My "new" '97 Civic DX coupe

[jcp123]

My little beat Echo finally had enough of a problem to sh!tcan it. It wasn't a huge problem, but enough given its general condition and the fact that my wife - whose parents bought it as their first new car - was encouraging me to get out of the car.

I bought this Civic 4/15 with 168,962 miles, and although I had focused on fun/quirky cars, this one won out with a fair price and having obviously been owned by someone who cared. It is clean!!!!!

It has Honda's D16Y7, 106hp and 103lb-ft of torque. It's the tallest gearing you could get aside from an HX. Power steering was an option on DX coupes, and the original owner stood pat with the standard manual steering and the AM/FM stereo, opting only for the A/C option; a lifelong Dallas car, that makes some sense.

It's a very tight and solid driver. It has a few flaws but no vices. It's a better car than the Echo, overall, even if there's a few little things I preferred. Not being a Honda fan, I nevertheless see why Honda earned its legions of fans.

[Stubby79]

any plans for it?

[iveyjh]

Nice

[BabyDiesel]

Now THAT'S a beautiful Civic! You wouldn't find another one that nice if you went to look at a 100 more around you. Verry sweet find.

I'm sure our other Civic DX members will chime in later today. You have about the same car as California98Civic, and he is over 60 mpg for the past 90 days. You have excellent potential

[jcp123]

Thanks! Yup that overall cleanliness is what clinched the deal for me. The PO obviously took some care with this car.

Plans? Not really sure yet. It's going to stay basically stock. For now I want to take stock of the maintenance items it will need, and go from there, maybe freshen up some of the minor cosmetic issues, maybe de-badge, install some 98-00 tail lights and get an IP with tach. I'm waffling back and forth on the wheel issue: the steelies look sharp with fresh chrome lugs and a Honda H center cap, but I'm charmed by the fact that it has its original wheel covers. Might be worth freshening those up, they look fairly good for aero. At some point I'll teach myself P+G though truth be told, about 90% of my miles are on the freeway so I wouldn't hold my breath for stupendous numbers. I'll also be teaching wifey stick once her broken foot heals


First order of business will probably be to fix the shifter. Bushings and centering springs are in order. I'd also like to bring the shifter both back and up about an inch each and put on a ball-type shift knob since that's always been my preferred hand feel.