hatchbk

Hello all,

Finally got around to getting my questions and concerns up so here they are.

This hatch has a few problems and needs some ideas for a future project. Ask away and/or give personal opinions on what you think would be ideal for some cosmetic upgrades. Or you can just give me your worst, I don't care I gotta get some ideas rollin'.

Pictures of car are posted below. Don't get too excited, everything is stock and pretty beat. Help a brotha' out!


Issues/Concerns:

1. The antennae is broken down to the base. How do I get this fixed, I was told its a huge headache.

2. Rust, scratches, and old paint. What colors minimize scratches/require least cleaning. Ive heard about a no-gloss alternative.

3. Driver side window crank is broken, is this an at-home fix?

4. Leak in tail lights, I'm told its due to water getting inside. Smells like wet dog after a huge rain.

5. Kind of back to question 2. Give me your ideas about possible color alternative that wont make it too gay or old-school. Im tryin to get current but I don't wanna find it on bricks if I leave it parked on the street. Something clean and professional.

6. Driver side mirror gone, Ill need to find a pick n pull or something in the Bay - anyone know somewhere I can go? I'm new to the Bay Area.

Green is my color but I'm not too sure that's gonna fly for a car, but what do I know. Tell me what you think.

KiDDD...

Has plenty of potential...depends what style u wana go for

sheldon911

This is my advice becouse im in the similar situation. Trying to flip a 98 coupe for as little as i can .

1 .Wax it weekly ( you will be suprised how AMAZING a car looks even with dents rust and nothing added with alot of wax it will look so shinny you wont notice the smaller dents and wont care about the bigger ones. ) id recommend just a quick detailer and do it afew times a week it honestly takes 10 mins.


2. On a budget ebay springs arnt the worst thing in the world they do the job getting your car dropped and if your not doing tract or flying around the place 24/7 its a quick 60$ for a 2 inch drop. I wouldn't recommend keeping them for any longer then a year .

3. take a razor and some goo gone to the civic and lx emblem in the back this will make things look clean

4. Window visor's are 30$ shipped and look pretty clean

5. Search ebay for cheap 200$ wheels between 14,15,16 wheels that dont look amazing normally allow or a metal finish with some curbing . (I chose honda HX rims ) sand down with 500,800,1000,1500,2000 wet dry sand paper this will take alot of the ugly tiny scratchs away then go to schucks for some good old JDM YO bronze or black spray paint and clear coat. Take your time you dont want it chipping ( did my hx rims in bronze they look amazing ).


Hope some of this helps im done with my ramble

DAP97SI

iTrader: (2)

You can go with the JDM style and add a front lip and rear wing and JDM mirrors. Add some decent wheels and drop it. If you want to make a lot of exterior mods, wait until you have everything you want and then send it to the paint shop.

Adamvanxxx

You should paint it Aztec green. Alot of your fixes are minor projects. And the antenna is indeed a pain in the *** if it's broke. I just pulled it out and bought a block off plate.

In my opinion just keep alot oem, like the taillights. Also, why spend money on shitty products if you are just going to replace? Buy quality parts it's a world difference, and build it to your liking. Have fun!

96hb

The first thing you should do is wash it up really good and see what you have to work with. I bet it's not as bad as you think. And like was said, wax and detailing your car makes a huge difference. Get the leak in the taillight fixed by getting a new gasket and buy a new window regulator to fix the window. Either find a mirror at a junkyard or go aftermarket and get some new ones, Spoon, CTR, whatever. Next I would work on suspension and start looking around to see what wheels you might like to have. Oh and if you do decide to repaint it, just repaint it the same color. It will look good and will be the cheapest alternative. A full color change is $$$. Good luck.

PS....take your time and buy quality parts, or you will regret it and probably buy them later on anyway. Don't ask me how I know this.

Pothole987

definetly buy a new drivers door handle too lol.

i'd say wash and wax and i guarentee it will not look like the same car. just look around for parts that you want and how you want the car to look. look around on sites like this one for pictures of the cars and see what you like and if you like it enough do some searching.

98y8

If you like green, check out Midori Green, it has to be one of my favorite colors I've ever seen on a Honda.

fastrxu

Well, stay on craigslist and u can put ur car back to stock in no time.
Then we'll go from there.
Good start though

D Griff

X2.

Everything above is good advice.

My_Teknique

X3, Midori Green is one of my fav. colors on an ek hatch.

Reyracer19

I think everyone forgot to add this one...REMOVE TINTS

But overall you picked up a nice EK to start. You already have the coveted 99-00 front end and tail lights.These are my budget suggestions (some might be a repeat)

1. Ebay springs
2. Remove tints and Civic/CX badges
3. HX wheels or look for some EP3 wheels
4. Full car detail

In no particular order

Dkober101

i would go with Tiff. white for the new paint, Si lip, and bronze or gunmetal five spokes of your choice. But to each his own, good luck OP

dopeciv608

for the anntena prob i would just get the delete plate from password jdm.

texasstyle

get somes integra seats thats what i did they comfee

S2L

whats your budget?

ps: as a group, HT members have the worst spelling and grammatical errors i have ever read. And english isnt even my first or second language.

Jimster480

Or the Integra Green. Both look awesome.

@OP just clean it up, get some decent wheels and maybe put a little money under the hood? Dont de-badge it.

Personally I am a 100% performance guy. I ride on hubcaps with a stock exterior and over 300HP. But your in Cali so thats not an option.

Steven.

how much did you pay for the car?

sloassSi

If you are just going for looks... then i would get some Si wheels... they will look good... and on a budget, i wouldn't change the color of the car... keep it black. No matter the color of the car, if you look close enough you will see scratches and door dings... get some yellow fogs, looks JDM lol... just a paint job, some si wheels, and the fogs will make the car look clean... then condiser a lip kit and you should be set looks wise i think... i like a stock clean look. de-badge for sure.

as far as your tail lights you can put silicone around the whole head light seal and that should help with the water leaking into them... cheap and easy fix...

if you get springs to drop don't go more than 1.5 inch or you will mess with camber too much... camber kit is recommended for any drop, but if you don't go too low you can save some money and just roll on springs, tires will still wear faster than stock... but it's a honda, and you have to drop it at least an inch in my opinion.

devney

On a budget these things will make your car look 100x's better.

Lower it on some decent springs (Ksport, Neuspeed, Tein, so on...)
Get some nice OEM wheels for a decent price (meshies, blades, SI's)
Get a new mirror lol
Throw a front and rear lip on there, search for the ones you like.

On a budget the car will look much better if you do a few of the above mentioned things. It's your car though, so make it look how you want it to.

EJ8freek

Looks like a great project car. Get craka-lackin'.

hatchbk

Hey thanks for all the ideas fellas! Awesome site, and damn I didn't think I'd get this many responses!





To answer some of the questions and whatnot:

Style. Just cosmetic upgrades right now, something clean and professional.

Color. HOLY SHEEIT! I didn't know the Midori Hatch had a following! It's like a subculture or something. Jesus. Awesome look, if I went that direction I wanna get it unique. Definitely sweet, I been under a rock too long. Otherwise, its straight black or straight white.

Broken ****. Driver-side mirror and door handle are getting replaced. About the antennae, blocking it off sounds cool, I don't really need the radio. Any specific products I might wanna check out for the blank? Water leak is gonna be the first thing I fix, silicone or gasket I guess whatever will do the job quality-wise too.

Dropping it. Problem is I drive up to Tahoe ALOT - like every weekend in the winter and it snows like a ****. So that means chains and all that. Right now there aren't any significant problems with the space, I could probably go a couple inches.

Badges. Gone.

Wheels. I dont know yet, I'm lookin at OEM and HX right now. That may change.

Iloveyourhonda92

how much did you buy the car for? im doing something similiar ha i didnt realize your thread was up, i picked up a 96 cx hatch. wish it was a 00 tho!!

Iloveyourhonda92

oh and for help those hub caps i like, so i'd say just drop the car and it'd look pretty nice if your really on a budget, no need to buy wheels!! maybe get new headlights if yours are beyond repair.

hickle

honda makes an antenna blockoff, find one online theyre cheap