Rep Power: 319

that **** looks clean man...u damn led maniac lol...keep up the awesome work!

 
Rep Power: 0

Hey man where did you get the plastic cover for the gauge cluster. I just bought a 2005 EX and noticed mine was all scratched up. Thanks

 
Rep Power: 813

ordered the oem honda one from www.hondaautomotiveparts.com i dont know how much it was, but its worth it. my used one came with a really crappy cover too. just make sure you order the right one. the new one for the led clusters is from 03-05 civic lx/ex.

 
Rep Power: 813

glow added. i put another 3 leds for each smaller ring. it was too bright at first so i dimmed them down to about 1/2 the brightness of the middle leds. you dont see as much light on the sides tho cause the rings are too far down to the bottom. i think it came out really nice tho, not overdone but just enough to light up the sides. and i still have the cool flare on top. they look much better in person and all the light is blended together.

 
Rep Power: 337

your car still looks brand new...my ASM SI is not....I don't have time to wash like I used to....

 
Rep Power: 813

what are you up to these days?

 
Rep Power: 314

Do they have the OEM metal door sills for the coupe?

 
Rep Power: 337

work and taking care of 3 month old baby....that's my routine....other than that I am doing great....

so what about you??

 
Rep Power: 813

looking for work, and a place to live eventually (different state wherever work is). it sucks cause im looking for positions in nearby states but its still gonna suck to go out there just for interviews. i have all this school to back me up and its still not easy to even get a reply back. these are not even hi paying jobs, just 30-40k range biology job. right now im looking at government jobs in colorado/wyoming/idaho. if i come up with nothing, ill look elsewhere. cali not an option anymore lol i could never live there.

door sills only for sedan, there are no coupes overseas in those countries.

 
Rep Power: 337

yeah, it's bad here too...many of my friends who are in fashion and design have no work....they all used to commute to NYC for 30 min bus drive...I suppose east coast is better than west when it comes to jobs...
I am thankful that I have a job with very solid company(Siemens)...but it won't be like this forever unless economy improves....
At least you guys have IN-N-OUT's....

 
Rep Power: 813

bumping cause i need to add a bunch of updates next week. for now, this will have to do. still need to reopen the retrofit, i have a ton of stuff to fix. but its holding together for now.

tyc chrome headlamps with valeo (audi a4) hid projector swap, fully adjustable up/down, led amber park and turn signal. catz zeta boosted H1 halogen hi beams (BRIGHT).



full nuts and bolts mounting, very sturdy, no cutting, all the oem boots fit back on, completely sealed, hardly shakes at all. brand new osram xenarc 4300k bulbs, they work best with this projector. i need to reopen and change front lenses with a new pair, fix the left/right aim a bit, fix passenger side cutoff, and rewire some stuff. too lazy, i have a list of 15 different problems lol.



pics of inside the catz zeta DC-DC upconverter. takes in car voltage and outputs a constant 14.8v for steady power and no dimming. stock output is at best 13.9v



also replaced rear endlinks with MOOG parts, no pics.

ripped out alpine deck, amp, and tweeters; replaced with 2001 DX stereo and lower pocket all oem. waiting for ipod 5G nano to go in with adapter next week. say hello to 15GB of music



next up i need to change trans fluid, spark plugs, and try to find oem exhaust or a silencer for my RSR. oh, i now have a set of 04-05 oem sedan tails installed (polarg 7443 lens type in the brakes, raybrig hyper bulb in the park, raybrig hyper in the reverse and signal). no pics. i can actually see when i reverse now lol. brake lights are stupid bright at night.

also had to fix my doorsills yet again! this time used a double layer of 3M tape. i doubt they will ever come off again.

 
Rep Power: 236

You gotta link to those tail bulbs?

 
Rep Power: 245

Gearbox,

Your car is very nice and clean : )

I am surprised that you went back to the OEM stereo. Is there a reason?

for me, I like OEM cd player because of classic look. But, I changed it because I wanted the HD Radio and more power to drive the speaker.

Before changing the HU, I used to use the OEM Radio to drive POLK DB650 in the front and it lacks power to drive it. if the OEM had more power I would be so happy.

 
Rep Power: 0

mileage? and why you going stock gearbox

 
Rep Power: 201

What kind of headlights are those? Would they fit on an 04 EX coupe?

 
Rep Power: 0

that sucks with the doorsills. Why did you decide to take out your system?

 
Rep Power: 206

Yo G, why the swap to stock DX? Have you considered a full nav screen stereo unit instead?

 
Rep Power: 813

i have ipod installed now, and it sounds awesome. lots of bass, good treble, even without amp and tweets. very happy and i have tons of songs to listen. and since deck is low power, i can listen to it with car off and not drain battery. the ipod adapter has alot of problems tho but i will post those in the other thread. i like factory deck for blending with the dash better and no chance of thieves breaking in. sound quality is amazing tho im very happy. may get new speakers again later cause the ones i have now are pretty beat up.

headlights are tyc brand, only fits 01-03 civic. car has 94k miles

special raybrig and polarg bulbs can be found at racinglab.com and eautoworks.com theyre expensive but worth it. im still on the first set since last year.

 
Rep Power: 0

i didn't think it was possible to get bored of a sound system, i guess after a while though its not worth keeping. did you end up selling those things or what? couldn't you just get an ipod wire? Headlights are sick! what would you recommend for hid bulbs for stock headlamps?

 
Rep Power: 813

not that i was bored, but amp is heavy and the aftermarket trim pieces all look terrible and saggy. this setup with stock deck is less tempting for thieves, and i still have good sound. try and get a retrofit done the right way instead of hid kit. check hidillusionz.com

 
Rep Power: 245

gearbox,

I found from the majestic honda website that the 04 civic's oem radio is made by Alpine. But they are all the ICs amp, I do not think we have much differences in quality anyway.

I really like the look of the OEM and the way I can adjust the treble and bass. I am not against the eq but i prefer those style better.

I plan to buy the Subaru subwoofer if I can find it less than $80. You can find it on eBay if you want to add softness to it ei ei. I posted subaru thread out in another thread.

Tons of projects out there but I have don't have much time

 
Rep Power: 813

yeah actually the dx fm deck i think is clarion, and the cd player is alpine. dx is 20w peak and ex is 30w peak wattage x4. but i like the larger display on the dx unit that shows both time and disc/track info. right now i want to stay away from adding too much weight otherwise i would go for the "spare tire" rsx bose sub.

more pics...hopefully better ones this week since im off work

dash, looks like too much orange now. cant believe these orange led dash lights are now almost 4 yrs old! made in 2006 and still going. the camera sucks this time, the dash lights are actually much darker orange like the radio but brighter.







front and rear park lights. the rears are really bright with upgrade bulbs. still have the 1w warm white plate leds.

 
Rep Power: 210

the car looks great gearbox! I remember seeing this thread when I first joined civicforums. I always thought that led floor lighting looked pretty sick. gonna do a little more research into that. I was thinking of having them set to come on the same time the dome light comes on (if set to door / if you turn it on). is that what you have, or do you only use those 2 switches? this probably goes in your ask me about diy version 2 thread, but do you know a place low to the floor that I can tap into this signal?

 
Rep Power: 813

its easiest to tap them to the 12v socket so they stay on when the car is running. dome light i was never able to find the wires unless you go right up to the bulb and wire it in there. im looking for something a bit better than the pods so for now theyre removed. maybe some expensive and reliable strips from radiantz.com that are low profile and brighter.

 
Rep Power: 210

I'll think about doing the socket but while I was at work, I researched them some more. mostly what the best way to wire them up would be. I'm thinking instead of the dome light thing, it would be better if they came on when I turned my headlights on except I'd also wire in a switch so I don't necessarily have to have them on every time I have my headlights on. Don't think i'll need them on during the day. do you know of a wire under the dash to tap into for this? I'm guessing I might be able to find one in the fuse box under the steering wheel. I was gonna go and test a bunch of them but it's dark now and I need to be up at 5:25 tomorrow so that is gonna have to wait till tomorrow after work. if you already know which one it is that would help. if not, that's cool I take a crack at it.

I was originally gonna buy some leds and wire them all up myself to make the pods but when I googled them, I found some cheap led strips for 1.80 a strip. 4 strips for less than 8 bucks, I figure why not? I'm guessing they might not be the greatest but at least i'll learn more about how i want to hook this all up. if they're real bad i'll just upgrade those later.

btw don't mean to thread jack on anything.

 
Rep Power: 210

also those leds on radiantz are crazy EXPENSIVE!

 
Rep Power: 813

yeah but they last forever and are super bright. cheap strips suck and are dim plus they fail all the time. ive tried some and threw away when leds started burning out a month later. i would wire some up, but i want a sealed design in case someone kicks it lol. the easiest way to wire would be the dash light wire that goes to the gauges. it is for the park lights tho and not the headlights, but maybe its not a big deal. i can try to find the wire but if i remember, its the red/blk one.

 
Rep Power: 210

thanks gearbox. I'll take a look when I get home from work.

+1

It's not letting me rep you. says i've gotta spread it around.

 
Rep Power: 210

btw, got that wiring done. just waiting on the LEDs to ship from hong kong. thanks for the inspiration to put them in.

 
Rep Power: 245

Gearbox,

very nice collection of pics