i drive a 1996 civic dx hatchback auto. my mother bought it for me about 2 weeks ago. it actually came to me as a surprise because i was in the market for a miata. she told me she bought it from a cop and it only had 36K, new paint, new brakes and SI rims.
after owning if for about 2 weeks already, i put in a straight pipe(3in. for free) with stock exhaust, painted my weather strips(still got to open the door and unclip it to sand down ALL the rubber), and got a ebay quick release+hub+steering wheel combo from a friend for free.

ok back on the topic, my friend got caught cause he had a straight pipe and oem exhaust with headers and aem v2 intake and his fine is pretty big because they saw he had no cat, so my question is, should i get a whole new exhaust or just weld a cat back on the straight pipe? im pretty noob with cars but still learning more about it.

also, my alarm doesnt make the sound when i lock it, it beeps sometimes and other times it doesnt beep. what can i do about it? PROBABLY THE BATTERY?

as for my window, ive done research and i think its off track so im going to fix that soon along with my headlight because it has condensation inside.

 

get a high flow cat welded in.... if you like your exhaust...

 

because of the 3' pipe your losing back preasure if your car is stock and therefore losing horse power
and its probably a bad connetion to answer the alarm question just check the grounds and what not. dude just put the stock stuff on and save for a swap or a turbo kit

 

New Muffler with a high flow cat...Fasho0o0o