SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

I got the urge to clean up my hatch that i bought in december. I did a couple DIY things last week and here's how it turned out.

I commute 160 miles 6 days a week so I need the least amount of weight as possible to save on these crazy *** CALI gas prices which is about $2.50 for 87 octane right now. I decided to take out as much as i can and reduce weight with CF hood, duckbill and taking out the rear seats. I thought the ugly bare metal was not looking so hot, so i bought some carpet material and covered the back of the hatch. Here's how it turned out. If any of you are interested in the carpet... i now have a template for it, and could possibly do it for whoever is interested for a cost. PM me if your interested. Just remember... the cost of materials was about $25.







The second thing was to put a nicer looking muffler. I purchased a 03 si muffler from HT member and had it flanged to put on my 97 civic hatch. That was just the 1st step. 2nd step was painting it with high temp black paint. After that, as many of you hatch owners know... there is only a cutout on the rear bumper for a single tip muffler, so the dual tips looked ugly with the one cutout. So... I went ahead and cut out the other side to make it look nicer. Here's how that turned out.

Drag-Style

looks nice..how long did it take to lay down the carpet?

Econo'Box

Looks nice i would have layed the rest the same color too. I want your muffler . Yea gas is going up here too. Its retarded they want $2.12 for the 87.

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

Carpet took about 1 hr to do, because i tucked it under the plastic panels and had to take off some panels and grind down the rear panel because it went down further. i looked for dark grey carpet... but no luck. since i have the mold now... i can prolly cut that mess in about 5 min with the correct holes to, for the belts and the middle chair holder thingy sticking up.

jlacoy82

CF Hood = $300
CF Duckbill = $200
2 yards of carpet = $10-15

Total spent on "saving gas money" = $515

$515 / 2.50 = 206 gallons

Your gas tank is what? Lets say 11 gallons.

206 / 11 = 18.777777

You just blew money on nearly 19 tanks of gas trying to........save yourself money for gas. :confused:

Nice carpeting job though.

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the math Einstein If i was a penny pincher, i would never eat out, goto movies and only shop when things are on coupon... but i don't.

I just wanted to do the carpet because it made the back of the car look so much cleaner and my car didn't come with either a cargo cover or any carpeting in the rear trunk.

Thanks for the math again though!!!

EJ1 wilcox

I think it looks great man

Much better than the gutted bare metal look...

I might try this sometime in my coupe... did you just lay the carpet on there and start cutting? I guess that's really the only way you could do it huh?

skip.two

looks nice and all, but would you like to add some tech to this thread?

if you're just going to leave it like this, try the Appearance / Cosmetic forum.

kleanlscivic

nice DIY project

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

I don't think there's much tech to it. If i had the original carpet that attaches to the back of the rear seats... it would have been much easier to cut out the template. Since i didn't have any original carpet... i just laid it down and started cutting with razor. Just made sure i didn't cut it to much leaving myself short and it didn't have to be exact since i tucked it under the interior plastics.

Thanks for all your comments and if you have any questions... feel free to PM me.

skip.two

i mean to the thread. not to your project.

if you just made this thread to showoff your car, then keep it in the Appearance / Cosmetic.

or made this to advertise a sale, then keep it in the Classifieds forum.

READ and RESPECT the Forum Rules and Guidelines.

this is a tech forum. keep the picture and WTB/Sell threads out of here.

jlacoy82

I added some tech by showing how un-economical his "economizing" modifications were.

mulletov

Looks clean. Do u have to pull up the carpet to get to the spare tire? Si muffler is very nice also.

-Gambit-

looks groovy

thehatchninja

for that carpet...i'm looking to do the same thing in black....whole car tho.....my carpet is SHOT. Where did you buy it?

jlacoy82

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thehatchninja &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> for that carpet...i'm looking to do the same thing in black....whole car tho.....my carpet is SHOT. Where did you buy it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.partsexpress.com

Its just the type of carpeting they use on subwoofer boxes. Dont use it for your flooring, it will suck ***.

suspendedHatch

400 lb weight drop equates to about 1 mpg. If you want to do performance mods that also help gas mileage, then you should do engine or aerodynamic mods, like removing your wipers and spoiler, dropping the car, and making an undertray.

87 octane at the cheap station, $2.50 today. Gotta love San Diego. Gotta love SUVs and oversized trucks being used as daily drivers.

dohcVTECeg2

20 bucks fills me up. gas was $2.51 in valencia.

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

To answer your question about the spare tire access. Yes you have to pull up the carpet in order to get to the spare tire. I figure, i will use my spare tire maybe once a year if that. I think I can spend the extra 5 minutes to tuck the carpet back in if i do use the spare.

Thanks for your comments again and if you have any questions... feel free to PM me.

BIGBLOCKEK

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sokdo321 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the math Einstein If i was a penny pincher, i would never eat out, goto movies and only shop when things are on coupon... but i don't.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

hahahahhahaha

but you are concerned enough about saving like one tenth of a mile per gallon so that you actually strip your hatch inside and buy hundreds of dollars in carbon fiber.

nice contradiction dumbass.

there is a little ricer in everyone of us, dont be ashamed. stfu about your excuses for your carbon fiber and race inspired interior lololol. *cheers*

SOKDO

iTrader: (3)

Can you please just STFU. If you don't have anything nice to say... just don't waste your time typing. I got the other stuff to reduce weight which in return helps out in a lot of aspects of the performance of the car. It also helps out gas mileage and looks good at the same time. Yes... i fully understand that i will be saving a minimal amount of gas, but every little bit helps in the end. If i wanted to save hundreds of dollars in gas, then i would probably get a hybrid.

Mean people like you can suck it!!!

e jay one

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sokdo321 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Mean people like you can suck it!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>
calm down man this is the internet.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shaundrake &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Gotta love SUVs and oversized trucks being used as daily drivers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Archidictus

Yeah, that CF duckbill really sheds the bulk, right? Look, I'm not trying to get down on you for the mods you've done to your car, but let's be honest here: even 100 pounds in weight savings isn't going to make a dent in gas mileage. A hood and spoiler made out of CF don't save much weight. Period. 20 pounds is not a big savings for $500.

Undertray and proper aero are key if you want to get some decent gains. Solid hubbies like the Insight has will help a little too. In the end, you can drive a nice looking car and get 30mph or a wierd looking one and get 33 .

I get 36 in my Si .

thehatchninja

any other carpet that i can use....i want black automotive carpet, and i want it to be kinda nice, i was thinking about putting padding underneath it also. that way i can take a nap back there if i get tired.

NY93CivicEx

yeah i think i will gut my car too.. so i can take a nice nap on carpet with padding under it, or wait.. omg - the seats recline! who would have thought