LockDownMike

Greeting from Chicago!




Bought my wife her childhood dream car for mothers day.


She also has a 2007 S2000 purchased new.

Back story to this my father in law told his daughter (my wife) that if she got good grades she could get a new honda civic DX trim EK in Dark Amethyst Pearl with a 5 speed gear box. She excelled in school, did everything right and the father bought her a honda accord used. That car lasted 250K miles and still works to this day probably on the road at least I'm told.


She never got her car she wanted, and that was it.


So I've been looking and looking over time and I can't find this stupid color they only made a few of in USA.

I found one that had an automatic and was going to swap the transmission what choice do I have?

So I contacted the seller and said I'd love to come check it out, well it got sold almost immediately. I was very upset at how short this car lasted.

Well he called contacted me and said "i have a friend that may sell his I will ask but it's a manual and that you need to tell your wife that it does not have an automatic" I said okay I will and blah blah blah, (i / she wanted the 5 speed anyways).



So he says his friend will sell it. It's DAP too (dark Amethyst pearl)

I asked if it had a clean title.... It did.

I asked was it a DX.... It was...

I asked if it has been in any accidents.... It was not.

I asked why it was being sold.... was told he needed money and was tired of shifting gears.

I said I will take a look, expecting the worst.




What I found was a car that drove really well. The motor had 142K miles on it and the guy gave us an exceptional deal, I don't believe he knew what this car really sells for, kbb is not accurate all the time. LOL

It has new axels, new brake, fresh fluids, fresh suspension, clutch feels new, it doesn't burn or leak oil or any fluids. The interior has ZERO cracks. New tires. legit thus far. No rust under the car where the floor boards are it appears to be undercoated.



It just runs really really well. Id drive it to florida if I had to. It's just a fun little car to drive.

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The bad is the honda cancer (rust near quarter panels) but the guy did a B.S patch job.

The goal for this car is do completely tear it down fill in any rust, pop dings, professional repaint.

go through all the suspension, add rims, swap the motor and trans we may go to a K20 motor which is expensive but it's the best motor arguably.
I may will get into this later down the road with you guys. We would like around 350 wheel hp. This is not unreasonable to achieve nor difficult to the best of my knowledge. I don't have much honda wisdom just being honest. The B16 and B18 I believe will work to perhaps?... I don't know how much power they will make to be honest perhaps that could be an option for a swap. I'd like the car to run low 12's high 11's while being decently reliable (turn key) if you will.


I'd like to tear out all the carpet install new carpet and headliner, pull rear seats out and ad racing seats.

It's a lot to chew but I we have time and my wife is super excited about getting this thing down the road. She was super happy.


The shifter bushings are worn out bad. It feels like rubber shifter and just is loose and sloppy. Gear heads reading this will know what I'm talking about. Simple and easy to fix.

I've done some research and the dual bend with the weighted shift **** produced by Skunk2 seems to be a nice option, B&M also appears to make quality products.


Like everything I do I put a time stamp on it and I believe in 3 year this car should be done or getting close to it. We save a little money each check and add it to the "BUNNY MONEY" fund. My wife calls them "BUNNIES" because from the side that's what the cars look like. The EK civic IMO is the nicest looking civic ever produced. I hope I don't start a fight with that comment, just my opinion. All I'm really happy about is my wife is happy.


VTEC SON! VTEC! BRAP BRAP BRRAAAAPPPP!


What are some good brands that are worth while to put in the car, like example Skunk2 etc etc...?



Id prefer to stay away from ebay with the knock off stuff, you save a dollar now to pay 2 later.

Let the fun begin. I really think it is a cool car to own and after all the ugly goes away I believe it will be a great car. I do enjoy honda products when it comes to vehicles.

I will ask more specific questions as the project progresses. We really want to get this thing painted off to the paint shop. Right now the important thing is we acquired the car she specifically wanted.

The S2000 is completely stock, she does not want to modify it and it only has 19K miles on the dash. It's a pampered car to say the absolute least.


She took my newer subaru forester too. All I'm left with is a clapped out buick and my little ducati monster 696. LOL She takes everything! HAHAHA


MARRIED LIFE = OWNED!

My wife is really cool though so it's really not all that bad.

redm3turbo

nice pickup
however given your plans for the future---why not just be a super clean shell? If your pulling carpet/motor/seats/etc etc, to replace, why not just start with a shell and save the funds for the build.

Mikhail

Damn I thought you said you got a actual bunny I was gonna tell you to cook that sucker up with some potatoes and carrots. Woulda been gewd.

LockDownMike

I could but then I would be looking at a frame for a while. My friends also said paint it while the motor is out, my wife was thinking that when we pull the motor, to paint the engine bay a metallic silver to contrast with the (DAP) and paint the valve cover the (DAP) color.

This was her idea. I think it would look nice. as far as painting the inner parts of the shell yes it's a good idea, but if I put new carpeting down it will be covered up anyways. We are just concerned with cleaning up the "EXTERIOR" at his point really.

It's not going to be a show car we just want it to look nice and semi- custom.

I really feel like the exterior of the car is in overall decent shape, it's a 17 year old car. It's crazy how 1998 didn't feel like all that long ago....


The last picture was when it wasn't washed.


Mikhail - SHHHHHHH I'm hunting wabbit....