Bought a cheap 1997 Civic, have a few questions.
12-31-2017, 10:40 AM
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Bought a cheap 1997 Civic, have a few questions.
I found a 1997 civic that was a 5 speed manual and I had a few questions about the vehicle. I only paid $1200 for the thing. I figured that the rims this thing has on it and all the parts are worth more than what he was asking worst case scenario. It has Eagle Alloy rims.
The previous owner knew nothing about the car except that it came from Florida (In PA now) and he just drove it around as a beater.
So it was painted so I cant see the body tag by the door to see the trim model etc. If it doesnt have power anything is it a DX? Its a 2 door coupe that was originally red.
The previous owner claims it has a stage 2 clutch, the clutch does require some muscle to use and is very fresh (You can get it to grip and do rolling burnouts in 2nd and 3rd).
Are these cars originally slugs? I'm not saying its a fast *** race car, but the thing doesnt bog through gears like a slug and can get up to speed pretty quick. The engine bay was painted so the motor had to be removed, is there a place I can check the vin on the motor? It is a single cam, I know that much and has the same valve cover you see if you google the engine for this year car. I just don't know if it has Vtec or not or if it has some sort of performance parts in the motor.
And for the last question, the front end smacked something at one point. The hood hits the first lock but cant close to the second fully closed lock where you need to pull the cord to open it. The radiator support is bent all up. Should I just smack the radiator support to line up good enough, or just weld a new radiator support on? There are plenty of welders in my family so that's no big issue, it's just more work.
The previous owner knew nothing about the car except that it came from Florida (In PA now) and he just drove it around as a beater.
So it was painted so I cant see the body tag by the door to see the trim model etc. If it doesnt have power anything is it a DX? Its a 2 door coupe that was originally red.
The previous owner claims it has a stage 2 clutch, the clutch does require some muscle to use and is very fresh (You can get it to grip and do rolling burnouts in 2nd and 3rd).
Are these cars originally slugs? I'm not saying its a fast *** race car, but the thing doesnt bog through gears like a slug and can get up to speed pretty quick. The engine bay was painted so the motor had to be removed, is there a place I can check the vin on the motor? It is a single cam, I know that much and has the same valve cover you see if you google the engine for this year car. I just don't know if it has Vtec or not or if it has some sort of performance parts in the motor.
And for the last question, the front end smacked something at one point. The hood hits the first lock but cant close to the second fully closed lock where you need to pull the cord to open it. The radiator support is bent all up. Should I just smack the radiator support to line up good enough, or just weld a new radiator support on? There are plenty of welders in my family so that's no big issue, it's just more work.
12-31-2017, 10:58 AM
#2
Re: Bought a cheap 1997 Civic, have a few questions.
Look for the block number and for a VTEC solenoid on the back (intake side) of the head near cylinder 4. It is very common to swap engines and also to swap different heads onto blocks.
I would try to bend and tweak something until the hood latches down tight on the second latch. You don't want to drive with it unlatched and have it pop open. You can lower the plastic bumpers on the sides to make the hood come down further. You can also loosen the bolts on the latch and move it around.
I would try to bend and tweak something until the hood latches down tight on the second latch. You don't want to drive with it unlatched and have it pop open. You can lower the plastic bumpers on the sides to make the hood come down further. You can also loosen the bolts on the latch and move it around.
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