Hi im new to the forum and Civics alltogether. I recently purchased a 97 Civic EX and i want to make a low budget project out of it while still being my daily driver. It may have 218k on it but i feel its still got alota life left in it since it was a well taken care of 1 owner car. Id like some suggestions as to simple mods and performance upgrades that can be done while sticking to a very tight budget, and id prefer to be able to do the work myself. i thank you for your input ahead of time. Here's a photo of the car as it was the day i purchased it.

 

Intake, header, exhaust for cheaper performance gains. You'll also get a feel for working on the car by then. The exhaust system is usually one of the hardest things to work on with a 12 year old car!

Ebay intake will be fine, just go for a K&N filter, or AEM Dryflow filter.
Many say that the Megan header from Ebay works well. Get a 4-2-1 header.
Apexi WS2 exhaust (The best IMO) Youtube it for sound clips.

After that, I would say go for suspension work. A nice Koni's or KYB AGX's with Ground Controls would be nice. You could also look into getting a rear sway bar.

How much money did you say you have? I could keep going if you want....

Welcome to HCF.

 

Right now im flat out broke from the purchase of the actual vehicle, but i did manage to scrounge up enough money to get an AEM SRI for the car that i installed today. Hopefully if i can get some more time in at work and unload some unneeded items ill have a larger budget to work with maybe say 1000-2000.

 

As long as the intake has a good filter on it such as the Dryflow or K&N, you should be good.

With $2k, you should have enough to properly do simple bolt ons, suspension, and a lip. When I say properly done, I mean getting all new gaskets/bolts for the exhaust, new rear lca's and bolts (your stock ones will probably seize up when removing them....have fun ), alignment after the suspension stuff, and be able to have the lip(s) professionally painted to match the car, and possibly get a nice short shifter, too (~$100).

Did you say if the car was 5spd. or auto?

 

It is in fact a 5 speed, and if i can accumulate the money those definately sound like some feasible options for me.