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Hey, sorry if this gets asked a lot, but I have a 95' del Sol and I really want to start upgrading it in general. I don't know anything about cars so I don't know what I should do to it.
A couple things are for certain;
-I don't like how small the wheels are so I want to change those as well as get new rims.
-My clutch/gas pedal feels very unresponsive compared to my step dads Mazda mx5. This may just be because it's fwd instead of his rwd but if there is anyway I can make it feel more firm/responsive that would be nice.
- I want a slim kit that isn't bulky. I was hoping a kit would make it look lowered enough that I wouldn't have to drop it because I've heard a lot of bad things about lowering cars in general.
- I would like to get a spoiler as well that isn't too flashy or tall that fits well with the size of that vehicle.
- I was told the fog lights and cruise control can't be fixed by the woman who sold me the car, but that's sounds like bs so if someone could confirm if that is true once the car gets to old that would be nice.
- I know I have Vtech, but I don't know anything else under the hood, I'm certain the woman who had it did not do any performance upgrades and this is where I need the most assistance. What should I do here? I want it to feel like a racing car but just so everyone knows I don't race nor do I have experience drag racing etc so there is such thing as too much horsepower for me.
Any tips in general really would be nice, I also was considering getting leather seats and a new steering wheel and some stuff but I just don't want to waste money for no reason. Help me out! Thanks!
You have a Del Slow. It is a Civic economy car. It sort of looks like a sports car. That's where the similarity to an MX-5 ends.
Anything can be fixed, the question is at what price. Fog lights are usually real simple. The cruise control system I think is the same as that found on the Civic LX or EX.
You have a Del Slow. It is a Civic economy car. It sort of looks like a sports car.
again
The del sol is a great handling car, and can be a blast to drive despite its lacking of straight line acceleration. With a few functional mods, it can hang with anything on a tight course like autocross.
Putting that aside, I will make an attempt to be helpful here. The sol is what got me started on cars about 16 years ago. Maybe I can save this one from catastrophe.
OP, think long and hard before you do anything to this car. Everyone has their own tastes and opinions, and I respect that, but I think you are looking at this backwards.
You say you want it to feel sportier to drive, yet most all the mods you mention are only cosmetic, detracting from the appeal and value this car has. It is getting harder and harder to find unmolested examples of Hondas best 90's cars.
So, strongly consider ditching the body kit idea. 99% of them are poor quality, do not fit well or look nice. It will ruin the car.
There is nothing wrong with lowering the car with quality parts and a professional install job. This might achieve the look you are after and give it a sportier feel as well.
Honestly adding wheels and a body kit even without lowering the car just looks awful. Most people choose larger than stock wheel size, which raises the car even more. You should consider a lighter wheel package in 15" sizes, no larger than 16" for sure because the added rotational mass will slow the car down.
Believe me I went down the wrong path when I first began modding cars and it was a waste of money which I regretted later on.
Kindred souls. I have a 95 Del Sol I'm in the process of upgrading. I have 17in rim with all season 40s. In hindsight, I would have done 16s or at least went to 45s It doesn't rub or anything, just know that if you go 17in 40s, you'll need a +/- 4 degree front upper camber kit. I bought a moog kit, and had to replace them to get it in specs.
another forewarning... When got look at the $800 pricetag for coilovers, don't think that you can piece it together and save money. Even if you get a lowball ebay DNA coilover kit, buy the entire thing already together. It will probably cost less in the long run, you'll save on alignment costs, and tires life.
Speaking of alignments.. Check around to see if anyone had a lifetime alignment. $175-$200 may seem like a lot, until you are on your 4th $75 alignment a few months later grind the height where you want it. It's either one of those, or you will chew through tires ridiculously fast.
You can usually fix the foglights, but they are a pain, and parts break easily. I tried, and ended up buying aftermarket less that look better than stock.
If you dont know when the last timing belt was replaced, bump that up your priorities. Interference engines are unforgiving if they snap, and they really should be repaces every 75k miles.
YouTube is your new best friend. I've done everything myself except the alignments watching YouTube and reading posts here. There are a lit of very helpful people here.
The rear suspension on these are likely going to cause bolts to snap when you're working on them. Have a good torch, electric angle grinder, and lots of PB Blaster when you do it.
As for YouTube, make sure you find as many different ones on the topic as you can. You'll see it from different angles, and hear more good info
The Civic EG is the closest match for parts.
If your front bumper is bad, there is a place in Michigan selling primered ones for $50 shipping included. Deal of the century if you ask me. Pm me if you can't find it on eBay.
If you have a civic/del sol, never get 17's I've never rode in anything slower. All they do is make you lose your rotational mass causing the car to make up a lot slower.
I can only see if your making 500+ hp than stock that a 17 would be needed and that would just be for better traction.
Lets just tell him not to even buy the DNA eBay bs, please. Those are nothing but trouble and soon you end up throwing away those which could have been valuable money if you would either just save it or put it together and get a true name brand. $800 will get you a nice pair of FF type 2 or KSport coilovers. Jhpusa is having a sell on the FF type 1's and 2's they're $50 cheaper than Market price.
If you have a civic/del sol, never get 17's I've never rode in anything slower. All they do is make you lose your rotational mass causing the car to make up a lot slower.
I can only see if your making 500+ hp than stock that a 17 would be needed and that would just be for better traction.
Lets just tell him not to even buy the DNA eBay bs, please. Those are nothing but trouble and soon you end up throwing away those which could have been valuable money if you would either just save it or put it together and get a true name brand. $800 will get you a nice pair of FF type 2 or KSport coilovers. Jhpusa is having a sell on the FF type 1's and 2's they're $50 cheaper than Market price.
The del sol is a great handling car, and can be a blast to drive despite its lacking of straight line acceleration. With a few functional mods, it can hang with anything on a tight course like autocross.
Putting that aside, I will make an attempt to be helpful here. The sol is what got me started on cars about 16 years ago. Maybe I can save this one from catastrophe.
OP, think long and hard before you do anything to this car. Everyone has their own tastes and opinions, and I respect that, but I think you are looking at this backwards.
You say you want it to feel sportier to drive, yet most all the mods you mention are only cosmetic, detracting from the appeal and value this car has. It is getting harder and harder to find unmolested examples of Hondas best 90's cars.
So, strongly consider ditching the body kit idea. 99% of them are poor quality, do not fit well or look nice. It will ruin the car.
There is nothing wrong with lowering the car with quality parts and a professional install job. This might achieve the look you are after and give it a sportier feel as well.
Honestly adding wheels and a body kit even without lowering the car just looks awful. Most people choose larger than stock wheel size, which raises the car even more. You should consider a lighter wheel package in 15" sizes, no larger than 16" for sure because the added rotational mass will slow the car down.
Believe me I went down the wrong path when I first began modding cars and it was a waste of money which I regretted later on.
I think I'll just go with the 1" larger 15"s then. I definitely want larger but even 1" is fine. I know nothing about good brands for rims so any advice there would be appreciated.
As for lowering the car, I am absolutely with you on keeping the body close to, if not completely original, but I really do not want to worry about hitting speed bumps and other road divots/bumps. How many inches should I drop it to get a good look/feel without having to worry about scraping?
The reason almost all of my ideas are cosmetic is because I know little to nothing about under the hood mods. A friend of mine recommended starting with combustion and intake mods/upgrades. Is this the route I should take?
Honestly I am very open to any opinions on performance mods. I want to improve acceleration a bit and overall smoothness. What first/second steps should I take to achieving this?
Another thing to mention, I have a slight leaking problem in the windows/trunk when it rains hard. Is there a way to replace the weather stripping? Is it easy? Should I do it myself or have it done professionally?
Thank you all so much for the help. I really don't want to mess up anywhere and waste money/ruin the original appeal of the car, so thanks very much for the genuine advice. Any opinions/help is greatly appreciated!
One more thing, instead of a body kit do you think a lip might look good? I was thinking it would be really clean to get a small, shiny silver lip around the whole car but I've never seen one so I'm
not certain it would look good. Opinions?
OP - considering you have a 22yr old car, the first thing on your mind should be a total overhaul of all original components that have degraded over time. With this in mind, you can easily spend a good amount of money on a car that may not be worth it.
Can you please provide more info/pics on the actual condition of the car. Is it rusted? Well kept by previous owners? Drivetrain okay?
If all looks okay, then along with a good quality lowering kit, think "Ground Control" or "Progress", you will more than likely need all the suspension components replaced, specially the bushings and ball joints. You may not need tie rods and sway bar links, but all else that's under constant stress, I would suggest replacing.
Along with the suspension, your engine, if not properly maintained, will need a complete tune-up, timing belt, water pump etc etc. That's another $200 worth of parts and time, but since you're not mechanically inclined you may have to pay someone to do the job, so the price goes up.
As you can see, a 22yr old car can easily start to creep up in cost if you're like me and you want to make sure it is safe and reliable. I don't understand how some people would buy such a car and start throwing money at it with aftermarket add-ons without having a good platform to build upon.
Make the car safe,l and reliable first and then worry about all the extras.
All great advice, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that.. I will definitely have to do that; renew all the aging components of my engine/car. Would it be a bad idea to take it into a Honda shop? Do they overcharge?
I will take some pictures tomorrow since it is now dark outside, but information I can provide is that it has only had one previous owner who had it all the way until about 2 years ago when I bought the car. She had a massive yellow folder will all the maintenance ever done on it and she also said it never had any damage or problems and that she had kept it clean and functional the whole time she owned it.
Since buying it it's broken down twice, the first time I had to replace the engine with a z6 Vtech which had far fewer miles on it.
The second time I just needed to replace the distributor and transmission.
I also have had to replace the battery once.
The only damage is that I once early on went into a ditch and took a football sized chunk out of my right side front bumper. The air box and internal stuff already got replaced, I just need to find a new bumper, preferably already white.
The car itself is at about 260,000 miles, but the replaced engine is at around 100,000.
Last edited by Hayden Evanoff; 03-04-2017 at 07:18 PM.
Reason: Misspell
A one owner car is the best one you can get, specially if as you said the owner had all the maintenance history to go with it, so that's great to know.
Without seeing pictures, it sounds as though you have a great platform to build upon. Unfortunately your mechanicals skills are lacking, as you mentioned above, so I would recommend correcting that before anything else. It will absolutely benefit you to do the work yourself if you have the designated area to work on. No need to pay a shop for things you can do yourself. A good set of handtools isn't expensive and learning how to work on cars will benefit you for the rest of your life, so look into that. (I can help you with the to department also since I work on cars for a living)
So before anything, post some pics and the have a clear intention with the vehicle. Do you want a comfortable daily driver with a lowered stance and some nice wheels? Do you want a more aggressive package, meaning you will forfeit comfort for more speed/stance?
Once you have a specific idea of what the car will be, then we can guide you there. With cars, as I said above, you can waste a lot of money if you don't have a clear intention so consider that before buying anything.
If your front bumper is bad, there is a place in Michigan selling primered ones for $50 shipping included. Deal of the century if you ask me. Pm me if you can't find it on eBay.
Joseph
I need a front bumper cover for my '94 Si - can you hook me up with your outlet in MI?
OP - considering you have a 22yr old car, the first thing on your mind should be a total overhaul of all original components that have degraded over time. With this in mind, you can easily spend a good amount of money on a car that may not be worth it.
Along with the suspension, your engine, if not properly maintained, will need a complete tune-up, timing belt, water pump etc etc. That's another $200 worth of parts and time, but since you're not mechanically inclined you may have to pay someone to do the job, so the price goes up.
As you can see, a 22yr old car can easily start to creep up in cost if you're like me and you want to make sure it is safe and reliable. I don't understand how some people would buy such a car and start throwing money at it with aftermarket add-ons without having a good platform to build upon.
Make the car safe,l and reliable first and then worry about all the extras.
Originally Posted by Hayden Evanoff
All great advice, I'm not sure why I didn't think of that.. I will definitely have to do that; renew all the aging components of my engine/car. Would it be a bad idea to take it into a Honda shop? Do they overcharge?
I will take some pictures tomorrow since it is now dark outside, but information I can provide is that it has only had one previous owner who had it all the way until about 2 years ago when I bought the car. She had a massive yellow folder will all the maintenance ever done on it and she also said it never had any damage or problems and that she had kept it clean and functional the whole time she owned it.
Since buying it it's broken down twice, the first time I had to replace the engine with a z6 Vtech which had far fewer miles on it.
The second time I just needed to replace the distributor and transmission.
I also have had to replace the battery once.
The only damage is that I once early on went into a ditch and took a football sized chunk out of my right side front bumper. The air box and internal stuff already got replaced, I just need to find a new bumper, preferably already white.
The car itself is at about 260,000 miles, but the replaced engine is at around 100,000.
Joey's advice is solid. In some circles they refer to it as "baselining" a vehicle - replacing wear items like fluids, belts, hoses, suspension bushings, etc. so you know you are in solid mechanical shape.
That is really cool you got a 1-owner, well-maintained del Sol. That is the holy grail. I wonder where she was taking it for service if they could not fix her cruise and fog lights?
A Honda specific shop might be best for you, find one with a good reputation. If you are asking about a dealership service department, then yes, you will pay for that.
I am trying to understand your timeline - you have had the car for 2 years? And since you got it, you had to replace the engine at 100k miles, yes? And now the car has 260k miles? That means you put 160k miles on the car in 2 years? I think that would mean you are driving over 6000 miles per month. That seems high!
I asked earlier what model Sol you got, so I am not sure what engine you had originally, but it also seems odd that an engine would need replacing at 100k miles. Unless the timing belt broke (back to that maintenance thing). But if the owner did all the maintenance that she could, she probably would have had the belt replaced at 90k.
What happened to the tranny? Manual or auto? I think you mentioned clutch pedal, so probably manual. Did the clutch simply wear out? I hope they didn't sell you a tranny when it was a clutch job. Distributors have components that fail (coil, ignitor), but an engine and tranny seem like a lot. Learning about maintenance would be good for you...
Alright, so let me start with photos; D16Z6 2317033
As for model, it's the 95' Honda Del Sol Si (I am not sure if there's more to say? Just ask if so.)
As for the mileage and when I replaced the engine, no, the car was not at 100k when I replaced the engine. What I meant was that I replaced it with a used engine that was at somewhere around 80k-100k.
When I bought the car from the woman who owned it, the car already had about 225,000 miles. It now has 260,000. When I replaced the engine it had about 245,000.
Yes the clutch simply wore out. Yes it is a manual. I do not know what happened to the tranny besides that it was old. The original motor broke down due to a "rod bearing" and supposedly replacing it would have been just as expensive as replacing the whole motor according to the mechanics I spoke to.
I completely agree that I need to build upon my mechanical abilities and I appreciate any advice that you all have. I don't really even know where to start, I'm not looking to go to school for this and I don't have a garage to work in. I am planning on moving soon so maybe I will find a place where I have a garage to work in.
As for my intentions, I want a comfortable daily commuter that also sides as a fun road-trip transportation as well as an every once in a while race with a friend or two. (I don't have friends with high-end cars so I dont need to go all out with the modifications I think I just need some basic upgrades.)
After it is performance ready then I would like to cosmetically restore and upgrade the car in the most basics of ways; rims/wheels, lowered somewhat, repaint, decal or two, exhaust/muffler?, some interior stuff like speakers and seats and the like, and I want to do something that gives my del Sol a unique look, but I'm definitely not very interested in putting a spoiler on it.
I really like how this one looks;
Only thing I do not like is that it is a bit too low for me as I really don't want to have the nuisance of scraping. Thanks again for all the assistance!
You will find the trim parts are insanely expensive. There will be cases that it's unavoidable, but I stumbled across a trick to reclaim the rubber parts sil-glyde brake lubricant. The silicone in it will restore the rubber. Coat it well, let it sit on for a couple hours, then wipe it off.
Be warned though.. It will be prone to staining clothes for awhile. I ruined a couple dress shirts rubbing them against the restored rubber. it stopped all the leaking I had though.
Hayden - thank you for the pics and the information.
Well as you can clearly see the car has rust forming on the passenger quarter panel and by the looks of it, it's already quite advanced. This is an expensive issue since you don't have any metal working experience and therefore you will have to pay someone to do the body work.
At this point, if your plan is to keep the car as long as possible, you may consider a full paint job. Maybe not a color change, which will cost a lot more, but an OEM respray due to the rust repairs and age.
Worst thing about rust is that it usually starts from the inside and it works itself out. So if I was betting man, I would say the rust is worst the deeper into the metal you get, so that will be something to consider. Unfortunately I live in the rust belt and know all about rust and one thing I can say it's that rust never stops... If the shop who does the work doesn't do a good job, the rust will be back within a year or two and you'll be back in the same spot.
Can you take better/closer pics of both quarter panels and the undercarriage?
I do like the white, so I wouldn't mind simply respraying. I will take better pictures in moment. Keep in mind they have to check photos when I post so it may take a day for it to upload like the last post.
Thanks! I'm very appreciative of the help, it really means a lot. From reading other posts, I've seen a lot of rude sarcastic comments so I'm really thankful you are giving me genuine kind advice.
One last thing, I have a mechanic right now who is willing to work on my car under the table for pretty good deals. I am considering asking him if he would be willing to let me watch while he works on my car and ask him if he can help me restore all the old parts under the hood. Do you think that is a good idea? Or should I just start using articles like this one and YouTube and start trying to fix things myself? My main problem right now is that I don't know what things are under the hood so I don't know what to buy, what needs replacing, and/or if it's safe for me to start trying to self-fix my car. I dont want to mess anything up. Obviously certain things that require lifting the engine or car I will have to take to the mechanic but otherwise what's the best route for someone with no experience?
That all depends on the amount of free time you have and how much frustration you can handle without going postal, lol. It can consume you, and there will be plenty of moments where you think you've just destroyed everything, but unless you actually do, you'll always figure out a way. Walk away when you get extremely aggravated, because that's the times you'll do the dangerous, stupid things.
If you can get you friend to do the more in depth things, and show you, that's a huge benefit. I wouldn't call myself a natural at auto work, but I have surprised myself at how much I can actually do. The timing belt last summer was my big project. It turned out not at all as hard as I thought. But then other projects like my coilovers turned into a major bitch. But with each thing, you get better. I keep telling myself that if I didn't do this, the car would be in a junk yard, because no one in their right mind would pay as much it would cost to have done.
03-02-2017, 01:05 PM
1995 Honda Del Sol
again
