Civic 4th Gen (EF)

Oil gets onto the spark plug because there was a bad spark plug tube seal design on the d15b2. They almost all do that after enough miles, but does not effect performance. Mine put out a healthy 79 WHP stock on a mustang dyno with oil all over some of the plugs.

Clutch is cable, you can get a new one from Honda for under $40, or just try adjusting the one on there now.

If you've got a bad wobble and the car hit a curb, the upper a-arm may have bent or the ball joint is failing. This happened to me. I'd go ahead and replace those anyways, along with pretty much all the rubber bushings in the car.

Check your wheel bearings for play and make sure the calipers aren't sticking to a possibly warped rotor. Lastly, check the axles, and depending on how they look I might just replace those too(good excuse to flush the transmission, it would probably appreciate it). One of those things is probably the cause, unless the wheel/tire is just out of balance.

I paid $300 for my first EF, it was also getting ready to head to the scrapper. I have gotten it to be both reliable and fun over several years and 80,000 miles of maintenance and upgrades. Super simple to work on and a huge aftermarket. You'll love the little car.

That's all good info, thank you. Is there any way to replace the plug tube/ seal?

Also, since I have absolutely zero Honda experience, where are the good (read: not ricey) places/brands for aftermarket hop-up (especially suspension/brakes)?

Suspension: ground control

Brakes: 90-91 civic ex or 90-93 Integra steering knuckles and brakes, 90-93 Integra rear discs bolt on, and you'll need the non ABS master cylinder and proportioning valve.

You can replace the seals, but you have to take the cam and rocker assembly out. Here's a good read on the subject http://tegger.com/hondafaq/oilyplugs/index.html

The best aftermarket hop-up stuff usually comes from other hondas. Rockauto and Majestic Honda are where I get my OE and OE equivalent parts. Some things I'd rather get genuine Honda, less important stuff I'll get something cheaper from rock.

Typically everything aftermarket for me comes from the FS section of forums.

Do lots of research, there is a huge amount of knowledge on these cars and what can and can't be done. There are a million sites with a million stickies and informative threads on anything and everything that can be done to the cars. Chances are, anything you thought of, someone else thought of or tried already and then wrote about it on the internet.

Get the car running reliably before you start doing performance upgrades. Replace wear items and do other regular maintenance that is required on 25 year old cars.

You can adopt brakes off lots of other civics and integras, and there are options to convert the rears to discs. A good set of pads,fresh rotors, wheel cylinders for the drums and a fluid flush is a good enough starting point, unless seeing track duty that will probably be enough for whatever you do with it.

For suspension all you need is a good set of shocks and a rear sway bar. Coilover sleeves if you want to go lower or stiffer. I'd recommend a koni/GC setup for that. But more importantly make sure all your bushings and ball joints are in good shape first.

Easiest way to make quick and easy extra power is to put a different head and better intake manifold on the car while converting to MPFI, referred to as a mini-me swap. To take it a step further, you can build a parts-bin high compession D motor using just cheap OE Honda stuff, but won't be able to take full advantage of it without headwork and a cam with some good tuning. If you want to go all the way a wide variety of B, K, F, and H motors can be made to fit with more work and swap parts. Companies like Hasport can get you going with lots of that stuff.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope thats some a good primer for you.

This is perfect, thank you!

Dave, here is a how-to link for converting DPFI to MPFI: http://www.angelfire.com/d20/hcivic88/dx-siwiring.html I suspect the conversion will create at least half the HP difference between a Dx and an Si.

As wwd mentioned, Hasport is a good source for info and services. IIRC, they still use the stock DPFI ECU when reconfiguring to the multi-point setup. For a price, you can send them the Si injection harness and the Dx main harness and they will splice them together.

Good info! I got to replacing gaskets today (had to order the lower spark plug tube seals). Diagnosed the wobble as a badly bent wheel and adjusted the clutch cable -- both of which are untested due to the valve train sitting on my workbench and all four wheels being different with different sized tires. A real project thread is on the way tomorrow or Monday.

I have a box sitting in my garage with a brand new clutch cable inside it. Where are you located?

I'm in Spokane, WA. BTW, the link on the plug tube seal replacement was golden. I got everything apart on Saturday, but none of the local parts places had the lower seals in stock, the dealer had a few, but not enough, so they ordered some in. Should be here when I get back from Seattle this weekend.

GRM Project page for this car