So I have been looking at something to "enhance" the body of my 98 Civic DX sedan, and before I wanted to paint it, I was thinking of slapping this on:

http://passwordjdm.com/JDM-EK-96-98-...P1404C389.aspx


What are your guys' suggestion on something like this for my car? Really need some good opinions. Thanks!

 

http://passwordjdm.com/JDM-EK-99-00-...P1418C389.aspx

I like the 99-00 front better. It will work on your car. You will need a hood though too. and new grill. Just my .02

 

Yeah, I agree. I like the 99-00 front too, but the only thing that I am concerned about is: "What the hell am I going to do with the rear?"

Do you have a suggestion for that?

 

PW:JDM is known to sell non-OEM bumpers. I knew a guy awhile back who got some and one was OEM, but the other was not. I'm not sure how well they fit because he sold the car and bumpers before he ever put them on. I think he painted them even.

Anyway, before you do a front end conversion or swap a bunch of parts on your car, figure out how YOU like them.

Honestly, f*ck everyone else's opinions on it. They don't need to drive it and see it everyday. You do. So build it totally to your liking (as long as it's within the law).

Figure out what you want to do with your car first. Some mods might not work with others (for example, some people have difficulty putting foglights on cars and putting certain intercoolers on them too).

Paint should be able to wait, so I wouldn't rush your decision even though I'm sure you're really looking forward to your car looking like a new car.

Go into the Appearance/Cosmetic section and just start looking at photos. Make a folder on your computer. Save photos of things you like and might like on your car.

Maybe you'll find a lip, maybe a bumper, some lights, trim pieces, wheels, or any other sort of exterior cosmetic piece.

Once you've looked for a few days (or weeks, or in my case, years), you should have a good idea of what you do and do not like. There might be those few parts that really stand out to you. Those parts that no matter what, you WANT that. No ifs, ands or buts, that is one thing you will be needing to acquire.

Then start building the car.

Some parts might need paint, like mirrors, grilles and lips and bumpers. I wouldn't worry about finding them pre-painted in your color. It's too much of a hassle and will only make you lose out on better deals.

Anyway, that's how I feel in a nutshell.

Cliffs:
Your car.
F*ck everyone else.
Research before you buy.

 

If you want to convert it, you'll want to swap the rear bumper (straight swap) for a '99-'00 coupe/sedan one.

The trunk would also have to be swapped, as would the taillights. You might need to do some wiring to get those inner lights to work correctly.

I personally think the '96-'98 sedan spoilers with that third little leg in the middle look awesome though.

Some European sedans (like Turkey) didn't even have the '99-'00 style rear we had here in the US. They also kept the '96-'98 climate controls. You could do a '99-'00 front end conversion and then throw some European goodies on it making it a suitable EDM sedan replica.

I personally don't think the '99-'00 front end conversion is worth the hassle unless you have a vision in mind already. If you just want a US '99-'00 model, then you're better off just trading/selling yours for one.

 

NOFX, thanks for the advice regarding appearances and my conversion.

I would love to sell off this Civic and get a different Honda, however, the car is under my dad's name unfortunately, and if I were to sell it, I'd look like this all time:

He's one bad muthaf----r LOL.


Anyways, as for my paint, the roof is getting to have a lot of paint wearing away pretty badly.... the heat/nature is just eating through the paint of my car.... sigh. I just wanted to make it look as clean as possible since I'm in progress of throwing on Work wheels, Tanabe coilovers and a Tanabe exhaust. Sometimes I feel like I would get laughed at for having a crappy looking exterior, but all of these parts that are brand spanking new, you know? Honda tuners still get that rep of being a "ricer" and I'm trying to break that stereotype..

 

Well, I'd fix up your exterior and send it off to paint first. As much as I would want to roll around on the wheels and such asap, I'd try to hold off until the car was finished. (1) I wouldn't want to put fresh wheels on a sort of beat up looking car and (2) I wouldn't want the wheels to get damaged or worse during paint.

So I'd look through Appearance/Cosmetic (try the 6G sedan thread) and get some ideas before you commit to anything.

It honestly won't take you too long to start getting an idea of what you do and do not like.

The front end conversion can lead to fitment issues. Some people suggest replacing the core support (I would, but I'm **** retentive) and some don't. Some just suggest you cut the core support ot the brand new bumper to make things fit.

I personally love the '96-'98 body and enjoy the different accessories for those bodies. Maybe I'll get a '99-'00 one day, but I'm keeping my '98 coupe forever. I'm absolutely in love with the way it looks too.

IMO I think a lot of '99-'00 cars look well, kind of the same. As much as some of the combinations might look good, to me it gets old seeing OEM (Si/Type R) and Mugen (and replicas of both) lips all the time.

There are some really cool parts out ther for the '96-'98 front end anyway!

I guess I don't see the sense in spending all this money and effort to make a US Civic look just like a ton of other US Civics. Maybe if the car needed several of those panels replaced, sure, but when the car is already is okay condition body-panel-wise, I don't see the point.

I'd rather put that $400 (just a random figure) toward maybe a nice lip, headlights, a grille, fog lights or other accessories.

Plus a lot of other accessories out there don't need you to chop your chassis up.

Then again, if you really want a '99-'00 front end and you're willing to either put the time (and knowledge!) or money toward getting it all installed correctly, more power to you.

Oh, and if the car is indeed under your father's name, I would okay things with him before you start throwing money at it. Even though you might end up having to wait a couple years before you start spending lots of money on making the car different, it will be worth it in the long run. Dad won't be pissed, Dad will still trust you, if anything bad happens to the car you're not out so much and maybe by then you'll have a really good idea of what you want out of the car. Well, all of those are more likely at least.

Since your location says CA, I'd really, REALLY suggest you invest quite a bit into security. It really sucks when you put time, effort and cash into a car, just to wake up and it's all gone. Insurance never pays you back what you feel you deserve.

 

Yeah, I would look into security too, but I live in Santa Clara, a place that barely has any bad goingons in terms of car theft ( I think!) Anyways, sometimes I think that it's not worth it in the end to fix up this car. Even though my dad gave this to me to use while going to college up in San Francisco, my main purpose of modding this car was to increase my knowledge of cars in the first place, and then move on from there.

In terms of paint, I'd really hate to shell out over $2500-$3000 (maybe I am overestimating) on a full frame paint job.... Sure the car would look nice, but that would take away from any parts I really wanted to do first.

If I had the means to, I would definitely buy my own car, because I know what's worst than having your car stolen. It's having a loaner car taken back, and instead of you (the improver) enjoy the work, someone else is enjoying it (or hating it) and all of that work would have been for nothing and I'm stuck with another POS used car. BLAH.

I always ask my dad about buying a new car, but of course, he is one of the usual like-minded parents that go on and say that cars are a waste of money and blah blah, and would rather go on about their day than listen to you tell them why you need your own car. I would go do a car loan to acquire one of the cars here on Honda-Tech.

Life sucks haha. I just wanna learn through trial and error, especially when it's my own damn car.

 

It might not be a bad idea (if this car is as bad as you're making it out to be) to just wait it out.

I know it sounds horrible, but if I could have my minty '98 coupe for four years before I started putting money into it, then you can wait too.

Maybe work on this car. Fix things up a bit, but maybe don't worry about the appearance so much yet.

Especially if you're young, this will appease dad too.

So fix the issues on it and do general maintenance.

Get it out of dad's name. Sell it or save it as a daily. Buy a clean chassis and start on that one.

It's so much nicer to have a daily while you can keep your nice car parked inside all the time.

Oh, and building your own car is MUCH more enjoyable and fulfilling than buying someone else's.

 

Yeah, I agree. I would enjoy building my own car. That was another purpose of making my own build.

As for the car, I actually did a lot of good maintenance on it. All I modded on the car was the intake, but as for maintenance, I replaced the spark plugs/wires/rotor/distributor cap. I felt there was something off with my car (and because the check engine light was on). I also decided it was time for a tune up, and as soon as the spark plugs were removed, I was like "I thought so." Pictures of the spark plugs are featured on my blog (in the sig). After my recent oil change, I was told that the strut was leaking or some crap like that, and it needed to be replaced. The independent auto repair business told me that it would be about a grand total of 300 for labor + parts. I told them "Meh..." and I was just going to get Tanabe coilovers instead anyways.

I've probably done more for that car in terms of maintenance than either my grandpa or dad has to that car. It hasn't gotten a tune up (that's what they said) until I did the tune up at 213,000 miles. Yeah... if it weren't the only car I have as a DD to get to school and other stuff like that, I'd probably let my dad do all of the maintenance. But as his philosophy goes, "You drive it, you maintain it." Even with all of that, I still have to fix the oxygen sensor...... bleh. The stupid check engine light is starting to annoy me. =p