Was on a hunt for a new daily driver that was economical and a project vehicle to have fun with, that was under $4k. Always been fond of Civic's but never had one, so figured this was the perfect time to get one.

Found this black 1994 Honda Civic Coupe EX with a manual and 1.6 that needed some love but was running and didn't have any major mechanical issues (that I knew of). Picked it up for $3k.

Plan for the car:

1. Get it running mechanically well and reliable. Get all the maintenance done that needs to be done to bring up to a comfortable standard.
2. Piece together a plan of attack for mods. Upgrading lights, rear disc conversion, suspension and then performance.
3. Work on body, repair panels or replace as needed. Hood is beat, passenger side door is beat, and both rear quarters are rusted. I like to keep a car with as much of it's original metal as possible, so repairing panels would be priority as long as cost wasn't outrageous.

Car had two gremlins, the tach would bounce in sync with a turn signal, and the speedometer was intermittent. Hood latch cable was also cut so the latch in the cabin didn't work, had to use pliers to pull cable that hung down below the grill. AC system didn't work, would blow air, but definitely wasn't cold or even cool. Then there was rust on both rear quarters, they weren't bad - both were less than the size of a dollar bill, so figured some point in the future I'll have those areas repaired/patched and then do a respray of the car.

First thing was taking it to my mechanic to get it on a lift and having them do a complete inspection front to back. Found some surprises, but overall pretty much what I expected. They found the source of the tach and speedometer issue and fixed it free of charge - previous owner had installed their own DIY antitheft that went to a switch. They also took a video of the whole front suspension wobbling back and forth while idling from worn bushings and showed me. Also checked the AC system and said the compressor was bad, clutch wouldn't engage. They filled it with freon but no dice, I asked them to remove all the freon as I knew I'd be replacing the compressor at this point.

First things first was doing a basic tune up - ordered new spark plugs, new wire set and air filter. Spark plugs had obviously not been changed in a hot minute and multiple were seized. Ran the engine to get it warm and was able to break the two remaining loose. Definitely seemed to be running better. But I have a feeling a rebuild/refresh is coming soon. I like the

Ordered up parts to make it a daily driver first that was drivable. Ordered AC compressor, all new belts, all new engine mounts and hood latch cable.

 

I replaced the cut hood latch cable and ran it through the original clips trying to keep it as factory as possible. I took the driver side fender and headlight assembly out and found that most of the "dress up kit" bolts that were used had stripped heads or were on the verge of being stripped. I had to drill out 4 on the fender and two where the front bumper bolts to the core support. I placed an order for a cheap dress up kit and will be using these when I reattach the fender and on the front bumper.

While I was doing this, I found that the front tie rods were a lot worse than I initially though, I knew that they were worn out from what my mechanic told me but I didn't expect them this bad. I'll be ordering replacements and probably even a new rack and pinion as it's beginning to leak.

 

Been a lot going on with the holidays but been knocking stuff out as time pops up. I’m also taking the time to wire brush, clean and paint black all nuts and bolts that I take off or touch.

AC system was found to have a couple of bad valves and a bad o ring, got those taken care of and now car blows ice cold air in December.

The return line from the reservoir for the PS was leaking at the pump, replaced that O ring as well and it’s good to go.

List of things done:

• Motor mounts replaced
• A/C Compressor replaced
• Power Steering Pump and Pulley replaced
• AC and PS belts replaced
• Hood latch release cable replaced

Going to have to rivnut one of the fender bolts because the hole was stripped, but may end up doing all of the holes because they’re all pretty bad.

Hood release cable also seems to be having issues where the actual cable is moving rather than pulling the steel cable and releasing the hood latch.

Plans going forward:

• Continue to focus on PM stuff, adding upgrades along the way to make the car more fun
• Start planning K swap or B series swap, B just for nostalgia reasons
  
  
  
  
  
  

 

Did you look at rebuilding your PS pump?

 

Glad to hear you got your cluster working!
Where did you source your TREs and sway bar end links? OEM?
Where are you looking to get your replacement rack?

 

I did - but figured buying new was faster. I ordered a o ring kit for the pump I took off and will be rebuilding it and selling it. I just wanted to get the car up and running as the wife was telling me it was turning into a $7k Honda lol

I said the cluster was working, but it did it again once more while driving, but started working again after I restarted the car. Will probably be pulling it out this weekend and taking a look at the solder joints to inspect it.

I got 'em from RockAuto! Most of the parts I've gotten except for the power steering pump which I got from NAPA as it was cheaper. The TRE were the Dorman XLs, $15 a piece. T3331XL and T3332XL and then the sway bar end links were the Energy Suspension ones for $17.

I've decided to hold off on the rack as I believe the leak we thought was from the rack was actually from the power steering pump just leaking all the way down. It hasn't had a drop of fluid on the ground when it's parked since I've replaced the pump.

Looking at doing a rear disc swap soon as well as K swap is planned for this coming year.

 

Make sure to use the Honda PS fluid - ask me how I know...

As for your cluster, I sent mine out to have all the capacitors replaced. Check out my build thread (linked below) for where I sent it.

Thanks for the p/n's!

 

Been enjoying the car for the past 9 months. The time has come to start getting ready to turn this into a weekend warrior/HPDE/track day car.

Ordered Brembo front disc blanks, front stainless steel brake lines to get ready for the Wilwood DPHA. I'll be taking the rear wheels off this week to determine which Scarebird bracket I need to order for the rear disc conversion as I'm unsure if I have the "CIV" or "HON" spindles.

 

Received my NRG hub and quick release, waiting on the PRP steering wheel. Ordered brand new interior carpet.

 

Great build so far! I put the wilwood DPHA kit on the front of my project as well and replaced all the brake lines and master with some chase bays stuff! Mine is also a coupe! Keeping an eye on your build log!

 

Thank you! How do you like the DPHA calipers? How's the pedal feel?

 

Haven't quite got that far yet! Haha, still have to connect the lines to the calipers, and bleed them. It will likely be a little stiffer pedal feel with the booster delete, but shouldn't be much different according to chase bays until 80% pressure. We shall see!

 

Haha, nearing that finish line though man - can't wait to see what you do.

 

Found a 2014 TSX K24A2 and 6 Speed trans for sale, will be looking at possibly getting them both this week. Ordered brand new seat belts as the drivers side was getting frayed and becoming hard to use. Also ordered the Scarebird brackets, calipers, wheel hub, rotors and pads for the rear discs. Debating on if I want to order new carpet for the car as well.

 

I tossed around the idea of doing new carpet as well! Found a good shop for it online, can't remember the name for the life of me right now though. i ended up deciding to pull my old carpet and deep clean it as best i could.

New carpet is a good choice though if the old one is in bad shape, or smells of mildew, or other things left in vehicles over time, or tracked in on shoes. OR if you're doing a project for resale. The carpet replacement isn't too bad in terms of price for these models. It's about $300+shipping. It can make an enormous difference in the way a used older car feels to a new prospective buyer!

If the carpet you've got is in decent shape but dirty, pick up a cheap percussive massager from Walmart, and use it at the same time as a shop vac. The percussive massager is amazing at knocking loose stuck in particles. Then if you have the ability to do it, steam clean it, let it dry, then hit it with a normal vacuum that has a brush attachment. It should come out looking almost new again, with a few hours of effort.

 

Do you mean these guys ??? Auto Custom Carpets (ACC)

https://www.accmats.com/commerce/199...ivic/Flooring/

 

No, that's not the one.

Here it is!

https://www.factoryinteriors.com/wn-...-coupe-160746/

There was one other site I had found as well that offered more colour choices. I'll see if I can fish that out of my browsing history!

 

Ordered the emergency parking brake cables, e-brake pin and clip, Chase Bays rear brake lines, Russell speed bleeders, new proportioning valve, and brake master cylinder. Hopefully this should be the end of the disc brake conversion and I can begin to start installation sometime after Thanksgiving. Total cost for conversion in 2024 with all brand new parts - ~$1300.

 

Got a buffer and decided to see what the paint could turn out like. Not bad but the paint is pretty toast.

Installed the steering wheel as well.

 

Nice. Pink is the new Black.

 

I agree! I think it's an undervalued color