What should I do?
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
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Re: What should I do?
"what should I do?" is a really, REALLY vague question to ask regarding modifying a car. There are wayyyyy too many variables. Do you want looks, sound, speed, uber handling, happy medium? What are your tastes? What do you wanna see done with your car? Answer a few of those and we can steer you in the direction you wanna be headed.
I will offer this advice though: do stuff right the first time, even if that means spending more money up front. It'll save you more money in the long run. If you can't afford something, save up for it. Don't settle for mediocrity just because that's all you can afford at the moment.
I will offer this advice though: do stuff right the first time, even if that means spending more money up front. It'll save you more money in the long run. If you can't afford something, save up for it. Don't settle for mediocrity just because that's all you can afford at the moment.
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Joined: Apr 2012
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From: Eugene, Oregon
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Re: What should I do?
"what should I do?" is a really, REALLY vague question to ask regarding modifying a car. There are wayyyyy too many variables. Do you want looks, sound, speed, uber handling, happy medium? What are your tastes? What do you wanna see done with your car? Answer a few of those and we can steer you in the direction you wanna be headed.
I will offer this advice though: do stuff right the first time, even if that means spending more money up front. It'll save you more money in the long run. If you can't afford something, save up for it. Don't settle for mediocrity just because that's all you can afford at the moment.
I will offer this advice though: do stuff right the first time, even if that means spending more money up front. It'll save you more money in the long run. If you can't afford something, save up for it. Don't settle for mediocrity just because that's all you can afford at the moment.
I know it was very vague, my bad. I want looks. I like clean simple lookin cars, I want sound, I want speed. I am in to the blacked out look. I would like black rims, black headlight and tailight covers, black honda emblems. When it comes to engines, I dont know alot about them but I learn quick.
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From: Midwest
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You might as well leave the engine alone. There isn't much to gain unless you drop a K in or go boost. You can get some hp from a stage 1 cam but that's about it. Best thing to upgrade is suspension.
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: What should I do?
Pretty much hit the nail on the head with that one. 
The D17 doesn't respond well to bolt-ons, but you can rock one hell of a suspension setup. It responds well to a turbo, too, provided that you build and tune for it, though.. hahaha
And now that we got you saying what kinda stuff you want, we can start to help you out. You want the blacked out look, so an cheap, easy, DIY mod you can do is black out your headlights. It does take a bit of convincing yourself to bring yourself to remove your headlights and stick 'em in the oven, but it's not really hard to do. Much better than spending $100+ bucks to buy some "JDM Blacked Out" ebay headlights.
If you plan on getting rims, I'd recommend lowering you car first. **** tends to look silly when you got rims and some hella wheel gap. You have a few options when it comes to lowering your car. One, you can go the strut/spring route. Typically the cheapest route, and you can get a reliable setup for about 600-700. Downside is you can't adjust ****. Coilovers are your next option, and that'll run you $1000+.
That should give you a decent start. Other than that, search around, look at threads where people show off their cars to get some inspiration. Also, remember that your car is yours. You're always gonna find people hating your ****, but the only thing that matters is that you're happy with the stuff you've done to your car.
The D17 doesn't respond well to bolt-ons, but you can rock one hell of a suspension setup. It responds well to a turbo, too, provided that you build and tune for it, though.. hahaha
And now that we got you saying what kinda stuff you want, we can start to help you out. You want the blacked out look, so an cheap, easy, DIY mod you can do is black out your headlights. It does take a bit of convincing yourself to bring yourself to remove your headlights and stick 'em in the oven, but it's not really hard to do. Much better than spending $100+ bucks to buy some "JDM Blacked Out" ebay headlights.
If you plan on getting rims, I'd recommend lowering you car first. **** tends to look silly when you got rims and some hella wheel gap. You have a few options when it comes to lowering your car. One, you can go the strut/spring route. Typically the cheapest route, and you can get a reliable setup for about 600-700. Downside is you can't adjust ****. Coilovers are your next option, and that'll run you $1000+.
That should give you a decent start. Other than that, search around, look at threads where people show off their cars to get some inspiration. Also, remember that your car is yours. You're always gonna find people hating your ****, but the only thing that matters is that you're happy with the stuff you've done to your car.
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From: Eugene, Oregon
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So where do I start when it comes to the mod for the headlights? I bought some Plasti-dip and I'm gonna paint the Honda emblem. I'm debating if I should do the front emblem because the background is black.
I will prolly do the strut/spring route. How many inches do you recommend lowering it? Also I know you said a turbo, is there anything small things I can do to make it faster or is it pretty limited with the D17?
Thank you bro, I appreciate it.
I will prolly do the strut/spring route. How many inches do you recommend lowering it? Also I know you said a turbo, is there anything small things I can do to make it faster or is it pretty limited with the D17?
Thank you bro, I appreciate it.
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
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Your headlights, you can take 'em out and paint the bezel yourself. Requires removing the front bumper, but after you've done it a few times, it'll become second nature. I can have both headlights out in less than 10 minutes. HIDs are a viable option, too, but I'd recommend doing a retrofit if you're gonna go that route.
I don't know if I'd plasti-dip the emblems.. I can't quite picture how that would go. I took about 10 coats of Duplicolor Smoke Metal Cast to mine, and now I have kinda gunmetal emblems. I think it looks great with my dark blue background.
As far as engine goes.. I'm rocking an AEM V2 intake, full exhaust system, and a stage 1 cam. It's still kinda slow, but I still have fun with it. I guess I can get it tuned to see how much I can squeeze out of it, but that involves money I don't quite have. I was turbo'd for a while, but I did it on the super cheap, so I ended up taking that out a year later.
I don't know if I'd plasti-dip the emblems.. I can't quite picture how that would go. I took about 10 coats of Duplicolor Smoke Metal Cast to mine, and now I have kinda gunmetal emblems. I think it looks great with my dark blue background.
As far as engine goes.. I'm rocking an AEM V2 intake, full exhaust system, and a stage 1 cam. It's still kinda slow, but I still have fun with it. I guess I can get it tuned to see how much I can squeeze out of it, but that involves money I don't quite have. I was turbo'd for a while, but I did it on the super cheap, so I ended up taking that out a year later.
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From: Eugene, Oregon
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Sweet bro. Thanks again for the help. I'm a noob when it comes to this, but I have always been interested in Civics. Can you share some pics of the front back and side of your car?
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 21,620
Likes: 1,252
From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: What should I do?
No worries man. We've all been noobs before, and I'm more than willing to help people that actually listen to what I have to say instead of blowing me off.
In my sig, click the "Azumi" link (particularly posts 1 and 35) and the "Her Lights" link to see pics of my car
In my sig, click the "Azumi" link (particularly posts 1 and 35) and the "Her Lights" link to see pics of my car
