Greetings HCF, (THIS CAR IS A DX NOT EX!)

I have joined you to discuss and hopefully get some useful tips as I begin modifying my 1997 Honda Civic DX I have added a few pictures, the car is completely stock as of right now, besides the stereo. As I am a student in community college and have a minimal income, this project may take some time. But I wanted to get some good advice as i gradually move along, especially in the beginning, seeing as I am quite new to a lot of things involved in modifying my car. Heh.

These have already been done to the car!

B16B Swap
2.25" Exhaust (Apex'i WS2/Magnaflow Resonator)
Short Ram Intake/K&N Filter
CTR EK9 Struts/Springs
SKUNK2 Lower Control Arms
ITR Gauge Cluster
99-00 Climate Control/Dash
Rear Battery/Big 3
CarPC
Custom Paint Interior/Headliner
Security
Del Sol Seats
Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump
5 Lug Conversion
ITR Rims
OEM Strut Bars

These are the items I am currently or immediately working on:

Engine Mounts
Tucked Wire Harness
Camber Kit
Subframe Brace
Swaybars (Front/Rear)
Roll Cage/Rebuild Trunk

And will follow up with the below; I am open to any suggestions, especially on the items that are not yet specified.

Recaro Seats
JDM/Si Body Kit (Acura EL Trunk)
Paint Job
Nitrous/EMS

Mean while, here are some other things I am working on throughout my "main" projects:

Aluminum Pedals/Shifter
Steering Wheel
Weight Reduction
Windshield Wiper Control/Nozzles

The car when I bought it:

 

So my friend crashed his 89 CRX, and its scrapping it. He happened to have some (i think) 95 GSR 5 spoke rims which he tossed me for $100 and my steelies. I like them a lot anyway. Also he is in the 818 los angeles area and has a stock CRX and is willing to sell any parts if anyone wants to private message me, idk.

 

Welcome and def. here to check out the transformation of your EK!

I know you already ordered them, but make sure you got legit Tein S-Tech's because Ebay and a lot of companies have junk ones that could be an issue on your car. Here is a link: TEIN USA | COUNTERFEIT

Those wheels are better than steelies and a start for sure!

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Damn, scary thought and thank you for pointing that out. I purchased mine from High Performance Outlet who seems to have good rating and all, but regardless i think ill be able to tell now with that site. Thank you again!

 

In for more.
Those rims definitely make it look a lot better!

 

So almost everything is here, just waiting on new LCA bolts and locking nut for front strut, from Honda Parts Unlimited, real helpful/cool guys. Little nervous of my first DIY to my car but I am prepared for the worst (knock on wood).

One of the rings where the piston goes into the shock is all beat up, like someone scratched it all up with a piece of metal, but it's probably just some industrial wear?


cant wait to be able to drive again without bouncing everywhere...


everything should look real nice =D i wont forget to take pics of key parts of the process either.


grabbed anti seize, liquid wrench, 2 locking nuts, LCA bolts, hopefully i wont have to do too much cutting and vicing of the old bolts, but i am expecting it, heh, gonna do back as soon as LCA bolts get here, and probably front the next day since the locking nuts are one day behind in shipping.
also gonna try to bang some dents out of the fenders while everything is out, >_>

 

Looks good. Grab some sort of silicone lubricant to help you with the LCA install. The bushing are just as wide as the opening they slide into. If there is no grease, the bushings will ripped up during the install. Not to mention, it makes the entire process much easier!

I attempted to install my Skunk2 LCAs about 2 months ago without the grease, and realized I was fighting the control arms to get into the correct space to line up the holes. Not fun. Slapped a little grease on both sides and boom... done within 15 minutes.

Pray those OEM LCA bolts don't seize and snap. Good luck with everything!

 

So today was fun... lol. Spent all morning frantically looking for LCA bolts, since miscommunication with Honda Parts online store left me with some random washer/nut and 2 LCA bolts. After finding them at the great local dismantling area, 5$ each. Turns out all my original bolts were in perfect condition and slipped right out, woot. Oh well on the 20$.

Rear Shock, first thing i did was check the LCA bolts, and they all loosened up no problem, felt like a picture time =D


Not to mention the driving difference, what a step up, ive never nad a car not on OEM shocks, or any other performance mod, I am quite pleased with myself and the car!




Back was no problem as i said, did both in under an hour...


lol... i cant believe i was stressing on these for no reason...


Stock front shocks


Front took me a while, some stuck bolts, the spring compressor did NOT want to fit on the OEM springs, didnt take the axle boot off so i had to strugle just a little with positioning, but all in all not so bad either.


What a day, but i do have a couple simple(i hope) questions if anyone is willing to throw me some insight...


Now, drives a millions times better, but i still get some noticeable squeaking when going over bumps or hard turns, would that be upper control arm bushings? or what else could cause this? also the front passenger axle boot wiggles when up on a jack, it is not solid, and the steering arm(idk part name) doesnt look so good, def going to replace soon (DIYable?) but is that what might make it not so stable or is there something else i should also look for? Gonna get alignment and rims weighted next week, but not if that steering arm is gonna just throw it off again, maybe look into some lifetime alignment heh.
ANYWAY any thoughts on any of that would be GREATLY appreciated!

Easy job, but good place to start i would say! =D =D =D

 

Minor update, no pics.

Tie end rod was bad on passenger side, so i just replaced to whole rank and pinion, 75$ for the part, 75$ for install, i paid my mechanic to do it, and got the rims weighted and alignment done, all in all it was 175$, not to bad. Driving is sooooooooo much better, I am no longer fighting the steering wheel everywhere i go, haha.
Looks like im gonna have a little downtime, im trying to buy some technic 1200s and studio monitors off a friend, but if that doesnt work out ill have a good amount to drop into the car instead.
But im not sure if i should replace my exhaust manifold (large crack in it) or grab some GSR axles and put GSR front rotors on my front and rear brakes. My reason for putting the manifold aside is because its a b*tch to get a cheap one shipped to california and i do want to swap the engine, but considering that wont happen until next year sometime, maybe i should just go to the scrapyard and grab a manifold for the car? and suggestions?

 

haha, your back bumper is held on with tape too?!

if you ever figure out a good way to fix that, let me know. the duct tape makes me feel like an idiot everytime I see it...