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Yo, you can call me Isso. I purchased an 01 Civic LX about a month back. I bought it cash for $6200 (I refuse to finance), and I am glad I found this site, as I have a lot of questions! I got the car for just under KBB value at 50k miles in better than fair condition, except for the required, expected maintenance that comes with all cars.

You can check out some of the pics of my car below. I mainly got the car for good fuel economy and its sleek look. All I have now is exterior pics, but the interior is flawless, not a rip or tear to my knowledge. My previous car was a 5 spd Mazda MX-6, which I enjoyed a lot, but I am ready to enjoy this one now!

Anyways, I am currently at the rate of doing one maintenance job/upgrade per week. So far I have had the radiator flushed, as the fluid was pure antifreeze when i bought it off craigslist. I had an alignment done, front right wheel bearing replaced, oil change and cleaned the cabin air filters. The transmission fluid appears a light pinkish color, which the mechanic told me was a good sign.

The car came with some unknown custom alarm that sounds like a dead duck trying to get its last quack in. It also doesn't operate that well, and has caused my battery to die on a few occasions. I ordered a Viper Responder 350, which I plan to have installed shortly after I receive it. I need a decent alarm because I work in the city with lots of bums and thieves.

 
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I accidentally submitted my post before I was finished and couldn't figure out how to go back and do it over lol. Sorry! Anyways, here are the pics of my new/old whip!!!

 
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Looks good! Are you planning on modding it?

 
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Thanks!

I plan on modding it to a certain extent. I would like to get a different set of wheels, as these have some cosmetic and perhaps some performance damage, because my car is still drifting slightly to the left even after the alignment. My car knowledge is minimal at best, so I'm not quite sure what it could be. The previous owner of the car was a female and her driving skills show by all the scrapes on the wheels.

I also would like to get a body kit and new paint job down the road, along with getting it lowered. I am assuming all of that will run me near $5,000 if I want it done right. I'm looking into getting some head/taillights as well as a carbon fiber hood for it. I'm not quite sure what I can mod engine wise, but I am trying to maintain a good MPG ratio for this car. Right now I am getting about 35 mpg or so, give or take a few and I mostly drive on highway.

I do have a quick question though, something that I would like to get fixed as soon as possible.

Do you have any idea what a noise coming from the engine is when I rev up to high RPM? The pitch gets higher as the RPMs rise up and it sounds like a whistle. I've done some searching, but still not sure. I haven't noticed any slipping in the transmission, but the whistle only does it around 4000 RPMs and up when I am trying to gun it in traffic or something.

Thanks again!

 
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Welcome aboard.

 
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Welcome, try not to rice it out too much with body kits, 7th gen dont look good with body kits

 
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thanks all. what would you recommend doing to it, instead of a body kit? i think some of them look pretty cool.

 
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A whistling noise at high RPMS you say? You might want want to check and see if the car has a short ram or cold air intake as they tend to make a lot more noise than a stock intake. Great looking car by the way! I recommend a lip kit instead of a body kit. It's cheaper and looks better. Plus, body kits get damaged too easilly.

 
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+1 on the lip kit, side skirts with a lip kit looks much better than a body kit and thats a 1/3 of the price. Thats coming from someone who used to have one of the most popular 7th gen kits.

 
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cool, thanks for all the feedback! i will definitely research into all the options and possibilities. i like the 1/3 of the price idea!

anybody know of a good way to get leaves out of the cabin filter area? i think i have some in there and it is making a little ticking sound when i turn the a/c or heat on, like there is some brush or pine straw or some type of leaf in there. i pulled the filters back out and made sure nothing was in them, they are fairly new, still with a white color. the ticking sound still remains at random intervals. i was hoping for an easy way to get the extra crap out of the bottom without having to take everything apart. any ideas?

P.S. - i attached some more pics of the ride after I cleaned it today! hope everyone has a good weekend!

 
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Yeah, lip and skirts look awesome on 7th gen

btw, did you detail your car? Paint looks in excellent condition!

Make sure nothing is in your blower motor, thats the thing under your cabin filters, if you reach your hand in there (but be careful, people have been known to find carcasses in there!)

 
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Looks good... take a picture of the engine bay !

 
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thanks! i did a quick wash, scrub, wax at a local DIY car wash earlier today. it was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees out so i decided i would give it a run. the paint is in fair condition, a few nicks and dings here and there, but they don't show up because the pics are from my low res cell phone.

i plan on having it detailed with a professional wax job sometime soon. the previous owner did a poor job buffing it so you can see several swirl marks embedded in the paint. people tell me a high quality detail job will remove them.

i intend on restoring the paint or getting a new color down the road, but it is definitely manageable as of now.

i will take pics of the engine tomorrow, and maybe i can get some tips on how to clean it or make it look better lol.

until next time - peace!

 
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Looks good man. I didnt think i would like the black on black with the wheels, but withthe chrome lip it look pretty good.

 
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thanks man. i never thought i would like black on black either, but i agree the chrome lip really does set it off. i think it gives it a nice accent. i will replace the wheels down the road because of their cosmetic damage, but i am looking for something similar to the ones i have now. maybe 5 larger spokes instead of 10 small. might keep the black with chrome lip style though, i'm feelin it!

 
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Sweet don't worry too much about the paint. Paint jobs are expensive to do properly and changing colors is never recommended because to do it properly is ridiculously expensive ( to paint firewall. etc.) It would drive me crazy to open the hood and see black when the car is blue! Just keep it buffed and it should be enough. The car does look great.

 
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you make a good point on the paint job. maybe ill get some touch up work done and keep it black to stay on the cheaper side. i'm not balling that hard, yet...

here are some pics of the engine bay. nothing extraordinary or special. you can see my crappy alarm though. it really sounds terrible, but i have a new alarm coming in the mail so that thing will be GONE!

any tips, suggestions or critical observations are welcomed! thanks!

 
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Please don't put boykit! Just lip kit will do fine and slam that baby it will look good all the way..

 
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lol ok! i will take your advice and definitely look into a lip kit! know of any good web sites to look for them?

 
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Ebay is the best place to buy a lip, it's just a peice of molded plastic so just get the cheapest one you can find.

 
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what do you think about this front lip? comes with a grill as well for only $32 + shipping. are grills hard to install yourself?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02...item53e63de025

 
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Or they have a front/rear combo for about $53 + shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-03-HONDA-CIVIC-2D-2DR-LX-EX-T-R-FRONT-REAR-LIP-KIT-/380307076357?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &fits=Year%3A2001|Make%3AHonda|Model%3ACivic&hash= item588c117505

 
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Grills are super easy to install yourself.

 
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finally got my alarm installed and replaced the old crappy one that didn't work with a viper 350. its pretty nice and was worth the money.

i also had the horn replaced as it didnt work and i replaced the stock tail lights with some different ones which only took me about 30 min. to install. here are some pics!

i am probably going to get a grill, head lights and lip kit next! then probably get in dash dvd player after all that.... saving the more expensive upgrades for last.