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New member here. My brother sold this to me last month -- he was the original owner since new. He moved to Ireland about 5 years ago, but kept the Civic for when he returned to the U.S., but hasn't been back much in the last couple of years so figured it was time to let it go. He wanted me to have it, so he gave me a very good price -- 1000 bucks.
I didn't really need another car; I also have an '03 Honda Element EX AWD and a 2018 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack, but I thought what the heck, it's only a grand, why not. The car was very well maintained and despite all the sitting it did the last 5 years it runs excellent. It has 167k miles. I just had the oil changed, synthetic Mobil 1 as that's what my brother always used. I've put about 1000 miles on it so far and it hasn't used any oil so that's a great sign. The clutch feels great despite being original (my brother drove the car like a grandpa) and the transmission still feels crisp with no popouts or other issues. It had new struts put on about 3 years/2k miles ago so that's one expense I won't have to deal with. There's no rust anywhere on the body, but the steel wheels have some surface rust. The Honda dealer that changed the oil gave the car a thorough inspection and seemed surprised that it didn't have any oil leaks anywhere. The only thing they noted was a cracked windshield and old, worn-out tires.
The timing belt was changed 64k miles ago, but that was in '06, so I'm getting the timing belt, tensioner, other belts and water pump changed in a couple of weeks. Also the valve cover gasket and some other seals that came with the timing kit (all OEM) that I purchased. Also going to have a valve inspection/adjustment done, and change the spark plugs as they are also 14 years old and changed with timing belt in '06. I almost hesitate to get the work done as it runs so strong as is, but I know the car will easily go another 160k miles if those things are done. I also picked up some sweet, nice condition 16" rims I'm going to put on it as the current tires are old Cooper winter tires -- the fronts aren't too bad, but the rears are older and starting to dry rot. Anyways, the 16s are from an '02 Miata. All the specs will work with the Civic, except I'm going to have to get the center bore reamed 2mm to fit the Civic hub.
A couple of common 7th gen issues have been addressed. The headliner was sagging at both ends so I re-glued and tightened it up, and also replaced the sun visors with nice used ones as they were falling apart. Of course the gas cap cable doesn't work at the interior lever so I have to open it through the trunk. I'm aware there's a fix kit available so I may fix that at some point down the road. The clutch pedal was squeeking so I lubed it with some white lithium grease and that seems to have cured it. I spent about 10 hours cleaning the paint (cleaner wax) and interior and it turned out great. Seeing other 7th gen Civics out on the road has made me realize what nice condition this car is in.
My first car in 1981 was a '77 Honda Civic so I guess I've come full circle. This is the 4th Civic I've owned and I'm really having a lot of fun with it. Also been a while since I've had a manual transmission and I'd forgotten how great they are. I've always loved Honda shifters. Anyways, pictures below!
So a small update on my 'project' Civic. I had the timing kit, tensioner, water pump, spark plugs, valve cover gasket and a couple of others seals, along with a valve adjust done last week. I thought the car ran well before, but now it runs fantastic, is also much smoother through the mid-range, which I suppose is a result of adjusting the valves, possibly also the new spark plugs. As an aside, all the work was performed by a Honda master tech who works at the local Honda dealer, but moonlights on the weekend out of his home shop. He charges half what the dealer does for labor so I'm thankful to have such a good connection to a very competent mechanic. All he asks is that you supply the parts. He charged me $250 for all of the above work which I think is a bargain.
It turns out that the oil pan gasket is leaking, and I also have a cracked exhaust manifold, so those are getting replaced over the weekend. I went with a Dorman exhaust manifold/cat. converter as the OEM one would cost more than I paid for the car. The Dorman manifold/cat usually runs in the $350-400 range, but I snagged one on ebay for $70 bucks. The seller was some lady who sold antique knick-knacks and what not so I suppose she didn't know what they usually cost, and I'm not sure how she ended up with it, but whatever, I got a hell of a deal on it -- free shipping too!
I'm having the Miata wheels mounted with new tires on Friday, and am really looking forward to ditching the 14" steelies and their crusty winter tires. I had the Miata wheel center bores reamed 2mm so they will fit the car now. I am eagerly waiting to try the new tire/wheel combo to see what effect it has on the ride/handling of the car; hopefully it will be as good as I expect. I've thought about mildy lowering the car, but ground clearance can be at a premium sometimes in the winter here in the Dakotas so not sure if I'll go that route.
Anyways, there's your update, and I'll report back once I have this other work done.
Last edited by maxeymum; Jan 27, 2021 at 12:20 PM.
Thanks, NDNV. As I said in my original post, I didn't really need another car, but with what I paid for it, and the possibility of gas prices continuing to rise, this will turn into my go-to fuel saver. It is costing me a fair amount of money to get all the maintenance up to speed, but the goal is to make is as everyday dependable as my '03 Element is. But this will get almost twice the gas mileage the Element gets, not to mention will be a lot more fun to toss around.
I finally got the Miata wheels mounted on Friday; they went on and balanced with the new tires with no issues. I think they have really improved the looks of the car. As you can see in the last picture they sit quite flush with the fenders, better than I expected they would.
OP you seem to have Tom Brady type luck. Is your wife or girlfriend a supermodel too?
Haha, I wish! Sometimes even average joe gets a little lucky! But if I were really lucky, I wouldn't have a cheap bastard for a brother and he would've ordered an LX or EX.
True, and I could live without power windows, locks and mirrors, but sure do wish it had cruise control for the wide open spaces where I live. It's just one of those conveniences that once you've had it, it's hard to do without. Heck, I even have factory cruise control on my motorcycle! But oh well, as they say, it is what it is.
So a quick little update on the Civic. I might not have mentioned it earlier, but when I bought the car it came with the rack pictured below. It was the heart of winter so I took it off to save a little wind resistance and cabin noise. I got a wild hair this week and put it back on. I can only use one of the trays as is for my gravel bike, but with some fat bike adaptor gizmos I should be able to use both trays for my plus and fat bikes. I think it looks pretty good with the red trays.
The rear drum brakes, front hubs and calipers were pretty rusty, so I took the time to treat the rear drum and front hub/caliper with some POR 15 metal-ready and POR 15 silver paint. I painted the calipers in POR 15 black. I thought about going red, but thought it might look kind of weird since there are no calipers in the back to paint; I've seen drums painted red, but just think it's too much -- not to mention, I don't want to really draw any extra attention to the rear drums, haha. Now all I really have left to do is a new windshield, and maybe get a few little dents and dings repaired, but none bother me too much so not in any real hurry for now. Anyways, pictures:
