Ok people, I just purchased a 98 honda Civic 2Dr Coupe. I think I got a good deal, and its only has 70,000 miles on it, I will post some decent pictures when I can. (for now her a sample shot, its the same color: http://www.login2us.com/Cars/98HondaEX-01.jpg)

I am very much looking forward to taking this car from stripped to stacked but Im not the most experienced person when it come to cars and that why I need your help. So far I bought a Grille and some Trim.

I kinda made a list of exterior problems but I dont even know where to start on engine mods, what can I do to improve performance???

Off the top of my head the fix it list goes as follows, maybe you can help me find the best solutions for this honda:

Exterior:
Front Bumper has cracking paint
Head light casings (keyed)
Seats kinda suck (better support and a litttle lower would be nice)
Gauge Covers (can we make these a litte cooler)
Sterio Deck (Any advice would be great)
Sterio Speakers (dont have back speakers looking for 6x9 ASAP)
Rims (any rim suggestions for the 98 honda 2dr, grey)
Wheels (need input)
Tinting (whats legal in california)

As you can see Im starting from the bottom, Im looking farward to the learning experience.

-THE NEW GUY

Im new at this stop laughing, : )

 

:wtf: is "G"?
Anyway my opinions/suggestions in BOLD

Exterior:
Front Bumper has cracking paint - Get it repainted
Head light casings (keyed) - Get some Black housing lights or nice OEM Ones,stay away from projectors/halos!
Seats kinda suck (better support and a litttle lower would be nice) - Some OEM 93-97 Del Sol or 94-01 Integra
Gauge Covers - I would leave them stock or take the cluster out and change the bulbs/paint the needles.But by the sounds of you that may be too complicated for you.
Stereo Deck - Alpine Cd Headunit or i have had good luck with JVC products
Stereo Speakers - Rockford or kicker
Rims - 15"-16" Rotas or Some nice OEM Honda Civic Si /Acura Integra rims
Wheels - Falken Ziex 512
Tinting - IMO stay away from it to avoid problems

Being that you are from California,i would keep your civic as low profile as possible,to keep it somewhat theft deterrent as possible.

 

I think he said that was a sample. So we can all know what the car looks like not the actual car.

 

Hey man thanks for the outline. Great resourse!! The changing of the cluster sounds involved but If I can code a website like www.p3rsiusmedia.com/blueginger/flashindex.htm I think I can paint some needles and hook up some wires maybe not. lol

Ill let you guys know. Are there some basic instructions to help me do this anywhere. Thanks

-AgentC4

 

What are you talking about?He said the car pic that he linked to was a sample.
The list of things are what is wrong with his car.

 

My ugly child, he's all I have!!! 98 with 70,000 miles though

Photos taken with an XL1, not built for still shots, sorry for blur.

 

strange... from the picture you appear to have 99-00 taillights, but you have the 96-98 frontend, or maybe this is a glare? are your taillights completely clear or is that just the picture? you sure its a 98?

as far as tinting goes you can have it as follows in cali: rear 3 windows you can have it as dark as you want, you technically aren't allowed to have front windows tinted, but this is a subjective law and after talking to an officer about it, its essentially at their discretion.. i had my front 2 tinted on my old civic for about a year before i got pulled over, all you do is take if off and have it inspected and signed off by a cop, then you can put it back on the next day .. on the windshield i belive you are allowed to have a 6 inch strip at the top (im not 100% sure on this.. but ive seen it done and it looks better than you would think)

i have 2 stock 6x9's and 6.5's i pulled out of my old 6g civic, sound decent with a good hu

btw, where are you at in cali

 

Yea the lights are clear/white, my friend had said something about that. It was like that when I got the car. Your saying the lights on a 98 are normaly yellow/orange ? And this is a 99 setup, : ) I dont have a owners manual and its becoming painfully clear I need one.

Are there diffrent tinting brands? How does the darkness system work ?
Oh yea are wheel spinners legal ?
I'm in San Fran, but moving home to San Diego in 45 days !!!

 

yeah 96-98 lights are half amber half clear on the bottom part. clear/clear looks better so you lucked out :P there are online manuals, use search

yeah there are a ton of tint brands, ranging from purple mexican bubble brand to high end stuff that will pretty much last forever. the lighting system is just a percentage rating, and i think its rated on how much light can go through, for instance 5% (limo tint) only allows 5% of the light to come through making it basically black

im pretty sure spinners are legal, ill reserve my remarks on this..

 

Please dont get spinners.. It will ruin the entire look of the car...

I would work on fixing the small details, and save up some $ to get new suspension to lower your car a little. New Shocks and Springs would be my first step. All of the other things you stated, are all minor fixes/mods.

Tint is one of the big things on your car. If I were you, I would get the tint that is silver (almost mirror) and fades to regular tint, since your car is silver it wont look bad at all. ( What is that tint called ? Anyone know what I am talking about? )

As for the front bumber, if the law in cali says that you dont have to have a front lisence plate, I would sand down the holes that hold it on, patch them with some filler, and get the bumper re-painted.

Also, how bad (deep) is the scratch in the headlight? If its not to deep you can wet sand it and buff it out with some polishing compound, and then put a nice coat of wax (for plastics) on it and it will look better than new.

P.S. I will be moving to San Diego in October for school. So keep posting on the board, and maybe we can check out each others ideas when I get down there.


WELCOME TO HAN, ask away.

Also, will his tails (Red/Clear) fit in my 94 EX? I want to get somthing like that.