Hey people,

I have just put a deposit down for a 1998 Honda Civic 1.4i Initial in light metallic blue. The car looks pretty damn clean for a car of its age, and only has 50k miles on it. Engine bay is almost immaculate. I will be picking the car up on Saturday and will post some pics up. The car is totally standard so is still running its original wheels ect. I was really after a Mk4 VW Golf, but I saw this car and just couldnt resist.

What are the best mods to do to this engine without doing extensive head work? I'm not wanting to affect the reliability of the motor in exchange for a few more horsepower. I was thinking along the lines of an induction kit of some description, a full performance exhaust system and maybe some high performance HT leads/spark plugs etc. What do you suggest? I'm not really clued up as to what you can do to these SOHC 1.4ltr engines.

I have a fair amount of cash to throw at it as the car was cheaper than I envisaged (£2300). I'm thinking new wheels (maybe some split rims), tinted windows, lower the suspension to cater for bigger wheels, a decent stereo system......also pondering with the idea of installing a DVD player and linking up an XBOX 360, but it all depends on what my funds allow at the time. I wouldnt mind doing something with the seats as well - the standard Honda seat cover designs seem a little old-hat to say the least. I may buy a pair of nice Recaros recliners to fit in there but again its all money so we will have to wait and see.

Will post some piccys once I pick the car up from the garage....bring on saturday!

=chris=

 

welcome to the forum sounds like you got alot of good plans for your car, for engine mods i would go for intake,header and exhust..thats what alot of people go for first..then start doing the bigger things to the engine, i would go for suspension and rims and wheels too after the I/H/E

 

Ok, so if I were to look into an exhaust system, are there any brands that are superior for this model of car? I have always seen the 'Janspeed' line of products to be brilliant quality and sound pretty sweet too. Will have to check at my local Halfords and see if they produce any for the Civic 1.4i.

Same question for the header really - I have seen Mugen ones on Ebay for approx £150 and they look superb quality. Anybody have one of these fitted? If so, some feedback on them would be greatly appreciated.

Another thing I have been meaning to ask is what rear light clusters are available for this model? I don't want anything resembling 'Lexus' or 'Altezza' lights as I feel they have been abused by 17yr olds bolting them onto crappy Ford Fiesta's and the like. They just look naff IMO. The car colour is a light metallic blue, so I am thinking maybe a contrasting set of black or smoked rear clusters would go well with the tinted windows. As for wheels - I'm going to start looking tonight hopefully, but they all seem pretty overpriced around here.

And finally, has anybody ever tried fitting the front 'Projector' style headlamps to their car? I think they will look better than a lot of the other Halos out there, but I'm not too sure as to how good quality these actually are. These are what I have been looking at getting...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/96-98-Honda-Ci...QQcmdZViewItem

Sure they look good, but I'm dubious about the fitment and quality as I have heard that some do not fit correctly. Anybody?

=chris=

 

All of those headlights sucks. I think they are guarenteed to fog up.

 

Hmmm, thats a bit of a bummer if they do. I spose they havent got the OEM Honda quality that I'd hoped for. I wonder if you can seal them, possibly with silicone bathroom sealant around the rear edge to stop moisure getting in? Bit of a bodge but maybe it'll work...

I've compiled a list of all the things I'm going to be doing to it. Hopefully should be sooner rather than later - I have the money sitting there so may as well spend it on the car rather than waste it. These are the following things I'd like to have done for Christmas time...

Set of ACE 132 alloys or similar, Gmax 40mm Lowering kit, Mugen s/steel exhaust manifold, full JDM Catback s/steel exhaust system, JDM (or possibly K&N Typhoon) induction system, window tints, Type R Grille.

After this work is done, then I'm hoping to maybe upgrade to a deent stereo system, possibly with a DVD player but still not certain it's worth the £££. Will have to wait and see.

Will keep you guys posted...

=chris=