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**BAURblades** · December 29th, 09:31 PM

So here is the story. My grandparents used to live in southern California, so they wanted a 'sports car.' They got a Honda Civic del sol. Then they moved up to Washington and couldn't really use it much because of the cold weather and icy roads, so they bought some kind of SUV.

So they call my mom up and asked if I wanted it. Of course, I accepted. I have to go and pick it up, have to drive from Oregon to Washington.

Now, I don't know much about cars, but what kind of speed and such does this car have?

The only specs I know are this:

1996 Red Honda Civic del sol
Manual Transmission
VTec Engine
Convertable

By the way, is $135 bucks a month an average insurance cost for a high school male?

**mLuH** · December 29th, 09:33 PM

135 is pretty good for insurance. what part of washington?

**BAURblades** · December 29th, 09:35 PM

Spokane.

Or however you spell it.

**mLuH** · December 29th, 09:38 PM

damn long drive. lol. eastern washington pfft. that sucks.

**1337** · December 29th, 09:40 PM

My sister had a Del Sol. Fun little car. Was pretty reliable too.

Plus it has the V-Tech so it will be somewhat fast. It better be a 5-speed though.

**BAURblades** · December 29th, 09:43 PM

5-speed Manual Transmission, Forgot to put that.

So it was quick? That's what I like to hear...

**1337** · December 29th, 09:50 PM

Quick for a 4 cyl.

It will probably beat most of the average ricer civics because it's a V-Tech and a lighter car. Some simple mods and it'll get up and go a little bit. Greedy EVO Catback Exhuast Systems run about 239 + ship on ebay and Headers are usually pretty cheap. Cold Air Intake will help. Whatever you do just work on the engine before you work on the body.

**Spudchucker** · December 29th, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1337PAINTBALLER

Whatever you do just work on the engine before you work on the body.

or dont even work on the body. start out with a cold air intake and an exhaust, then get into the slightly tougher things like a new header, catback exhaust and underdrive pulley. once you get that far, if you wanna keep on modding go ahead and port and polish the head, and throw in a new camshaft. if you reallllly wanna get into it you could drop in a turbo

***MagicMarker*** · December 29th, 11:48 PM

Ok,
#1 it's not v-tech. That is a phone. It's V-tec. Del slows aren't that fast even though they are small. Unless you have the DOHC. I can't tell what you have based on what's written. I'm not a Sol expert. If it's your first car, you'll be fine. There are a ton of aftermarket parts for it.

BTW, installing a header is not hard. It's only hard if the nuts are seized. If you keep it n/a, you're not gonna get a whole lot of power. Go F/I on it and it'll be fun and quick, but you'll dump a decent amount of money into it between parts, install (unless you DIY) and tuning. Or you can swap a B series motor into it and keep the Honda reliability.

G/L with it. $135 isn't too bad, but what kind of coverage are you talking about? If it's full coverage with a low deductable, that's good, but just for liability it's hi.

Go to www.clubcivic.com I'm there a lot and you'll def learn a lot there. There is also www.honda-acura.net or www.hondatech.com. If you go turbo, www.turbod16.com.

**BAURblades** · December 30th, 01:27 AM

Thanks for the links, I'm checking them out.

**BAURblades** · December 30th, 01:34 AM

Oh wow.... After browsing some of those sites, I am sooo excited to mess with it... Like just doing some home made mods for it, like putting some different LED lights and such, coloring my fog lights, etc... CRAZY.

Also, I think I read somewhere that you can take out some of the interior plastic stuff, and spary paint it... Can it be done?

Also, when looking for info about the Del Sol, is it the same as a Civic? As far as internal parts?

***MagicMarker*** · December 30th, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAURblades

Oh wow.... After browsing some of those sites, I am sooo excited to mess with it... Like just doing some home made mods for it, like putting some different LED lights and such, coloring my fog lights, etc... CRAZY.

Also, I think I read somewhere that you can take out some of the interior plastic stuff, and spary paint it... Can it be done?

Also, when looking for info about the Del Sol, is it the same as a Civic? As far as internal parts?

Yes, there are a lot of cheap DIY's.

Quote:

Also, I think I read somewhere that you can take out some of the interior plastic stuff, and spary paint it... Can it be done?

Please please don't spray your interior. It's very time consuming to do it right and in the end you'll end up wanting your stock interior back. Trust me, everyone on those sites who have done it regret it or the paint starts peeling b/c of bad prep.

Quote:

putting some different LED lights and such, coloring my fog lights

Yea, put in some LED's in your dash and dome, but not the exterior. If you put LEDs on the exterior the car will show bad bulbs when in fact the LED is lit. This is b/c the LED draws less power, thus the car thinks the bulb is out. Follow the DIY for the fogs and it should look pimp. Take your time and do it right and learn how to take the fogs off your car and don't try to paint them on the car.

Quote:

Also, when looking for info about the Del Sol, is it the same as a Civic? As far as internal parts?

I don't know if you mean cosmetic or engine, but there are differences b/c of the chassis. IE, a SRI or CAI will be different piping b/c of the engine bay.

Just take your time modding. Do a lot of reading on those forums and see what people have done, what they regret and plan what you want the car to look like in the end. I'd recommend buying a Del Sol Helms manual so you know how to take apart your car.

Good Luck and enjoy. Modding a car is wayyyy more expensive then PB. PM me if you have any questions. On www.clubcivic.com my user is 96greencivic.

**Smitty** · December 30th, 10:13 AM

My friend Corey had one just like the one you got. These are really easy cars to fabricate your own cold air induction. Coreys was pretty darn quick and was still naturally aspirated.

**BAURblades** · December 30th, 03:28 PM

Ya, I wanna do a cold air intake because it makes the car sound sick, haha. How much does a cold air intake cost?

And is it hard to install myself?

***MagicMarker*** · December 30th, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BAURblades

Ya, I wanna do a cold air intake because it makes the car sound sick, haha. How much does a cold air intake cost?

And is it hard to install myself?

No it's not hard. Go to Ebay and find one. Although some people say it's fine and just slap a K&N filter on it, but I helped install one and the fitment was horrible.

I had a Injen SRI and the fitment was perfect. All the mounting points were perfect and I had no issues. Just be sure to save your stock intake in case you ever decide to go down another route.

PS, let's see some pics.

**BAURblades** · December 30th, 05:46 PM

Well I will when I get it... I gotta drive like 8 hours to go get it... GAY. But hey, atleast it's mine no matter what.

Man, I don't know **** about cars though... I'll prolly end up getting a friend to help me.

Also, could I get a semi-decent sound system for like... $200? Maby not including a deck?

**mLuH** · December 30th, 06:17 PM

dont skimp on sound systems, you get what you pay for.

**BAURblades** · December 30th, 06:28 PM

Ok, I registered there and am embarking on my car knowledge quest... I wish I knew as much about cars as I do about Paintball guns... Oh well.

It seems like there are not a lot of threads explaining parts and such, like here we have threads explaining stuff to new players...

**1337** · December 30th, 06:38 PM

Well what do you want to know?