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Hello all,

My name is Brandon and you'll be hearing very much from me. I just got my civic bout 2 weeks ago. To make things short. I have a 2000 Civic, on the back it says EX but i dont have a Vtec so i look my parts up as a DX. i've already put in my jenson tv.

I'm looking into normal mods and a little bit more and heres my rundown.

Ebay intake kit and replace the filter with a K&N or Weapon R filter-Pipe/30-filter/25 to 50
Under drive pulley kit-$150
MSD cap and rotor kit-$40
MSD Wires$40-50
Top of the line NGK plugs-$4 each
Greddy or HKS muffler $75 maybe
HID conversion kit

So any info how any of these worked out for anybody let me know.

Thanks

 
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i would skip the pulley kit, they always cause problems.

 
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do you plan on doing a swap? if so which one.

 
Rep Power: 290

In my opinion you should pass up the "performance upgrades." Its a civic. Accept it and take pride in knowing you'll have reliability and great gas mileage past 200k miles. Start doing the little things to make it more comfortable like sound deadening and what not.

 
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No swapping...i like the engine thats in there now. i just wanted the engine to run much smoother with the pulley kit. i know people that had success with them. i do know the stock muffler is getting swapped.

i'll feel comfortable after i get the intake in...i'm not into looks or sounds...the only sounds mod i wanted to do putting in my TV thats accompanied by my Zune.

 
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i think ud be happy to know that ex's do have vtech's they dont have any b16 but there are know to have the d series v techs!

 
Rep Power: 266

I agree with lordhelmet. Why in the world are you jumping on the moding bandwagon before truly experiencing the car in stock config? What's the hurry? I've had my DX for over 3 years now and although I covered all the major problems (except for trany) I still have some minor things to do. And if I were a moder, I wouldn't be wasting my money on mods before the car is restored to like-new stock condition. The ability to restore a car is the first test in my opinion, because if you cannot do that then I wouldn't want to see you playing with mods.

 
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some people prefer to enjoy mods and track time rather than waste money restoring a car that's constantly depreciating in value. i guarantee you i'd get more money for my civic with the rusted rear quarter panels then you'd get for the car in your sig, simply because i can remove all the performance parts and sell them individually for more money total than i'd get back for anything that stays with the civic upon sale.

Spiffy, you're on the wrong track. if you truly wanna get the most out of your no-tec single cam for cheap, get an ebay header ($40-80) and upgrade the rest of the exhaust piping to no more than 2". then source a d16y8 or d16z6 intake manifold from a junkyard, replace the retarded y7 manifold with it (i'm guessing you have the d16y7) then torque down the throttlebody and slap on some pipe with a filter and you will have some gain you'll actually be able to feel. there's a mag (i forget which) that did a before & after dyno and freed up 15hp by doing the above.

as for the other stuff, well, most of it is useless. CHECK your plugs before buying new ones. if they're healthy then new ones wont do you ****. neither will a new ignition system. hell, a new battery will do you more favours. the muffler choice is a bit extreme too... i mean, greddy and HKS are two of the most expensive brands you can pick from and it wont sound better than a flowmaster if the rest of the exhaust stays stock. not to mention HKS and greddy were played out back in 1999. get a nice vibrant piece, they're affordable and sound tight with the right exhaust.

i can tell you're on the path to ricing out your car when your shopping list of first mods is a collective of random **** from the top priced brands (yeah, you get what you pay for... but often parts aren't worth what you get.) i didn't even buy my civic until i worked out a decent mod list and i still regret some of the parts i've spent money on.

having a plan is really crucial when it comes to modding because most parts that you replace will need supporting parts replaced, shop labour (eg. for exhaust work you need a welder) and it all adds up to serious dough. so have a plan before you start; drive around and decide what you feel is lacking in your car before you go and start buying things. you might learn that you want to improve things that you haven't considered, and set some projects on the backburner until you get research done and know all that you need to so that you can complete a project and not feel like you'll need to return to it later and change things.

and blah blah blah, you get the point. be smart or you'll really wish you had just held onto your money for things you might enjoy more.

 
Rep Power: 290

What about your parts depreciating in value? Not to mention the extra money you spent to buy the parts on top of the cost of the car.

 
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weird i dont have that problem mainly because i found deals on all my parts brand new.

go me lol

 
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general rule is you get 1/2 of what you paid when you sell old parts. like if you bought an aem v2 intake for $250, good luck selling it used for anything more than 125.

 
Rep Power: 266

You're right, but he really gave me the impression that he just bought a car and now he's going to rice it out because it's instant-cool even though the vast majority of moders create botch-jobs. And even botch-jobs are socially accepted these days which says a lot about our decayed society.

You mentioned a header replacement for the D16Y7. I've got a cracked manifold which is integrated to the cat, and I've been having a hard time figuring out a cheap solution for this thing, because on a D16Y8 the header is 1-piece and the cat is under the car. Honda really screwed over us LX/DX owners with that "manicat" because a proper OEM replacement runs in the hundreds. New? Around 400. And the thing will break again because it's cast iron.

So maybe you can give me some specifics on what I should do. Adding a Y8 or Z6 minifold leaves a gap where the cat used to be. Filling that gap with a new down-pipe still leaves the cat issue. And setting the problem of the cat aside for a second, would I need to weld anything? Also, the Y8 and Z6 manifolds are cast iron if i'm not mistaken which should be avoided like a cheap hooker with std's. A proper steel (stainless or carbon?) minifold is manditory because I only want to fix it once.

And as for the exaust, what do you mean by "a nice vibrant piece?" Is that a brand? Questions, questions...

 
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Damn give a homefrie a chance. I know i threw a list of name brand stuff out there but it was just for research. Since my previous post I've done more research and spent a more time with my car and realized a few things i wanted to mod. I will continue with the intake (for which is in my trunk), a cat back exhaust and headers. I know a place where i can get drilled and slotted rotors for $100 a pair, with lifetime warranty. A rear disc conversion because i truly dislike changing shoes and i plan on getting rims. I hate looking at drums thru a rims, especially when someone just sprayed some paint on them. A set of reverse glow gauges, i love that 3D look.

 
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Hello people, its been awhile and I've had time to see how the car rides and take in the pride of a car that go well over 200k in miles while still getting superb gas mileage.

Recently i have become a little frustrated at my car. Its too slow, since my last posting I've installed a eBay intake with a k&n filter in mind once the current gets old/dried up. After doing the research on exhaust systems, a Flowmaster is what suits me best, that's why I have a super 44 Flowmaster sitting in the trunk. Along with the super 44 is the drilled slotted rotors i spoke of before. I just recently bought some Hawk performance brakes from Pep Boys for $23, because they said they're a clearance item.

Besides what i have now, my next purchase may be new headers. That may be it from there, but I'm still pondering a auto to manual swap. I read a post on what i need to do it.

Anybody have anymore ideas to improve performance that doesn't require a motor swap?

 
Rep Power: 290

First off. Header. Not headers.

I think auto transmissions really hold these cars back. I feel like I'm driving a slush box when I drive an auto civic. Doing a manual swap would be beneficial to the fun factor of the car. You should realize that short of throwing a turbo or supercharger on your car isn't going to be especially fast.

 
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leave it stock. your only going to lean it out and burn it out faster for nothing. secondly, dont waste your money on ignition. D series stock ignition systems are proven to 400hp so dont waste your money. if your serious about performance dump that engine or mini me swap and turbo it.

 
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About all I can tell you is enjoy the gas mileage you get out of that engine. That's just my 2 cents worth but really, I don't see the point in making it 10 or 20% faster, and not to be a naysayer.

Basically I say keep it clean and enjoy it while it lasts.

 
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I understand where your coming from. I sort of kept it clean ( i added a cold air intake). I love the $15 dollars of gas every two weeks, but as a car enthusiast, i have a thirst to improve my cars performance and suspension. How can I enjoy a car when i'm not satisfied with the stock options but spend about $1k to make everything better. Asking me to keep it clean is like giving me a 97 turbo Supra and asking me to stay below the speed limit.