I just bought a very beaten Honda Integra '97 and I don;t know where to start. I'm new to this whole thing and I just need some direction. HELP!

 

Doesn't look too bad from the 1 picture of it. Most of the front ends are messed up, but yours lines up really nice compared to many. Is this a gsr? I see a sunroof. Ticket-getter red though...

 

Hmmmm, what pic.?

Anyway, with any new car that you do not have a maintenance history of you should start with a fluid replacement, [oil, coolant, brake, transmission, power steering] and move on from there.

Easy stuff, fuel filter, thermostat, cap and rotor, spark plugs and spark plug leads as needed.

Harder stuff, timing belt, [last thing you want to be old/damaged in the car] and tensioner, water pump, valve lash adjustment, timing, clutch as needed

Brake pads, possibly rotors as needed.

Suspension, shocks, bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, as needed.

The rest is cosmetic and should be last on the list of things needed.

In order of importance, get the engine running dependably, [engine maintenance] make sure you can stop the car, [brake components] make sure the car will go where you point it, [suspension/steering components] at the end of the list is cosmetics.

I had to laff the other day at work, we had a customer come in with head light problems in his 97 Honda Civic, DRLs where "flickering" and car was not running "right" and hard to start.

The car was delivered to us by Kal Tire, who had just installed $2500 in rims and tires.

Now the part that had me laughing, my boss shaking his head...

There was maybe 10% left on the front pads and 25% on the rears telltales had been bent back.
All fluids were low, engine oil did not even show on dip stick, rad was only 2/3 full, [popped upper cap] brake fluid was half full and as black as the oil, power steering appeared to have no fluid at all, both lower ball joints way past bad, CV boots ripped on both sides and bone dry inside.

Engine was covered in "fluids" from more then a few leaks, we are talking "caked on".

It looked like this Civic with 225,000km on the clock had never been serviced, ever, my guess is the first time in a long time the hood was opened was the week before we got it when the HIDs where installed, [improperly by the way, resulting in the "flickering].

So $2500 in rims and rubber and another $300 in HIDs, but the car is not going anywhere, [declared unsafe to drive] without another 2-3 grand in repairs.

Moral of this story, spend your money wisely. 94

 

...I looked in the garage. HT doesn't allow everyone to post pics on a post(myself included). I read how to do it and it doesn't allow me to do jack when I press" select images" from "advanced".

 

^

make sure everything works/functions properly then worry about the "fun things" (mods) what good is a car you've put a bunch of money into and won't run properly. like fcm said just look at what happens 2.5K rims then another 2-3 just to get it working/road worthy. I my self have a some cams waiting to go in(then tune) but first i have some issues to work out.

 

Go advanced, click on paper clip to the left of the smily face click on a browse select image from my pictures and upload, place curser where you want the pic, and click on paperclip again, select from the drop down and click on image "address" you want...
>

Go to preview, to see image, in this case my 94RS getting rained on 20min. after I washed it

You can also resize the image in "my picturs" so it fits the window better and we don't have to scroll left to right, like this.

You can also browse and upload from a URL94

 

Sorry, not to be rude-clicked go advance, it opened. Then I click on paperclip another window opens. Once this window opens I click on select image and nothing frickin happens, never has. This is just the way its been for me the whole time I've been a member lol. Is it because I'm always on a phone and not a pc?
I've seen yours before in a diff thread. I do notice trim around windshield is non existent. Did you throw it out last windshield replacement? I like the way no trim looks around it, but how much wind noise do you get from that, is it noticeable?

 

That could be a reason. when on my pc what i do is: Go advanced>manage attachmeants>browse>then pic a file from my pc. don't know how it is on a phone maybe select "from library".

 

Mine doesn't work on phone which is annoying cuz that's what I take pics with. Hello dropbox

 

yeah it doesnt work on phones. i just use photobucket since the full site works on phones

 

No wonder I haven't been able to post a pic...
That IS poopy, because its my camera, too, Halo6.
Maybe ill have to get a photobucket, Max.

So, Fcm, how about that window trim? Do you get more windnoise or not enough to notice?

 

I setup dropbox so when I take a pic its auto uploaded to my pc. Just gotta be careful what I take pics of cuz of wifey.

 

I do not notice any more "windnoise" without the trim, however, no window trim was temporery.

I removed all the outside trim, door/hatch seals and rear side windows, when I had the rear quarters replaced and the car painted, did not want tape lines.

The problem is, the trim is ment to go on at the same time a windshield is installed, some of the clips and the upper rubber trim "molds" into the still soft window weld and is almost impossible to reinstall properly, so i will be removing the windshield and having it reinstalled with the trim. 94

 

How much did it run you to have the quarters replaced. Mine needs it.

 

I replaced both full quarters...



I paid just over $600 for the panels, [3 and 6] from the Acura dealer here in town, they list at just over $600, but we do work for them at our shop so I got a deal.

The work was done by a local body shop, [Mark V auto body] we also do A/C work for them and I know the owner so I paid a little over $2000 for the panel replacement and the paint, but as I mentioned, I did all the re&re of trim and moldings and rear side windows so door and hatch jambs could also be painted, and no taping was needed.

It turns out, it was easier to replace the complete quarter then to just cut out the rust and install new metal at the wheel arch and back of rocker panel and body work it, the guy doing the work estimated it took about 1/2 the time to get it ready for paint using the complete panel then trying to fix the rusted areas, paint , [not Milano Red] cost me another $75.

All told it was under $2700, so all in all, a very good deal. 94