it'd cost me more to paint the bumper then to get one out of a junk yard thats already painted. for right now i'd rather not paint the whole car, i just want something that matches, don't care if its got a few scratches here and there.

 

I painted my front clip with the cheap single stage (no clear coat) OMNI from PPG for $38. That covered fenders, hood, and front bumper. I think I had to buy the OMNI reducer for $10 as well, so we can say for $50 and an evening me and a pal killed a half case of beer and sprayed the front clip.

 

new (used) hood in the daylight 60 bucks, sold the unpainted one today for 40 bucks...making the cost of the new hood 20 bucks! thing that sucks...found out today first gear in the auto trans started slipping, looking at either trying to rebuild the trans myself, or possibly even switching it to a manual trans if i can do it at a reasonable price. if anyone wants to give me some input on where to buy a master rebuild kit for my 98 trans or how hard it is to swap it to manual...that'd be awesome! thanks again for the warm welcomes here.

 

Looks good. If you want to do your front bumper on the cheap you can order your factory color in a spray can. There's a link to a company on here somewhere.

 

^+1 You could do your front bumper in maybe two rattle cans of black and a can of clear. Just take your time and spray evenly. You'll save a lot doing it yourself.

Of course, if you have a good junk yard close by and can find the right bumper cover... That saves time and effort.

 

yeah i'm banking on finding a black bumper hopefully, it doesn't look TOO terrible right now. i would rather not paint myself or even pay someone to paint it. i'll wait to find a black one that someone is selling and then sell this one.

 

Switching the transmission isn't too bad, just time consuming. Just know you'll have to get a new center floor console piece to accomodate the stick shift, plus you'll have to cut some of the floor out and a....a...ah i dunno what its called......my dad and i did it and it was worth it to us

Haha hope i didn't talk you out of it i think you'ld enjoy doing it if you like workin on cars

 

Changing to a stick would be a process, not a direct swap. You would spend time doing that, it wont be a 6-8 hr deal.

You might do just as well finding a junkyard automatic and tossing it in, then rebuild yours. If you need an overhaul kit, I can most likely help you get that. My uncle works at a trans shop and can get any kits you want from Transtar/Axiom. If Trans-Go has a hydraulic upgrade kit or shift-kit for it, he can get that as well.

Get the J-Yard trans and swap it in, then rebuild yours. That way if you hose it up, you can put the J-Yard trans back in and drive the car.

 

By the way,

This is my $50 dollar PPG Omni paint job that was done on a weekday evening after work. It took about 2 6-packs of coors light to do this.

 

larry, your paint job looks NICE for 50 bucks, also i have to still find out for sure about the trans, it just seems like first gear is slipping, so i'm debating just taking it apart first and seeing what gears are worn. but then again i may just get a master rebuild kit and rebuild the whole thing. in the long run i think i'd save money. I've never rebuilt a trans before, but i'm confident and have the patients and memory to do it i think. i have the tools as well and a huge garage that a friend would let me borrow for as long as i needed. so i MIGHT take you up on that offer on maybe a rebuild kit. i just have no idea yet exactly what kit i'll need. as far as i know everything is stock for this 98 LX civic, but after 170k miles who KNOWS what someone has done to it over the years. i'll let you know once i find out for sure and get back to you. thanks for the offer!