Addiction2bass's Repair and Upgrade Project Civic 96DX
thanks i still gotta get rid of the muffler but every one i bid on ebay i keep geting outbid.LOL
well a little more work.
since the wheels i would like to put on the car are OEM SI wheels and im a cheap @ss right now.... well cheap is always good
my hubcaps where total crap!!!! flaking away so after some wire brushing and cleaning, slaped some paint on and clear coat....




almost matches my moms crossfire.LOL

also painted some stock center caps i bought awhile back. and doing the chapstick trick on the chrome H lettering. just waiting for the 2 wheels and caps and lugnuts as well to dry before i slap them on the drivers side of the car
YES IM TO LAZY to do all 4 right now. i got my late Bday party at a friends house later tonight and i just dont have the time to do all 4....
so call it a great BEFORE/ AFTER version.LOL
and yes im thinking VERY HARD about painting the whole car like this gunmetal color next spring..... only downfall will be doing the complete gunmetal change since i dont want to half @ss it with the door jams and such. tho i will leave the engine bay as-is for awhile or at least until i pull the motor/tranny out to put in a new clutch then ill work on the engine bay paint to match, but till next spring it will look pretty much like this.
25bucks and afew hours should make a nice improvement over flaky hubcaps.
ill post up installed pictures later when i get back from eating and they are good and dry to handle. i just put them out in the sun so hopefully when i get back they will be dry enough to install.

since the wheels i would like to put on the car are OEM SI wheels and im a cheap @ss right now.... well cheap is always good

my hubcaps where total crap!!!! flaking away so after some wire brushing and cleaning, slaped some paint on and clear coat....




almost matches my moms crossfire.LOL

also painted some stock center caps i bought awhile back. and doing the chapstick trick on the chrome H lettering. just waiting for the 2 wheels and caps and lugnuts as well to dry before i slap them on the drivers side of the car

YES IM TO LAZY to do all 4 right now. i got my late Bday party at a friends house later tonight and i just dont have the time to do all 4....
so call it a great BEFORE/ AFTER version.LOL
and yes im thinking VERY HARD about painting the whole car like this gunmetal color next spring..... only downfall will be doing the complete gunmetal change since i dont want to half @ss it with the door jams and such. tho i will leave the engine bay as-is for awhile or at least until i pull the motor/tranny out to put in a new clutch then ill work on the engine bay paint to match, but till next spring it will look pretty much like this.

25bucks and afew hours should make a nice improvement over flaky hubcaps.

ill post up installed pictures later when i get back from eating and they are good and dry to handle. i just put them out in the sun so hopefully when i get back they will be dry enough to install.

ok well first we show a little BEFORE then after 



and the new painted ones....
chap stick trick worked great!






they do look better out in the sun..... they look just about black in the shade.
i guess i should have put these on the passenger side since the trim is chipped up so much from previous owner
but its defiantly a improvement!
they would look better with the wheels cleaned and tires shine on them BUT i dont want to mess up the paint any with spraying that stuff around them at least for afew days.
and remember.LOL the passenger side still has weak @ss flaky hubcaps.LMFAO im to lazy/busy today to do all 4.




and the new painted ones....
chap stick trick worked great!






they do look better out in the sun..... they look just about black in the shade.
i guess i should have put these on the passenger side since the trim is chipped up so much from previous owner
but its defiantly a improvement!they would look better with the wheels cleaned and tires shine on them BUT i dont want to mess up the paint any with spraying that stuff around them at least for afew days.
and remember.LOL the passenger side still has weak @ss flaky hubcaps.LMFAO im to lazy/busy today to do all 4.
Last edited by addiction2bass; Sep 13, 2008 at 01:44 PM.
hahahaha. mikes express car wash did it..... the guy that punches the machine and has the pressure washer to spray the front end to help presoat it im sure he did it on that corner! but i didnt really care.... i didnt sand the plastic bumper or use any kinda of special plastic primer or anything i just wiped it clean and sprayed it... it wasnt really that important to me.... i just didnt want a huge black bumper or black front end on my car.LOL
ill redue it all in the spring but till then the spray paint primer and sealer is good enough. im not worried about the bumper since well it cannt rust.LOL
and i dont think the air pressure is alittle low ya know some tires just seem to sag more than others...
and they do seem like some cheapie tires on it.... typical previous owner only replaced the front 2 most likely from not rotating his tires and he cheaped out... the tires really suck in the rain! i found that out yesterday after the tire shop ballanced and rotated my tires i already had.... the cheapie STEEL BELTED tires look cheap and are horible in the rain!
i think what ill do before winter is get my 14inch steelies and get some good winter tires on them and then after ballanced paint them up the same way, and for the spring/summer go big and get some new SI 15inch rims and some good tires for them.
i think some 13inch snow tires would be cheaper BUT im thinking of the total plan if i ever decide/forced to sell the DX then id have some snow tires that would fit on my 99ex since the 13inch dx wheels wont fit. then id slap these weak @ss 13s on the dx and sell it that way and keep the SI wheels for my EX.
but for now i need to replace the passenger axle and get a alignment first before i get new tires... and the si wheels aint cheap so that might be what i spend my tax check on next year
ill redue it all in the spring but till then the spray paint primer and sealer is good enough. im not worried about the bumper since well it cannt rust.LOL
and i dont think the air pressure is alittle low ya know some tires just seem to sag more than others...
and they do seem like some cheapie tires on it.... typical previous owner only replaced the front 2 most likely from not rotating his tires and he cheaped out... the tires really suck in the rain! i found that out yesterday after the tire shop ballanced and rotated my tires i already had.... the cheapie STEEL BELTED tires look cheap and are horible in the rain! i think what ill do before winter is get my 14inch steelies and get some good winter tires on them and then after ballanced paint them up the same way, and for the spring/summer go big and get some new SI 15inch rims and some good tires for them.
i think some 13inch snow tires would be cheaper BUT im thinking of the total plan if i ever decide/forced to sell the DX then id have some snow tires that would fit on my 99ex since the 13inch dx wheels wont fit. then id slap these weak @ss 13s on the dx and sell it that way and keep the SI wheels for my EX.
but for now i need to replace the passenger axle and get a alignment first before i get new tires... and the si wheels aint cheap so that might be what i spend my tax check on next year
ITS A FREAKEN MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!
my first honda that hasnt had alignment issues!!!!!
im shocked!!!!! no seized bushings, bad balljoints nothing im so happy!
now my 96dx is driving perfectly straight!
my rear toe was off both to the left so it was kinda pushing my car around alittle.
camber is moderatly high at -1.7 and -1.8 but i asume thats from a full tank of gas and my subwoofer back there...

finally one civic without any problems! even the alignment guy was shocked with my past record of civics and alignments.LOL
my black99 had only 1 seized rear toe adjuster, and my old 94turd blue had just about ALL seized suspension! total nightmare!
my first honda that hasnt had alignment issues!!!!!
im shocked!!!!! no seized bushings, bad balljoints nothing im so happy!
now my 96dx is driving perfectly straight!
my rear toe was off both to the left so it was kinda pushing my car around alittle.
camber is moderatly high at -1.7 and -1.8 but i asume thats from a full tank of gas and my subwoofer back there...

finally one civic without any problems! even the alignment guy was shocked with my past record of civics and alignments.LOL
my black99 had only 1 seized rear toe adjuster, and my old 94turd blue had just about ALL seized suspension! total nightmare!
Last edited by addiction2bass; Sep 15, 2008 at 09:13 AM.


