This is my new car. I got it in Maryland off of eBay. The winning bid was $2225. This car was a total piece of shit. On eBay it looked great and the seller even said it ran great. It had 184K miles on it. When I got there to pick it up, it was burning a great deal of oil. The engine bay was very dirty and had oil all over the place. It looked like the owner forgot to put the oil cap back on several times. The body paint was horrific. The rear fender wells were rusted and covered over by the horrible paint job. It was like white primer. It had no gloss in it at all. The interior was covered in white cat hair and the radio was barely audible for the ride home. The seats had a lot of wear in them and the driver side had a large hole in the bolster. The steering wheel and airbag badly showed a lot of wear is was very ugly.
So I negotiate a little and get refunded $500 for smoking engine. On the ride home, I add 4 quarts of oil throughout the 400 mile trip. Unfortunately, it didn't make it that far. About 40 miles away from home, the engine knocked and blew a large hole in the front of the block. Months later of arguing with the seller, I tow the car home from the shop it was towed to and fix the car in my garage.
I found an engine and transmission from a 94 Civic Si locally for $500. It had a Centerforce clutch, adjustable cam gear, AEM pulleys and a polished valve cover. None of the extras I cared for so I sold whatever I could. I got $130 for the clutch and pulleys. I swapped out the engine and transmission and get it all running only to find that the transmission I bought was grinding shifting up to third gear. So I get a measly $75 refund for the grinding transmission that will cost close to $200 to replace. Overall, I still ended up with a good deal.
Here is the original engine from the Civic. Notice how dirty it is and how much grease and oil is on it. Also, you can see the large hole in the lower right from when the engine blew up.
Here is the new engine installed into the Civic. Notice how much cleaner it is than the original. I've given it a complete tune up also. New fuel filter, plugs, wires, etc. I also removed the resonator and was too lazy to put it back on. I added factory style fog lights, and I tried my hardest to make the wiring look factory. I changed all the engine ground cables to much larger gauge high quality OFC power cable. The cables were black to keep them factory looking. I added shifter bushings and a water temp gauge from my CRX because the one in the car had a needle broken off. The sensor was tapped into the engine and the wiring was covered in black hose. It looks like it belongs there. Only thing that looks out of place in the engine bay is the red power cable and fuse for the amplifiers in the rear.
The driver side axle boot was ripped and the passenger side boot was fairly stiff from the age. So instead of fixing all four boots, I got a brand new set off of eBay. These are new, not remanufactured. I paid only $73 shipped for both of them.
The Civic DX does not come with factory sway bars. So I added a set of Suspension Techniques front and rear sway bars. The front is 22mm and the rear is 19mm which is on the big side. They come with new polyurethane bushings and grease. I used the 95 Acura Integra GSR wheels from my CRX for the winter also.
In the interior, the Civic is Navy blue which to most people is ugly. I actually like it, but my interior was just nasty. I bought another blue steering wheel and air bag in flawless condition to replace the badly worn ones. The front seats were replaced by Del Sol seats with a blue stripe. They look great and have more side support than the civics. The audio setup is the same as the CRX except the 6x9 Infinity Kappas were replaced by 6.5" two-ways, that are also Kappas. The 5.25" Infinity Kappa components were moved to the back, and the 6.5" were installed in the front with spacers. The DX does not come with provisions for rear speakers. I cut my blank panels and bolted on the speakers from behind. I covered them with grill cloth and they look perfect. I put the tweeter on the panel also. I also took the 135 amp alternator from the CRX. I finished off the interior with a new set of factory blue floor mats. Overall, I am very please with the way the interior looks.
I've picked up a transmission locally for $125. It looks to be in good condition.
I've changed my mind on the Suspension Techniques sway bars. It turns out that I have a variety of option in factory sway bars from any 94 - 01 Acura Integra or 92-95 Civic equipped with a sway bar. The front bar ranges from 21 mm to 24 mm and the rear bar choices range from 13mm to 22mm. What was required was a set of lower control arms from the sway bar equipped Civic or Integra. I ended up buying a complete Integra type-R front sway bar and lower control arms for a total of $135 shipped. This front sway bar measures at 24mm.
The rear sway bar is also from an Integra type-R. I obtained the rear for $75 shipped. I also bought the rear lower control arms with a complete rear disc brake swap for $263 shipped. I added Energy suspension bushings to the rear sway bar also as seen in the pictures.
The brakes are from an Integra GSR. I bought a set of Axis Ultimate brake pads for the front and rear for $91, and also a set of Russell stainless steel brake lines. The brake master cylinder and 1" brake booster is also for an Integra GSR. The proportioning valve is from a 94 Civic Si. The totals for the brakes and sway bars are:
$90 Master cylinder and Brake booster
$30 Proportioning valve
$98 Russell stainless steel brake lines
$91 Axis Ultimate front and rear
$46 Front rotors
$152 GSR front brakes
$263 GSR rear disc brakes with lower control arms
$75 Rear sway bar
$139 Front sway bar and lower control arms
$11 Energy suspension bushings
The end result of the brake and sway bar upgrade is a huge difference. The car makes turns with significantly less body roll and the brakes feel significantly stiffer compared to the original.
I have bough some used Tokico Illumina shocks for all for corners and some coilover sleeves. To go with the coilovers are Eibach ERS springs.
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