Is it a waste of time and money to mod my 89 SE-i coupe, all i got so far was SRI, tires, muffler, i was gonna do 1.5 inch drop, get my bro to do new exhaust, new sound system, and som other cheap visual mods. Am i wasting my money doin all of that since its an auto, ive heard of a 5 speed tranny swap, how hard is that, how much does it cost and can my local auto repair shop do it.
To be honest with you its not worth the money. Lets say your cas worth2000. And you put all this money into it to make a 17 year old (possibly rusting) car worth more money? Each year its value will just keep dropping, and with mods its worth even less. However, not to be purely a hater of these cars (I have 3, drive 1 and 2 in yard) its a good car and with some money it could be worth it. To you. I put money into mine, intake, exhaust, system, tuned it my way did some other mods here and there to the carb n stuff. But I did that purely for the mpg sake of freeing up the car. I drive the car alot and it goes through gas quite from all the driving. I figured it was worth it. And well, I wanted to mod my car.
If you want to mod your car to go fast, keep the money, sell the car and get something new. Its always sad to sell a car but the new one with the potential you WANTED to get out of your car is there, youll be in love again.
Up to you on how you want to spend your money. Keep in mind mods arent worth anything afterwards.
not so much modding it to go fast, but more to make it just a lil faster, and to have something to do, and maybe since the body is pristine, take it to a few local shows, autocross it just for fun. I plan on buying a 92ish 5spd civic sometime in the near future when i get some money, this right now, since im only 16, is just for shits and giggles. It seems i have lots of time on my hands, nothing to waste money on cept more lizards, and my computer, and next year while im in college im gonna start saving money to get me my new car. Not like a i plan to race this against anyone. I dont want to put over 500 dollars into it.
Last edited by mastaofdisasta; 04-26-2006 at 02:38 PM.
If your just want a little more power then do a custom CAI $45, Header $200, Exhaust $190. Those are the prices for direct bolt on parts, if you can make an exhaust it will be cheaper obviously. Then buy some lowering springs and you'll be set for what you want and will only spend around $500. doing a trans swap will cost some money and if your not worried about making it as fast as you can then don't worry about it, i have an automatic and have done some mods and im very happy with the performance. It's up to you what you do with it. If the body and interior are good then spend the money for some engine parts and suspension parts and you will have a really nice daily driver that handels well and still has a little kick.
If you're planning on ever selling it... Don't mod it. There's plenty of people on this board who'd be more than willing to take an SE-i as clean as yours off your hands, provided you haven't chopped it up. If that's your route, stick to simple, reversible mods. Intake, header, exhaust etc. These will give you a decent enough gain to keep you satisfied until you're ready to let it go. And keep the stock parts just in case. If you're in it for the long haul, that's a different story.
Ya im definately gonna keep all of my stock parts and all mods will be not permanent. Intake, springs, tires, muffler, homemade exhaust, stereo, speakers, thats all.
Well, then, there will be definite gains from those parts. It won't be impressive but you will feel it. You will also feel it in your wallet, so you just have to decide for yourself if the temporary gains are worth the money you're going to spend, which will be at least $1k if you do everything on that list you just posted. And that's if you shop carefully and buy used.
err, got the tires for free, sri and muffler was already bought for 158 total for both(birthday present, budget of 400$ for car parts from granny, no, im not spoiled) so springs should be 200ish, stereo stuff, 150, homemade exauhst, dunno.
Well then go for it. You'll get a better return if you keep the stock parts and put them back in when you sell it, and then sell the bolt-ons seperately. Obviously you can just switch the audio stuff over. Good luck, and I hope you realize how lucky you are to have found a car in as good condition as that, especially a hard-to-find model like an SE-i
200 for springs or springs and shocks caus efor just springs thats alot
but for shocks too its not NEARLY enough.
Wasting your money depends if you want to keep the car for the long haul or sell it soon.
I've got close to 3 grand in my car, but you couldn't tell by looking at it...
On the shocks, paid almost 3 bills for new Koni front struts.
.
200 for 4 spings that gimme a 1.5 inch drop, here they are
http://andysautosport.com/product/de...15&_v=vmd00184
Last edited by mastaofdisasta; 04-26-2006 at 06:12 PM.
well 200 is alot for springs when u can get the dropzones on ebay for 89 and some shipping
well its not a waste of time if you are going to trick out your daily driver...i also got my licence when i was 16 and i started driving my honda. well then i got a job and then i was interested in cheap mods and so far i have a K&N filter, better spark plugs and wires, synteric oil and im going to get my exhaust done by a shop cuz i dont want to mess with it since i have to pass smog in a month
1989 Honda Accord LX-i
B18c1 swap since 7/2011
175whp and 132tq
Redzone tuned
My accord is my first car, it was my moms at first, i got my license when i was 17. Shortly after i got my license the trans went and my parents were going to junk it and i said ill take it. so i spent like $400 on a yard trans, new brakes, oil, ect. and thats when the obsession begun, lol. If you do the right shopping you will be able to get good parts for cheap, keep looking in the selling section for someone who crashed their car or are getting rid of it and are parting it out and you can get some nice stuff for a good price. With the money you will spend on a newer car you can invest it in your 3g and have a better car then the one you were going to buy. Thats just my opinion.
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