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I am a Toyota guru by trade (mods, swaps, tuning), but had my first Honda experience briefly a few years back when I bought an 03 EP3 and that was my daily for about 6 months before it was wrecked.

I picked up this EM2 by sheer chance. One of my customers had some sort of civic that broke down and was offering to sell it for $400. I normally disregard customers who have civics for sale because they usually are junk. I found out it was manual and 4 door, so I was now curious! 4 door manual is something that always something I love, no matter who makes it!

I paid the $400 without seeing the car. This was a gamble of course, but I figured what can I lose. If nothing else it could be a manual swap for someone with a 4 door automatic. I had it towed to me. To my surprise it was actually very original and somewhat clean. I hate when you get a car and it's already been ghetto modded to death. All original except a head unit and a k&n insert.

To my surprise, lots of parts had already been replaced. The AC unit, power steering unit, and the steering rack were all replaced. A new battery, new tires, and front brakes and rotors. The car had been in the family for years and was well taken care of. They also had recently painted the car. I was not familiar with EM2 at all, though a few people I have worked with had that generation. Sadly, the engine was done. It didn't even turn over.

I found a donor car with 60k original miles and had one of my network shops swap it over. The cost was $1000 for the engine and labor, with a new timing belt and water pump. I opted for a new OEM type exedy clutch as well just to be sure.

To my surprise after researching EM2, it is just like my old EP3 as far as platform! I had been looking for an EP3, but it might be fun to try and recreate my EP3 in a 4 door version. This is my daily, so MPG is key. Still, I want to see if I can do some small upgrades to make it handle and brake better without losing my precious gas mileage.

 
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What year and trim did you get? The EM2 is actually the Civic coupe, you have yourself an ES1.

EM2, ES1, EP3, and the Acura RSX all share basically the same platform. Lots of parts are interchangeable. Check out the suspension performance modifications section, there are some threads that specify what exactly can be swapped between the chassis.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...-modifications

If you're wanting to do some engine performance upgrades there is also a section for that!
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...-modifications

If you have any questions let us know! And welcome to the Honda gang

 
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Ha! I thought they were all EM2, sorry for the error.

Yes, i have the suspension swap planned.

This is a 4 door DX, base everything, manual everything. D17A1