Hey everyone ive been on the site for a couple years now posting here and there and have always enjoyed reading over everyones build thread so decided that I might as a well make one too.

So heres my 1996 Honda Civic EX that I just bought a couple weeks for $1400. Yeah I know I got an amazing deal! The previous owner I bought the car from had bought a newer vehicle so this one was just sitting in his driveway for months.

Its 5 speed and has 193,000 miles on the stock motor. When I bought the car it needed a new drivers window because one of the clip things on the bottom of the glass was broken. Another major thing was the BADLY oxidized hood and the front bumper with chips all over. The car was pretty clean on the inside and seemed to run pretty well.

Heres some pics of how she sits now a couple days after washing, claying and waxing:





The paint came out way better than I was expecting after the claying and waxing! It did however make my hood look even worse though lol.

Some of the plans I have for the car is finding another hood the same color until I save up some money for a 99/00 front end conversion. Getting rid of the carbon fiber mirrors that came on it, probably some rims after that then a gsr swap. I plan on devoting all the money and time I possibly can in to the project

 

Can't believe these are getting close to 200k

Good buy man. Def get rid of those eGay mirrors and take lots of pics!

 

Yeah I should be getting some stock ones tomorrow and I already swapped out the ricer halo's before I had a chance to take a pic lol

 

off to a good start, that was a great deal

 

Just picked up some 99/00 tail lights, stock mirrors and a set of HX's with good tread. Im about to paint them white with red H's. Cant wait to see how they look after.

 

looks good, g/l

 

Just decided to do a small update on whats going on with the car.

Next weekend im gonna start working on the hood since we found some left over paint from my old 97 GSR which was the exact same color we need. Cypress green pearl FTW! Were also gonna paint my stock mirrors too while were at it.

I also picked up a grille from a 97 since the 96s were a little different and didnt come apart like the later ones. Im gonna be doing the CTR grille mod on this probably tomorrow if not next weekend.

I am in the process of prepping my HX's for paint. Just got a little bit of sanding left to do before primer and paint. I decided to go with graphite instead of white for the color. Im pretty excited to see how it will look on the car.





I also took a pic of how it looks with the 99 tails. Definitely a improvement of the stock amber ones

 

So I was able to get the hx's all painted today. Just gotta do some grinding on the calipers to make them fit and paint the center caps. The color looks way better than I thought. Ill post up some pics probably tomorrow

 

CTR grille mod doesn't work on 96 grilles. You need a 97 or 98.

With the green car, you should probably polish those HX wheels. Last suggestion, it might be rice, but paint the hood gloss black instead of buying one thats green, then later buying a 99-00. Seems a very redundant step, unless you get a major deal on it.

 

sometimes if the clearcoat is faded and not the paint, you can sand the hood with some fine sandpaper and reclear coat it. good luck with your build.

 

Yeah I bought a 97 grille that has the 9 screws on the back. Got it all cut out just need to buy some of that mesh stuff. Yeah the polished hx's look pretty nice. If I was gonna go with the polished look though id go with some blades.

Yeah were just gonna repaint the hood though since we already got everything we need.

I also took a pic of the car with the HX's on that I will upload in a bit

 

During


Quick shot before it got too dark. Ill post some better ones once I get my hood painted.



I think im gonna lower it next

 

Not a bad start, keep the updates coming.
I plan to get me a set of 99-00 si wheels asap and a drop as well.
I'm thinking about using megan racing springs for now.

 

Yeah yours is coming along too. I wish mine was black lol but dark green isnt too bad. Yeah just keep checking craigslist and im sure youll find a good deal. Im thinking of going with the koni/ground control setup since everyone has something good to say about it. Just gotta save up some money. Probably a couple paydays till I can get it

 

I just painted my headlight housing. I wanted them to be a little darker but not too dark. So I went with the same gunmetal color I used for my wheels. I think they turned out pretty well.

I also got a shot of my grill that I did the ctr mod. Both DIY's were pretty straight forward. Gotta love cheap DIY's that you can do in between pay checks lol