Noob to modding. 2004 Civic Sedan LX

wyclef

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Hey, i'm new to modding cars and got a 2004 Civic Sedan LX in magnesium and see all these awesome pics here of stuff people have done and am wondering if people reccomend must have mods for noobs to start with and sites where people get their stuff from.
 

tchurch

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build up your motor before you do anything else. figure out if you want a turbo or not if you dont but you want more power do rods cams s**t like that cold air intake exhaust intake manifold.. basic stuff if you get lots of power going for sure get an lsd (limited slip differential) so you get better traction. then work on the body of the car. if you like carbon fiber you can do some carbon fiber lips or hood or random stuff like that.
 


EMIIspecED

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^ this coming from a guy with 22 posts, haha

welcome dude what are u looking for out of ur civic

post some pics
 

vjf915

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Unfortunately if you want a FUN car to drive, what you picked isnt the best base to start with. You will definitely have more fun driving the car if you work the suspension. coilovers, sway bars, tie bar and strut braces will make the world of difference. For power to the wheels, either turbo or K-swap is your best bet. Turbo is cheaper. Search around the site and look at what people are running. Welcome.


Edit: One more thing. If you are going to buy things such as an intake, header, exhaust.....I would recommend buying used name brand products off of ebay. To me its the best bet to get your hands on proper fitment + reliability without spending over a grand.
 


TAZ_FERIO

7th Gen Civic
5+ Year Member
build up your motor before you do anything else. figure out if you want a turbo or not if you dont but you want more power do rods cams s**t like that cold air intake exhaust intake manifold.. basic stuff if you get lots of power going for sure get an lsd (limited slip differential) so you get better traction. then work on the body of the car. if you like carbon fiber you can do some carbon fiber lips or hood or random stuff like that.
You must not have been reading the forums long huh?? :roll:

On the civics there isn't much you can do without a swap to a k20 or a turbo. There are many other small things that will make the car look better and drive more solid like suspension upgrades but there is not any small things to get large amount of power. As far as the carbon fiber goes, don't be that guy, rocking the civic w/ carbon fiber, you would never here the end of the fast and the furious jokes. It just looks ricer. The best thing you can do is keep it looking nice and get some shock & springs. or coil overs. :lol:
 

bud6770

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Basic mods: intake, header, exhaust, strut bars, nice full set of coilovers, there ya go.
 

baron340

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suspension
wheels
intake and exhaust
maybe a grill if its your style

after that simple stuff you need to decide if you want performance or looks. i chose performance and went turbo after that stuff. or if you like the looks department go for a nice lip kit. i think cf looks great on MM but that's you're call. just pick a goal, a final what you want the car to look like and go for it. just get a goal first so you don't just start slapping things together.
 

wyclef

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yea. what baron340 is talking about is more my speed for starters... dudes, i'm NO WHERE near having enough skills to be swapping turbos and k6rs and stuff. i can swap a six pack of beer and tighten the lug nuts right now.
 

Rocket350

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I think the engine these cars come with is worthless and not worth putting any money into personally. If you can afford a k20 swap go for it then it would be sweet. i've come to terms with the fact that this car is slow. lol. I bought it for honda reliablity and so id stop getting pulled over. i'd go for looks thats what im doing.


i lowered it, did the diy black headlights, open style grill, 8500k hids, and rims so far. keep it clean.
 

joe7987

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Definitely definitely definitely do suspension. Grab a good shock/spring combo or coilovers. Rear sway and strut bars all make the car handle beautifully. It's difficult to up the acceleration/speed of our cars without a lot of cash, but we can make it handle very nicely.

However, it all really depends on what you want from your car. If you want speed, then start small and get intake / header / exhaust. Just don't expect too much from it. If you want a noticeable amount of oomph, you're going to need to start looking at turbo set ups.

If you just want to improve the looks, there are a million things you can do, but start out researching body kits and lip kits, etc etc. Also, I hope you're thick skinned, because people love to talk s**t on those who like to work on style. If you go this route, f**k the world and do what you want. Do it for yourself and ignore the haters.

I don't know exactly how knowledgeable you are on the topic... so that's all I can give you for now. If you have more specific questions, I'll be glad to answer them (if I'm able.) Best of luck
 

Renzo21

Nice Bowl of D17 Soup...
5+ Year Member
build up your motor before you do anything else. figure out if you want a turbo or not if you dont but you want more power do rods cams s**t like that cold air intake exhaust intake manifold.. basic stuff if you get lots of power going for sure get an lsd (limited slip differential) so you get better traction. then work on the body of the car. if you like carbon fiber you can do some carbon fiber lips or hood or random stuff like that.
For one... They don't make rods and cams for our Lx civics... Second, you would never get enough power out of d17 to even need a extreme strength clutch let alone need a limited slip diff. w/o a swap or possibly a turbo. Just use this car to learn s**t on. If you're intrested in modding cars use this car to understand how things work, how to install s**t, and figure out if you ever want a different car to mod in the future.

Personally... I'm all for starting with exhaust, header, intake, because it just gives you idea, feeling, and sound of a fast car. If you want to get into turbos and stuff, well, save that money for the next car you would like to mod and use it on that. Then definately look into shocks and springs, or go the coilover route (I'm a coilover fan...). Then if you want, look into a stronger feeling clutch (I did this because I like the feel of a strong clutch on my foot) and a light flywheel.

Oh! Make wheels one of your first upgrades as well, mainly because they help a lot in handling, and because people will never stop making lame comments on your stock steel wheels with gay hub caps while you have a fatty exhaust tip sticking out the back, heh...

That's all what I'd do. Post some pics dude and welcome...
 

vjf915

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Just getting a set of wheels does not improve handling. He either has to get wheels that are wider, or taller to increase handling, but getting wheels that are taller will decrease his power (the little that he already gets) to the wheels.
 

baron340

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For one... They don't make rods and cams for our Lx civics... Second, you would never get enough power out of d17 to even need a extreme strength clutch let alone need a limited slip diff. w/o a swap or possibly a turbo. Just use this car to learn s**t on. If you're intrested in modding cars use this car to understand how things work, how to install s**t, and figure out if you ever want a different car to mod in the future.

Personally... I'm all for starting with exhaust, header, intake, because it just gives you idea, feeling, and sound of a fast car. If you want to get into turbos and stuff, well, save that money for the next car you would like to mod and use it on that. Then definately look into shocks and springs, or go the coilover route (I'm a coilover fan...). Then if you want, look into a stronger feeling clutch (I did this because I like the feel of a strong clutch on my foot) and a light flywheel.

Oh! Make wheels one of your first upgrades as well, mainly because they help a lot in handling, and because people will never stop making lame comments on your stock steel wheels with gay hub caps while you have a fatty exhaust tip sticking out the back, heh...

That's all what I'd do. Post some pics dude and welcome...
1. Yes they do 'make' rods and a cam for the d17a1. The block on the a1 and a2 are identical. Crower will grind you a cam to whatever specs you like, including ones identical to the stage 2 boost cam they make, just for example.

2. Yes you can get enough power out of a d17 to need a sticky clutch. I'm up to 200 hp and my clutch wouldn't hold the torque. I now have a brand new on/off switch competition stage 4 clutch.

3. Yes you can get enough power to need an LSD. At 300-ish hp, you will break the tires loose really easily without one.

4. Piss on everyone else. I've got a turbo and you don't. Do I have wheels.. NO. But I do have a brand new clutch that will grab and burn the rubber right off my stock steelies.

You do what you want to do man. Just pick a goal. Whatever you want to do, it's your car, just have something to work towards. Keep it clean, don't half-ass things and make it your own.
 

Renzo21

Nice Bowl of D17 Soup...
5+ Year Member
Just getting a set of wheels does not improve handling. He either has to get wheels that are wider, or taller to increase handling, but getting wheels that are taller will decrease his power (the little that he already gets) to the wheels.
Of course they will improve handling, and who gets alloy wheels that are the same exact size as civic 14 inch rims in this case anyway. Taller rims help, because the taller they are the more surface area of the tire (depending on how tall your tire is as well) will be on the road, therefore adding stick to the road, and yes you're right, they decrease torque. By the way I think I'm the one who brought that to your attention in a different thread... Anyway, alloy rims are also a plus by being light, and wider (even more surface area of the tire on the road). Just remember that when it's wet out, the wider the tire the more slippery it will be... One more advantage is that they allow you to get shorter tires that will be stiffer when going around corners than taller tires, although the shorter they are the more prone you are to spinning out because there is no give in the tires and the more prone you are to getting flats...


1. Yes they do 'make' rods and a cam for the d17a1. The block on the a1 and a2 are identical. Crower will grind you a cam to whatever specs you like, including ones identical to the stage 2 boost cam they make, just for example.

2. Yes you can get enough power out of a d17 to need a sticky clutch. I'm up to 200 hp and my clutch wouldn't hold the torque. I now have a brand new on/off switch competition stage 4 clutch.

3. Yes you can get enough power to need an LSD. At 300-ish hp, you will break the tires loose really easily without one.

4. Piss on everyone else. I've got a turbo and you don't. Do I have wheels.. NO. But I do have a brand new clutch that will grab and burn the rubber right off my stock steelies.

You do what you want to do man. Just pick a goal. Whatever you want to do, it's your car, just have something to work towards. Keep it clean, don't half-ass things and make it your own.
1. Of course you can have anything made for your civic. What I'm saying is that you can't look on the internet and see cams for a 01-05 civic Lx. Anything can be done to a car for a high price...

2. You must not know how to drive a clutch. 200 hp is still not enough to need a semi truck (very strong) clutch... Either you don't know how to drive a clutch or you're just peeling out all the time and riding the clutch...

3. Again, you must just beat the s**t out of your car or not know how to drive a clutch... To get 300 hp out of a civic you must have lots and lots of money, but you still won't need much more than a stage 2 clutch if you know how to be easy on a clutch.

4. And the answer to 2 and 3. You beat the s**t out of your car... or maybe you don't know how to drive and you beat the s**t out of your car...
 

vjf915

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By the way I think I'm the one who brought that to your attention in a different thread...
What in the hell are you talking about??? Youve been around for what about a month and Im pretty sure youve had a bunch of useless threads. Show me where you "brought it to my attention".

f**kin '09ers I swear.
 

baron340

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inappropriate flying off the handle went here... apologies are in order...

To the op: Good luck with whatever you decide.
 

ryanM

New Member
lol at stage 4

what the f**k is that supposed to mean.

hyper single? twin plate?

stage 4 means nothing....
 


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