Civicnoobie

Pic from few months ago after wax job. Youll have to save pic to your desktop and open it to get a much closer view.



I actually dont mind the grill but if it was black it would look better and add some contrast to the front. If I could I would just plastidip the grill but cant get it here in canada.

Whats the difference between retrofits and complete halo projectors? I notice the retrofits are 2.5x the price. Technically i dont mind the look of the stock headlight housing, my left one is brand new from last year when i had the car in the shop from someone backing into me. Its got literally no condensation or chips on it. Right looks good too (did the toothpaste method) but find it fogs up quickly after and dont know how to seal the light after doing the abrasion on it. Otherwise the toothpaste works really good.

Most body kits I see on ebay dont even ship to Canada, but for all 4 pieces looking at min. $400 shipped.

Fog lights i probably will get, only $60 shipped on ebay.

rjones7755

Just order the plasti-dip on amazon...do they not ship to canada?

The pre-made projector headlights on ebay suck...they usually have worse light output than stock. A true retrofit will use a quality projector and will have better light output, cleaner cutoff etc.

I have the same issue with my headlights. I know someone on here will reccomend a very expensive plastic sealer (cant remember who lol) you could also buy these and they would probably do the same job (only get clear)-
http://www.lamin-x.com/Honda-Civic-0...ers-p/h010.htm

johndeerebones

Get some rubbing compound, NOT the polish, rubbing. Way more abrasive and easily takes the protectant that smokes up off by hand, don't need a buffer. It takes it off, so you have to put protectant on it or it will smoke up again. I wax mine every few months or so and re rub as needed. The compound is 6 or 7 bucks here in the states. Just watch the nearby paint, it is some pretty mean stuff. It is reddish brown, the white stuff is polish, it will do it too, but will take forever by hand.

I got the ebay fogs, they look like OEMS unless you get up close and see how they are mounted. Install was pretty easy too.

m3gach33zy

2.5x the price? Since you've got HIDs already I think you can use those and just get the morimoto minis for 120.

I'd stay away from that headlight film stuff, just take the headlight apart and just spray paint the housing. Also, if you want a new grill why not grab one of these guys:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/180579590377...ht_3853wt_1139

Civicnoobie

I thought about plasti-dipping, hoping itll last and wont have to reapply to often.

Right now for the headlight, after using toothpaste ive just been using wax to protect it. This is of course just on the right one, since the left is brand new and has no fog.

Where do you get rubbing compound? Body shop? Canadian tire?

Didnt know if my H4 in now would be compatible.

Im too scared to take the headlight apart to black it out haha, I know its bad.



But can I ask what you guys think of my car now? be honest....I know it looks generic and blah. ive gotten compliments on the rims before. I know you cant see them all that well from there.

johndeerebones

You can get the compound a most parts stores. Don't know if autozone has the heavy stuff though. Don't know what stores you have up there.

m3gach33zy

I'm not entirely sure either, as I have yet to do my own retrofit. The HID and retrofitting section on here has some decent info. Also, the majority of people who retrofit look like they do the 01-03 headlight moreso than the 04-05 so you should be able to get plenty of help
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...s-retrofitting

Honestly I was pretty afraid to do it as well, so I met up another member on here who lives near me and he helped me heat it up to take it apart. Just make sure you don't turn the oven on too hot or you'll just melt the headlight. As for resealing it, he just used some type of silicone you can pick up at home depot, and it's kept my headlights nice and sealed.

The only thing that I found to be troublesome was taking off the bumper and getting the headlights out of the car. Sounds dumb, but I didn't know where a lot of the screws and tabs were to take it off, but now that I know it's a snap.

I think your car looks pretty good. Rims aren't my taste, but to each his own. Definitely could use a retrofit/BOH facelift to look more awesome.

Civicnoobie

Ill give them a call, and will have to find out how to seal the headlight after cause the UV coat will be stripped. The toothpaste method actually works great and I put wax on after...but you have to do this like every few months cause I havent found a way to put the UV coat back on.

Heres a better view of the rims, they look odd from that angle. This is from last summer, minus the red caps in the centre. I took those off and its back to the original Konig logos in the centre.

Too bad no members on here live near me, I would invite them over so we could do this. Ill have to get in touch with my car friends and see if theyre up for this. I know a guy who could easily install the retrofit, its just whether or not i want to spend $200. Im trying to find pics of any members with 01-03 silver civics with black grill and see how they look.

Im gonna order the black grill and fog lights to start.

m3gach33zy

I actually like the red center caps lol. This angle does give them better justice, not bad. IMO this guy knows what our car should look like lol:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...ld-thread.html

Civicnoobie

I was just playing around with it when I painted the calipers and drums last summer and red was too kiddy so went back to the Konig silver and black caps.

Should I get clear or yellow fog lights? After seeing Muirsys car yellow looks quite good. If I could get my car to look like his i would but $$$. Im guessing when its installed, the fog lights go on with the DRLs?

EDIT: I ordered Yelloe fogs. Gives the silver car some contrast and stands out more than clear. Plus I read that it cuts through fog better and has better visibility than clear.

After seeing Muirsys grill, he has a silver one too...I actually dont mind the silver grill I have, IF I could get rid of the chrome lip on the hood and the red Honda logo that Muirsy has would look great!

m3gach33zy

Good idea to paint that stuff though, just find the color scheme you like. Little touches like that will add some character

I like the clear ones with black trim cause it kinda matches the BOH for my car. The yellow ones are pretty nice though.

I've come to love the 04-05 sedan grill on a coupe I think it looks awesomely natural. I'll probably pick up the one I linked you and just install it since it doesn't come pre painted I'll put some pics up when I get around to it so you can check it out.

Dunno how that chrome lip attaches, but I'm guessing it doesn't just pull off? lol. You can get those red symbols for pretty cheap on ebay

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

car looks clean to me. nothing wrong with it

Max91

This one is Nighthawk. Before I put the RS grill on it, I painted the stock grill and hood lip with Duplicolor Trim paint. It looked real good. On that silver, I think I'd paint the grill but not the hood lip.

rjones7755

I would do the front end exactly like that civicnoobie^

Civicnoobie

I like that grill, its just too bad you have to take off the front bumper just to get to it.

Max I dont know if ill bother painting it, too much work and its going to come off anyways.

My calipers and drum paint is already coming off after 14 months and i dont know if ill go through the hassle again of repainting them. Its too much hassle. And my buddy and i prepped them very well and used caliper paint. We spent like a whole day on them. I think the winters here are too harsh for stuff like htat too last past a year so im just waiting for the rest of the paint to come off and i wont bother with it again.

EDIT: I actually might just plastidip my current grill. Went on ebay and for the RS grill its $45 shipped, plus a new emblem $25 shipped. So looking at $70 min, and then install.

Found out Home hardware here that sells plastidip so i might go try that route. Been reading online about people plastidiping their grills and apparently it lasts and rock chips dont even rip if, just bounces off. And if i dont like it i can remove it and like $10 wasted as opposed to $70+ install.

Hey Gearbox, you never told me on why you think FRS are BRZ are overrated? Just curious

m3gach33zy

They say you should take off the front bumper to put the grill on, but you might not have to. Mine went on without having to take the bumper off.

rjones7755

Idk why you dont wanna take the bumber off, its really easy. Just dont bend it at all or it will crack your paint.

Civicnoobie

Im scared

Really? So you just popped the hood and the grill snaps out? How is it held, clips to the bumper?

m3gach33zy

Basically. I just had to find where all the clips were.

Civicnoobie

Hmm ok, ill think about it. Either that or I plastidip it or leave it as is. After staring at the car today from the front for about an hour while sitting in Subway eating lunch, I actually dont mind the stock grill, its just more so the whole shape of the car that makes it look outdated to me ha. Walking from the back or staring at it from the back or front is the angles I hate. From the sides, I dont mind. Civic has a wierd conehead type shape from the front where it gets narrower towards the top.

Im gonna put the fogs in when I get them and go from there. Maybe get a can of plastidip tommorow and try it out and see how I like it. Been looking online for the past hours, lots of poeple having success plastidiping their grills. For the front end I think the one thing that would have the biggest impact is retrofit but theyre expensive.

And for the car as a whole, lips would have the single biggest effect.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

ive taken my bumper off maybe 50 times lol. it still barely goes into place altho the clips are pretty loose. just do it in the summer, near impossible to crack it then.

rjones7755

Haha if i had a dollar for every time ive taken off a trim/body panel....

Yeah try plastidipping the grill first since you can peel it off....make sure to mask off behind it so you dont get it in the radiator and all over the engine bay.

Civicnoobie

I just finished plastidiping, holy its a lot of work. Took me 30mins just to mask everything. I put on 5 coats. It looks really good! Everything with dry time it took me 4 hrs good lord. I hope this stuff lasts

rjones7755

Pictures.....

Civicnoobie

Theres an edge along the top of the grill when you pop the hood you can see it. But I ran it to the very end so no silver shows. I hope over time its not going to roll itself apart. We have really bad -35 winters here so im anxious on whether it will hold up. Im pretty happy with it though, the black gives the front some contrast cause before was too much silver and it takes some attention away from the shape of the car.

And the chrome lip actually looks good now. I might even plastidip that too, i bet itll look even better.

Another thing is, when i looked into sliding newspaper behind the grill for the rad its impossible, no way itll go in. But when I sprayed i did it from a 45 degree angle so none would get in the rad. I might take a flashlight later to the rad to double check. The only way is if you were to stuff paper towel in between the holes from the outside but it would be a major pain to get out after.

As you can see i did this in a very dead home hardware parking lot at the very back. Didnt want anyone seeing me do it. "hey look at that guy working on this crappy outdated looking 01 civic" I really wish i had a garage to do such like this in.

rjones7755

Woah that actually made it look a lot better...great job

Civicnoobie

I really wanted to put newspaper in front of the rad but i should be ok eh? When i did the front edges of the grill, i had to angle bit more down shooting up but i think the way the grill bars are angled, its pretty tight.

If I got like few tiny specs im guessing it would melt off?

And I still havent debadged the civic emblem from the back. You dont think itll look odd? Dont want people telling me, hey what happened to your civic logo or did someone steal it?

rjones7755

Yeah you're probably fine i wouldnt worry about it too much. If you'r car starts running hot maybe check it out

Civicnoobie

Ive been having a little bit more confidence with the car since doing it black.

Actually thought about blacking out the civic emblem at the back but figured with it black on silver, it would make it stand out more which is not what i want.

Civicnoobie

I just got my fog lights and didnt come with manual and the video on their site is too new to me so i have to get someone to install it for me.

I dont even know how how cut the plastic compartments for the lights on the lower bumper? With exacto knife? How do i know where exactly to cut?

Also before installing them, any way to make sure theyre properly sealed first? Would hate to install then find out theyre not and have to take off and put in oven.