91 Civic Hatch Atlanta Newbie Questions

I've recently acquired a one owner 1991 Honda Civic with 117,000 miles. It is in good shape and I need to know what basic things I should check and repair on it before anything goes wrong. Here are the stats I have on the car and pics..

2HGED6342MH593746
Canda
Honda
Passenger Car built in USA/Canada
Hatchback, 1.5L
2-Door Hatchback, Manual
STD Hatchback (1988-92)
1991
Alliston, Canada

http://www.vigils.net/users/christopher/images/cars/honda/91civic

As you can see the car is totally stock, the paint is peeling from a front end repair where the hood had to be repainted.

I am not interested in having a flashy car, but I would like it to not look like an old piece of junk.

The immediate things I was interested in changing, fixing, and repairing are as follows, please let me know how, where and who I should contact to get make these improvements:

1) The seats need to be fixed or repaired. I would really like to have some fitted seats, maybe leather, but not racing seats, just seats so that I don't slide around.

2) Floor mats and most likely carpet, maybe convert from the blue to black

3) Body kit to make it look modern and subsequently a paint job in order to fix hood paint damage and to unite the body kit with the car.

4) replace the wheels with cheap, but decent looking wheels, not to flashy, just nice

5) I will install the audio components that I currently have in my Isuzu Rodeo LS. (speakers should fit)

Are they any highly suggested cheap repairs, things I can do, to fix the car up?

I know nothing about this engine and it would nice to think about doing something down the road to make it perform better, but I don't want to be racing it or anything. I have a good knowledge of cars and have worked on many cars, but no body work.

Thanks,
Christopher Vigil
www.vigils.net/users/christopher

I can't wait to rip into this car!

Peace,
Christopher Vigil

I know I am a newbie, but can someone at least direct me to some other posts that answer these questions?

Any ideas?

CV

U can probably find a decent interior somewhere, from maybe a wrecked car, the Si interior looks best, and will swap directly (if its from the same year)...

As for body kit, I personally dont like them too much... Except for a few in particular, the Mugen styled kit for the EF Civic/CRXs... Its subtle, and dosnt yell "HEY LOOK AT ME!", but its an upgraded look... Theres also the JDM EF9 front end conversion, which I personally would do if I had a EF hatch instead of the CRX...

As for wheels, theres plenty of decent OEM wheels that were released on various Hondas/Acuras that are both cheap, and look great... The Integra LS meshie wheels are my personal fav... But if u dont want OEM wheels, theres also Rota which is a company that has many different designs they 'borrow' from more expensive companies wheels... They arent too flashy, and go with the JDM styled theme very well...


As for performance, id personally swap the engine to atleast an Si engine, or do a DPFI to MPFI swap and an Si tranny...

How horrible is my 1.5L engine compared to an SI? What is the engine number? What about the reliability of my engine? Is it a pretty easy swap?

Are there any pics of a stock SI interior around?

What about power locks, windows, seats?

Peace,
Christopher Vigil

Thanks for helping me out..

How horrible is my 1.5L engine compared to an SI? What is the engine number? What about the reliability of my engine? Is it a pretty easy swap?

Are there any pics of a stock SI interior around?

What about power locks, windows, seats?

Peace,
Christopher Vigil

Thanks for helping me out..


no power seats, but you can use power locks and windows from other civics. look for the 4 door EX civic, it has power windows that you can swap over.

your engine is about as reliable as they come, it wont break for anything. the Si engine is similar, its the d16a6, but it is a 1.6 liter with multipoint fuel injection instead of dual point fuel injection.

do a search on here, and you can find all sorts of answers for all of your questions.

How horrible is my 1.5L engine compared to an SI? What is the engine number? What about the reliability of my engine? Is it a pretty easy swap?

Are there any pics of a stock SI interior around?

What about power locks, windows, seats?

Peace,
Christopher Vigil

Thanks for helping me out..

The D15B1 you have in the Civic STD, isnt exactly horrible... As the previous post says, its a very reliable engine... Its just not very performance oriented... Its more for economy... Its 70HP... Gets 33 MPG around town, 37 MPG HWY... Where as the Si engine (D16A6) is a tad more on the performance side... With 108HP, gets 21 MPG around town, and 33 HWY... And its got alot of potential, because of a decent aftermarket support... As for the swap, its a direct bolt in, but you will have to wire MPFI (since u have DPFI) currently... DPFI or dual point fuel injection means u have only 2 injectors for all 4 cylinders, MPFI or multipoint fuel injection gives u 2 more injectors, one for all 4 cylinders... As u can imagine, this is more efficient where power is concerned...

Heres a few write ups on the MPFI swap...

http://www.angelfire.com/d20/hcivic88/4gtech.html

http://www.geocities.com/teampimports/fuelinj.html

http://www.geocities.com/c_rexboy/mpfi.html

As for interior, I dont have any pics handy... The EX is the only model equipped with power windows and locks... So if you want those features look to that, they only come in 4 doors tho, so the back seat and panels and stuff wont fit exact and would need modifying... On the other hand, u can get a SPAL kit, which I have on CRX Si, and it gives you power windows... I love mine! Will work on any car with manual windows...

Guys thanks for the help... I have been searching for the costs on these upgrades..

Do you gusy have any estimated cost to upgrade the engine?

Will the SI interior bolt in easily?

Should i consider upgrading the tranny for now and maybe do they engine upgrade down the road?

CV

Prices vary, since the engines and parts are used... But u can probably get a D16A6 for about $400-$500, possibly with a tranny... Just gotta find someone with an Si who wants to swap in a more powerful engine...

Id probably do the MPFI swap first, and then the tranny... I think ud see more performance from that... And then get a full swap down the road...

Thanks for all the help guys..