Juanton

I'll start off by saying that this is my first car. I do not know much about about cars but I have always wanted to learn and i am extremely excited to jump on in. Let's start with what I got myself into.

I got a 2002 Honda Civic Ex coupe from my girlfriends cousin.
165K on the clock but replaced with an engine from LKQ with 119k on it.

Known Problems:
-passenger cv axle needs to be replaced
-Front right passenger side turning signal doesn't work
-trunk latch needs to be replaced
-there's no horn
-auto locks dont work (i think i need new actuators)
-has one wheel not matching

Here is the think like most college kids i am broke but i want to have fun with my car. I want to drive it and it be reliable but also when i look at it i want to like it.

a few things i want to do cosmetically:
-find a matching wheel
-possibly plastidip the wheels black along with the emblems as well
-i want a thule rack ( i snowboard and bike so its practical )
-possibly lower it ever so slightly
-and one last thing which i will explain next

I am assuming someone reading this will have seen mighty car mods. In there VW street cred video they "sticker bombed" there fender with glued on manga pages and i fell in love with the look. say what you want i thought it looked cool and i want to do that but to do that i want to find another fender for cheap so if i ever decide to sell the car i can switch it back out.

I do have a couple of questions after this long winded post

-How do i remove the license plate screw? the head popped off do i need to drill it out?

-Where would i find a cheap re-pop fender? really cheap.

-how do you attach the emblem on the front?
If you read this all thank you very much hope to get some feed back. Will be putting up pick in the AM.

Juanton

Got the CV axle going to be switching it out either tomorrow or Saturday morning

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

well, then.. looks like you have quite the journey ahead of you. The 7thgen is quite an easy car to work on. I started on this forum back in 2002 as an 18 year old that had no knowledge more than oil and brake pad changes. Within the past few years, I've changed headgaskets, timing belts, tore apart the engine and reassembled it, and fixed and entire corner's suspension due to an accident I had the day before Thanksgiving. Stick around, search around for help, and ask questions when you can't find the answer, and you'll learn a lot.

That said, the axle is an easy swap. A bit intrusive, as the ball joints can be a royal pain to separate, but you look confident enough in your skills. That said, I'll try to address some of your issues..

License plate screw: If you're talking about the front plate, it'll be super easy. Remove the bumper (something like 4 self-tapping screws and 10 or so bumper clips) and remove it from the back. If you're talking about the rear, you're probably better off drilling it out and using a screw extractor.

cheap fender? try a pick-a-part around your area. For instance, there's one here in Vegas that has a new-aftermarket parts section, and I got a new fender for $44. It's unpainted, but it's better than ~$200 new from a dealership or ~$140 + shipping from an online parts dealer (like hondaautomotiveparts.com, hondapartsunlimmited.com, or hondapartscheap.com). Maybe you'll luck out and be able to nab one in good condition off a junked civic.
A bit of a warning though, sticker bombing can get expensive. Auto-grade vinyl stickers, depending on size, can run you a good amount.

Reattaching the front emblem: If you still have it on hand, go to walmart, target, autozone, what have you, and pick up some double sided tape like this:

Cut some to line the back of it and stick the sucker back on. It should hold up well.
If you don't have the old emblem, buy a new one from one of the aforementioned parts dealer sites (or at a dealership), and it should have the adhesive on it, ready to go.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask

Juanton

thanks man ive helped someone do this on another car before so im pretty confident about it.

yeah i am going to have to do that. ill do it when i am doing the axle


A quick question though i bought this



should still use double sided or are there clips or something

Thanks for welcoming me to the forum!

Juanton

So here are some pictures of the car









I really cant stand that wheel not matching

Well that's it not much to it! will post my CV axle project when it comes time. Thanks for looking!

Juanton

Just finished up a little photo shopping



This is what im looking forward to. Plastidiping the wheels and chrome hood thing as well as getting rid of the white line
(probably have to repaint the whole thing.)



This is what i was talking about when i was referring to "sticker bombing" MCM style.

Now both with tinted headlights (is that right? )





opinions?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Welcome.

Those clips are for something but you will still need double sides tape.

Not a fan of tinted headlights or tail lights.

Juanton

Thank you! and same i like it better not tinted as well

Juanton

Finally got to do the CV axle replacement! and boy was that a bit more than i thought it would be but so satisfying that i did it myself!

Before I start for some reason the jacks I had were to tall so as unsafe as it was i only used the jack. I know it was stupid but I had to take a risk or two.



Jacked up



Wheel gone....oh god what did i get myself into!



Tools out lets get this migraine going!



I need to replace this. I really got stuck here couldnt take it out so instead....



I was really excited that i figured out to do i took out the bolts on top and it was all easy after that. sorry for lack of pictures i was really excited. ive never done auto work and i was doing it and yeah... big day for me



Out with the old...



... in with the new!

well thats all the pictures i put it back together before i took more was really excited and late for school but drives great feels so much better next project is that damn trunk latch gave me trouble when i was putting back the tools gave me a huge headache.

I really did enjoy doing this. cant wait to do more! Reminder i have never done this and all i know is from youtube and manuals!

see you guys next time!

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Glad to hear that you were able to replace it. It is always a nice feeling when you do something to your car.

That would be a ball joint that looks like it might be leaking, read this DIY:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...necessary.html

Juanton

Thanks for reading man!

looks like fun

Thats going to be my 3/4 project. I have to fix the trunk and then that (while plasti dipping the wheels)

Stock 99

Right on! It always feels great to wrench on your own vehicles in my opinion. Get some proper jackstands though...even just those couple pics were creeping me out.

Juanton

Tell me about it i felt really sketchy about it!

Juanton

Just plasti dipped a little

lookin gooooood





also will some one pleeeeassse help me and tell me what wheels these are i need one!

Juanton

just did the wheels

2001charmander

Congrats man. First cars are great, and you got one that's kinda cool to start with. It really is a shame you only have three of those wheels, cuz they look nice. Are they're any markings stamped on the back side. That might help you figure out the brand if you just want to try to find one more of the same.

also why not just sticker bomb your front pass side fender? it's already dinged up, just do you're best to get the dents out, our bondo any noticeable low spots, trow on a few coats of primer, and have at 'er. then when you sell the car, or get tired of the bombed look you can go get a nice new fender.

spoofee

Congrats! Looks great!