Hello Honda Guru's

I'm new to the Honda world, and I heard this was the best place to start.

Everything is bone stock except for the normal stuff, tires/filters etc.....

2000 Honda Civic EX
SOHC VTEC (D16Y8)
Body color is red.
Automatic Transmission

I'm on a tight budget, but would love to start upgrading the engine and appearance of the car.I"m seeing all kinds of things on where i could go, but I'm confused on what is right and what is wrong and where can I find good used parts.

example
Short ram intake = good and bad because air is pulled from inside the engine bay.
cold air intake = bad because of chance of hydro locking the engine
Whale ***** = still laughing at the name, but not sure about if it is any good.
Ebay headers and exhaust = Bad because of poor welds. etc.......

I'm seeing Turbo kits out the wazoo, but that is not near my budget. right now, but might consider that later



Where should I Start? I'm going for a mild performance upgrade/look. This will be a daily driver and I would like to have a good look and good reliability. I'm not going for 1/4 mile runs or street racing.




Modified by crazycorvette at 11:02 AM 4/23/2008

 

Are your side skirts painted to match? If not you might start with that, then look into suspension. Manual or Auto?

 

before you ask where to start, we have to ask what do you plan on doing with the car?
fun good on gas dd?
dd with occasional track time? etc etc

 

well if you want speed. save for a swap or turbo build.

my first mods are always; springs and short shifter both can be found for cheap.

i have a short ram on my car and i havent had any problems with it. and CAIs are good but you have to be carefull about going through puddles and what not when it rain.

best thing you can do for looks is browse around and see what catches your eye and go from there. good luck and welcome.


-mark-

 

Save your money for a swap or boost, dont waste it on stupid JDM knick knacks, or fancy intakes. A high performance air filter in the stock airbox outperforms any intake ive ever owned in the last 5 years. I would save your money towards a good swap, maybe some suspension parts, a decent exhaust and some anti-theft device.

P.S, dont buy from ebay.

 

I like the side skirt painting Idea. and I may just drop in a K&N filter in the stock airbox. Does the sound differ alot when you put on a short ram compared to stock?

 

Look in the Appearance/Cosmetic section. There should be a thread for EXes (EJ8s) and Si's (EM1). Look in those threads for ideas.

The '99-'00 cars have the same looks. '96-'98 have a different front end and a few other differences.

Your color is called Milano Red. It's a tricoat paint, with dark red underneath and light red on top, then covered with a clearcoat. It can be difficult to match with a correct paint job, but not impossible.

A short ram intake will cause you to lose low end power. Just get a drop in filter. if you want a different sound, remove the resonator from inside the front bumper.

 

yes its definately louder when you go to an open element filter. so like previous person asked what are you intentions with this car ? if you want something that doesnt attract too much attention but still looks good just drop it and put some Si or integra wheels and a front and rear lip, and yes painting your sideskirts is a good idea. as far as performance on your stock d series is concerned, bolt ons dont do much for d series maybe a couple whp for I/H/E so if you want that just for the sound go ahead but i would just put an SRI and maybe a header on it personally. now if you plan on keeping the car for a long time do a b swap i know a lot of people will say turbo the d but if you're not a speed demon the simplicity of N/A over turbo when it comes to maintenence/repairs will save you a lot of money. OH YEAH SWAP TO A 5SPD ASAP . < that should be your # 1 concern

 

Don't put a short ram on. Keep the stock air box, k&n filter and lose the resonator.

I would do an auto to manual conversion first. Just cause its way more fun and probably the best thing you could do to start out.

I just picked up a type r axle back, and have 2.25" piping with DC headers. It sounds really nice mid/highs. Low its kinda raspy(below 3k). But I dont stay in those lows too long

Also what kinda of budget are you working on? Just a rough estimate of how much money you have/are willing to spend will suffice.

 

At first, probably a couple of hundred bucks. with more money coming later.

 

save your money and just drop in one of the monsters of swaps. The all mighty "H22".

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rpared01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">save your money and just drop in one of the monsters of swaps. The all mighty "H22".</TD></TR></TABLE>

i belive we have a winnar!!!

 

Plan everything you want before you start buying loads of crap that you're going to end up wanting to sell soon after your purchase, before you find out the product is a poor product, before you find something you like better, etc. You'll save a lot of money, heartache, time, etc. if you really think it through first. I'd rather do it right one time than okay three times.

 

the best advice that i could give is deff plan ahead like NOFX said
then.... wtvr u do don't buy ebay stuff... its cheap and you get what u pay for

 

Welcome to Hondas my friend. To be honest, with the D series motor, it's pretty pointless to do much engine mods b/c the engine will not make much power at all no matter what you do unless you were to go the turbo route--ESPECIALLY if you picked up an automatic.

Keep the great gas mileage and Honda reliability by keeping the motor stock. At most, drop in a K&N air filter, switch to Royal Purple Synthetic Oil (will protect motor better, longer intervals, and will give the car a little more pep AND a little HP,) and use HAMP oil filters for better oil pressure. (Stands for Honda After Market Performance and can be found for a good price in a 10 pack at Passwordjdm.com)

Now for the best bang for the buck appearance-wise, pick up some lowering springs like Tein or even Tenzo R (I had those way back on my D series coupe back in the day and they rode great!) DO NOT CUT YOUR SPRINGS. Lowering the stock car by at least 2 inches will make it look MUCH better--even on hubcaps! When you install the springs, make sure you get an alignment afterward. Springs at most will cost $2-300

I recommend for some really good looking wheels for cheap, pick up some used Civic Si wheels. When you put those on your freshly lowered car, it will look 10x better...plus, you can usually find some Si wheels for $3-400 with tires!

Lastly, I recommend painting your sideskirts the factory Milano Red, and do some research on finding an OEM Si Front lip (they make them in your red, or find one and paint it.) Going factory is the best because the "cheap" ones on eBay usually fit horrible. You can find factory Si lips at times in the classfied section here. Take your time to find one...trust me, it's worth the effort.

From there you should have a super clean car the rides good for the cheapest amount I can think of. Hope this helps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rpared01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">save your money and just drop in one of the monsters of swaps. The all mighty "H22".</TD></TR></TABLE>
yeah..
Welcome to forum bro

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cvcgrl8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the best advice that i could give is deff plan ahead like NOFX said
then.... wtvr u do don't buy ebay stuff... its cheap and you get what u pay for</TD></TR></TABLE>
eBay can be a great resource. BUT you have to know exactly what you're looking for so you don't get screwed.

 

With the price of gas going up and you not having much money. Save your money and keep it stock.

Get a photo of the car you want and tape it to the dash. The Honda will be cheap to keep if you treat it right. Save your money and read all you can here. Then when you have the money, you'll also have more knowledge on how to spend it.

 

WELCOME!!!!!! As far as money goes d series are amazing. like everyone else said tho you gotta know what you want... if you build a sick as track car its gonna run your pocket out of your pants haha but youll have alot more respect and dignity knowing your neighbor with a streetbike (so to speak) has no chance (if you do it right) however for a daily driver and "eye Candy" its best to just add a little pep to the step of the y8 you wont be the fastest but youll save money and time. turbo it add a nice CLEAN exhaust alot of kids like that high pitch buzzing that goes with the name "ricer" get something deep and mean sounding like a greddy set up. basicaly a few touches to the inside and out are good to accent your y8.

P.S. If you really wanna be different and get the best of both worlds youll find most JDM and Mugen parts are a welcome sight anywhere.