Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

Hi,

I've had an old '93 Civic Del Sol (1.5L Auto) for a while. I haven't really bought any aftermarket upgrades for it, other than replacing the seats and carpet. The car was recently in an accident (thankfully not my fault) so the front end is pretty banged up and the muffler was broken loose. It still runs perfectly fine, and pretty much all the damage was just cosmetic, but the muffler needed to be replaced. So instead of just wielding the stock muffler back onto the car, I went ahead and put a catback exhaust on it. It was possibly a foolish idea, but I figure if I'm going to put any time or money into repairs, I might as well put something cool on it (also, stock mufflers look terrible on the del sol, imo). The muffler's a bit large and it makes the car sound alot louder than I expected.. So I feel I really need to fix up everything.

So getting to the point, I thought I'd ask y'all for advice on what you think I should do next or if buying lots of performance parts for the car is a waste of time. It's something that'll have to take quite a bit of time because I don't have a completely disposable income right now. I thought you guys would be the best people to ask. Anywho, thanks in advance for any advice :)

(oh and pics)
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1777/delsolrf1.jpg

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

I'd say first get a new front bumper and hood (maybe even a carbon-fiber hood), then swap to a 5-speed. Modding an auto just isn't as rewarding as modding a manual (trust me, I spent thousands of dollars on parts for my automatic '94) ;)

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

Thanks for the advice. I'm mainly worried about cost. My grand goal would be to do a complete swap of ...everything really. Is it be feasable to do a tranny swap and not get a new motor (wouldn't be permanent, just temporary until I save up for a completely new engine)? As far as $ goes, I have about 700$ a month to play with. I figured getting a bunch of simple cheap aftermarket upgrades (lights, rims, lip kit maybe) would be a good way to go. Maybe that's just me.

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

yeah, a transmission swap is fairly simple (and sort of inexpensive... $1000 to $1500 depending on where you get your parts). But if you plan on getting a new engine altogether, why not just start saving for the swap now? It seems kind of pointless to spend that much money on something that will get replaced anyway.

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

lsd tranny ftw!

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of putting on an upgrade with the intention of losing it down the line.. But if I'm not going to have to lose it for a pretty long while (which I imagine it will be) I'm a little less worried about it, I suppose.

Right now, I'm trying to just make the car not look like garbage. I can get replacement stock parts for the bumper/hood/etc for decently cheap. I've been looking up getting a paintjob for the car and from what I've read, the general consensus is that MAACO is pretty crappy, but cheap. Most people say if I were to prep the car in advance, it'd turn out alright. Any advice? I haven't checked around the forums yet, but I wanted to ask about paint jobs for the car in general..

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

You could even do it yourself.
one of my friends painted there neon red. it turned out pretty good.
that is if you have the sprayer and air compressor.
if u do id paint it yourself.
it was only like 200? or 100?
not sure. nothing more then 200 tho

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

well cosmetically, you could do an ek front end swap, or integra front end swap... just an idea. I'm doing a 99-00 JDM EK front end on my Del Solw/ Mugen CF lip. oh and as for performance, well dropping a ls/vtec b18 would get you some extra power and the parts arent' terribly expensive to do it.

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

I got a maaco paint job that I am pretty happy with.
It all depends on the exact shop you take it to though.
I happen to have one with pretty good painters that have been there awhile.

Just make sure if you choose them, you get the 3 step paint, not the cheap no clear coat economy crap.

One of the reasons maaco can be so much cheaper is because they are the biggest chain and can order paint in much larger quantities and their bulk savings go down to you. A dealer or family owned shop simply can't order as much paint.

RE: Del Sol - Working Up From Scratch
 

another thing 2 idk if its over there but where i live they do a half off deal in january.
i got my car the 3 step paint for 800.
or u could get flat plaint job for 200 no clearcoat.