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OK, so back in October, I bought a used 2004 Honda Civic DX-VP sight unseen for about $2,200. Why? So that I could restore it and keep the miles off my pristine (but not @04WDPSeDaN pristine) 2008 Acura TL-S. In addition, I wanted a daily driver that had great gas mileage. Now, that looks like a smart move.
I bought the car from a used car dealer on October 12th, 2021, after looking for several months. I knew that whatever car I bought, I was going to restore it, so I consider mainly 03-05 Honda Civic sedans (wife had a silver 03 Civic LX brand new out of college, and I had a 2004 Honda Accord EX V6 brand new). My budget was $5K, but for $5K it had better have been perfect.
I found a 2004 Honda Civic from a used car dealer near the Villages south of Orlando. I bought the car and had it shipped it me.
This is what the car looked like before I saw it in person..
The salesman said the car looked looked and had great paint. I was skeptical, but still bought the car.
For thise that are unfamiliar, the DX is Honda's then designation for the lowest and cheapest versin if the Civic. Thr VP package added air conditioning and a CD player to the DX, which normally did nit have those items. It did not even have cruise control (foreshadowing!!!)
This is what it looked like the day after it got to my house on October 14th.
The paint looked awful, and it was obvious that it had been poorly painted before. The front and rear bumpers did not match, and there was orange peel everywhere. The door locks were missing, and the side molding was not painted and had dents in them. The wheel covers were cracked, the radio did not work, and the carpets were in terrible shape.
I got to work.
I replaced the timing belt (not knowing if it had ever been done), replaced the oil, coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, replaced the front and rear pads and rotors, and replaced all belts.
Put immediately another $1800 into it, but at least the car was rock solid mechanically.
On October 16th I took the car into the get fully painted. This was the result: The painters forgot to paint the side mirrors like I wanted, so that got taken care of later. Notice the front bumper: I added front paint-matched parking sensors. Did the same with the rear as well.
The I started on adding new functions to the car.
I added power mirrors to it using OEM components. I also added OEM cruise control components, along with radio buttons for the steering wheel (no 01-05 Honda Civics had this from the factory) that I engineered and used from an 06 Honda CRV.
I got myself another dash gauge assembly from an EX model that I plan on installing in 2,000 miles when the odometer matches the miles on the car. The original dash assembly does not have an tachometer (even though it's wired for one), and has ugly bulbs, and not LEDs like this one.
I then painted and restored the ugly OEM wheels:
I added foglights, and, after 2 months, I then found some OEM 15" EX wheels that I refinished, restored, and painted:
Since I liked the ELS sound system in my MDX and TL-S, I decided that I needed a center channel in my car.
Yes I know, ghetto fabulous.
I added a rear-view camera, along with an in-dash navigation system. I throughly cleaned and steam cleaned the interior, and now the car is very clean, inside and out. I love this car!
Thank you for the kind words <3 but your TL-S is in excellent condition! Great work on the civic! Makes you wonder like "WTF" happened with this vehicle. The paint looks great after it was properly done. When I worked at the dealership, the detailing company would wet sand and polish used cars that had some body work done (poorly at that). Something about black RDX's that came in once a week with "crows feet" in the paint. These guys spent two days just to wet sand and buff out the crows feet / orange peel. The results were astonishing! Keep up the great work!
Nice work! I have a black 2003 still in the family and these are great little cars to keep on the road. The common head gasket failure would be the only issue left to worry about. Crossing my fingers you don't need that but sounds like you are more than capable of the repair yourself.
Hindsight, should've kept my 04 LX Had it been a 5MT, I'd probably have kept it as a 3rd car.
It got sold when I bought my F150 in 2016. Only ever gave me 2 problems. Cracked exhaust manifold & it jumped a tooth on timing (without interference luckily). Otherwise it was a great commuter, albeit slow. IT dies about a year after my sister got it. Never really got the full story on what happened.
Still pushing my trusty 98 Daily Accord for this reason. I drove a silver 2005 Civic coupe for a year back in 2012. Upgraded to my first TL(still have it) afterwards.
Please tell me that blue painter's tape abomination of a butt splice was inherited and you didn't do that @gatrhumpy electrical tape comes in different colors as well and if you need me to set up a gofundme so you can buy some, let me know, I'm always supportive of this AZ community: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electric...vZbm4uZ1z0vi5d
Please tell me that blue painter's tape abomination of a butt splice was inherited and you didn't do that @gatrhumpy electrical tape comes in different colors as well and if you need me to set up a gofundme so you can buy some, let me know, I'm always supportive of this AZ community: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electric...vZbm4uZ1z0vi5d
I saw that when I bought the car. I replaced and solders the connection, used heat shrink tubing, and then wrapped it with black electrical tape.
Nicely done, Gatr...this is my shit.
Lessons learned...always look at a car yourself before buying if you are particular.
We always end up a lot more grands into it than we thought so always be sure you like the
car you buy.
The most expensive cars are always the ones that are free or cheap.
Dude, are you storing your cat's turds in your throttle body?
The center speaker is nuts...probably sounds good but good lord does that stick up high on the dash!
Get yourself some Tesa tape...it's what the Germans use for electrical harnesses...feels felt like, rolls on tight and strong...and
doesn't leave any residue when you remove it. I don't know how I survived so long without it.
Nicely done, Gatr...this is my shit.
Lessons learned...always look at a car yourself before buying if you are particular.
We always end up a lot more grands into it than we thought so always be sure you like the
car you buy.
The most expensive cars are always the ones that are free or cheap.
Dude, are you storing your cat's turds in your throttle body?
The center speaker is nuts...probably sounds good but good lord does that stick up high on the dash!
Get yourself some Tesa tape...it's what the Germans use for electrical harnesses...feels felt like, rolls on tight and strong...and doesn't leave any residue when you remove it. I don't know how I survived so long without it.
That throttle body picture was one I took in the junkyard. I discovered that the throttle bodies are different depending on if you have cruise control or not.
Since I did not have CC before, I had to change the throttle body in order to add CC to my car.
After I bought the throttle body, I cleaned the shit out of it before I installed it.
05-08-2022, 06:47 PM
electrical tape comes in different colors as well and if you need me to set up a gofundme so you can buy some, let me know, I'm always supportive of this AZ community: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electric...vZbm4uZ1z0vi5d 
Would have definitely reported your shoddy work to the appropriate authorities 
