Hey all I'm new to this whole thing! Just a few things I just got a 2002 Civic Lx I'm trying to find mods for this car I have not found alot so far. Any direction there would be helpful. I am going to do the basic maintanince on it what is a better oil to use for the car? what plugs, (are the pulsar worth it? or E3?) and is there any other things I should do other than the water pump and timing belt? it looks like the 02 has the coil packs. And are there any walk throughs to change the backlighting on the gauge clusters and control panel? And would the si's rear brake swap bolt right up?
Questions
- Thread starter Project_Civic32
- Start date
Hey first off welcome to the club. I myself own an Lx except it an 01'. Yeah truth be told theres not alot out there for the lx I mean you have to do an entire swap and mod deal just for exhaust and headers. Maintanance. basically I run a full synthetic for (no prefrance for brand). and then with every few fuel ups I add in an STP fuel additive to clean everything up. Good luck.
welcome to the club. check out 7thgenhonda.com they have alot of diy's that are easy to find. i just wouldnt post over there cuz they arent as user friendly as we are here. yes the si's will work from an 01-03 ep3. go with a quality iridium plug hondas come with ngk they seem to work fine. change out all your fluids.
as said above theres not a ton of engine mods for your car so i would keep it running nice and spend my money making it look nice, lower, rims, and be happy with knowing that you own a clean looking honda.
as said above theres not a ton of engine mods for your car so i would keep it running nice and spend my money making it look nice, lower, rims, and be happy with knowing that you own a clean looking honda.
Thanks for your help I have been getting really frustrated because there isn't alot out there so I was planning on doing just like intake and exhaust system and then lower Rims and just have a nice looking reliable Honda. I got this newer because I got rearended and totaled my 00 civic ex.
And As far as the Synthetic I have 138,000 miles on mine I'm a little iffy to switch it over because I have heard that it could cause leaks and things like that. And what exactly needs to be swapped for the full exhaust system? would it be worth it to put cold air on it?
synthetic doesnt cause leaks, rather its thinner so if you had a leak prior it will be more noticable with synthetic in. i have 155k no leak and have used synthetic since day one.
full exhaust is header, down pipe if not included in header, i would personally still use oem cat and then a cat back exhaust.
full exhaust is header, down pipe if not included in header, i would personally still use oem cat and then a cat back exhaust.
Thanks again for being so helpful. I noticed that on the LX the cat is right up there on the header so I'm thinking just the cat back with the K&N Typhoon.
Good luck man. Happy tuning.
I have an 03 LX and have found many upgrades. For the only set of headers made for the 7th gen LX go to kamikazeperformance.com. It rids the catalytic converter but they're great! They are about 400$. Also if you are doing the timing belt you may want to look into the AEM Cam Gear and the Unorthodox Racing or AEM underdrive pulleys. Ive hear better about the Unorthodox but AEM is cheaper. Also there are upgrades like a stronger clutch (i have Exedy, but i recomend ACT), and an ACT lightweight flywheel. There are upgrades you just have to look a little harder. There are plenty of suspension upgrades! Welcome and good luck with the ride.
^^Those headers wont pass inspection (if your town does that kinda thing) w/o a cat so be careful to consider it. You can always weld one on but that can get expensive. ^^
Thats not a bad Idea 
I have found a few things it's just harder to find. I will have to look at that header for sure. I'm trying to decide how much to put into this civic because I think I may look at getting a subaru for a fast fun project.
I have found a few things it's just harder to find. I will have to look at that header for sure. I'm trying to decide how much to put into this civic because I think I may look at getting a subaru for a fast fun project.if thats the case leave the engine alone and just drop it with some nice rims. this will keep the mpg up and then use the subaru for all the mods.
An 01 EP3????? This I gotta see.
I have an 01 LX, and before I did my engine swap I had a problem with a cracked exhaust manifold. I found it was cheaper to put in an aftermarket cat and a header than it was to pick up a new manifold. What I found is that the downpipe Honda uses from your exhaust manifold down is a double pipe, a "pipe-in-a-pipe". What looks like a somewhat healthy 2" pipe from your manifold is really closer to a 1 1/2" pipe. Change this and you might see a bit of a boost in power, but more importantly it will breathe much better and your gas mileage improves. Not to mention it sounds nice too
So if you think you want to do something to your Civic before you get your Subaru, this might help. Also, the aftermarket cat I used passed emissions.
As far as plugs, I agree with what was posted earlier. I've been using NGK Iridium plugs for a while now and I'm satisfied with them.
So if you think you want to do something to your Civic before you get your Subaru, this might help. Also, the aftermarket cat I used passed emissions.
As far as plugs, I agree with what was posted earlier. I've been using NGK Iridium plugs for a while now and I'm satisfied with them.
that is really helpful I just posted another thread because I noticed a crack in mine and it's going to need to be replaced as well and so with that down pipe and a aftermarket cat you passed the emissions? thats great do you have a list of the parts so that I can look into them I'm thinking that I am going to need to do something with in the next few months on that. and I will be doing some stuff on the civic I'm going to hang onto it to make it a daily drive I love the civic they are so reliable.
my bad slip of the finger its 02-03 ep3. thanks for pointing that out.
The header I used was a Hedman. Not too expensive, but made of iron so if you dont want it to rust, get it powder-coated. I didn't bother with a ceramic because where I live (Ontario, Canada) it gets fairly cold and I was driving the car in the winter at that time. Ceramics will crack sometimes when the header goes quickly from below freezing to operating temp (the ceramic coating and the iron underneath expand at different rates when going from cold to warm, and this can cause the coating to crack). I had a custom downpipe made at a local muffler shop (2.5") and then put an Magnaflow 2.5 in-out cat in the place where you normally find the EX cat. The reason I put it there was so if I wanted a cat back exhaust for it later on, it would bolt right up. You will need to weld in bungs for your o2 sensors and lengthen the wire for the after cat o2 sensor so it fits (you have a before and after cat sensor).
Cost: 250 for the header, 100 for the cat, 200 for labor (Canadian dollars)
Cost of a new manifold: 650 + labor (unless you get a used one, that would have been 400)
This saved me money, sounded much better and helped the engine breathe a bit better (went from a 1.5 inch downpipe to a 2.5 inch downpipe, not to mention that the original manifold pipes were about the thickness of my thumb lol)
Oh, and btw I'm usually on 7thgencivic. If you have any really technical questions, send them to Speedfoos on that site. Even tho he parted out his '03, he's one of the most knowledgeable people on the site. I'm pretty confident that I know what I'm doing, but if i get confused, I ask him
Cost: 250 for the header, 100 for the cat, 200 for labor (Canadian dollars)
Cost of a new manifold: 650 + labor (unless you get a used one, that would have been 400)
This saved me money, sounded much better and helped the engine breathe a bit better (went from a 1.5 inch downpipe to a 2.5 inch downpipe, not to mention that the original manifold pipes were about the thickness of my thumb lol)
Oh, and btw I'm usually on 7thgencivic. If you have any really technical questions, send them to Speedfoos on that site. Even tho he parted out his '03, he's one of the most knowledgeable people on the site. I'm pretty confident that I know what I'm doing, but if i get confused, I ask him
Lol dude Im sorry, I was in a super sarcastic mood.