First post here, I bought a 94 civic dx for $500 it's not pretty, but drives strong, has no body damage, and is rust free. I have driven many cars and nothing compares to this civic. I am going to drive it for a while and give it to my little brother before i buy another civic with less miles. But, before i do i want to make a few modifications that make it somewhat of a sleeper. What kind of less invasive, fairly cheap, and cool modifications can i make on this civic? Kind of a practice round before my next civic.

 

What's your budget? If you want to go the sleeper route, keep the exterior as is simple as that. With the engine being a D-series, you won't get noticeable power unless you go the forced-induction route. But even at that the stock engine in the 92-95 DX will I believe only run up to 170HP safely before you blow the bottom end (I could be wrong). Intake, Headers and Exhaust will get you nothing great, you're just going to waste your money. Unless you are going to lets say turbocharge, keep the I/H/E alone.

If you want a real sleeper, motor-swap.

 

Sleeper? Boost it or swap it. Other then that there is no point to do anything to the engine.
They don't respond well to bolt ons.

What I would do is dig into the suspension. Sway bars, coilovers, bushings. But don't forget wear items. Ball joints, and tie rods, brakes.

 

"...less invasive..." "...fairly cheap..." and "sleeper" don't exist with an EJ.

 

Appreciate the advice. So, what year/generation civic would you suggest as a quick daily driver? I love the hatches. Also, what kind of engine would you swap in the dx and would a mini me swap be worth it?

 

define "quick"

 

I want to be able to keep up with v6's, seems like there are a loooooot of kids here (Omaha NE) that think their super fast because they have a v6 grand prix or mustang. Is that possible to do with a 4 cylinder? I'd like to stick with the 4 cylinder, for the mpg.

 

I'd rather get an integra and boost that. If you really enjoy the Civic however, then buy another D-series engine, build the block with new rods/pistons, do all necessary machining and micro-measuring for reliable exactness. Then tune+turbocharge it and you should be able to make at least 200hp. It may cost around $2,000 to do all this. It beats spending $4,000 for those JDM engines yo' and still making stock power.

 

not with a d series that isnt boosted

 

Right, so what series would you suggest doood?

 

what can you afford?

 

If you can afford under $1000 you'll have to work with d series. $2000 you got more options. B/H series.

 

I dont want to spend more than $6,000.

 

With $3,000, you can make an amazing D-series sleeper.
Nothing more respectable than a rebuilt motor from the same car built to withstand a turbocharged application boosting it up 200-400hp.
Or spend that $3,000-$6,000 on a B or H swap and only be making around 150-220hp.
With around $1,500 spent wisely you can make 200hp now.

First of all, is it manual or automatic?

 

Where would you start? I want to do it in baby steps as I work a lot and really only have the weekends to dedicate to working on the car.

 

save your money. go over to d-series.org

they have a lot of info on d series builds

 

What would be a good engine to put in this vehicle to make it a fun daily driver?

 

Or I am sorry, what would easily fit?

 

Thanks for all of the advice, I'll just look at the faq and make a decision. lol

 

Look into a vitara build.

That with a good turbo kit, supporting mods and a tune could net you 300+ easily.


Personaly i'd swap it, but that's just me. I'm not the biggest fan of a D series.