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Okay, so firstly this is my first time ever using a forum and secondly this is my first Honda and first project CAR. I also don't really have any friends in this community either and I'm kinda stuck
So long story short I bought a **** box. I wanted a civic because I heard they were cheap and fun to build so I thought it would be a good start. I went with this particular one because I liked the body over all the others (Except a 2nd gen CRX but....yea no)
I bought it for dirt cheap and with a mechanics background thought it was gonna be easy to figure out...boy was I wrong. So the D16y8 it comes with blew. They replaced it with a D16y7 and a shitty cold air intake. It's missing all the power steering and A/C components and it needs the brake lines replaced. Gear box shifts fine, and the interior/suspension isn't bad besides that. I got a new y8 wiring harness and it's mostly hooked up (Besides what the y7 doesn't have like a knock sensor and Vtec and parts I'm missing like power steering). But now the speed sensor won't stay in place.
I have heard the car start but it had a bad surge from two years of sitting dead gas. It may have a vacuum leak but I doubt it.
I guess ultimately I'm asking is this car worth keeping anymore? How likely is it that 300 dollars will fix it. Will 500 be enough to get it to start smooth. I've got someone intrested in the shell. Should I just sell this and start with something cleaner? Help and experience is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Edit: I guess ultimately I'd like to drive this thing as soon as possible for as cheap as possible. Later down the line, I want to replace and restore and upgrade the way I did with my truck but it's an automatic and I missed driving standard. This feels like a mistake so far, but I guess I just need some hope lol. Or if anyone has a diagnostic list I could try to find out if it's cooked, I know how to do a great deal, I just don't know where to start.

 
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If you're using it as a project car, also assuming you have an EK hatch from your username, I'd rock that, tbh. It's a great chassis with a lot of options for engines and go-fast parts. If you're looking to stick with the the y7 or even swap in a y8, or even look into a mini-me swap (y8 head on y7 block) to make your y8 wiring harness do what it does best.

If I were you, I'd get it to a reliably running state, then look into a B16 swap. Hell, maybe even a B18 swap. If you're going that far into it, a MT swap wouldn't be too far out of reach since you'd be doing tranny swaps, too

edit: some extra stuff.

 
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I've looked into the mini-me swap. Same block but I've heard Vtec is a bit overrated on a SOHC. The engine swap is a no brainer, and I've heard the Bseries is the way to go. I was kinda hoping to daily it for a month or two just to see if I like it first. Any common issues to look for or is the saying true that these things survive abuse after abuse and it just takes one part at a time?

 
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mini me swap, seeing reports of avg 15-20whp gain. That's pretty significant when the y7 is making sub 100whp

 
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Oh absolutely man, y7 is booty hole garbage, no doubt about that. But y8 compared to like a built B series? This is kinda my let loose and experiment car. I've helped my friends do crazy **** but this is the first time I am so I'm just trying to think absolute endgame and whether this car is worth taking there. But ya got my gears spinning, I'm thinking about it now

 
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Holy **** my dude, I can't stop laughing at that. Please for the love of god stick around this forum.​​​​ I like your style

No comparison. Stock B16 puts out 160bhp. Mini me/stock Y8 will be 125bhp. Get that ratchet Y7 reliably running so you can still use it as a daily while you stockpile B-swap parts


never touched on the subject. Whatcha mean by the VSS doesn't stay in place? As far as finding vacuum leaks, find a dude with a cloud chasing vape. Not too difficult in this day and age. I've done that before. Works wonders for finding leaks without spending cash or having to rent a smoke machine.

edit: also looked into it. To make it run without throwing codes, you may want to look into finding a cheap y7 ecu. The y8 ecu will be looking for sensors it's not gonna find and throw codes because of it

 
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Haha, thanks man. Maybe one day I'll be helping the next generation of **** box boys b-series swap their civics. But as for the VSS, it's the right pigtail and everything and it seems like it slides into place but it doesn't seem to snap in the way the other sensors do. I can't figure it out. So it comes loose every time I shift to 2nd. And as for the vape, I'll hit up a friend of mine who ironically drives a subie...

 
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When you say "start with something cleaner", does that mean the body is rough? As a mechanic like yourself would know, it's always better to build off a cleaner body because the mechanical part is easy. I agree that the EK platform is awesome, but there's no point sinking a bunch of money into something that'll slowly dissolve.

 
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Sounds like a broken tab on the sensor pigtail or the wiring harness pigtail. Since you replaced with a brand new wiring harness, I'm willing to bet sensor side

edit: either that or a slightly different connector, just enough to make it not click in place

 
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My 1999 started misfiring and our friendly neighborhood mechanic said "I'm not fixing your car! You fix it! Get it out of here right now!"

It turned out that my spark plug wires, which were a little over a year old, looked perfect, and passed the resistance test, were somehow bad. I tried all kinds of recommendations that I found on-line, including smoke-testing the vacuum system, and finally swapped the cables from my Civic, which turned out to be bad, but definitely worked better.

I made my own smoker with:
1/4" clear hose
A $1 jar of pickles
A cheap washcloth
Mineral oil
A Bic pen
A $3 soldering iron.
And epoxy

I drilled a 1/2" hole in the middle of the lid, two 1/4" holes, threw out the pickles, rinsed and dried the jar, stuffed the rag in the jar, filled it with oil, epoxied the soldering iron with the iron in the rag and oil, and epoxied parts of the pen in the smaller holes. I connected the hose to one part of the pen and the bike pump to the other, plugged in the soldering iron, and when the jar got all smoky I attached the tube to the vacuum system and started pumping.

Nothing came out because my problem was elsewhere, but it should have made it easy to find leaks.

 
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I guess just something a little less history. This car seems like a lot of short cuts were taken and it's honestly taken soo much away from the potential the car actually had. It's my fault for not looking into it as much because it was family but yeah I agree. I'm glad I'm not alone

 
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I totally get it. If you're looking to really build this thing up, you'll need the right platform to start on. Something you may or may not have considered is the Integra platform. I had one for a little while (purely to flip) but that to date has been the most fun car I've owned to drive. It's been the best handling FWD car I've ever been in and it already comes with the B-series in it. Just get one without the sunroof if you're even average height. I'm 6'0 and my head hit the roof lol

I guess I should clarify. I’m suggesting the integra if you can’t find a good civic.