Hi, I'm Derek and I've been on 8th for awhile, and finally decided to make a build thread for the car I have always wanted. There's a bit of a story, read if you'd like, and please comment.
I've always loved imports, and my Dad was the one who got me into them. When I was a little kid he had a 1985 Toyota MR2, and I thought that was one of the coolest cars since it was a mid-engine, and we would always go for spirited drives. Eventually the head gasket blew on it and my Dad sold it, and I still miss it. I love the later generation MR2, it has that baby Ferrari look to it. However, he later bought a brand new 2003 AP1 Honda S2000. I instantly fell in love with it, especially when we'd hit VTEC!. If you'd like see for yourself. http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/water...s2000-fly.html And with that car, I thought it was one of the coolest cars ever, the styling, all the thought put into the design, everything. It's definitely one of my favorites, and definitely got me hooked on Honda's. It sure is a shame it's not in production anymore.
Well for my first car, I really wanted an EP3 Civic Si, or an early EK/EG hatch, or an EM1 Coupe Si. My Dad wanted me to have a Scion tC. I just wasn't into them. I loved Honda's. My mom convinced my Dad on the Civic si. And later my Dad convinced me on a newer model, that would get me through high school, college, and to my first job (not that an older one wouldn't, there's a reason why Honda's are bullet-proof). I remember wanting an FA5, but in a two door (but there are no such) so I settled with an FG2. We went to the dealer and picked up a 2006 Night Hawk Black Pearl Pre-owned-Certified Honda Civic Si with 64k miles for a pretty decent price (Because it had been in a small accident but "repaired" as I would later see. But we made a mistake: Never buy a car in the rain, especially a black one.
Day after we brought it home
I couldn't wait to start building it and fixing it, as it had been smoked in (We couldn't tell at first because of the air freshener the dealer used). The next day I saw the damage. The rocker panel had been dented, probably from hitting a concrete island as it's a low car, the paint cracking underneath the clear coat (probably from not been taking care of, or a shi!@y respray done after a small accident) clear coat spot on the roof, misaligned fender and hood, also the headlights had been cleared... which led them to fog up. And O.K. paint overall. As well as some interior burn marks from cigarettes that I didn't notice, and some scratches. But not to sound ungrateful, I am very grateful and lucky to have a car that I've always wanted, and to build. I couldn't be luckier.
The first modification my Dad and I did was change the wheels and tires. I actually really like the stock wheels, but they have been curbed (Later on I think I'll get them painted or powder coated black with a red lip. It also had crap "Fuzion" summer tires with nails in them.
We ordered off of Tire Rack Enkei Klamp's 17x45 in flat black with a red lip. I liked them because they were similar to stock. And Continental DWS Extreme all season performance tires.
After that I wanted to change the exhaust. I didn't want anything too loud, but had a nice sound to it. At first I looked at Tanabe Medallion exhausts, but bought an HFP muffler. It still wasn't quite as loud as I wanted it to be. Then we took it to an exhaust shop and got the main resonator (there are two) taken off and slightly larger piping added. Now it sounds a lot better and there is absolutely no drone to it. I guess we basically made it into a cat back exhaust.
Then I bought a K&N Cold air intake as well as an extra dust shield cover for it.
Then I bought some JDM emblems and installed them onto the front and rear.
Some interior pieces were scratched like the door handle covers, and shifter bezel. I bought some 3M Carbon fiber Di-Noc vinyl and wrapped the pieces. As well as the E-brake handle.
Before
After
I also bought a REAL leather shift boot with red stitching from Redlinegoods.com and was very happy with it. I had to take the staples off of the plastic ring and re-staple it.
The gear box was sloppy, and I had trouble shifting into third and fifith. So I got a Mugen Quickshifter. It is so much better, definitely a must for every 8th gen. I'm looking to put in some Hybrid Racing base and cable bushings to better it further.
And then put some OEM all weather floor mats in. I liked the idea of weather-tech. Just not the price.
Also some LED map and rear dome lights. Later on I'll buy the bigger one's off of iJDMtoy.com
Then in February, someone backed into my car... :( After I had just cleaned it. I had the window down and the driver mirror shattered all in the interior and made a mess. The driver side door was all dented and bashed. Luckily the window did not break and my Dad and I had to take the door panel off and hit the dent out as best as we could to raise the window. Prior to this, we bought the HFP lip kit and were going to put it over the dented rocker panel to hide it. But since we were already going to fix and re-spray the rocker panel and hood, we decided to just re-spray the whole car while we were at it. Everything got fixed- all the small dings, the door gapping (since the rocker panel had been dented) the paint, and the windshield weather stripping (it looks as if the prior owner super glued it on...? :facepalm:) I took it to Chesapeake auto body and collision. The body technician did a pretty good job fixing all the dents (as he was getting into it he noticed something fell on the roof; a small tree, something. All these imperfections scared me)But the paint- looked as if some parts had been done unprofessionally. There are many paint bubbles, thick spots, and imperfections from crappy painting. And on the fender edges, A-pillar edges, hood edges, rear quarter panel edges, are scratched from where they just threw it together. I think I got my money's worth on the body work.... but not the paint. Especially after I had to take it back to get primer lines fixed, and glue wet sanded off the car, as well as sound deadening put back in the door. They also took off my JDM emblems and threw them away... I had to wait for the paint to cure before any waxing, let alone having to buy a new rear emblem. All in all, the paint looks a lot better than before.
Betty's first coat of wax
For my birthday my mother bought me a new license plate holder that says "Civic Si" and some matching Si screws for it.
Well that's about it.... For now. I plan on doing a retrofit, HFP suspension, red stitching the steering wheel, :vtec:putting on my HFP lip kit, paint the brake calipers, JDM steering wheel emblem, fog lights, interior LED courtesy lights, painting the manifold cover, red powder coating the valve cover, a header, throttle body, fuel rail, the fun never ends! :vtec: