27 March 2008

Just the console

finally got around to taking some pics of the interior console...nothing of the WHOLE interior...ill start taking pics of that when i start changing it lol. anyways...here they are


the new shift boot :) i think it looks MUCH better than the old one



and of course the DVD/NAV system (man i love this thing)



and if you turn your head, heres the two of em together lol

25 March 2008

YAY!!

pics of the new intake!! installed all by myself :) im pretty happy with the outcome..you can definately hear a differance and theres a little but of a difference getting toward the higher rpm (before the v-tec) you can feel it pull.






and a few pics of the exhaust...the guys that did it did an AWESOME job...it was quick and easy and was much cheaper than i could find at most of the shops down here.






the exhaust sounds great...very throaty. im gonna try to get a sound clip up here (maybe video of me revving the engine for a good sound test and one of my driving by if i can to get the full effect)

i also have the shift boot installed...that was fun to do :P ill get pics of those up soon (kinda gotta tidy up the interior before i decide to take pics lol.
alright take care

24 March 2008

WORKIN TIME!!

just got 3 of the 4 parts i ordered in today (intake, exhaust, and strut bar) which i guess is the best combination for them to show up....the shift boot can wait :P
not gonna do pics of the pieces before they go in cuz...well...they are in a previous post. i WILL however provide pictures of everything after its all done.
unfortunately though, since i dont have a lift at my disposal and i cant weld worth a crap...i will have to have the exhaust installed for me professionally :( where that takes a little bit away from my "DIY" project...its still getting the job done and will definately take half the time lol.
anyways....if the wife decides she wants to take pictures of me while im getting this all put together, then you'll have some of the "during" photos as well...if not...the "after" will have to sufice.
alright...got some work to do!
take care

21 March 2008

I Hate Shipping Companies....

well....i thought i was going to have some new car parts in my hands today....but alas, the stupidity that is the USPS and UPS delivery system has struck again. for some reason one of my parts was sent out to california first...then re routed to texas, which made the scheduled delivery date monday instead of today....whoopie.
and of course everyone knows how fast the USPS works....ill be lucky to get those parts before i move out of here.
so...unfortunately that gives me nothing to do this weekend except wait some more....and there will be no pictures of my new stuff on my car :(

19 March 2008

The Plan so far....

just to put some information out there as to what i plan on doing with this machine....ive made a list of SOME (not all) the things i have in mind so far. more is definately coming as i find out more information about what to upgrade/how to upgrade it in this long search of knowledge. i didnt get pictures of everything because...lets face it....alot of the performance stuff wont be seen anyways. so all i have pictures of right now are the exterior pieces. please feel free to comment on the parts i have chosen or suggest better alternatives. and of course...if there is any information you are willing to share...send it my way. im not gonna be able to deck this thing out without knowing which parts to change.




the front bumper



i LOVE these sideskirts but they are rediculously expensive...so i might have to go with a cheaper alternative



these fenders are nice...pretty much one of the only options for my car



one of the two hoods im looking at...



the second of the two hoods...i like em both and they both cost the same so its a hard decision


thats it for the pics...as you can see, i havent planned on getting a rear bumper...namely because all the rear bumpers/lips i can find for my car SUCK. not a single one is worth getting...plus the stock bumper looks pretty good anyways.


i also plan on getting a carbon fiber grille (cant put more than 5 pics up in one post i guess) check it out at this link if you want


http://robearracing.com/pd_nrg_carbon_fiber_mg_style_front_grill_civic_02-05_si_ep3.cfm

this one is a little expensive, i have found them for cheaper but i cant seem to find it now...

and of course i plan on lowering the car about 2" as well so you can factor in lowering springs for that.

now all that is just for the look of the car....for performance stuff i have a small list (which will hopefully grow after i learn a bit more) that follows:

intake*, cat-back exhaust*, header, high-flow catalytic converter, manifold gasket, front strut bar*, short throw shifter, ecu upgrade, camshafts, pistons (if i can find some), clutch, flywheel, timing gears, high performance radiator, fuel injector, engine damper...yeah...thats all i have as of right now.

oh...and of course accessory parts just to make things look cooler.

* = i have already purchased this part
i dont plan on editing this post when i DO buy these parts, but it will be documented on this page somewhere.

and all that is if i DONT find a turbo somewheres at the right time....
anyways...let me know what ya think
peace

18 March 2008

First Purchaces

so its finally official...i am making forward progress in my project. well, technically it happened a few days ago but ill go ahead and make it official today. ive finally made my first purchases towards my goal. its not much but its the fastest way for a little bit of HP boost short of doing a complete engine swap or dropping tons more money on a turbo...so here they are...the new pieces of my car. (i should be getting them here around friday-monday and ill start working on putting them on asap...and pictures will follow)

first and foremost are the 2 pieces that just about every source i could find said to start with


cat-back exhaust by magnaflow


air intake by aem

followed by a part that would not only add a little something performance wise, but also give a little bit to the look of the car

upper front strut bar by megan auto


and finally something that was cheap and easy but would definately help out overall with the interior look

type r style shift boot by lightning auto customs



this is just to justify the reasoning behind the money spent on the shift boot...in the picture below is the stock shift boot. i dont know about you guys but i think the type r boot looks much nicer...and it goes with the interior set up as is (black with red stitching)





also the reasoning behind the red strut bar rather than blue to match the exterior...

basically, with the SI models there is always red touches to the exterior and interior (no matter the color of the car). as i explained earlier with the interior...red stitching on everything from the seats to the steering wheel and the floor mats. and on the exterior with the "SI" symbol (also the honda "H" emblem if you drive a type r model) i decided that since there is already red there...why not use it as the accent color for not only some of my interior and exterior but for my engine bay as well....so you'll be seeing a lot more red going into this car before its finished.

anyways...thats it for now. like i said before...hopefully these parts will be in soon and ill have pics up shortly after.

take care

17 March 2008

IN THE BEGINNING...

so last january i decided that it was time to get rid of my old VW GTI that had over 130k miles on it and buy something a little newer. after seriously 1 hour of searching i found my SI. i test drove it the day after i saw it and instantly knew i had to buy it. and since then ive been pretty happy...


until i started realizing that i now have a job that gives me enough money not only to pay my bills...but to pay my bills and still have money left over! so i started looking at performance parts. little detailing things that would set my car out from others.


this blog is to document anything and everything that happens along the way. everything from before and after pics to little bits of information that i find out...this is a learning process after all.
so...as in the title...in the beginning there was:













completely stock as of right now, but not for too much longer.

last saturday i went ahead and bought the first pieces to the project.

hopefully by next week i'll have a new intake and cat-back exhaust on as well as a strut bar and a couple cosmetic things. pictures will be posted of course.

so until next time!!