Black & Green modding thread (1998 Civic DX Coupe base)

[Baltothewolf]

[QUOTE=E.Roy;441474]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Hi Cacivic, what RPM do you see at 70mph with that CX tranny? I'm trying to find out what I will be running with the VX tranny I bought....QUOTE]

I did the calculations on 5th gear @ 70 before based on my EX speedo:

5th gen CX/VX: 70mph ~2,300rpm (3.25:1 Final Drive)

6th gen CX/HX/DX/LX: 70mph ~2,640rpm (3.722:1 Final Drive)

6th gen EX Coupe: 70mph ~3,000rpm (4.25:1 Final Drive)

Thanks! I was wondering for sure what it was and, now I know. I wonder how tall the gearing is in my Mustang, 70mph is less than 2k RPM O.o.

[j12piprius]

Did you remove the back wheel skirts, and if so, are you planning to transition to aluminum? What is your feeling about 1/2 skirts vs full ones, and back wheel skirts in general? Are you using any wheel strips in the front?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

Did you remove the back wheel skirts, and if so, are you planning to transition to aluminum? What is your feeling about 1/2 skirts vs full ones, and back wheel skirts in general? Are you using any wheel strips in the front?

I'm not sure what a wheel strip is. Could you clarify that one? But it's funny you ask about the wheel skirts because at the moment they are off. I took them off a few days ago for tire replacement (the maybe 6 or more year-old cracking Harmonys were finally done). I have not put them back on because I want to redesign. I have some scrap metal, but I think it is too touh to cut. And I have some black plastic sheeting. I have to decide, but I have been so busy with work, my energies have not been there for the car. As to legnth, the general wisdom around here seems to be the more wheel cover, flatter against the bodg contours, the better. But not further than the bottom of the rocker panels and such.

James

[j12piprius]

Thanks for the feedback. The lower part of my car curves under quite dramatically. Also I'm wondering if the top part is more important, as that's where the wheels are going forward at the greatest speed.

For the front I mean are you using any wheel gap strips, or any type of skirt for the wheels.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

Thanks for the feedback. The lower part of my car curves under quite dramatically.

For the front I mean are you using any wheel gap strips, or any type of skirt for the wheels.

Ah, I thought about that and tested a set once... mostly I hated how they looked so much that I decided tl forgo the possible benefit. It was a narrow strip of coroplast and it just didn't seem worth the compromise.

[pletby]

Awesome thread California98Civic! So many of the mods you've done I'm planning on implementing. I have a long highway drive of 80km with 20km of city too. Was looking at your fuel log and decided I need to change.

Read the whole thread the last 2 days, don't recall how you attached the lawn edging front air dam. If you could clarify that'd be great.

The side skirts were vinyl rain gutter? Was it 4"? I know aluminum rain gutter is available in 4" and 5", but that would not flex back into shape at all. Looking to do highest value mods first.

I Like the rear wheel covers.

Hid looks cool too. Thought they'd be more expensive... Any hurdles with installation of those?

Know what you mean about energy. I've finally got a week off and catching up with so many things that I fell behind on.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by pletby

Awesome thread California98Civic! So many of the mods you've done I'm planning on implementing. I have a long highway drive of 80km with 20km of city too. Was looking at your fuel log and decided I need to change.

Read the whole thread the last 2 days, don't recall how you attached the lawn edging front air dam. If you could clarify that'd be great.

The side skirts were vinyl rain gutter? Was it 4"? I know aluminum rain gutter is available in 4" and 5", but that would not flex back into shape at all. Looking to do highest value mods first.

I Like the rear wheel covers.

Hid looks cool too. Thought they'd be more expensive... Any hurdles with installation of those?

Know what you mean about energy. I've finally got a week off and catching up with so many things that I fell behind on.

Thanks for the read! Always fun to see the thread does something for someone. I think the rain gutter is the 4" kind, yes. And it is vinyl, painted black and then painted with plasti-dip.

For the airdam I drilled holes into the botton of the bumper cover and used screws and little black self-locking tabs to secure the horizontal ledge on the lawn edging to the bottom of the bumper. Different lawn edging products have different features. Experiment. You'll find something workable.

The only hurdle on the hids was fitting the bulbs into the stock housing. I had to work patiently to avoid breaking things too much. Lots of brittle, thin plastic around there.

I hope that helps... it's tough to describe without photos.

[California98Civic]

Lost my injector kill switch activator the other day, spring inside the switch itself broke. Lost my airdam yesterday when a parking block ripped a mount and then the tires ripped the thing off completely as I pulled away. Sorta lost my wheel skirts when I replaced rear tires and had to remove them for technicians.

Gaa! And my running average FE has been dropping the last few days from over 66/67 to 64/65 to 62/63. Gaaaa!

[pletby]

Ack, that's a rough week. I'm about to go outside and start putting stuff on my car. Hope there's not too much damage on your ride.

[California98Civic]

With my MPG down under 60, I am finally making time to restore my injector kill switch and front airdam (maybe wheel skirts too). In warm weather like this, I should be scoring 5-8 mpg higher without even trying hard. Instead I am working hard to stay close to 60mpg. At least I have a good indicator of the significance of these three mods.