SteelbluesleepR : 2002 Honda Civic SI

[steelbluesleepR]

New daily driver by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr
(I apologize for the TERRIBLE picture, it's been too cold to clean it properly and do a shoot with it.)

Engine:
Ebay short ram intake
Ebay 4-1 header
AEM coil cover
Rotten mounts

Transmission:
grinds third
doesn't go into 4th
quickly dying clutch
Destroyed mount

Supension:
broken

Brakes:
Suck

Interior:
filthy

Exterior:
missing fog lights
cracked bumper
dented hood
dented door
scratched paint

Audio:
Dual cheap ass head unit
pile of speaker wire in the hatch

Future plans:
Fix it
Clean it
Maintenance
Lower it (maybe, long ways off)
Wheels/tires of some sort
Install a better head unit
Fill it with camera equipment and VTAK to gigs

[steelbluesleepR]

I loved my truck, a 99 Tacoma 4x4, for the 6 years I had it up until the day it left me stranded waiting on a tow truck when I was on the way to work a very important gig. I sold that bitch (it's going to Africa!) and started looking for a reliable, fun daily that can hold all of my camera gear. Well here's my new daily driver to replace it!

It's a Nighthawk Black Pearl 2002 Civic Si that is in terrible condition. It runs and drives, but it complains about it constantly. It won't go into 4th gear, grinds third sometimes, and the clutch sucks. The suspension is shot, the brakes are DONE, and the engine/trans mounts all need to be replaced. The interior is completely filthy because the guy lived on a dirt road and it seems like he never rolled the windows up. Speaking of the windows, they are both slightly off the track and need to be looked at. The steering wheel is 45 degrees to the left when in a straight line, and the tires are at about 40% wear. Oh, and the left side mirror glass is gone.

Luckily I bought it for just $1400!

I fucking love how it sounds, and everything on it is an easy fix. I've already ordered a trans mount, a clutch, and mirror glass. When I have it out for the clutch, I'm going to crack open the transmission and see what the issue is. If it's just a bent shift fork like I think it is, it's about $55 from Majestic Honda. If it's any worse than that, I found a whole trans for $500 on Ebay with a warranty. I've already started to clean the interior, but it is currently 7 degrees outside, so fuck that for now.

First thing next week, I'm going to change the oil, put new wipers on it, fill the wiper fluid, give it a bath, shampoo the interior, and install the new mirror glass. Just doing that is going to make this thing feel like a new car.

[oneoffaccord]

i say its a good pick up, some others might not think so. I feel that if alot of shit needs replacement, replace them with better parts. They are easy to fix, the brakes and suspension are the same as a base rsx and civic ex. Only thing that will suck will be the trans, that damn subframe will have to be droppped. I say while the trans is out take out the motor as well. Drop both at the same time and do the timing chain, tensioner guides and so on. It makes things so much easier in the long run.

[ol blue]

Pretty nice car for $1400 I would say. These cars aren't cheap where I am from.

[steelbluesleepR]

Thanks guys! I'm happy with her.

i say its a good pick up, some others might not think so. I feel that if alot of shit needs replacement, replace them with better parts. They are easy to fix, the brakes and suspension are the same as a base rsx and civic ex. Only thing that will suck will be the trans, that damn subframe will have to be droppped. I say while the trans is out take out the motor as well. Drop both at the same time and do the timing chain, tensioner guides and so on. It makes things so much easier in the long run.

Thanks for the information. Dropping the subframe isn't that big of a deal, half of my group of friends are techs at various dealerships, mostly mazda and mercedes. It's a fairly common occurrence that we have someone's car on one of the lifts at Mazda. Mine and MNdude07's 135i are both going up next week to get clutches done at the same time.

[oneoffaccord]

IF you are dropping the trans soon, and you mentioned that the 3rd gear grinds and 4th doesnt happen i would replace whats worn.

[steelbluesleepR]

IF you are dropping the trans soon, and you mentioned that the 3rd gear grinds and 4th doesnt happen i would replace whats worn.

That's the plan. Since it's my only working vehicle, I'm going to crack open and inspect the trans next weekend when I do the clutch, put it all back together, order the parts necessary, then drop it again when I can to install them. I'll probably do the chain and guides then.

[oneoffaccord]

That's the plan. Since it's my only working vehicle, I'm going to crack open and inspect the trans next weekend when I do the clutch, put it all back together, order the parts necessary, then drop it again when I can to install them. I'll probably do the chain and guides then.

sucks that you gotta drop it twice, if thats the plan run with it.

[C91BLX7]

I don't see anything about mileage but, sounds like the car was neglected.. would def be a good idea to throw a chain,guides and tensioner at her.

[steelbluesleepR]

That's the plan eventually. It has 163k right now.

[oneoffaccord]

that mileage isnt bad at all. deff do all the maintence while the motor is out. I bought my tsx with 184k now it has 201k and i pulled both the trans and motor out. MY 3rd gear grinds.. its getting a new clutch flywheel. the auto tensioner was all the way out and it was a half tooth off. so yea time do to everything. head is at the machine shop now

[steelbluesleepR]

Got her cleaned up, waxed, and finally got some decent shots taken to share with you guys. It's still pretty dirty, the windows could use a lot of help, but I am already feeling a lot of progress. you can see the shitty front bumper and dented hood, but that's all fixable.
New Daily driver, 2002 Honda Civic Si by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

New Daily driver, 2002 Honda Civic Si by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

I also got rid of the shitty HID conversion kit that the previous owner installed and only worked occasionally.

IMG_20150306_174520751 by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

and in go Silverstars!
IMG_20150306_172735210 by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

no more shitty blue headlights:
IMG_20150306_174323136 by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

and I really wish this door wasn't this fucked up:
IMG_20150306_172229317 by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

[Theos92VR4]

I think all of these cars had transmission issues. When I had mine it had a slight grind going into 3rd. I changed out the fluid and it went away. I loved my ep3. Tons of room, great on gas, cheap to buy and I loved the shifter. I think i paid $4000 for mine back in 2010. Sold it at the end of that summer for $5000. Only reason i sold it is because I got tired of the silver lol

[F22Chris]

These give new meaning to mini van to me. I don't understand why Honda ended the Civic hatchbacks with this. How do you like the shift level position, I always thought it was pretty neat.

I hear the rack and clutch pedal tend to squeak, and the transmissions fail often so look out for that.

[steelbluesleepR]

I love the shifter position!

Also, these were SUPER fucked:
11025222_840822723573_4877236778332142693_n by Jcareyphoto, on Flickr

I put new side mounts and a new front mount in as well as my clutch this weekend. the rear mount was surprisingly good.