Hi i am 16 years old. I was given my grandma's old 1997 honda civic lX 4 door its dark green with tan interior(sp?). Right now it is completly stock. I want to start making it into a nicer car. What would you guys suggest i buy first. Since summer is almost over i have some money saved up but not super amount... My budget right now will only allow me to spend about 400 to 600. I want to get as much out of it as i can. Any help is welcome.

 

I/h/e

 

If you want better appearance first more go with rims, lowering springs, tint
EDIT: i just read your budget and rims are out of the question unless that's all you want is rims and nothing else, so skip the rims and go with lowering springs and tint
I'd recommend Tein since they work well on stock shocks. Many other springs will blow your stock shocks.

If you want more performance first get intake, header, and exhaust (and maybe a high-flow catalytic converter). All of my following recommendations are to save you the most money while still getting a good product. To save money, buy name brand parts on eBay. You can find nice name brand parts on eBay for great deals. Watch out for so called "JDM" (most things on eBay that say JDM aren't really JDM) things on ebay and "DC-S" (this is a knockoff of DC-Sports) and any other scam/no-name brand.
I recommend getting a no-name brand ebay intake, and slapping a name brand (AEM, K&N, Injen) filter on it. (the no-name brand piping is fine, just make sure you get a good filter. ebay filters suck and have bad air-flow)
I recommend a Megan Racing header (they are inexpensive and are pretty good quality)
I recommend getting custom 2.25" exhaust piping and a name brand universal muffler (you can get this done at an exhaust shop but you'll need to get the muffler online or something. Bring them it and they'll make custom piping and weld on your new muffler.) (Name brand mufflers such as Apex-i, GReddy, Magnaflow).
If you get a header, it's unfortunate, but on a 96-00 LX or DX you'll have to get a catalytic converter made for the EX. I recommend a Magnaflow direct-fit catalytic converter. they're like $100 at summitracing.com

 

ay lol i finally found what you used to make your sig :P its one of those edge things huh ... and sorry to talk off topic :S

 

yea and i covered up all my paint blemishes on GIMP with the black paintbrush tool. LOL.

I actually used a few of the edge detector tools. I can't remember which though.

 

Ha lol i made my paint look all clean too using some different contrast and stuff but it still is all messed up because i saved it on paint... i don't get how to use the words on that gimp its all confusing