Hey guys, I'm looking at my first civic here and need some advice.

I was inspired by the Honda tuning spot on a 1990 rally civic that I saw on here, not being a street racer myself, but very mechanically inclined, I need your opinion on this civic hatchback, and some prices.

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...778784562.html

I'm looking into buying this, and for the price I should have lots left over for modifications. Now come the questions:

1. How much would it cost (just parts cost for all of these) for a new set of decent coilovers?
2. Can I throw a 16v VTEC head on the engine this car will have? It's not a SI.
3. How hard are these hatchbacks to work on, and cost of parts compared to other brands of car.

Thanks for your advice guys, I look forward to reading your replies

 

Good looking car but 17s are a bit big for that generation. (Sorry Chris, I know you'll read this lol).

You can do the head swap to add vtec. It's called a "mini-me" and is pretty straightforward.

The EG Civic is pretty dang easy to work on. Most older Hondas are.

 

First off, welcome to the forums. The EG (5th generation (1992-1995) civic) you linked us to sounds like a decent deal; $2100 is about to be expected.

As far as your questions:

1) it depends on what brand you go with. If you want to buy the coilovers and struts seperately ("coilover sleeves"), you're looking at $600-$1000 for a decent set. If you want to buy them as a kit ("full coilovers"), you're looking at $800+.

2) Yes, a SOHC head will bolt straight to your block. You'll need to run the wires for the vtec (thank you for spelling it correctly... you have no idea how often that gets messes up), as well as a few other minor things, but it's essentially a bolt-on modification.

3) They'll be about the same as any other 5th/6th generation civic; that is, they're extremely easy to work on; the engine bay is relatively large for the size of the engine, so you have plenty of room, and everything is pretty easy to get to. Due to mass production, most parts are extremely cheap (relatively) for civic.


*edit: Brad, don't worry... if I had kept my civic much longer it would've had 15's thrown on it anyway... the 17's were too rough with how low the car sat.

 

I actually really like the way that civic looks with those wheels on it

&& Welcome

 

Looks like a safe buy and it comes with steelies so id put them on right away and sell those ugly @$$ Motegi wheels for some more money for ur project

Dont know about your first question but id say check out the BLOX site on the forum (it pops up from time to time) anf check their set ups out to give u a guestimate of how much itd cost you.

Second question they covered.

For your last question all civics are the same work wise and no one is harder than the other (in the same generation anyway). A hatch is just as easy to work on as a coupe or a sedan so no worries there.

Overall you cant go wrong with a Civic and youve made a great choice with that one, i say go for it.

 

Thanks for the fast replies guys! Goodto hear that I can bolt on the vtec if I need to, I might do an engine swap. As for those wheels I'll probably be picking up a set of del sol rims and putting some kumo tires on them with a decent dirt tread.

Now I'm going to go look at the car today, what are some things to lol for, and about? Clutch, problem signs, ect?

Thanks! You guys are Amazing and I can tell I'll be back here almost as much as I'm on pinkbike.com ahah

 

Find out what's been done as far as services; the timing belt and water pump should be changed out every ~90,000mi/145,000km. As far as common problems, the only one that I know of with the '92-'95's was rust on the quarter panels; to the best of my knowledge, there's no common mechanical problems on any of those years assuming they've been maintained.

 

problems to look for
valve cover gasket leak (they all do)
cv axles (look for torn boots)
rust on rear quarters around wheel wells

 

Okay, so I'll or sure ask about those, now what is the cost to replace a timing belt and a water pump on my own? Also, do I need to drop the engine to replace the water pump? Thanks!

 

no need to drop the engine
you will need a super strong impact or a special tool to get the crank pulley bolt off though
i forget cost but its basically water pump+timing belt+belt tensioner = cant be more than $100