 Honda Civic Hot Hatch Is an Aggressive Award Winner

Dec 14, 2023

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Twenty years ago, Bryan Bonilla and his 1989 Honda Civic hatchback were just getting acquainted with one another. As his very first Honda, its four-speed manual would act as a trainer of sorts as he settled in to learning how to avoid those embarrassing stalls, familiarizing himself with the clutch and gas pedal dance during his back and forth drives during his high school days. The cream-colored standard model, with its mundane brown interior, nor its owner had any idea of the journey they'd be taking together over the next two decades.

Comfortable with the stick shifting, Bryan began tinkering shortly after, but the changes weren't always positive ones. "At one point I added a Wings West kit and primered the whole car," he says. "That's one thing I regret cause the stock paint was really nice still. But hey, I was in high school." A few years later that primer was sanded and covered with a custom brown paint job, and the weak dual-point fuel injector-equipped single cam was swapped with a non-VTEC B18.

A few years beyond that, Bryan admits that he added some ultra-wide wheels that pushed well beyond the boundaries of the factory fenders, but he decided to make the switch from B-to-K-series. Around 2011, when they were still readily available, Bryan ordered a complete list of OEM seals and moldings for the car. More parts would trickle in slowly, but the reality was the Civic wasn't seeing any real progress. "Years went on and a lot of other projects and cars came along the way," Bryan adds. "The Civic was put on the back burner."

The urge to pick back up on the long-term chassis didn't strike until 2018, not long after getting married. His best friend, Mark Real, offered to paint the car and that was enough to stoke the fire and more parts, quite a few in fact, were sourced. He notes, "Every year I'd tell myself that I was going to get the car finished and it just never happened. I wanted to do a turbo K24 but decided that if I could make close to 300, I'd stay all motor."

With some sage advice from local tuning whiz Jeremy Duarte of Redzone, the low compression pistons intended for boost were sold to make room for 12.5:1 Wiseco slugs. Those, in addition to Skunk2 Ultra rods and an Type-S oil pump conversion serve as the foundation for Bryan's K24A1. The K20A top side gave up its stock valve springs and retainers for much stronger SuperTech versions that support Drag Cartel cams.

That all lies below the surface but it's the 60mm Hayward Performance individual throttle bodies that grabbed your attention. Using longer, curved runners allows the entire assembly to sit underneath the Js Racing hood without interference. On the opposite side of the bay you'll find a Myers Competition header which leads to a custom three-inch exhaust, while a K20Z3 transmission with Action Stage 3 clutch and ATi crank pulley can be found on either end of the long block.

Jeremy of Redzone made a house call to help get the Civic's start-up tune dialed in on its AEM Infinity, but that first dyno visit didn't go as planned. "I was really disappointed when the car only made 200 horsepower," Bryan says. "Something was going wrong with the VTC that wasn't working and the car had a really bad vibration."

That result pushed the car to the back burner once again and it sat dormant for the next few months. With Spocom making a visit to the islands in just a few month's time, Bryan got the itch to get back to work and fix the technical issues his engine build experienced. During a rematch with the dyno the K24/20 set up pounded the rollers to the tune of 280 whp with 200 lbs-ft. of torque, which met his 300 hp crank power goals on 92 octane pump gas.

Though the fourth-generation Civic was available in a light blue option, Bryan's hatchback's paint code comes from Toyota's catalog. The JDM front end conversion and rear bumper were left black, matching the hood and side moldings, and atop the rear is a Js Racing hatch wing. Look a little closer and the black roof is actually a vinyl wrap that subtly displays the Honolulu city grid.

Your eyes are not deceiving you; those are in fact 16-inch SSR Type C with 225/45 Toyo Proxes R888R tucked under the front fenders, and smaller 15-inch Type X with 205/50 rubber under the rear quarters. The mismatched front wheel drive stagger, taken to extremes in this instance, isn't something many have done over the years but it flows perfectly with Bryan's aggressive fourth-gen., especially with all four wheels refinished in a flat grey tone.

In the days leading up to Spocom, the sprint to get the car finished was underway but the big question mark involved its missing windshield. Not being on the mainland, accessibility for older cars like this often proves to be problematic, and after calling all of the local glass shops and junkyards, things looked bleak. Bryan adds, "I called Safelite and they couldn't guarantee it would come in time since it usually takes up to four weeks to arrive. I saw that someone local was parting out a 90 Civic on Instagram so I reached out to them and my glass guy was able to pull the windshield and install it on my car." Then, it was time for the DMV.

Just 24 hours before the car's scheduled debut and Bryan shows up to the DMW offices without an appointment. After a lengthy wait and less than an hour left before they close, he was ready to call it quits. That is, until his friend, who was waiting with him, tells him that a glitch on the DMV website was rectified and he was able to secure Bryan a 3:30pm appointment, guaranteeing that he'd be seen before they closed. With his registration and safety check complete, the 20-year Civic project was finally ready to reveal itself in a fully completed form to the locals.

"The morning of Spocom we got to drive our cars, fully legal, to the show," Bryan adds. "It was an amazing experience to see so many people around my car, seeing all the work I put into it. The look on their faces as they'd been waiting to see the car for so many years of it not being completed. Winning first place in 'Old School' was even better, as it was my first trophy or award for something that I built."

Owner Bryan Bonilla

Instagram @89hatcher

Engine K24A1 block; K20A head; Type S oil pump; Wiseco 12.5:1 pistons; Skunk2 Ultra rods; King bearings; InlinePRO timing chain tensioner; Meziere electric water pump; TracTuff oil pan, oil filter relocation kit, oil catch can, water pump delete, electric water pump bracket, swirl pot, overflow, vacuum block, oil cap; ATi crank pulley; Drag Cartel 004 cams, VTC strainer, dipstick; Supertech dual valve springs, titanium retainers; Myers Competition header w/V-band; custom 3-inch exhaust; Vibrant race muffler, resonator x2; Hayward Performance 60mm long-runner ITBs, fuel rail; ID1050x injectors; Deatschwerks 350 pump x 2; FCS 9-gallon fuel cell; OBP fuel swirl pot; Aeromotive 100 micron fuel filter x2, A1000 fuel pressure regulator; Marshall fuel pressure gauge; custom fuel hardlines; Setrab oil cooler; Rywire, mil-spec engine harness, tucked radiator; AEM Infinity ECU; Downstar Inc. hardware; ARP hardware

Power 280hp/200tq

Drivetrain K20Z3 transmission; Action Stage 3 clutch, flywheel; Speedfactory detent springs; KTuned billet shifter, base plate, shift cables

Suspension AMR adjustable coil overs; Full Race traction bar w/custom billet torsion rods; ASR hollow tube rear swaybar, rear LCA, revolver rear trailing arm bushings; Hardrace front LCA, rear camber kit; Honed Development extended front lower ball joints; EM Racing C-pillar bar; Cusco camber arms, front shock tower bar; Whitfield weld-in roll bar; Karcepts 36mm hubs

Braking Porsche 986 front calipers; Honed Development 986 caliper bracket, brake booster delete; StopTech slotted front rotors; FastBrakes 11-inch slotted/drilled rears; Hawk HP+ pads; custom hard lines

Wheels & Tires SSR Type C 16x7 +42 front, Type X 15x7 +42 rear; Toyo Proxes R888R 225/45-16 front, 225/50-15 rear; ARP extended studs

Exterior Calvary Blue paint; Js Racing hood, rear wing; Chargespeed front lip; JDM SiR front end conversion, rear bumper, taillights, light-up center garnish, badging; Cusco hood pins; custom vinyl roof wrap of Honolulu city grid

Interior Bride x Cusco Zeta III seats; PCI seat bases, sliders; Takata harnesses; Momo Prototipo black edition steering wheel; Ididit steering column; Honed Development pedals; RFab titanium shift knob; Odssey ODX AMG battery, tray

Thank You Special thanks to my wife Aimie for always giving me the time on working on my car. Mark Real for the paint and for always helping me along the way from the beginning of this build. Ronald from Wreckless Fabrications for always fabricating things that needed to be fabricated. Jesse Sapp for getting things powder coated when I needed things coated. Jeremy Duarte of RedZone for the tune and getting me the parts I needed. Trevor from Mkshift for getting me some of the parts on my build and lending a helping hand. Craig for my alignment and tire needs. Robert Juarez for coming in clutch on many occasions. Benedicto brothers Justin and Shane for helping me out with this car way back when. Germz Gabato, Dickie Rabellizsa, Willie Galam Jr, Pedro Perez Jr, Robert from TracTuff, Randell Remigio. And for the other people I missed that contributed and laying a hand on this car from the beginning, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ryan Hayes-Reyes for getting my seats all the way up in Vegas. And Martin from Redherringphotography for them sick shots on this feature!!!