Just created an account so as to make contact and read, learn, get help as needed with my 95.

I was looking for a winter car so that I could leave my Dodge Cummins parked for the salt/snow season and I went past a house that had a black Civic setting in the yard with a FOR SALE sign in the glass.

I actually past it by and told my wife about it... she said that we could take a drive and look. I knocked on the door of the home and a young man came out, I asked him to show me his car if he had time.

We walked out and he told me he wanted $400 for it as is with no PA state inspection.

My wife and I looked it over and I saw 4 bald tires, quarter panels rusted and clear coat peeling from trunk lid, roof and hood. It also had a spray painted fender on the drivers side.

I asked him to please start it, and it fired up directly with no rod or crank knocking. No smoke from the exhaust. Now the big question... does the transmission work? He said "Take it for a quick spin, it works fine!" I simply went forward/reverse in place and called it good. Pressures were quick to apply... seems honest.

He told me the breakes were bad, exhaust was junk, tires bad, and last year he had to put a new radiator in it.

I offered him the $300 my wife had in her purse.... he bit. So I went back the next weekend and transfered the title and got a plate.

I got 4 new tires for $55 each installed at a Ford dealer my pal works at and while it was there he threw it on the alignment rack and lined it up for free.

I priced exhaust locally from parts stores and found I could buy aftermarket PaceSetter performance exhaust for cheaper! So it got a Magnaflow cat convertor and PaceSetter cat back exhaust.

For the brakes I decided to go with PowerSlot front rotors and Hawk pads, for the rear I went to Autozone and got drums and shoes.

I filled her with Amsoil 0-30 synthetic and a new filter, grabbed a cold air intake for near nothing (Akimoto for $95 plus shipping) and changed out the rad fluid just to be safe.

Since then I have put 6K miles on it, its been about 6 months.

The thing looks like hell with the rusted quarters, but other than that everything works and I get 28mpg around town and 37-39 on the interstate!

It has power windows, power locks, cruise control, delay wipers and a in-dash flip out Pioneer DVD/radio. Everything works!

I did go to the local House of Color and got a quart of PPG Omni single single stage universal black and DA'ed the hood, fenders and front bumper so that I could spray the front clip. That helped it look much better.

In a couple months the mighty Dodge Cummins will come back to the streets and I will cut the quarters apart and weld in some steel and spray the rest of the car black. For now the paint is faded black where I did not spray it.

I am thrilled with this little car. I have about $1200 invested in it, and it has most likely saved me $1200 in diesel fuel so far! It's a free car at this point!

The little 1.6 V-Tech really gets'er did when you drop the hammer on her! Amazing... it looks like a Sears lawn tractor engine... but it hauls the mail buddy!

Thanks for taking tihe time to read.... I'll be posting again as needed!

Larry

 

Welcome. Nice story about your Civic purchase. The 5th generation Civics (92-95) really get great mileage.

 

lol its Vtec ... no "H" ...

and good find lol i wish i could het a lil junker to mess with while i leave my civic at home

post some pics lol

 

NIKE you do have a little junker....Oh you ment besides you 97? lol

 

i know lol i mean one i get for like 500 though that i can like wreck and just laugh

 

OK, I took some pictures of my Civic.

It aint pretty, it's my Honda











And for the reason I am dreading this car..... (Cause ya know I have to fix this crap!)





Where can I get quarter panels to facilitate cutting this cancer out and welding in a new panel?

 

You can try car-part.com to search locally/by state/nationally/etc... In my experience the prices are usually lower than what they might have posted if you can actually go there in person.

 

Nice story, and great deal on that Civic! Once you fix that rust, the car's going to look really nice! Oh, and welcome!