Been wanting one forever and it all finally fell into place on Sunday. Found a listing on CL for a '91 Civic Dx HB with 140,000 miles on it with a 1 month old, low mile, D15 replacement motor in it with A/C unit removed . Just painted as of 3 weeks ago with all door jams left a flat black and engine bay left mostly the original teal color, some black. Has some kind of unknown brand lowering kit on it (to be replaced in the coming moths with a set of KSport Pro series coil overs probably).

Interior is in OK-ish condition. Carpet has a ton of wear and tear on it, ground in dirt, etc. Seats are in OK shape. Missing radio and speakers in front doors. Missing change drawer to the left of steering wheel. No power steering (if it was even an option) with the 5spd MT.

Comes with Short ram intake and some kind of higher flow exhaust that are both currently not installed because seller thought they were too loud.

Test drive proved that the ride was bouncy, likely due to the springs not being paired with the dampeners correctly and even without power steering it was easy to drive and the MT was smooth as butter in all 5 gears (1st gear lock out scared me at first though).

Only pic I have right now is what is shown below, will be taking deliver of it this weekend (after xmas) and will post more pictures at that time after I get it washed. (corner light exists, just had not been put back on after paint yet when picture was taken)

 

good find! I also just picked up my hatch tonight............

 

Nice, do you have any pictures of it yet?

 

good start..and its white!! EF are sexy in white

 

Congrats man, I'm on my third...welcome to the thunderdome!

 

dont go with k sport, if u gonna spend money on a decent set up run koni yellows with Ground controls. thats ur best bet.

 

run cut springs FTW!!


lol..j/p man..i herad konis are the best..but i dont have money like that to find out on my own.

 

i cant believe he wants to spend 1200 for sum ksports! koni plus GC's ull b happy with the ride and ur wallet.

 

lol..i'm fine with my tokico's..only cost me $40

 

same with me, blues on gc's. perfect daily and for doing some mountain runs

 

i'll start a thread and post some pictures soon........I might be tooooo big for this car

 

Thanks guys, I'm really looking forward to working on this thing, it's going to need some love but it will get there!

And yes, EFs do look best in white, I'm looking to get a nice set of black wheels or powder coat some if I find some I like.

I'm going to try to get it as light as I can while keeping as much of the interior in tact as I can. Stripping it out and will be re-laying some new carpet, removing all AC ducting since the AC compressor is no longer installed. Dropping in new seats, removing rear seat, etc.

I'm mostly into making the car handle well, I will eventually boost the power output, but it's not really my first concern for the project since the engine is strong as it is. The first things I will be doing will be related to the suspension and stiffness of the car. Does anyone have any suspension kit recommendations or parts to achieve this?

In my initial search I found the Ksport Pro coil over kit. It will run me somewhere in the neighborhood of $1100 which is a bit high, but, I know the importance of suspension to what I'm trying to accomplish so I'm not skimping in this area. I also know I'm going to need strut bars or sway bars (what's the difference anyway?). I will also be upgrading the brakes...I'm not sure if I'm going to go with a total big brake swap just yet, I may just replace the front rotors with a set of slotted Brembo brakes and street/race pads like I did to my Camry because they're a good price right now and they work really really well from my experience with them on the Camry.

Anyone have any other suggestions as far as making this thing handle well?

Also, does anyone have any guides or links to guides on tuning the car's suspension? Camber, caster, spring rates, etc?

 

I'm willing to spend what it takes to get it to handle the way I want. If there is better for less, by all means please make suggestions

I had heard about the Koni/GC setup before I will look into them.

 

I love my white ED 2 good buy and hope 2 see progress as its made

 

nice pick-up

 

congrats!

 

Ok, so been driving it for the past 3 days and here are my initial thoughts on the car.

DAMN IT HANDLES ON RAILS!

that aside however, there are a few issues.

1. Bouncy, suspension is stiff, but it's too bouncy, any thoughts on how to fix that?
2. Pulls to the right, needs alignment
3. car shakes when driving faster than 55mph, tire balance needed.
4. Back right tire is down to the threads, almost, needs new tire.
5. Went to get it tagged and did not pass emissions, NOx is at 1700, max 1100, probably running too lean, will check timing and plugs today, thinking O2 sensor or timing.
6. Seats are horrible, no support
7. 3rd gear syncros aren't working right, shifting from 2nd - 3rd or 4th - 3rd even with the clutch all the way in causes a grinding sound, same thing happens 3rd - 2nd but up shift from 1st to 2nd is fine.

Other than those things though, the thing runs great, starts strong, sounds awesome and is a blast to drive.

Any other suggestions on how to repair some of the issues above?

 

ive got some lowering springs i will prolly let go for cheap if you need 'em.

 

Your problems are easy to fix...

for ride quality, any brand name lowering spring will ride sooo much better than cheap coil overs.
Shaking...check you front brake rotors
seats, find some Si seats, they are super comfy and bolt right in
the tranny grinding, hit up a pick your part, get a used tranny

 

^could be that the clutch cable needs some adjusting

 

come on now i am 6'5'' and 250lbs!!! you just gotta get your lean on a little bit!! haha

 

HAHA, I'm actually quite pleased with the space in the front seats. Passengers have ample leg room (barring the rear seat passengers) and I have plenty of head room, even with the seat bolt upright and I'm 6'2" and 205lbs so I'm not a very small person. My only complaint is the same thing I had an issue with in the Accord I used to own and that is that the steering wheel is too low, I have pretty large thighs and I just barely have enough space between the wheel and my legs to have my hand on the wheel at the bottom and if I slid back so that my legs are straighter, I can't reach the steering wheel...o well...new seat might help that because I like have a little extra head room so I recline a bit more which is probably partially to blame

 

i have da seats and they are very nice, i know what you mean with the steering wheel though! i want to get the nrg hub looks like i will be able to adjust the wheel up a little bit then! maybe i'm wrong though..... just glad to see i am not the only big guy rocking the ef's!!!