Derbo's EX hatchback commuter

[derbo904]

93k miles and counting.

Sponsored

 

[Civics4Ever]

Nice. But all the $$ you put in, you could have bought a CTR.

 

[derbo904]

Nice. But all the $$ you put in, you could have bought a CTR.

I don't get this comment. Where is all this $$ I put in? I barely put in $2k worth of parts outside of maintenance (I have a spreadsheet). Clearly a $23k MSRP EX will become a $36k CTR with $2k worth of parts. ROFL.

 

[KYRGYZ]

I noticed you in bay area, is there a way for you to help me with ex-l steering wheel install?

 

[Lordpyro]

I couldn't wait to do at least one swap..

Where can i get the leather shift knob?

 

[derbo904]

Where can i get the leather shift knob?

Honda Dealership. It comes standard on any civic with factory leather installed like a sport touring.

 

[dt17]

Did you managed to weigh the wheels before and after? You went from 17" to 18"?

Since my tires were starting to go, I figured I start hunting for a set of OEM wheels. I always wanted a sport hatchback but I wanted the EX features. I posted a few threads up to WTB touring, Si or Sport wheels. Luckily a local member here just got an Si and was about to take them off. We setup a deal and I picked up a set of Si wheels!

I was pleasantly surprised that the wheels were made by Enkei.

I really like that it is the polished versions from the sedan/coupes instead of the gunmetal ones. This seems to brighten up my hatchback as pure black darkness was a bit much.

 

[derbo904]

Did you managed to weigh the wheels before and after? You went from 17" to 18"?

Unfortunately no.

Based on some searching:
2017 Civic 4dr EX Turbo wheel is rated at ugly 28.79lbs.
Civic Si wheels are 42700-TBF-A91 and only found on Si cars, 28lbs. and produced by Enkei.

That said, the wider tire is heavier and I did lose about 1-2mpg from the car..but it looks sooo much better.

 

[Angelortiz15]

Today I tackled the steering wheel swap. It feels so much better that plastic thing not to mention looking a lot better.

Notes:
-The steering wheel bolt is on there good. 10mm Hex socket + a huge breaker bar did the trick.
-I bought two new airbag bolts and steering wheel bolt because they have dry green locktite on there. I would assume its only a one-time use bolt. They aren't too expensive at $11 for 3 bolts.
-When the steering wheel is removed, I saw there was two lines on the steering column splines. They matched two lines on the steering wheel. My guess is that it was marked to help alignment be simpler. It certainly helped me since the rotating black piece with the white peg could freely rotate when the steering wheel was off.
-When installing the battery again, the dash will light up like a christmas tree. A simple test drive will reinitialize everything and the lights will go away.

where Did you get the steering wheel?

 

[derbo904]

I got it from a dealer? It's an OE part.

 

[derbo904]

Added an AFE air filter at 123,707 miles.

Nothing to report, just running like a champion workhorse!

Doing workhorse stuff like carrying my rims for my M3.

 

[derbo904]

I finally decided to just give in and buy OE LED headlights. I'm currently researching how to fix hyperflashing and looking for a fairly clean setup. I already bought a harness from ebay but the resistors included were not wired in already. I haven't decided if I use it or replace it with another harness yet.

 

[derbo904]

## LED Headlight install

I've been wanting to buy LED headlights for awhile now and finally found a set of used OE headlights for a decent price. These were the 2019 ones so hopefully it has less glare than the older version.

LED headlights use 2 plugs, a main plug for hi, lo, turn, and another plug for the DRL. I purchased a harness to minimize splicing. Unfortunately the harness I purchased on Ebay did not have the resistors for the turn signal hyperflashing wired in. I had to splice them myself which was unfortunate since the Ebay listing said no splicing required. It wasn't the end of the world but more of an annoyance.

## Steps

1. Unbolt the 1082190318390 clips for the bumper, 2x 5mm hex, 2x10mm
2. Remove the bumper, unplug the fog lights
3. Unbolt the headlights and unplug them
4. Swap the headlight bracket to the new LED headlights
5. Test harness before installing. Check low, high, turn, DRL.
6. Reverse order install.

Output is wider than my old HID drop in kit but not as far. I haven't driven it much besides to wall in the picture to get it aligned. Overall, I'm happy with the setup and building my own weirdly spec Civic Hatch.

If you made it this far to this post. Congratulations. Till next time.

 

[arsh88]

This is pretty dope. I think i'm going to have to finally get my pics together and post everything I've done so far.

 

[derbo904]

This is pretty dope. I think i'm going to have to finally get my pics together and post everything I've done so far.

Thanks man! It was more of a journal for myself to just timeline items. It is kind of a habit I've done over the years for my previous cars. Happy someone got enjoyment out of it.

Sponsored