Road to a Stanced Civic

[5SpeedEJ6]

Here's my 1997 Honda Civic Sedan LX. When I bought it she was all riced out with some huge 17" rims, LED tail lights and some halo headlights. Now she's looking like this:













Here's a list of all the 'mods/upgrades' that she got

Exterior:
JDM Tail Lights (Acura EL corner)
JDM Type R Grill

Engine Upgrades (D16Y7):
AEM Short Ram Intake
OEM exhaust manifold, custom mid pipe, MagnaFlow catback.
MagnaCore Spark Plug Wires
Megan Racing Front Strut Bar

Suspension:
D2 "Super Lows" 14k & 8.5k spring rates front and back respectively.
Front Blackworks Camber Kit (Natural Camber)
Rear Backworks Camber Kit

Wheels:
ARE (American Racing Wheels) 16x7 4x114.3 (25mm 4x114.3 to 4x100 adapters)

Tires:
165/45/16 All Around

Audio:
Dual XDM7615 System (Not Good)
Dual 10" Pioneer TS-W2502D4
Pioneer GM-D9601 Amp
Front Dual XP65i 6.5" 2-Way Speakers

Interior:
Wink Mirror

[5SpeedEJ6]

Some new update pics. I bought front and rear lips but I haven't put the rear one on because my exhaust would melt it lol.
Next in line for sure are my fender/bumper quick release

[5SpeedEJ6]

Hey guys just some update pictures. I got my quick release on (thanks to my gf) and put some rice stickers in the back. All of those are currently gone except the ones on the rear window.

[5SpeedEJ6]

So I was searching through my computer and I actually found what my car looked like when I bought it (with my winter tires, and with my old rims set up).






It had really ricer tail lights (that's why I plasti dipped them until i got new ones)
Halo headlights (which were a bit ricey, and in winter the bulbs wouldn't turn on half of the times)
Big 17 inch rims (that didn't come with the car)

[5SpeedEJ6]

It's been a crazy long time since last time I posted, but now that I have time I figured I should pop back up. So on this update I have changed a couple of things around. Got some LoTek shortened struts (and kept my old coilover sleeves), and also painted my wheels white. The new shortened struts actually made the car sit a good amount lower (a little less than 2 inches), but since they are very low quality they blew in a couple of months lol. Since I got the for free it was a really nice and cheap way to lower my car, so I was happy. Here's some pictures

[5SpeedEJ6]

Here's a picture that someone took of my car at a local meet here in MN (Dopery Meet 2015).

[5SpeedEJ6]

Good news! I got a couple of goodies a couple of months after getting the (now blown) LoTek shortened struts. I got D2 Super Low coilovers and also picked up these American Racing Wheels for so cheap I couldn't say no. They are 16x7 w/ 165/45 tires on them, offset unknown since the back of the wheels don't say and I am using 25mm adapters from 4x100 to 4x114.3. The new D2 coilovers ride AWESOME. They go very low and are also dampening so I can adjust how stiff or soft it feels. During "low" season I ride on basically as stiff as they get, and during winter I soften em up. The new wheels look great from the side, but seem a little too for my taste. Anyways for the price they look great (I also painted them myself because they were in rough shape) and they are 16 instead of 15 so they raise my car a bit so I won't drag around 24/7.

[5SpeedEJ6]

Well long story short I got tired of seeing how the front sat significantly lower than the front. so I ended up messing with the preload to make it sit lower. NOTE TO SELF: this makes it ride super bouncy. I would not recommend doing this to anyone, it reminded me of how my old blown struts with the crappy coilover sleeves rode. I've also heard that taking off the preload will make your coilovers wear out faster.

[5SpeedEJ6]

In the meantime of all of these upgrades and new things coming around, I got a flat once (i ran over a screw). I'm happy that my tire did NOT debead and I happily drove home (stopping at 1 gas station on the way) to put some air in. I also bent one of my fenders (apparently at the Wendy's drive thru). I don't remember how, but I remember a faint burnt rubber smell driving back home from Wendy's that day. Here's some pictures

[5SpeedEJ6]

Can't wait to put these on (weather permitting since it's currently -5F here in MN).
These are MPC Ek Billet Drop Forks for those wondering what it is lol, it lowers the front suspension 2" without messing with coilovers, springs, etc. These will let me not mess with the pre load and still keep it as low as I used to have it.

[TWM Performance]

Looks good man! Love the progress.

- Renato

[Tate]

I love this. And those American Racing Wheels look minty

[5SpeedEJ6]

Looks good man! Love the progress.

- Renato

Thanks man, I've come a long way from the riced out car I bought lol. Funny story is I told myself I would never buy an EK sedan since I thought they were plain old ugly, but when I saw the post on craigslist before I bought it I saw a lot of potential.

I love this. And those American Racing Wheels look minty

You should have seen the wheels when I bought them from my friend. They were in rough shape to say the least lol. I "restored" them a bit (not all that much, just some prep work like sanding, primer, color). It's hard to see on the picture but the wheels had been painted twice before and they had no center caps.

[5SpeedEJ6]

A little key fitment back at the Minnesota Nissan Infinity meet (MNNi). Don't mind the rusty crappy quarter panel roll lol.

[Laef]

Haha I see what you meant now, cars looks good tho!