New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Hey All

I bought a 96 Civic - 1.6L VTi VTEC - Auto about 2 weeks ago. It's silver in colour and only has 60,000 kilometers on the clock. It's in great condition and hasn't had anything done to it. But it does have leather seats and some Advanti Racing Mags (scratched to all buggery) :D

I was all stoked about my buy, but my friends (all girls btw) think its a chicks/grandma's car.... I was like "Are you kiding me? Do you know how much potential Civics have???"

Anyway, so I'm now trying to make the car feel a little more like my own. All I've done to it so far is paint he calipers racing red. [8D]

Plans:

Lowered
Momo Steering Wheel
Momo Pedals
Racing Stripes (from decaldriveway.com)
Overhaul the Sound System
Big Bore Exhaust
Body Kit... maybe.

Anyone else have any suggestions? Pics are below.


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RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

More..

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RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

NICE car.

the first thing you should do is lower your car about 1 - 1.5 inches to get rid of some wheel gap.

lowering springs run about $150 - $250.

I recommend some H&R lowering springs.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Cheers, I got a quote from a place in town - Roughly $600 NZ. Which is hella pricey imo.

Do you need special tools to change the springs? Could I just get a pair off the net and change them myself with my trusty jacks and socket set? [>:]

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

i can't recommend you swap out your springs with new ones by yourself.

it's labor intensive. and yes, you do need some special tools (spring compressors).

I would recommend finding someone in your area who has already done it themselves and ask for his or her help.

it's going to take about 4 to 5 hours, so make sure you start early in the day.

you should be able to find a do-it-yourself tutorial on the net with pictures, which should help you greatly.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Thanks heaps!

I have a buddy who did up his integra, he must have put 20G into that car... He'll probably know someone who can do it for me, else I'll go to the local shop and get it done proffesionaly.

Thanks again drbyers

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

this should give you an idea of how hard it is to install new springs.

this guy installed springs AND struts but had two other doods to help him, and it still took four hours.

http://www.team-integra.net/sections...?ArticleID=494

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Oh sweet, that doesnt look TOO hard. I can probably manage that with the right tools.

I have a question though:

If you just want to lower your car, you just need springs/coil covers right? In which case why did these guys install new shocks? And more important what difference will there be in replacing just the springs as apposed to replacing the spring AND the shocks?

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

to lower your car, all you need to do is to buy some lowering springs (or cut your OEM springs, which I DO NOT recommend).

the guy in the thread installed new struts because his OEM struts were probably busted. The struts he installed are KYB GR-2 struts, which are basically OEM replacement struts but with slightly better performance.

as for your last question, replacing the springs AND the shocks is usually a better idea since you'll have new suspension components all around.

your OEM shocks cannot handle a severe drop (usually more than 1.5 inches) before they start leaking from the duress.

aftermarket shocks can handle a bigger drop if they're well designed.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Wow man, you're a wealth of knowledge. Thanks a lot

I don't want to go super low, just enough to make it look a little sexier.

So, I'll probably just do the springs, but I'll look into what the shop does and go from there.

Seriously though drbyers, thanks.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

1.5" drop and your car will look so nice.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

they are giving you a hard time because it's an automatic.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Welcome to the forums..

WheelBroker[sm=smiley16.gif]

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

man...this is just me but...instead of doing a body kit or something (maybe just a lip kit) since i think it looks sexy enough already, invest the the money for the body kit and paint into a turbo and make them eat their words when you pull away from them.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Well I was definitely thinking about chucking a turbo in. I miss boosting past people (had a 2L turbo legacy - that thing could fly!)

I know its not something I'd be able to install myself, but overall how hard is it to install a turbo. Also would there be any negative effects on the car?

I ask because the buddy I mentioned before with the integra had to constantly replace the parts in his car, stripped diff, oil pressure issues and etc. He installed his turbo himself, pretty much self taught himself everything, but he still had to replace parts all the time. Something I really don't want/can't afford to do.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

more power = more stress.

if you boost your car with a big turbo, then you're going to have to strengthen your engine's internals, i.e. pistons, connecting rods, cylinder sleeves, etc.

you'll also need to reprogram your ECU and possibly get bigger fuel injectors and better spark for the newfound power. it won't be cheap, to say the least...

you could get a jackson racing supercharger, which has more modest boost and would require less internal work.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

[sm=boosign.gif]... Way to burst my bubble [:'(]

Hehe, thats pretty much what i figured. Might skip that one for the time being. Put that on my *when I get rich* list. [sm=yeahsmile.gif]

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

you and me both.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

:) Guess I'll stick with making it more comfortable and sexier for now.

Thanks for all the posts folks.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

good luck with the civic man i just got mine about 2 weeks ago 2 they are very fun cars and your already have a good start, i think it looks pretty damn good already everything just nice and clean

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Cheers man.

It'll be learning as I go. I picked up a bit from my legacy, but the real down and dirty modding will start with this baby right here.

Good luck to you to. :D

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Wow, I'm not normally a fan of the hatchbacks, but I just love the way this car looks allready. Just alittle drop and some minor exterior mods should set it off real nicely. I don't I'd put a body kit on it. Save the money for under the hood. Just my .02 though.

RE: New Here.. Just bought a Civic - Friends think its a girls car.
 

Thanks man, apreciate it.