98 Civic EX - where to start?

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nplsdvr

New Member
We bought the car used with 128k miles on it. Wife uses it for a daily driver for work - 35 miles each way, plus I use it 3x per week to deliver pizza.

I'm not looking at street racing or shows or anything - I just want to improve what I have and know it's going to be a solid DD so my wife doesn't call me stalled on the side of the road.

What are the basic things I should address to make it a solid reliable vehicle.

Thanks!

nplsdvr
 
Make sure all your maintenance is up to date- plugs, belts, fluids, whatever's listed in your owner's manual...

Things to make it better- mild suspension upgrades, intake/header/exhaust, GOOD tires. If you're willing to really put some labor into it, change out all your busings to polyurethane too. They'll make your car feel better than new.
 
I probably don't have the time to "put labor into it" I only have Sundays off and it's gotta be ready for Mondays.

Would you recommend synthetic oil over the usual?

I don't need to sink a lot of money into it, but I want to know I'm getting the most out of it I can. My wife said, "It would be real nice if you could get fog lights installed before winter." (We get nasty fog on the mountain in the winter time around here.) She actually asked me to work on the car!! I'm not sure if I covered well - I'm thinking the drooling and hyperventilating maybe gave myself away. :happydance:
 
Oh. As long as you're not doing anything really major (you wouldn't be with that list) you can do it all in a few hours every time.

I wouldn't recommend synthetic if you're keeping the car mostly stock and you're not revving it to hell all the time. I only run synthetic in the S2000 and my built engine in my Civic, everything else that gets driven normally, including my wife's Civic with the engine swap- they all get Valvoline MaxLife.
 
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