Put the car on jack stands and take the affected tire off. Grab a hold of the spring and rotate it until it hits the galley bump stop. You will know if it is not in there as the spring will move. The galley bump stop is the little cavity that the spring sits in on the bottom of strut. I did a timing belt on my friends 01 civic and we had the driver side tire off.

It was doing the exact same thing you are describing making a popping noise whenever you would hit random bumps in the noise. You could also occasionally hear it when you turned the car to the right as the spring would compress. The popping you are hearing is the spring getting stuck, compressing, then popping as it expands back out.

 

Put the car on jack stands and take the affected tire off. Grab a hold of the spring and rotate it until it hits the galley bump stop. You will know if it is not in there as the spring will move. The galley bump stop is the little cavity that the spring sits in on the bottom of strut. I did a timing belt on my friends 01 civic and we had the driver side tire off.

It was doing the exact same thing you are describing making a popping noise whenever you would hit random bumps in the noise. You could also occasionally hear it when you turned the car to the right as the spring would compress. The popping you are hearing is the spring getting stuck, compressing, then popping as it expands back out.

 

Well guys, I appreciate the suggestions and comments. Here's the end result. The night before giving up and taking it to the shop I gave it one last going over. The only thing I found was a sway bar end nut that I tightened up another 1 turn.
The next morning I was on the way to the shop when I noticed the popping was gone. I couldn't believe it...still can't.

The car is smooth and handling well now.

Oh, AND I read another forum about turning off the maint reqd light. That thing's been burning for a year and I finally got it switched off!

Thanks hondacivicforum!