my 2000 ex coupe

Drakon543

Member
30431
so here is day 1 when i brought it home from the buyer. ive been working at removing the plastidip from the rims but poor coating and weather isnt making it easy. its an ex d16y8 auto (booo yes i know automatic) in what i thought was great shape for the northeast. all stock at the moment with only 134k. current plans are rims some light tint and a tanabe medallion cat back. future plans after i get enough info to do it the right way is boost and auto to manual swap. side stuff on the list is a tune up with some Taylor/summit stuff just for engine bling and maybe a silicone hose kit to top it off. also the front clip will be done in the correct color owner had the original but this one was in better shape
 

Drakon543

Member
also the tahoe in the background is waiting for warmer weather for some paint work. having the civic will let me take the tahoe down long enough to do a decent diy job.
 


Drakon543

Member
ok i give up been trying to post some progress pics but it just doesn't load the pictures. anyway. imagine the first picture with the plastdip crap off the rims. i went over the stock tails and headlights with some mcguires plastic x and got a nice shine back. slow going for now as ive got a bunch on my plate already. doors and trunk seal kits are on the way. hit the seams and taillights when i do that up and my trunk should stay dry sfter that.
 

Drakon543

Member
so my car is down at the moment waiting on the new drivers door latch so i decided to do something with the audio setup. it had a pioneer fh-x70bt and i replaced it with a pioneer touchscreen cant remember the name atm. found out my doors already have infinity reference speakers so i bought some kickers for the rear deck. i disconnected the factory tweeters since they are messing with the feed to the infinitys. the new pioneer is nice as it has built in control for where i want to push the mids and lows. so i haven't put the new kickers in yet but just being able to control that really put the sound on a new level.
 


Drakon543

Member
so my door latch finally came in but i haven't had time to figure out whats wrong with my power locks. probably would of had time if i wasn't distracted by installing my new radio lol. anyway been driving my tahoe waiting for the latch and i got tired of all the gas i was wasting so i tossed the doors back together without the pwr locks. had to adjust the exterior bar and add a bit more bend to the manual lock bar for smooth operation.
 

Drakon543

Member
still tinkering with the car kickers are mounted a d everything is back together. hopefully i got my trunk sealed up all the way now. i put a a new trunk seal on a few weeks ago which made it better. bought some seam sealer which took care of 90% of the rest it seems. yesterday during the rain we got i noticed the 2 clips on the side for the rear bumper cover were leaking in a bit of water after a drive and the right side drain tube was leaking. so coated those up and so far it stayed dry this morning but that was a light rain. this friday im probably buying some shiny headers only because the flange for the cat looks like its about to break its so rusty. figured i might as well get something that adds some more bling to the engine compartment. mine doesn't have the manifold cat so its not like im gaining anything but id rather not have the exhaust drop while im driving.
 

Drakon543

Member
hopefully someday i can make something of it but my goal was to buy something i can drive to and from work and tinker with at the same time. so priorities first mainly fixing the bugs and addressing future potential problems. radio initially wasnt a problem but in glad i did it anyway. new radio is alot better and whoever put in the old radio did a poor job.
 

Drakon543

Member
30490
it let me post a picture today
so anyway installed some cheapo headers yesterday. leave the bashing out i really only got them because the stock flange to the cat was completely gone and needed a cheap easy fix. the janky wires will be fixed i wasnt supposed to have to reroute the o2 sensor with the headers i bought so i wasn't prepared. but thats what you get when you buy cheap ill have it properly fixed and routed cleaner later on.
 

Mr.Baker

Mr. Search
Registered VIP
5+ Year Member
10+ Year Member
so anyway installed some cheapo headers yesterday. leave the bashing out i really only got them because the stock flange to the cat was completely gone and needed a cheap easy fix.
At least you know and that's really the only decent excuse...LOL

You can always look for a quality used aftermarket one or another OEM one down the road.
 

Drakon543

Member
ya if it stretches out too long ill order some real ones. the ebay ones work for now and resealed the exhaust. id rather jump on a donar car for a 5spd swap and a buildable second d16. every swap under the sun has been done on these cars so there no originality to push me into a swap. if things move ahead i can get the power i want from a d16 done right. i did some hokie sh** on my 08 but i didnt like that car. i kinda like this one so id like to have it done right eventually. trying to do enough digging on my own for info so im not "that" forum guy lol.
 

Drakon543

Member
dealing with my front bumper this weekend so it will atleast sort of match the car. i want to respray the whole car eventually but the mismatched bumper cover has been bothering me. duplicolor is crap paint but i dont get a terrible job out of it if i spend the time with it. it will look better than a black car with a blue greenish front bumper either way.
 

Drakon543

Member
30512
give it some time to finish curing before i try to wet sand and buff an actual shine out of it but it still looks better than before. probably eventually just buy a new bumper cover anyway and work with a good bumper. i repaired some damage this one had which also makes it look a little better. hats off to body shop people out there who actually have the patience for this crap.
 

Drakon543

Member
better pic of the new rims. next is dealing with the front brakes and scarebird rear adapter bracket for the rear disc swap. other items on the current list is a good tune up and some coilovers to fix the wheel gap. im going with coilovers so i don't have to mess with it again. if i want it lower i just need to adjust it. i want better handling so a little stiffer is ok.
 

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Drakon543

Member
so let me first post a slight gripe i understand this is a free for us forum but ads and clickbait are a little outrageous today.
anyway powerstop civic si kit ordered today with calipers and ss lines. scarebirds rear bracket also ordered for disc conversion. sk2 alpha headers ordered with tanabe medallion touring exhaust. i also ordered the invidia test pipe and a magnaflow cat with inlet and outlet sizes so i could combine the 2 to stay pa legal. avs side window vents and hic usa rear window visor also ordered.
happy birthday to meeeeee just waiting for stuff to arrive.
 

Drakon543

Member
skunk 2 header, invidia test pipe for easy cat reinstall, avs rain gaurds, powerstop front and rear kit, and scarebird adapter bracket has arrived. still waiting on the hic rear window visor the magnaflow cat, and tanabe cat back. been getting alot of rain so i tossed my rain gaurds on tonight. my luck generally goes south when i start doing bigger jobs so ill wait for a clear day for the brakes.
 

SeanShine

New Member
5+ Year Member
Cool car man! I've always loved those coupes in black. Did you ever perform the automatic to manual conversion?
 

Drakon543

Member
nah not yet every time I find a junkie one with a good 5spd in it i dont jump on it fast enough. i really dont want to buy a decent one just to gut it feels like a waste. i almost picked one up a few weeks ago but the owner was just..... something wasn't right so i backed off ill go with that. its my dd also and the auto is annoying but works perfectly so im not in a rush for that. i have 3 vehicles so its not a problem of leaving it down but im not going to rush into a 5spd with questionable junk.
 

SeanShine

New Member
5+ Year Member
I totally agree with you about the manual swap thing. My sedan is an auto as well. I have a spare D16Y7 manual trans, but I wont even think about installing it until I get all the parts together so that I only have to do it once.

From my experience, its better to really make sure you have all the parts together and can do the conversion properly compared to just throwing it in there and dealing with problems for 6 months until you get it all sorted. My first B swap was like that. "How hard can it be?" I told myself. Well, I barely got it in there and running after two weekends worth of work. I then spent the better part of a year getting it sorting all the issues out. I've learned since then.

Good for you for taking your time and doing it right the first time.
 


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