I used washers on mine. Two washers around the broken ring on the bumper, used same screw. Tightened it up hardcore. Works fine.

 

I gotta try that washers, but the part of the frame right there is actually a little bent so the bumper wont slide in properly, i need to get in there with hammer and piece of wood one day >.<

 

So I have been gone a while, glad nothing got deleted. About to start some more work, all minor upgrades. Gotta love financial aid unspent and the semester almost over.

So besides getting a new exhaust manifold/water pump/timing belt, i myself will be doing some things.

I am gonna touch up the inside by getting new floor mats, new headliner (black), new cluster, shifter coat, and adding LED under dash/cluster/maybe under seats (dark green i think, since i want the car to eventually be matte olive green). Also gonna try to fix the rear bumper with Hobos method, among others if i cant get that to work, and fix the front right fender (it is dented and rubs the tire on turns with weight in the car). Almost forgot, i am also gonna try to re sound proof the car, the rattling is getting bad again -_-

Just wanted to get back up on the site, will be posting full pics and all as I go along, should all be done in the next month or two, assuming i can keep appealing my wonderful parking tickets another few years >=D

 

You are going to re-wrap the headliner, or buy a replacement? I assume you are buying a cluster with a tach like one from an EX Civic?

I would suggest not to do the LED lights. IMO, it will look tacky, but if you like it, go for it.

Fender replacement should be easy. You have to pull off the front bumper, the headlight, and the side skirt. Three bolts in the engine bay, the screw holding the fender to the bumper, one bolt in the wheel well, two bolts behind the side skirts and one bolt in the door jamb. You have to open the door and get a thin 10mm socket in there to prevent scraping against the door.

Also, the plastic fender liner may need to be removed for this. I am not 100% on that one since I pull mine out on each car I get. Being lowered with those plastic fender liners doesn't work out too well

 

i am going to rewrap, and order from the site listed in the DIY, i was thinking black suede just cause i like that texture, i am gonna get it with the foam on it and just redo all the foam too, along with sun visors and possibly the door panels.

You make a good point on the LED, i want them on a switch like the one for the dash, so i can control brightness, and i just want the under the seats/dash for lighting more than anything, and remove the dome light. Maybe if i just go with white itll look better, maybe ill just rewire/replace the dome light (its crap right now).

Yep, EX tach cluster. 100$ at local junkyard seem decent?

Thanks for the basics on the fender, should be sufficient for me to figure out the rest. And i would rather just do that and knock out the dent, but since the whole thing is a curve it might be hard to do without ruining the paint/look but in that case i guess ill just go buy a used silver one for 120$ at the yard. Either way ill be taking it off.

i have 2" drop all around so ill probably leave the liners on so it still looks lowered, (until i lower it again later).

Any suggestions on what to use to sound proof, right now i have cardboard/foam/and some cloth in parts to stop rattling. I think the hardware store sells some expanding foam that i can just spray as i put back together all the parts from taking the head liner off.

Last thing is that i want to make all the side bars on the interior black instead of grey, Is there i dye i should use or just spray paint it and put a few clear coats?

 

I painted the plastic on my a/b/c pillars black. Used some paint from advance or some place that is meant for plastics and fabric, has held up to this day over a year, no clear coat needed.

 

Got a cluster for 100$, a right fender (minor rust damage ill have to fix first) for 40$.
Ordered 3 yards of black headliner (/w foam), and going to get glue/paint today.
Gonna go get new LED for cluster/dome light/climate control (no light right now).
Going to use glue on my shifter coat going to wait on the mats lol.

found out my water pump is fairly new (couple years old/30,000ish miles).
and im going to assume (knock on wood) the timing belt is okay for now.

can anyone point me in a good direction for manifold, i am willing to switch to cat back (i would like to actually) but if the cost difference is huge im gonna just go with replacement. I am in Los Angeles california btw, i hate all their rules.

 

So I had a pretty productive day, one could say. And I have a few pictures for you guys (iPhone quality =/).

Started out by taking my right fender off (replacing it because it was badly bent and rubbing my tire when i had people in my car.




I got the fender from the junk yard, and it had a little rust damage on the bottom of it (very minor) so they gave it to me for 40$ =). And i just sanded it down really quick and got some paint from Pep boys.




Since I had the paint and was already doing stuff, i sanded and did a couple coats on some of my bumper that had been scratches too the black.




Also decided to paint my window lips, they were not that bad, but why not, my friends was terrible chrome so he did it too.




Since I was on a roll, i removed my emblems while the rest of the paint was drying and I painted the H matte black and stuck it back on there. I need to take it off and do it again, clean the car under it a little more and do a few more layers and a clear coat (it started chipping right away).



The DIY on here was simple and perfect.







My friend did his too, same year car, but the EX model and red, he didnt paint his H tho.




About this time I decided to throw my fender on, it was dried and looking pretty good. No clear coat, but eh. It looks good and i did about 5 coats, I dont think it will chip or anything, and if it does i have plenty of paint. I still want my car matte olive green eventually anyway, and ill get some JDM body parts before that, I just want it to look decent until I get a real job.

(It was getting a little dark)



And, what I have been waiting to do forever (since i got the car). I got my tach in there.

Before


After



I am really happy about this, BUT, the overhead light is out, i have my old cluster tho, so ill either just use that light, or not do anything while i wait for the new LED bulbs in the mail (Following the DIY on this form). And the gas meter has been freaking out and shaking a little, but staying on empty (which it is haha...) so Im gonna go fill it up now and see how it works, but the junk yards says i can switch anything not working for a good one, worst case ill just take out the gas meter/coolant and replace that on tuesday.





Overall I am pleased. Also got new registration yesterday, just to throw it out there, I do have parking tickets that are "holding my registration" but I hassled them for being a third party company and not the government (here in los angeles) and when i went to get registration, there was no hold, even though I keep getting threatening letters to send the dues to a collection agency and that I am already not allowed to register the car. So they are full of it out here, just a little FYI.

Tomorrow I am going to get new front tires and more the front ones now to the rear, the read is bald and one is flat..... they are tubeless so it doesnt seem that bad, i really hope i am not ruining my rim. To clarify, it is really hard to notice it is flat, it just barely sags but is not holding any PSI. sill all be fine tomorrow tho.

Still need to get a new exhaust manifold, and i am pretty sure i will just get a cat back conversion. Now I am waiting for the headliner fabric (black suede) and some LEDs for the cluster then I will be moving back to finishing the suspension. And get some new speakers somewhere in there.

Side note, my windshield wiper thing is really loose and is very annoying, anyway to fix this? or just get a new one?

 

Were you going to swap the speedometers out so your mileage is correct? It's REALLY easy to do. Keeps all the paperwork legit.

 

For various reasons i was not going to, but the reset button is crap so today i am putting my milage gauge and a new(er) gas/coolant gauge. Also getting new tires while i frustratingly attempt to use an iphone.