Canadian_EF

Some don't have the gold emblems and still have heated seats. Look for the sunroof, that'll probably have the heated leathers.

I have a set of front heated leathers sitting in my shed ha ha. Collecting dust...

fwdnogrip

So ive been looking into a color swap from a 96 civic to the charcoal EL interior.
Question is, since the EL climate control needs special rewiring to fit with the harness in the civic, is reusing the 96 climate control possible in the EL dash?
Another thing, will the EL dash be a direct fit into the civic? Straight bolt in and all.
Door panels, A - B - C pillar trims all snap on, seats and carpet all work from my understanding right?
Thanks in advance!

fwdnogrip

Anyone have any input into this topic? Im guessing most USA people havent done this swap since the EL was mostly canadian.

jbpnoman

Are you using the 1.6EL, or a different generation? The dash should be a complete drop-in affair. The only things you should have to rewire are the four way switch and the rear defroster switch. I don't know about the door panels, but they theoretically should. The front seats will be a direct fit, the rear seats and carpet you'll have to match chassis-to-chassis. Hatch and coupe rear seats are slightly different than sedan seats.

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

EL dash is identical to the Civic dash. If you want to convert to dark grey, then you have the option of using the dash out of the EL or just from any other dark grey Civic. Note that the EL steering wheel is Acura-branded, and that the wheel and steering column covers are black so you might want these from another Civic anyway. Steering wheel from a 1G CR-V will get you a leather wrap and is dark grey and perfect fit. Every single other interior piece should swap over. Consider finding an EL with heated seats so your butt is warm in the winter.

fwdnogrip

Thanks for the responses, I have a 96 4 door sedan so everything should swap right over from you guys saying and mine. Im mostly looking for the 97-98 1.6EL so i can use the headliner, as they didnt have the sunroof?
The heated seats i have no knowledge in how to wire/ what they wire up to, to make them heat up. Mostly in for the seats since they are leather.
A few questions,
1) By rewiring the hazard/rear defrost, is it a matter of de-pinning to match the wire combination to the civic harness?
2) Is it possible to fit the 96 Civic climate control into the EL dash? What would need fixing is the vents since the EL climate control vents are near the outside, while the civic vents are more in the middle.
Thank you all for your help, when i see an EL partout, im sure to hop onto that for the charcoal interior

Canuck1138

I'm in Southern California with a 1997 1.6EL that I brought with me from Canada. I'm looking to sell it now, anyone have advice on where to find the right buyer or post an ad? Craigslist is a dead end, maybe nobody recognizes the car for what it is. I'm sure there's demand for one, I've had guys drive up next to me on the I-10 asking to buy it! I guess I just need to figure out where those potential buyers are!

Cobb2819

What color is your EL?? What color interior?

Canuck1138

Black with black interior/black leather seats. Just posted an ad in the SoCal regional marketplace.

Deetz

The EL came both with sunroof's and w/o, depending on options

pankrationisfun

Hi everyone!
i know that this is a very old thread but I'm hoping to revive it for some assistance.
I need to replace the header and the parts in the USA are so much cheaper, especially on ebay. however, most stores and sellers don't know what an acura el is. If i buy parts for a d16y8, am i guaranteed that it will fit? or what is the equivalent civic that i can be assured that everything will fit?

thanks everyone!

tony_2018

Its best you get the same yr. So if you have a 98 acura el, than buy a 98 ex header.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

For a header, if it fits a 96-00 EX, it'll fit your EL.

pankrationisfun

NotARacist: Thank you!
i just bought one off of ebay (i know, cheap and nasty, but its the right price for what i need to do with the car):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TUBULAR-RACING-EXHAUST-MANIFOLDS-HEADERS-88-00-CIVIC-DEL-SOL-CRX-D15-D16-ED-EJ-/200977901894?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ecb376946&vxp=mtr
In reviewing the pictures and my header, I noticed that the oem one has 2 hangers, one on the block and another one just before the cat. The ebay one doesn't have any hangers. Effectively, the new header will be supported only by the flanges onto the exhaust ports and the mount onto the cat. Will this be okay?

Thanks in advance!

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

As long as your other hangers are still there, you'll be fine.

pankrationisfun

Thanks NotARacist!
Installed and its pretty damn good! during the replacement i found that there were 2 cracks on the old manifold.

The new one is shorter by about 1" so my cat to exhaust is pulled to the front more than i wanted to. the hanger is stretched. it rattles when cold too. but all in all, i'm happier than before. i can't wait to see how my mileage improves

NexusRift

Alrighty!!!!! I definitely chose the right Honda forum to register to. This thread confirms, (I'd like to think that it confirms......) what i've been wondering since I acquired my 1999 EL at the end of last month. Coolness!!!

From researching on the internet i went ahead and bought an Eibach Pro System Kit and a Flowmaster axle back exhaust for the beast. I was 99.8% sure that the US 6th gen Civic EX was pretty much the compatible partner to the EL. This thread gave me an extra .1% assurance that I did the right thing.
Cheers!

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Yep, it's basically exactly the same car with a different front end.

NexusRift

I'm very happy to have found this place. Very comprehensive and detailed tech sections.

I'll post a pic up of my EL soon. It's all OEM except for the 16" Enkei RPF1's, which would be the third car they've been on. Oh yeah........the cupholder placement really does suck!

NexusRift

So with that, the items I purchased mentioned above for my '99 EL would be no problem. Wonderful! If you will, a query regarding such............

My searches within this forum, and erm........ rival forums, , get conflicting results concerning clearance issues with tire/wheel choice and lowering. Seeing that the Eibach Pro Kit system only lowers an inch or so, do you think there'd be any issues with the Enkei 16x7-35mm 205-45's currently on my car.
Cheers.

pankrationisfun

nexusRift, the cupholders, ya they suck.
what i did was find a civic mid section, which replaces the cassette and cigarrette lighter part. i painted the section and it bolts right in. there's a little gap but i can live with it. now all my cups can fit in. the sucky thing is the cup holders aren't deep enough so **** still tips over. i inserted some regular disposable plastic cups with the bottoms cut to the size of the cups and it creates a bigger edge to hold in drinks.

pankrationisfun

btw, buy all your **** on ebay.com in the usa. i got NGK tune up kit for $90 and it would have costed over 300 in vancouver

NexusRift

Thanks for that.
What is included with the NGK tune up kit? I presume plugs and wires. Anything else? Iridium? V-Power?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Well, your tire size is as close to on point as you can get it, and you'd be going from a stock -45 to a -35...I could be wrong, but I highly doubt you'll have any problems.

pankrationisfun

in my tune up kit was spark plugs (the oem ones), wires, oil filter, cap and rotor, pcv and distributor o-ring.

i also bought my timing belt kit with water pump for $72