Advice on 1st Integra?

[MaritimeGirl]

Hi everyone! I just bought my 1st integra today....'92 LS...black, 278km...in pretty solid shape. Needs fog light replaced, couple tiny surface rust spots fixed up...paid $1000 CDN. My question is, aside from the little things, my first thing is a nice new paint job...but after that? What would you recommend? I don't plan on huge engine mods just yet...just hoping to turn it back into a nice clean car...

Thanks for any help!!

Tanya

[Kirwan]

Blind leading the blind here... but I'll tell you what's on my list.

1. The first thing is to get it running really well. This all applies to pretty much any car:
- Tune it up; Sparkplugs, wires, Distributor Cap, Rotor.
- Set the timing
- Fuel Filter (surprisingly expensive)
- Run some 'injector cleaner' through the tank, or have the injectors pressure cleaned.
- Maybe do the 'sea-foam' job, which is supposed to clean up the valves
- oil change
- Flush the radiator/coolant system

Just these 'simple' things can make a big difference in how the car runs and feels.

2. If you don't know when the timing belt has been replaced, do it now. Bad, expensive things happen if it breaks. I think when you do this, you should check/replace the other belts, and maybe the water pump.

3. Tighten up the shifter - not sure what all this means.

4. Something on the air intake. At minimum, upgrade from the paper filter to an oiled cotton (K&N style) type. Consider a Cold Air intake, or other gizmo.

5. Make it nice on the inside - I don't know about you, but I'll be spending close to 2 hours a day in it, might as well be comfortable.
- cup holder
- stereo upgrades
- etc.

That's about it for me. The others here will talk about exhaust mods, chips and other 'go-fast' upgrades, but it's my opinon that Honda did a remarkable job of squeezing power out of these little engines, and it's unlikely that some gizmo is gonna produce any significant gains - and many can actually make it worse to drive.