1992 K20 Swapped Honda Civic – 420whp of Passion and Performance
Read the story of Chris Dumlao’s 1992 Honda Civic, a 420whp masterpiece built for drag racing, street performance, and show quality. Explore the passion behind the build.
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Chris Dumlao
1992 K20 Swapped Honda Civic
Instagram:@dsrxpresident, @_darksideracing_
Photographer: Marvin Recinos
Instagram: @mr2mivin
Performance Stats:420whp @ 290ft lbs torque
My name is Chris Dumlao and I am from San Jose, California- born and raised. I've been in the Sales field for the past 15+ years and that's what keeps me affording the expensive hobby of modifying cars. In my free time, I like to hang out with family and friends, go cruising with my team (Darkside Racing), work on cars, race cars, golfing, and travelling. I like to live life to the fullest and enjoy every moment with my loved ones. My goals in life are to be known as a great person in and out of the car community and someone who strives to be the best in whatever I set my mind to.
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Hooked On Drag Racing
When I was about 8 years old, my dad took me to an NHRA event here at Sonoma Raceway. The very first drag race I ever saw/witnessed was 2 top fuel cars going at it. Even though I had ear muffs on, I can still recall the sound, smell and feeling I had when they made their first pass down the 1/4 mile. Right then and there I was hooked on drag racing.
The Civic That Changed It All
A few years later, I had older cousins who just got their license and they used to take me to the local street races. I would see a bunch of imports and domestics battle it out late at night on an open street for hours- moving from one street to another after it was broken up. Ever since then, I have been into street racing. One of the best memories at that time was a race between a yellow Integra type-r (from team SVP) vs a Nissan r32 (very rare to see that car in the early 2000s on US soil). I remember that was the talk of the night leading up to the race.
The yellow type-r from SVP was known to be one of the fastest all-motor imports on the street at that time and for him to go against an awd turbo r32 was crazy. I remember pulling into the street and there were hundreds of spectators waiting to see the race go off. People were standing on a tight street all the way down the 1/4 mile markings. Both cars pulled up and it was straight chaos. Both teams yelled at each other while they did their burnouts going back and forth. The cars line up and stage, and both get on their 2-step. The yellow type-r had a side exit exhaust so it was spitting fire out (which back then was cool, now it's just tacky)... they both took off and the r32 had the jump and the first 100ft or so. By half-track, you can kind of tell both cars were even but at the end of the street you see the yellow type-r throw his hazards on (sign to let people know you won the race).
All the Honda crowd went crazy screaming and celebrating. Thats what got me hooked into import racing. A few years later, I became good friends with the tuner and driver of that yellow type-r (Dave Nguyen aka DNR Project), the owner (Gil) and that whole crew (SVP- Speed Velocity Performance).
A Magazine-Inspired Era
What also sparked my interest in the import world is- when I was younger, I would go to the grocery store with my Mom and go straight to the magazine aisle (because my mom would buy me 1 magazine). I used to get the auto trader just to see a different variety of cars and their value. But this one time, I was scanning the magazine rack and this car was floating in the air on the cover... so I chose that magazine to purchase and it ended up being a white DA Integra on the cover of Super Street magazine. That also sparked my interest in import cars (mainly Honda/Acura). If I picked up a Chevy or mini-trucking magazine or something of a different nature... I'd prob be into another form of vehicle (even though I build and own different variety of cars- Hondas stay #1).
Why this Car
My very first project car was a 91 Civic SI with an LS nitrous motor when I was 15 years old. I thought it was the best looking Honda at the time and back then a lot of cars that were running fast and breaking records were the 89-91 Civic's and crx's (Dave Shih's Silver Bullet, Stephen Papadakis Civic, Ed Bergenholtz CRX etc). Back in the early 2000's I attended a car show (Import Showoff or Hot Import Nights) and I saw this 92-95 Civic hatchback in the corner. At the time it was an era of crazy body kits and wings, headlight and tail light conversions.
The EG sat on Racing Hart CPR wheels and was slammed to the ground. It had a big intercooler up from and also a light blue and yellow livery and I fell in love with it immediately. I did more research on the car (via import magazines that were out at the time) and it ended up being a car from Wicked Racing/Speed Image camp and the owner was Viet Lam. That's how my love for the 92-95 Civic chassis began. Before I built this car, I originally planned and acquired a 92 Civic coupe as the chassis of choice. After a few days of planning, a member of my team mentioned that we had never built a clean black EG/EH and we don't see many clean and tastefully modded ones from our area.
The K20 Swap: From Idea to Reality
So I made the ultimate decision to change the chassis to a 92-92 hatchback. I later then acquired this chassis from a teammate who bought the car for him to track it. It was yellow and it came with a JDM ITR motor as well as all the JDM EG6 interior and other random JDM parts. I knew my plan was to always have a black hatch and it would be k20 swapped since my ITR prior was k20 powered. Once I took a good look at the car I realized the original color was black so I purchased it and sold off all the parts I wasn't going to use which pretty much funded the car and funded a portion of the paint job. Once the car was stripped, me my buddy/teammate Steven of Ngo Competition Garage undercoated the entire undercarriage, prepped it for the k swap, and cleaned up and prepped the engine bay and inside for paint. While in paint I was acquiring parts left and right going down a checklist that I made prior to the build.
Some custom piece when I first built the car was to have a center bumper-mounted exhaust because a fellow Honda enthusiast from the Bay Area (Fred Chapman of ATS Garage- SALUTE) had done that years prior and I just loved the way it looked and told myself if I ever built a hatch (whether it be an eg or ek chassis) i am going to replicate that. Fred was very helpful and sent me pictures of how he routed everything. I took it to my fabricator (Kel of Darkside and owner of Kellybuilt Fabrications) and he took the idea and ran with it. Kel also fabbed up a custom dual backdoor intercooler, custom radiator, custom supercharger piping and other random knick-knacks for me.
Another custom piece that I like is the suede-wrapped dash and door panels which gives it a nice touch as well as function for the track. Instead of flocking the dash for minimal sun glare at the track, I opted to wrap it in suede for a cleaner look. One of my most recent custom pieces on the car would be the rear diffuser. I used a sergeant racing rear diffuser made for en EK chassis and had the mold customized to fit onto an eg/eh rear bumper and finished in dry carbon by @alphaestheticcomposites which gives the rear a little more attitude as well as function.
What Makes This Civic Unique?
I think my car is unique because I built it for all aspects of motorsports that I am into. I built it for road racing/time attack, and drag racing with a show quality. A lot of guys build these "track builds" with the craziest mods on them and claim that they're building it for the track but have never raced or turned a lap in them. They say they don't want a nice-looking car to just sit in the garage but yet that's all it does. Maybe they're scared of getting their paint dirty or they're just intimidated by the track or can't drive... who knows? I like to put my car to work and see what it can do. Some months I'll take my car to a show, and then the next week I'll be at the track/street beating the life out of it. All a part of the journey and process of the car that makes it unique in my eyes. The story of a vehicle can tell the best stories.
K20 Swapped Honda Civic Build List:
Body/Chassis:
1992 Honda Civic cx, painted inside and out Beluga black, shaved antenna, Sergeant Race Division front bumper, rize Japan carbon fiber canards, exceed version 2 cf/frp lip, first molding frp vented hood paint matched, aero-catch hood pins, jdm headlights, jdm Stanley clear corner, jdm Stanley clear side markers, red/clear tail lights, custom 1 off molded sargeant racing ek cf diffuser retrofitted to eg/eh back bumper, pci front tow hook finished in wrinkle black, mode perfume carbon fibre side mirrors paint matched base plate/frp side skirts paint matched, billet quick release hood hinges, fal 1/4 flex-a-lite windows, Voltex gt wing w/ custom base plates for OEM USD spoiler, checkerd sports front crash bar, kellybuilt custom exhaust heat plate, custom livery done by supreme detail works, all new OEM window trim and weather stripping/seals, underneath of chassis/wheel wells have been cleaned and sprayed with hd undercoating
Engine:
jbre (jose bello racing engines) built k24a2 "kiss" short block; sleeved 88mm, arias 11.1 pistons, callie compstar rods, acl race bearings, dnr performance racing cylinder heads, skunk2 ultra stage 1 cams, supertech valvetrain and valves, drag cartel tensioner cover/chain guide/vtc strainer, cometic 88mm head gasket, inline pro tensioner, k-tuned ep3 idler pulley/harness grommet/upper coolant housing w/ filler neck/swivel neck thermostat housing, kraftwerks c-38 super charger, tial blow off valve, kelly built custom piping and dual backdoor intercooler, 4 piston ported type-s oil pump, spoon sports radiator cap, checkerd sports fuel pressure gauge, jdm k20 oil dipstick.
Shaved and filled valve cover by kellybuilt, valve cover powdercoated in black chrome ultra, j-blood twill carbon fiber coil cover, rywire milspec harness & sub-harness, hasport egk2 62a motor mounts, skunk2 ultra street intake manifold in black, skunk2 composite fuel rail, skunk2 74mm throttle body, id 1050x injectors, hybrid racing oil cap/fuel pressure regulator/fuel line kit/throttle cable, walboro 255 intank fuel pump, unit2fab rbb oil pan baffle, kelly built custom spec full-size radiator, spal cooling fan, vibrant racing fittings and lines.
All powder coating done by the powdercoat shop, downstar engine hardware & beauty bolts, danny tran racing 4-1 big tube race header w/ reverse megaphone, kelly built stainless steel custom 3” piping w/ vibrant racing resonators to a custom center mount bumper exit exhaust system, kelly built dual -10 head breather bung set up to a motion raceworks breather/puke tank and coolant overflow, Hondata k-pro v4 engine management
Transmission:
k20 6 speed, quaife lsd, OEM 4.7 final drive, synchrotech carbon synchro gears (1-6), speed factory detense springs, hybrid racing shifter cables/shifter bushings/clutch line, k-tuned billet shifter cable bracket, clutch masters fx500 race clutch, exedy lightened flywheel, s2k master cylinder w/ circuit hero spacer
Suspension:
function + form prototype type 3 race spec coilovers w/ custom rate swift springs upgrade, pro car innovations spherical compliance bearings/trailing arm bushings/rear lower control arms/rear camber links/rear toe links/front lower control arm/front upper camber arms, itr front sway bar, blox sway bar adjustable end links, asr rear subframe w/ 24mm sway bar, Cusco front and rear strut tower bars, all forks/trailing arms/subframe were all powdercoated in matte black
Wheels & Brakes:
15x8 +32 volk te37sl gloss black, og stickers, kics aluminum valve stems, Falken RT660 225/45-15, 5 lug conversion, karcepts 36mm front hub conversion, dss x4 axles, fast brakes itr 300mm stl race BBK w/ hawk dtc 70 pads in front and itr calipers with hawk hp+ pads in the rear, arp extended studs, project kics lugnuts, stoptech steel braided brake lines, paint matched itr brake booster/1” master cylinder, em1 40/40 proportioning valve, evs master cylinder brace, ngo competition custom brake line tuck
Interior:
sparco evo qrt seats, stroud 5 point camlock harnesses w/ crow enterprise padding, pci seat brackets w/ downstar hardware, custom suede wrapped door panels and dash, Sparco r35 steering wheel, tiltworx titanium steering wheel hardware, battlecraft hyper rqr quick release/hyper teardrop shift knob, checkerd sports slim hub/ecu stay/dead pedal/floor heel plates, Mugen pedals, aim mxl digital dash mounted on a 4130 fab bracket, nikoworks carbon fiber dash delete, hybrid racing v3 shifter, auto power roll bar powder coated in pacific silver, rodrez custom door sill handguards, nsiduis industries billet window crank, chasing j's titanium bezel overlay, milogen custom sheet metal rear panels, alpine bt head unit, sundown audio speakers, ict billet battery tray, optima red top battery, ngo competition custom chassis harness
Who did the work?
First off I want to thank Steven (Ngo Competition Garage and fellow Darkside Racing members/lead mechanic) for taking my ideas and building the car. George Dinh @dsrxfk8 for funding most of the project. My teammates from Darkside Racing for all the help. Dave Nguyen DNR Project for making sure my tunes are always on point. Kel (Kellybuilt Fabrications and fellow Darkside Racing member) and Milo Trinh (Milogen Fabrications and fellow Darkside Racing member), thank you for always listening to my crazy ideas and always exceeding my expectations with any custom fabwork.
Future Plans
Future plans are just to just enjoy the car and keep racing and showing it. Maybe later down the road when I get bored, the car will see an AWD system and possibly a turbo. Before completing the car 3 years ago, I set a list of goals I wanted to accomplish with the car. Safe to say, I checked off all the boxes in a span of 3 years.
Dream Car
Besides this Civic... 1964 Chevy Impala SS (already acquired), 1969 Chevy Camaro RS (possibly next build), 1987 Buick Grand National (already acquired), 1950 Mercury Coupe Lead Sled, 1975 Chevy Caprice rag, 1969 Chevy Chevelle, G-Body Chevy Malibu (street raced car), Foxbody Mustang (already acquired), 1972 Oldsmobile 442, 1969 Buick Skylark and many more…
Shout Outs
God, family, friends, the almighty bad boys of car culture - Darkside Racing @_darksideracing_ ; "The Doctor" Steven at NGO Competition @dsrxngo for building the car; Kel Lechon @dsrxkellybuilt at Kellybuilt Fabrication; Milo @milogenfabrications at Milogen Fabrication; Dave Nguyen @dnrxperformance at DNR Performance; Ron @wicked1racing at Wicked 1 Racing; Function+Form; James @supremedetailworks at Supreme Detailworks; Gil Sponsor at HHWHH Collectibles; Hung, Drew, and LK @doghousegarage at Doghouse Garage; Joey @stickydiljoe at The Chronicles; Kristian @battlecraftparts at Battle Craft for the all-purpose shift knob and parts.
Yasu @exceed_jpn at Exceed; Masao @modeparfume at Mode Parfume; Angel at Art of Attack; Ryan @rywire_motorsport at Rywire; Danny @dannytrandtr at DTR Headers; NGOC @concept.autorepair at Concept Auto Repair; Simon at Nomis Industries; Raul @checkerdsports at Checkerd Sports; Cesar at Norcal Auto; Jon at Trackspec Autosports; JEI at Blacktrax Performance; Tony Crip at Angkor Collision; Mike AKA EG Tank for the color rec; Jose at Avilas Custom Upholstery; Devin @speedelement at Speed Element; Phil @spoolinphil at Spoolin Performance; Tom at Speed Image USA; Ryan Bunot at honda of Fremont Racing Team; Baek at MSH Contract Drivers; R.I.P. DSR brothers Bernard "Bloody B" Profeta JR and John "JJ" Jurado BIG DREAMERS NEVER SLEEP 1L1L; and last but not least @DSRXFK8 for sponsoring the build and making my dream a reality.
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