Hi all. I just recently bought a 95 EX couple with A/T for a new work car and have been scurrying around trying to get it all stickered up and legal. It has around 144k miles on it but is in reasonable shape overall. The body is a bit dinged up but not rusty. The suspension seems good, and the engine seems ok.

Right after getting it, I put a windshield in it, got a brake job, replaced the timing belt and water pump, and put synthetic oil and a good filter in it. Changed the air filter and PCV while I was at it.

The CEL was on when I bought it, and I pulled the code, and found it was the O2 sensor. I tried to change it myself and ended up breaking it off in the manifold... dooh! Don't know my own strength I guess, bummer!

Well, I figured rather than fooling around with an easy-out, or paying the garage to do it, I'd look on Ebay for a replacement manifold or something. All I can say is WOW! Ok so I plug the hole and order up this stainless JDM 4-2-1 header and N1 catback system for a ridiculously cheap price. When it arrives, I hire my neighbor (a pro mechanic) to install it for me on the side. He slaps the kit in easy with no problems, its slightly louder but nothing that new speakers won't fix. Nice! CEL is off, sticker calender clock is ticking, so I zoom over to Pep Boys the next day to try and run it through emissions.

FAIL! Awww... it failed the idle HC emissions: 243/120! But everything else passed! Hmm. 2500 RPM HC was only 64/120. CO was well within limits at idle and 2500. Weird. Ok its running rich at idle. Gotcha. Tune up time. I go back to Ebay and order some super racing spark plugs and 10.2mm wires. Better get a new radiator (has to be for the A/T) and those nice purple hoses while I'm at it. Check. Man the headlights really suck, those neat black projector lights look enticing... I better throw in a JDM arm-rest while I'm at it. I order up a BWD cap and rotor from Parts America while I'm at it.

Well I knew I was going to have to put some money into this car to fix it up, I'm still within my budget, barely.

(A few days pass, lots of boxes arrive) Well the headlights and armrest got here fast. I pop those in pretty easy. They work great! Cool! In the mean time I read up on emissions test stuff and try to learn how my car works. Maybe my IACV screen is gunked up and thats why its running rich at idle! I go peer under the hood, eww, kind of inaccessable. I'll get back to that one later if I have to, its idling smoothly anyways. Maybe my catalytic converter is hosed, its pretty old anyways. I remember seeing cheap hi-flow cats on Ebay so I go look there the next night. I'm not impressed, they look like test pipes, I'm doubtfull one of those would really help pass emissions, but I do notice a street legal hi-flow cat for substantially more cash while I'm at it. A bit of net shopping later I have a nice new direct fit street legal Magnaflow catalytic converter on its way too. Whats another couple sawbucks after all that? I better switch to comprehensive insurance ASAP after all these fix-ups.

Well after all this I keep researching emissions controls, and start reading about the ECU.

Gadzooks! I installed headers and a catback but never reset the ECU! (Little light bulb over head) OMG when I install all these tune up parts and things this car is going to have cleaner air coming out of the tailpipe than the air that its sucking in! I go out, yank the Aux fuse, go back in and drink a few beers, go back out, put the fuse in, start the car, go back in, drink a few beers, stumble back out, turn the car off, stumble back in, and hit the sack! W00t!

It could be my imagination, but it seemed to run really nicely today. I bet it would pass emissions now. I'll wait and put in all of my super ignition components and the new cat, reset the ECU again, drive it for a couple days and take it in then though. I want to see how it reads after I put all that stuff in. If it still fails then I'll be investigating the IACV I guess.

And the icing on the cake: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-EdonBPr...px?i=110HD5212 and some Kenwood speakers all around to replace the EX Acoustic Research speakers which seem to be blown, and the shoddy JVC headunit that is in it now. Muahaha, HD radio and a 4G SD card MP3 player!

I like this car (can you tell?) It is the ultimate work car. Good on gas. Nice and comfy, A/T for traffic jams, sleek and sporty looking but not too ostentatious, dinged up enough that you can drive it without fear but still somewhat respectable looking. Handles nice and is fairly zippy to drive around in the city. And its stealth!

Anyways, Hi All! Believe it or not, I have maybe $4k in this thing, and its about done. I'm pretty mechanically inclined and I like what I see with this car. I'll post back with some updates when I get my next emissions retest results. Hope you enjoyed my story. (I don't post much but I like to make good ones when I do)