I've had my civic 3 years now and it has 190,000 miles. Joined this forum to research whether to keep the car and upgrade engine, suspension, ect... or if it would be better to buy a later model. I refuse to buy a new car because I hate car payments and high insurance.
I pay 240.00 dollars a year for car insurance and the car has never let me down, other than the alternator dying, in 3 years of relialbe
and fun ownership. I look forward to sharing and learning from the users on this forum and any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks!
Jeff

 

welcome!!!..keeping the 87 alive, good to here

 

great to see a vintage civic owner. i say if you want to keep the car alive and reliable keep the engine relatively stock. the suspension and other stuff will just make it more fun to drive. i suggest getting new polyurethane bushings, then lowering it with some springs in the rear and adjusting the front torsion bars (this will lower it some) to get a good stance and add some nice wheels and good tires.

the engine since it is an si and fuel injected, you could swap in a obd0 b16a engine from an 88-91 jdm civic with a hasport engine mount kit, but that is a decent amount of work and a cost of at least 2k, but the hp gain would be considerable because it would have 160 flywheel hp where stock your engine is less than 90hp at the flywheel.

 

+1 to what both mills and ef4life said. The b16 is a great swap, and you will notice a HUGE difference in power, although it will weigh a bit more also. Do the suspension first, then if you are feeling up for it do the swap. Keep in mind that just the parts for the swap will run atleast 2k, then you have labor to add on top of that (unless you can do it yourself, then more power to you)

Evan

 

Thanks for the information guys. I found the engine mentioned and will be swapping by the end of the year. Once completed I will post
after pictures. Before pictures will be up soon.

Thanks again!