My "New" 98 Civic Si Project

[mechman600]

It all started last week when the wife said something to the effect of "you need to get a real car." She was strongly suggesting that I need to be able to drive the kids around with my own set of wheels. Long story short, the Electric Booger is no more and an almost shiny Civic sits in it's spot.


It's a 1998 Civic Si, which might be confusing for some. "What's with the hub caps? On an Si?" You see, the Canadian Si was the same as the USA's EX, with the addition of a body kit. Equipped with the D16Y8, 127 HP SOHC VTEC. The USA's Si was called an SiR in Canada (160 HP), and featured factory aluminum rims. I paid $2600 + tax, which is about right. The paint is a bit faded, but otherwise the car is in very good condition. Everything works - sunroof, cruise control, power everything, the light bulb in the trunk, etc.

It has 237K km (147K miles) on it. And I am astounded how nicely it drives, and how everything works, and how there are ZERO rattles. Today I went for my first run with an uncalibrated ScanGauge II. Lots of EOC and general driving, and in town it averaged 5.3L/100KM (44 mpg)!! Yikes. This is going be fun. We will see how calibration affects that. It's also the first time I have ever tried hybrid mode with the ScanGuage, and on this car it works great - keeps tracking even after 30 seconds of EOC. This car gives me at least four boosted brake applications with the engine off, which is also lovely.

MOD LIST
1. Kill switch & starter switch. It's annoying having the radio and idiot lights going on and off each time I stop/start the engine.
2. Starter switch. Same as item 1.
3. Block heater. My commute is 6.5 miles. No need to elaborate there.

[War_Wagon]

A rust free, wet coast '90s Civic eh? "One of us, one of us!" ha ha. Looks like a nice ride. Has the very bottom part of the body kit been painted? My Si was black along the bottom edges, but it was older so maybe they changed that.

[Baltothewolf]

Odd, those are tail lights off of an 1997. 98 had all clear on the bottom. Nonetheless, that's a really nice car for only 2600. I paid 2k for my civic and it was the in half as good shape with way more miles on it.

[Xist]

I paid $2,700 for an HX with bad black paint and more miles.

What do you guys think of the body kit?

[mechman600]

War_wagon, this whole car has been painted in various parts at some point, as different panels have slightly different hues of red. Ha ha. So I'm not sure about paint on the body kit. The wrong tail lights? Probably from a wrecker for the same reason as the different hues of red.

[mechman600]

Kill switch - √ CHECK
I followed California98Civic's thread here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...vic-18242.html

However, once I got to the injector relay I found that someone had already hacked in for an immobilizer in the past and had chopped the green/yellow wire instead of the black ground wire, so I used that [already spliced] wire instead. I found a small momentary normally closed switch that came out of a hair dryer or something, rated for a high amperage, so it should be durable. I also spliced into the wiring using a male and female spade connector, so if my switch fails I can simply unplug the kill switch wiring and connect the two spade connectors together to bypass it.

This car is unreal. I went for a 10 minute ride with the kids with an already warmed up engine and got 4.2L/100km (56 US MPG). LOTS of EOC, pulsing and gliding and almost no braking. The ScanGauge is not calibrated yet, so these values will change….BUT STILL.

[Daox]

Sounds like a nice find. I like how the mods are already happening too.

[mechman600]

I decided that the kill switch on the gear shift was tacky. Plus, the electrical tape became gooey in the hot sun and made things…well..er…awkward. So this evening I relocated the switch, making it aesthetically pleasing comma stealthy.


Here is the hack job that an immobilizer installer did, so I added to the hacking with some hacking of my own!


Today after work I crossed into the US of A to NAPA (Blaine, WA - parts are just SO much cheaper in your fine country) to pick up my timing belt kit, valve cover gasket set, spark plugs and…..wait for it…ahem….mod #2…..

BLOCK HEATER!!!

That will be this weeks project.

[Chrysler kid]

Man my civic is missing that foam behind the glove box, sprayed me with a torn receipt a few times (it acts like a filter for the ac heater fan right behind it)

The red and yellow are factory lights, they changed to the more popular red and white in 99-00

The steel wheels and hub caps are the heaviest wheels made for the civic. I highly suggest your next modification be sourcing some vx or hx wheels

Also for reference if you are lucky enough to still have the factory radio you will retain your keyless entry. The factory radio contains the rf signal receiver for the keyless entry

Finding a sixth gen civic coupe that isn't rusted, covered in dents and primer, and covered in eBay parts is a great find. At $2600 I say you got a great deal. Love the 90's model fuel injected civics

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by Chrysler kid

Also for reference if you are lucky enough to still have the factory radio you will retain your keyless entry. The factory radio contains the rf signal receiver for the keyless entry

So if I go and buy a used factory Civic CD deck (which I want to do), isn't there some sort of code derived from the car's VIN of the deck's donor car that I need to make it work? Is there a way around it? Can I then get any old keyless remote and somehow program it to work?