New to Canada and my first Japanese Car!
 

I'm a new guy to Canada from the UK (moved over in January) and I just picked up my first Japanese marquee car, a very clean 2001 2DR LX. It's a manual with 137k on the clock with a recent timing belt change!

I've been into modding in the past with Mini's and Volkswagen's in the past, so I'm looking forward to throwing money at this thing.

So, with a completely fresh '01, what are the first considerations for modifying? I'm looking for a decent price to improvement ratio. The paintwork isn't the greatest, so I'll be going at it with some high grade wax and polish to try and buff out the little marks all over the thing.

After that I'll give the engine bay a toothbrush clean!

I'm thinking strut bar, a tuneup (spark plugs, fuel filter, oil change) and cold air intake to start with? Whats the recommended oil around these parts?

I'm so glad there is a local forum to talk about this stuff on, I'm in Cobourg :)

Welcome to the site Bron! I'm sure many people will chime in with opinions on what can be done with your car. I suggest putting up a budget and what your goals are so that people can narrow down what they suggest. Most people are too broad with this question and don't quite get the answer they want.

Your car takes 5w20, in terms of oil, I like to use Castrol GTX high milage when its on sale. Again, everyone will have different opinions ranging from synthetic to unicorn oil.
Again, welcome, bring the car to our next meet!

welcome to tcc!

Very valid point Sumol. Over the next 2 months I'd spend about a max of about $1000 on the car. I don't mind using 2nd hand parts and using elbow grease to make them look better. Already found a local CAI for $75 on kijiji.

I'm taking a look at some 10 spoke 17" rims with some rubber on for $600 next weekend.

What I'm looking for right now are the basics that most people aim to get done in the first few months of having a Civic and wanting to get the most out of it. In most of my cars Strut bars have always proved a cheap way to get a decent increase in fun :)

Upgrading your swaybars, and lowering your car are also great starts and will get you some fun ;)

If you're looking for more power besides bolt ons like intake and exhaust, look into motor swaps, turbochargers or superchargers.

Nothing quite that drastic I'm afraid. Since I didn't bring my insurance history with me I'm now regarded as a "new driver". My insurance is $250 a month without performance mods! So I'm sticking mostly to stock for the time being and making it look clean :)

Do you have to declare alloys here? If so, should I hunt out some Honda alloys from another model to try and get around it?

Nope, none of that :)

Btw, Welcome to Canada and TCC! :canada::welcome:

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q...lcomeSign1.gif

Good to have you on the forum. You mentioned cleaning up your engine bay...there's an excellent thread in the DIY Section sure to inspire. Check out this thread if you have opportunity:
http://www.torontocivics.com/f13/d-i-y-detailing-your-engine-bay-pics-168057/

Enjoy TCC.

:wave:

Welcome!

Welcome to the forum !!

There is tons of way to mod your car .. You already have great ideas to start.. Most common starting mods are

Front strut bar
Shortam intake or CAI
Lowering the car
front lip
front grill
Rims

I wouldnt buy 17' rims for a civic. Personally 16s are the best option , anything bigger than that doesnt look too good... I would even suggest 15

Also keep in mind that the bigger the rims the most you ll spend on tires and ride quality wont be the best...But if you like 17 go for it ( to each its own)

As per the oil , everyone has different opinions ( there is a poll somewhere in this forum , use search function) personally I prefer castrol synthec but I have used mobil1 too

Dont forget to use the search function on the top bar. You will find a lot of info there !!

once again welcome !!

I think I agree with the 16's.

So I gave it a pretty extreme clean yesterday. Used minor scratch removal stuff on most of the car and a heavy polish. Gleaming! I'm pretty sure it's not been this clean since showroom.

Put a bug deflector on today since I drive on pretty shitty roads some days and I've got it booked in for window tints on Tuesday.

BTW What seems to be the best value strut bar and where should I order it from? Since this is my first car over here I feel like I'm fishing into website without knowing their rep!

Ebay just for bling and looks. Real quality that makes a difference you can feel would be the bigger manufacturers that sell solid, no hinge on the mounting points (and three point if possible), look into Mugen, Spoon, OEM Honda Type R, etc.

Not interesting in bling and looks for something under the hood. Any recommended retailers?

welcome,
2001 civic..is it a coupe 2dr?
i would just get front and rear lip..too fast motors are very cheap...50$ a piece
other than that...a tint job not sure about any places near u...but other than that..10 spokes rims sounds like a good idea...what color is ur car?

WELCOME! :canada:

Yeah it's a 2dr in black. I know a very good tint place nearby since my brother in law used them, planning on getting 35/20 with a 6" 35 strip on the windshield.

nice bro

Finally took some pics on something I could take the card out of!

It's got pretty dirty since last week, just got tints done.

http://i41.tinypic.com/68zo0p.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/29z2d8n.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/venqls.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/i4lgyq.jpg