Help convince me

I have always told myself that I would never buy a civic. But in my search for something cheap with a large aftermarket and fun to drive i keep coming back to a 94-00 civic. I have looked at everything under the sun. Heres the basics I have roughly 6000 to buy a project car and build it with the remainder of the cash. Whats the Pros and cons to buying a civic with this in mind? How much is it to swap in a b16 or something of that nature can it be done for under 6000?

uhhh gas mileage. is a HUGE pro.

cons are, the ricer image it portrays.

uhhh gas mileage. is a HUGE pro.

cons are, the ricer image it portrays.first comment you put- very true
second comment- also very true lol :grinyes:
but on the real i did have a 1995 civic vtec and it was fun as hell to drive. never did any kind of engine swap on it so i really cant help you out there.

it depends do you want realiabity at all? cause the second gen eclipse is within that price range and i think it has a good aftermarket and you coulde get the gsx or atleast the gst one for 6k, with 210 horses you might be fine with that for a little bit to save up some more dough cause that engine will respond to just about anything.

Well i think about 5 of my friends have the swapped civic setup ranging from the EF chassis to the EK, IE 89-97. My favorite body style and to me the best for engine swaps would have to be the 96 and up hatchback/coupe. Only reason is the fact that you can put so many more engines in that any other year without a wiring headache, while the 92-95 chassis can accept the newer OBDII engines you can do conversions to get them to work.

To start the list
93 civic hatch with a b18b swap from a 96 integra he can snatch 1st-3rd gears and can keep them spinning up to 3rd. He ran a 14.8 the swap has cost him about $1k all together.

96 civic coupe with a gsr swap, stage 2 cams, skunk2 intake manifold header back exhaust, lowered, and 17"s with dunlop sp sport tires. His best run was a 13.6. He has beaten camaros, mustangs, many other imports, and a turbo civic.

Some of my other friends have gone with the ls/vtec swap. These cars weigh about 2000 lbs, and that in combo with 160-200 hp makes a fun car to drive. You can do a b16 swap for about 5k including the car and engine, as long as you know what your looking for, for the swap. It helps even more considering all my friends drive hondas so parts, engines and anything i pretty much need is at easy access. Only problem is im doing an accord and they do civics, fastest one in the area ran a 14.5 im planning on breaking low 13.s. Thers a lot of options and swaps for these little cars. ANd like you said the aftermarket is massive.

another con is that insurance on the civic is way more than pretty much every other compact and that SOHC civics are fairly slow.

By most standars yeah they arent cheap, but then again by a sport compact view, there not that bad. Since most of the cars come with the little sohc POS, they stay with that same idea my friends have with the v6 mustangs with bigger engines. 100-150 a month isnt bad. I payed 180 when i first started driving for liability on my corolla, my blazers went up to 190 and my civic was only 120 cause it was a cx. But there pros and cons to every car.