just picked up a 91 civic hatch...learm me thems please

ok, so I have a 91 civic wagon with a b16a . I liked it, but i've always wanted an 88-91 civic hatch. My search for a decent cheap one was futile...until last friday .START OF STORY: I went to pick up my friend who is carless (2jzgte in an e30 in progress) and I see this blue civic hatch on his street parked on the edge of the lawn, yup it was for sale , for $600. It looked clean and stock as I peered through the windows , 5spd, base model , and i couldn't get it off my mind...I told my friend about it and he says "i'm going to buy it...i need a cheap dd" , I was dying inside ,I had no money and I had a babyshower to throw for my wife the next day. I could not sleep< The next day I asked my cousin to let me borrow the money, he said he could only do $200, I said ok let me see if I can get someone else to let me borrow more. My friend calls me and says "can you go check that car out for me?" I was already showered and ready to head to the B.shower ...and said I couldn't , I'm going crazy thinking he's going to buy it , he calls me again and says " i got the money together man and I'm going to see it now" now I'm really freaking out .10 mins later he calls and says "I didn't get it man , car wouldn't start and the owner wasn't there and they wouldn't take less than 500, I said ok let me borrow 300 , he says "let me call you back". He calls me back with a big story about being broke, blah, blah blah, I said let me borrow the money and will pay you friday....long pause...."ok i'll lend you the money". I borrowed the money waited 6 grueling hours for the party to end, cleanup , looking at all the stuff , organizing it....all kinds of baby cuteness and my face was melting.Finally I ripped myself away , drove to see the car. It was bone stock , adult owned clean in and out, 5spd ,base ,blue/blue started right up, idled fine no smoke / leaks / noises . I pulled out the money and $500 later I drove the little car home. END OF STORY. My plans are to swap the b16a and ST springs , thursday I had picked up some wheels for the wagon , 17x8 +45,which is too big, I think...but I got all four for $75 and I think those are going to be my YO!!! street wheels since I have 6 bmw bottlecaps.It's funny how I was going nuts finding stuff about the wagon and cleaning it up now I'm switching cars...haha .I have been just looking at it since the summer rains and work have me all tied up. Today I de-tinted the windows , vaccumed it , switched the k-mart stereo which was the only non-oem thing besides the muffler,and shift knob which seemed to be replaced out of need rather than performance. I have a radio delete din too which was a gift from a friend when I had no hondas....weird. Anyways...suggestions , ideas tips tricks? i'm not a honda head ...yet...

here is the clean slate:

now what if i wanted to enter the resulting product in the 2011 grm challenge ? i had ~$1200 into my e30 when i traded for the wagon, sold it, got it back with ST springs for free...had the wheels left over from my e30 and the new car for $500....plan to swap the d15 into wagon ,sell it and recoup some money...my head hurts now...

sorry for the long post, i can't sleep...(and for a sec i thought i deleted the whole post...gahhh!!!!)

In reply to stealthfighter1:

First tips - sentence structure and paragraphs will be your friend.

Rather than try to decipher all that "stuff", I recommend you go here for information:

http://www.civic4g.com/

There's a lot of info contained in the forums.

ha, thanks , I'm not twelve , I'm on a stupid laptop laying on my stomach. I'm cleaning it up anyway.Thanks for the link I'm going there now, I was already looking through h-tech but that place is vast and there are lots of people my age there... I'm mainly looking for more auto-x/ grm style tips. Rather than ''my coin holder isn't jdm enough'' comments.

Nice pick up- looks very clean.

Nice car.

Looks like you could fit a baby seat in those as well which is always a bonus.

ef-honda.com is dedicated to that generation.

lots of info out there. everything is rather easy on these cars...i;ve been messing with them for a decade. they rule.

stealthfighter1 wrote: ''my coin holder isn't jdm enough'' comments.

those people need to die...

Good find on the hatch.. Is that the style with the two piece hatch? Glass folds upwards and the metal part pivots down like a tailgate?

stealthfighter1 wrote: ha, thanks , I'm not twelve , I'm on a stupid laptop laying on my stomach. I'm cleaning it up anyway.Thanks for the link I'm going there now, I was already looking through h-tech but that place is vast and there are lots of people my age there... I'm mainly looking for more auto-x/ grm style tips. Rather than ''my coin holder isn't jdm enough'' comments.

Ha! I know you're not twelve; I checked your profile before my post. But, I don't decipher stream-of-consciousness stuff at midnight, either

I'd love to offer advice once you get a better idea of what you want and expect from the cars. I know there are a lot of other knowedgeable Honda people on this board that will gladly help, too.

BTW, I've had a '90 Dx hatch since - 1990. It has received more than a few modifications since its' purchase.

Another BTW, the 17's are pretty darn big for a Civic and you'd be better-off looking for 15's, maybe 16's.

It's a good thing I don't know where you live....I am so envious. What few cars of this vintage that are still available in my area of the country, have all been POORLY modded to within an inch of their lives.

I had an '89 Civic 4 door sedan that was a wonderful, truely trouble-free car. It "initiated" me into the Honda-Acura "fold". That said, your plans to swap the parts out of your wagovan into this hatch sound pretty good. If it were mine, i'd want to keep it (the hatch) looking stock for as long as possible, which unfortunately would mean keeping the stock/skinny wheels.

mad_machine wrote: Is that the style with the two piece hatch? Glass folds upwards and the metal part pivots down like a tailgate?

That was on the EG hatch. I had two of them and I LOVED that feature. I just thought it was an excellent design.

what do you want for the wagovan?

The '91 wagon was not called a Wagovan.

oldsaw wrote: Ha! I know you're not twelve; I checked your profile before my post. But, I don't decipher stream-of-consciousness stuff at midnight, either

I liked it. It was vaguely reminiscent of reading Kerouac.

Just listen to the guys here at GRM, and save another Honda from "poseur" syndrome.

bravenrace wrote: The '91 wagon was not called a Wagovan.

sorry, how much for the 1991 honda civic wagon?

They win Lemons Races. Make a lemons car out of it. I am actually looking for another 2 door hatch 5 speed car to play with. Great cars!!!

A few things: The intake snorkel mounts to the plastic top of the radiator and too much pressure on the snorkel can snap the tabs and leave you with a leaking radiator. Either be careful or just pull the snorkel out. I believe you can find direct-fit replacement radiators with a metal top now.

The main relays on the EFs are a common annoyance, most start to show their age on hot days and will refuse to send power to the fuel pump. It won't necessarily strand you, when mine started to go bad I was always able to get the car started in a couple minutes, but it sure is annoying as hell. Search "honda main relay" on this board and you'll find plenty of info.

H&R OE Sport springs and some good struts are a great way to get a lot more handling fun from the car without the expense of camber kits. It only lowers an EF about 1/2" meaning you can still clear speed bumps (albeit slower than normal), and tire-wear-friendly camber is still possible within the stock adjustment window (about 1/2 deg neg rear, 1 deg neg front). It also doesn't attract a lot of attention, most people don't even think my CRX is lowered at all, which is just fine with me, given how targeted Hondas are for thieves.

yeah my exterior modification plans are an Si lip and painting the roof white . other than that...nothing. I'm also going to try to keep the interior as is, since peeking in a window and seeing gauges/shifknobs/etc is a "steal me" invitation for hondas even in the low crime area i live in. The motor will be a reliable oriented over high revs/high hp . i'm going to see how the 17's feel on the car on the car for the street and the 14's for when i can auto-x it. i think my main goal is to get the suspension to where i can eventually outgrow it and change it little by little. i was looking through the car and it only has the D.side mirror , no a/c or ps... seems like just what i wanted , except for the sunroof...but i can live with it.

to grimmelshanks: probably around $500 which i what i paid for the hatchback.