96romaCX CIVIC hatchback BUILD THREAD

96romaCX

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hello club civic members, this is a build thread on my latest vehicle, a 96 Roma Red CIVIC CX. i just got the car in february of this year, and have done quite a bit since then, i will try to bring you up to speed with before and after info, also i wasnt really aware this site existed when i first started or i would have signed up sooner. all questions and comments are welcome, both positive and negative, i dont really care since im the one who gets to drive it:D
 

96romaCX

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this is how i got her, neglected and sunbaked from a private lot in where i live, they threw a set of motegi wheels on it with 4 different tires, and the suspension was peiced together with cheap ebay coil overs, and bent factory control arms, it was a mess.
 


96romaCX

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and this is her now, since i got it in february, i took the interior apart and cleaned every peice then used interior detailer on every part before re-installing, vacumed the carpets and cleaned the seats thoroughly. i spent 5-6 hours clay baring the paint and polishing it before hand waxing to seal the improvements.



i ordered ebay replacement tail lights, and an ebay duckbill, repainted all the metal trim and spoiler, wet sanding everything and using duplicolor self etching primer and duplicolor oem trim black paint. also ordered a set of tein s-techs for a better ride and even drop



the old exhaust was factory, but had the catalytic converter cut out, with a dumb little universal oval muffler, it buzzed and sounded like complete crap, my new set up is an ebay d series header with 2.25 catback piping, no cat, a turbo style resonator pipe, and a summit racing 2.5" inlet outlet turbo muffler



the car had a salvaged title, because it was broken into before, i went to the junkyard and found a 99 coupe and removed the plastic door trim panel, and window stripping and replaced it, since they were shredded and let water in when it rained. i primered and wet sanded the trim panel before painting it with the trim paint to fix the all the damages from the donor wrecked civic

 

96romaCX

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another shot from underneath, i ordered blox red anodized lower control arms to replace the bent up ones. it was also problably wrecked but ive taken it to the alignment shop and there were no alignment issues.


ordered a new oem honda badge for the rear. i removed the wiper blades and repainted them with the duplicolor trim and primer, this stuff is great, and really tuff. also from the same civic replaced the gauge cluster with a 99 ex cluster. replaced the original spedo face to retain actual mileage.

 

96romaCX

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i also bought new tires, kuhmo exctas 195/50/15 for the wheels after and installed and also heavily cleaning the wheels as well. 90% of the car's problems where neglect, i had to pull a rats nest worth of speaker wires and misc. wires out of the engine bay cause the previous owner tried to rig a monster tach set up and all the loose wires were grounded out and makeing the car cut out while driving. ive replaced multiple fuses and tapped up all the crappy splices in the harness, gave her a full tune up, ngk wires, ngk platinum plugs, new rotor button, new ignition control module, fresh oil EVERY 3000 on the dot. im surprised it runs so well still, doesnt smoke, and is still very pepy. but shes my daily so i never really dog her, i work 6 days a week and the commute is 60+ miles there and back. im currently saveing for a better suspesion set up, i have a new front bumper in the basement and a new sir lip from icb motorsports on the way, hopefully going to get it painted and installed the week off for july 4th. other than that i just drive her normally lol, and wash detail and re wax every sunday on my day off, weather permiting. this is my first build thread and im kinda new at this i owned some hondas in the past but never had the money to really try to make one nice. this is my favorite car by far i have owned and im excited to see how it evolves as time and money permits. thank you for checking out my thread and all comments/ questions are welcome!
 

96romaCX

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Looking good so far! Keep it up.
Thank you man, I'm just taking it a little at a time, my first car was a crx dx 88' it was a grea ride I flat blacked it would drag it at the strip on test and tune nights.
 

96romaCX

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Not bad man...
Thank you, it's a work in progress, I'm trying to start Savin for better quality parts, I won't go cheap on suspension parts or engine mods. I'm saving for f f type 1s then a few other bits, I have no idea what kind of swap to do later on tho.
 

CHILD

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subscribed. Diggin' the freshness of everything.
 

96romaCX

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subscribed. Diggin' the freshness of everything.
Dang man, that means a lot coming from you after I've seen what you've done with your cars. Right now I'm just playing the patience game, and after seeing your bay, i think I'm gonna get knee deep in mine this weekend lol. I should get my lip Monday, and I'll wait to install it with my bumper once it's painted in the next few weeks. Till then I'm driving slow cause I can feel every bump in the road lol.
 
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96romaCX

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Alrighty, this past week I've been bored outta my mind, I tried messing with some cheap spoon knockoff side mirrors, took pics of that. My sir lip from if motorsports arrived Monday 15 min before I had to leave for work, and 2 prior visits from diff fed ex trucks that were for my mom, lol. Also tried to see how my cx spoiler looked since I haven't seen it in a while. I took pics of that too. I will post everything the minute I get a chance to sit down I front of the of computer.
 

96romaCX

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well here are a couple pics, i dont have a lot of time before work, but this is a couple pics of my new lip




and i tried out my cx spoiler again, but left the furthest rear 2 mounting nuts on the bolts and used the closer 2 to mount it, to make it "pop" up a little more than stock. i cant decide which one i like better... also in the pic the cheap-o knock off mirrors. i painted them with the oem black and installed them.
 

96romaCX

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and for now, we have a holiday weekend coming up so im only getting to work 4 days with one day paid vacation. that means no over time, and it eats into next weeks paycheck too. so i wont have any extra cash to put back towards my supsension. the little i was trying to save i had to use on stuff to for an oil change. but i should have my other new front bumper painted and my new lip installed on the "week of the fourth of July" vactaion week we get anually. that is also only a 40 hour work week. so not alot of "OT" , not alot of extra cash for new goodies. my next purchase will most definately be the function form type 1 coilover kit, and a new or reconditioned steering rack, since i was kinda sure its been wrecked and the front pops in each corner, not axle clicking, those are new, of the direction im turning. but only if its a tight turn. anyways hope everyone has a good memorial day weekend.. theres going to be a little tuner car meet in my town on sat, so i just plan on cleaning up my hatch and parking and looking around. ill take some pics, but i do live in a small town so i dont know what to expect.
 


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