Advise on "Restoring" 2000 Civic EX SDN

Greetings yall..

dang what happened to this forum.. it used to be MEGA poppin? granted I haven't been on here in years... but still, what happened to all the fast and the furious kids?

anyways, I have a 2000 Honda Civic sedan.. BONE STOCK!! still in pretty good condition... 98k miles on it..

so yeah its a bit old. things are starting to go... the battery dies if I don't use the car every month or so... its still the original honda OEM battery so no shock there..

also there is ABSOLUTELY NO pwer to this car.. I think my catalic converter or something in that area feel off.. it rumbes loud as h*LL as if i have an exhaust on it.. but i don't, not even a cold air intake...

lastly my original HONDA OEM tires might need replacing.. ok they do, they are 99% bald...

as you can tell i dont' drive the car much.. but would like to now..

so can anyone help an OLD young timer out?

1. whats the best battery to replace the OEM with? price, model, ect..

2. what the hizzy should I do about the exhaust system? Its not the muffler, thats practically brand new.. rumble sound, comes from almost directly under drivers seat...

3. Living in cold a$$ Wisconsin, wit fierce winters, what are some good all weather tires to replace the originals with?


Part of the reason I'm on this forum is for help and advice and so that if and when I have to take it in to a shop.. they mechanic's don't pull a fast one one..



all input and adviice is appreciated!

thanks in advance!

oNe

p.s. IF ANYONE can help out with this one.. it would be BEYOND appreciated.. I had some after market wheels on the ride.. 17" Team Dynamics Monza wheels in all white w/red trim.. well one of the wheels is cracked..so thats why the stocks are on there... what can I do? I tried googling for a replacement but Team Dynamic's Monza wheels time has passed.. I'm about 6 years into their discontinuation... any ideas, suggestion's....

Sean,

Glad to see I'm not the only one still into my '00 Civic EX. Mine is a coupe. It currently has 158K miles. In regards to upgrades, I started w/ an AEM cold air intake. Not sure how much they cost these days, but worth the price IMO. Go with the full cold air, not the short ram. Unless you're driving through snow drifts or something crazy like that in Wisc. In regards to your battery question, I just replaced my stock one about 3 months ago. Turns out it probably wasn't dead yet, but one less thing I have to worry about now. I went with the Duralast Gold from Autozone. Comes w/ an 8 year warranty for $89.99. You get 75 more cold cranking amps/95 more cranking amps and one more year of warranty over the regular Duralast battery for only $10 more. Plus, you can find an Autozone just about anywhere in case it gives you any trouble. Here's the battery http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/parts/partsShelf.jsp?displayName=Battery&itemId=prod61692&isSearchByPartNumber=&sortType=null&totalPages=[I@a86e28&currentPage=1&vehicleNValue=&navValue=16400175&parentId=cat30072&fromString=&fromWhere=null&filterByKeyWord=&categoryNValue=&categoryDisplayName=Starting+%26+Charging&_requestid=875679 As far as the exhaust goes, I'm not certain what that could be. Maybe a heat shield is loose or perhaps you have a hole in the exhaust somewhere. My exhaust is all stock also. As for tires, I just replaced my stock ones back in March. I went w/ the Hankook Optimo H727. They are classified as premium all-season passenger tires. They have a 100K mile treadwear mileage warranty. They also come w/ free road hazard warranty. Cost me about $330 out the door. Check out http://www.hankooktireusa.com/product/tire_detail.asp?pid=566 for all the info. I noticed you have 98K miles. The timing belt and water pump are supposed to be changed at 100K, so keep that in mind. If that timing belt breaks, you'll be looking at big $$ to get back on the road. I did mine myself a couple years ago. Also, keep the oil changed w/ good oil (I use Mobil 1 5W-30) and change the tranny fluid every 30K or so and it shouldn't let you down. Anyway, hope some of this helps you out. Good luck.

1) Sears diehard gold. We could probably argue which battery is the best till the cow comes home, but I had one in my old camaro for about 7 years until the alternator killed it.

2) The resonator/B-pipe section of the exhaust which is between the catalytic converter & muffler is probably rotted out. If you intend on keeping the car for a while go with an OEM part because Honda uses better steel. Also while you’re at it, get new bolts & 2 new gaskets. If you don’t intend on keeping the car for a while then just go to Midas/Meineke & they’ll do a pretty good job for a pretty good price.

3) I ride on Michelin Hydro-Edge (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=HydroEdge) which I absolutely love. But since you live in Wisconsin where winter snow is a huge issue I’ve got two words for you; Nokian tires (http://www.nokiantires.com/).

00 Ex Coupe here tooooooo....

1. for the battery just type '00 civic battery' in w/e serch engine and you'll have many options. You dont seem like you need an Optima battery so just go with something that meets OEM standards, something not too expensive.

2. I'm not sure what's up with your exhaust, actually I have no idea. If you wont get under the car to look at it then take it to a shop, tell them your issue, they'll lift it up see what's up and have you pay.

3. I cant help you with the tires since I live where it never snows... for now!

4. You mention there's absolutely no power in your car so this might help:
a. Cold Air Intake (CAI) (1 or 2 piece). Keep in mind the snow so you might be better off with a type called 'Short Ram' CAI. The filter is the most important so get yourself a cheap eBay CAI and replace the filter that comes w/ a trusted K&N filter. CAI will run about $32, filter.... there's so many, just make sure it fits the diameter of the CAI tube.
b. Aftermarket headers (exhaust manifold), you can get by buying a cheapy one. +/-$100
c. Catback exhaust. +/-$120
d. New spark plugs and wires if you havent changed them in a while.

If you search well you can get everything I mentioned for less than the prices I listed. You'll feel your car more responsive and it'll probably do better on gas too. Keep in mind that by changing your exhaust your car will be lauder, the CAI also raises the volume just a bit. Anyways, good luck man.

BTW, this is my very 1st post here in the Civic section, I'm a long time visitor and 'poster' of "automotive art" section.... I have a build thread on d-series.org but I might make it here too. I'm in the process of building my y8/y8 set-up so if any of you wanna follow my build LMK and I'll send you a link, or make it here too.