Word to the Wise

[1PhatCX]

I bought an 89 Civic CX Hatchback back in October 2002 for 700 bux CDN, i looked the car over very well, to me all that i could see was very little rust except driver side fender, speedo cable was busted and it needed alot of interior work. the car only had 230,000 kms on it and we took it for a test drive. my dad said it felt like it needs ball joints. alright thats fine, get it back there and rev it a few times... no smoke ok so i buy it. get it home and it starts smoking its now january... the cars sitting in my garage, engine finally apart, interior part done, rear drums off ready to be machined, and the whole front end is now perfect after a month of long nights in the garage doing body work. the car needs to be done by febuary or march so i can start driving it and it feels like it has a really long way to go, still gotta take the head to the shop to get new valve seals and get the valves machined or replaced if there burnt, gotta do the ball joints still (which i just found out that they cost alot of money because they some with the control arms too) gotta get the drums and rotors machined, and need to finish the body work from the doors back to the hatch and need to weld in new rocker panels and then finish the interior, I will have pics up ASAP. probably today, all i have to do is scan them. so i learned my lesson about buying my first car. i gotta look it over ALOT closer and take into account the mileage. but on the plus side it has brand new suspension, (APEX 180 mm lowering springs) and Ractive 5 inch muffler with a 4 inch tip (sounds awesome!) so just 2 let u guys know... dont make my mistake lol

[1PhatCX]

Well I said I'd Have Pics up today and here they are!
theres more on my website where i'm putting what I did on the car and what day and every time I get pics developed I upload them on there... i need to invest in a digi cam lol

[1PhatCX]

and heres a more recent pic with the bumper on.

[FourthGenHatch]

Why not just get a ZC engine instead, the D15B1 in that (I think thats the one) is a major 70hp pos engine. Get a ZC.

[marked001]

yeah..I was wondering the same thing.....why go through all the work to revice the stock 1.5l?

[FourthGenHatch]

Also do a rear disc swap on that, don't waste money fixing drum brakes.

[1PhatCX]

Well the thing is i dont excatly have enough money for a new motor, if i do anything i'm gonna get a b16a2 probably, i want a usdm engine after seeing how much trouble my buddy had with his car. he put a b16a (JDM) into his usdm car and has tons of problems so i'm goin usdm all the way. also i've heard things about the ZC not being a great engine to use... i dunno if its cuz the ppl who put it in screwed up or not so i dunno but i prefere usdm so i dont hafta get the jdm wire harness or anything. the engine in my car is the D15B2 so its got like 92 or 93 hp which is good for now but definately when i get the money and time i'm putting a new engine in. with the drums tho, i'm not spending money on them really, my buddy has access to some equipment so hes gonna do them for me for nothing or if worse comes to worse i'll get the auto shop teacher at my school to do them for free... either way it works out.

[FourthGenHatch]

Also do a rear disc swap on that, don't waste money fixing drum brakes.

[1PhatCX]

Like I said up there. Getting the Drums machined wont cost me anything cuz either my buddy will do them or the autoshop teacher

[91civichatch2571]

Is the CX a model that was sold in Canada or something? Sorry if its just a typo. Im pretty sure that wasnt an available model for the States. Is it basically the same thing as the DX since its got the B2 in it?

[slammed89civic]

the cx is the canadian std. no features, d15b1 engine 70bhp

[1PhatCX]

Yea the Cars a CX and yea its Canadian. the guy i bought it off of said its a CX but i dunno how to tell cuz all the emblems r gone but i know its a D15B2 because i checked the engine code on the block. if its a DX then thats better lol going a step up from the std model lol.

[Melt]

lookin good

[amy@af]

as i mentioned in another thread....it is really easy to convert your dx to close to a si. the only real difference is the Si has Multiport fuel injection (MPFI) and the tranny is geared for sport (dx geared for econo driving). yes the si has 0.1l more but that isn't the difference.

i got my sohc vtec d16y8 for $500. i hear avg. price is $500-900 since it's a 96-00 engine. you can also get a sohc vtec d16z6 for $250-500 92-95 Si/EX. you can either hook it up through a vtec controller (or rpm switch) or spend another $150 on p28 ECU and $150 on wiring conversion harness (or free if you rewire yourself)

the y8 and z6 works with your tranny however you might want to consider upgrading to si tranny while the engine is already out

[1PhatCX]

hmmm thanx for the advice... i'll consider it but i just wanna get the car running again so i can drive it in a bit. maybe next winter i'll do a D16 swap or if i have enough money....B16A2!!!!:sun: