Hi so I'm getting a new car soon but don't want to get rid of my civic which i have fallen in love with. So i am thinking of using it for a project car. I'm not looking to make it crazy fast or anything, just fun to drive around.

I have a 2003 Honda Civic Lx coupe with the D17a1 engine. From doing a little bit of research the general modifications I should do are:

Suspension
Brakes
Wheels/tires
general exterior work (Gotta make it look pretty)
And perhaps eventually I/H/E for the tiny boost in power and a wonderful exhaust note.

I'm really new to modding community and I really don't know what exact modifications I should do or what parts to get or anything of that nature.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

The list looks good, apart from that last one. I/H/E will provide negligible power gains, and the exhaust note... well... I wouldn't classify it as "wonderful" even on a rather nice exhaust setup. I would definitely lean towards swapping in a K-series, even if its an economy-biased powerplant (like a K20A3). The power gains will actually be noticeable, and the exhaust note will be far superior to that of the weak D17. Plus, with the D17 gone, you'll have a drivetrain less susceptible to failure in the long run.

 

x2 on what Toyomatt84 said about the i/h/e mod - the d17 apparently doesn't do well with small minor mods like that and the only benefit for going with any type of air intake seems to be purely on cleaning up the bay some.

As far as suspension, I would go with coilovers and anything that allows dampening. I have racelands on the car now which the previous owner installed- new they go for under $400 and can be found here from the company (Honda Civic EM2 Coilovers). They get the job done, and thats pretty much all I can say about them- I'll be upgrading to function/form type II's

Wheels/Tires - just check out the vendor section here and go for something you like, it is your car. Some are ok with replicas, some will only rock authentic companies - pick one and just go with it - its all in the measurements though. I like in an area where "wtb low offset" is 90% of the honda scene here and tires stick out over half an inch (this is them trying) - others have it out far more. I have some 16x8s +15 on a 195/45/16 Yokohama S.Drive and fit great, granted the fenders front and back are rolled.

Brakes - not sure if you mean swapping to rear discs- from what I can tell you get these off an ep3? I could be wrong though. If you want to just upgrade the front- I've gone with brembo blanks on all - not a fan of the cross drilled/slotted rotors - and they're definitely affordable. Pads...eh depends what kind of driving you'll be doing- but with the d17 stopping wont be an issue lol

Exterior - all subjective but the parts that ARE oem aren't cheap...thats pretty much it- you can find a LOT of 3rd party stuff obviously on ebay and even amazon haha- but again you get what you pay for, quality for one, and you'll have to do some kind of work sometimes to get them to fit right. either way good luck

 

Just so you're aware... F&F, D2, K-Sport, Raceland, Rokkor, and several others... are all made by the same Chinese manufacturer, just branded differently.