Also from the cleaniness of pretty much everything underneath and the fact that everything looks like dealer parts, I'm thinking it was serviced regularly by a dealership. Either that, or its got all its original parts on everything.

Been reading on IC, Wazabi what is so special about the spark plugs? I think I'm probably due, but I have yet to pull them due to the whole A B C thing about them.

Tires: the Potenza RE92's are what you want so that is a very good thing.

12V battery: you'll want to get a fresh one in there ASAP. There is a yellow top Optima but it'll take some looking to find one. There was a recall on them sometime back but that has been a while. Your regular parts house won't have it though you'll want to go with a standard Civic battery, the OEM battery was about the size of a motorcycle battery. I just put a yellow top Autozone battery on mine though it didn't need it.

Plugs - they are indexed, that is the whole A-B-C thing. Read up on it over there at IC. If you have trouble using that sorry excuse of a search engine they have, LMK and I can find the info before you post and get flamed for not searching for an answer. (see the South Park episode on hybrids to explain some of them)

There is a website, myhonda? or something like that. There you can track your MX records, ALSO you can find out what warranty work has been done on the car etc. The site is sponsored by Honda. You need to see if the headlight recall was done as well. When it goes out, only your high beams will work and it misleads you to think both your bulbs went out simultaneously.

With the SOC being at 0, it must have been sitting for sometime. Sit with the car idling at about 2000-2500 rpms for around 5-7 minutes and that should get the SOC up to full. After that once you start driving you can check for recals. Essentially the SOC will drop from around 1/2-3/4 to nothing while you are driving. If you aren't watching, it'll sneak up and the power on the car won't be there when you expect it. That may create a dangerous situation. With the SOC at 0 right now, the car will be A DOG!!!! Get the SOC up to full then drive it, you'll be surprised at the pep.

the only shop manual thati could find for it was one those that covers every imported car over a number of years.
if you check some race catologsyou can find a compact high capasity battery as well.
the block is stamped with the spark plug index letter, that letter is stamped after the hole is tapped.
if you get around to it I wonder how deep the brake drums are, wondering if the aluminum drums will fit other civics.

You know the '84-87 CRX HF uses nearly identical drums, right? I used to use a pair on my '91 DX.

Do a search on eBay for Insight shop manuals, they come up quite often. Prices range anywhere from $20+ - $100+. You'll know the manual when you see it, it is green. The most often found one is for the 2000. I found one for $27 once and scarfed it up as it was a package deal that included an owners manual.

You can try the compact battery like Ryland mentioned but the Civic battery fits perfect and if you get a high quality one you'll get more bang for your buck. At the parts store they call for a Civic battery as a direct replacement anyway. I have seen a few people get the battery that Ryland mention and were very happy with it.

Presenting Rommie!

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Powered by 3 angry squirrels.
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I'm working on getting the FSM off ebay. Got a few bids going.

Pretty much spent today going whatever I could without having to actually unbolting anything. So far, body wise here is what I've got.

-Register and get it inspected

-New battery. Have a Wally World special the Heep killed a while ago. Its still under warrenty so I might be able to get them to swap it for a Civic sized one. Ryland, while I could get a high end one from somewhere for batteries I think its easier to get them local in case they need to be warrantied or something.

-Vacuum and wash the entire interior. Who ever owned it before me either drove with a dog or was in the process of becoming really really bald.

-Replace the drivers side quarter panel window

-Dent on passenger side, right above rear wheel cover
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-Drivers side door lock is either destroyed or unhooked.

-Hood lock is jacked up. It doesn't look broken, but its loose. Bolt it down and I think it should be fine.

-Replace the front tow hook cover and get a replacement hook

-Replace the front drivers side engine cover

-New lift gate struts for the rear. The hatch is exceedingly heavy.

-Fix the rad support bar. Right now I'm trying to figure out whether or not its worth pulling this out. I think I could just leave it.
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-Figure out what version BCM and MCM its got.
-Do the head light recall.
-Oil Change
-Coolant
-Figure out why the brake light is still on
-Derustify the front brake rotors

And that should be a good start :P

Addendum about the tires. Stupid me should have checked all 4 wheels. Only the back two are Bridgestones the fronts are some Hankook something. I think I'll kill this set first before I got back to OEM

Amazing how poorly people take care of their cars. At least it's going to be taken care of now.

Yeah, though I will give the PO credit. This car was almost entirely dealer serviced. Cept the tires, all the other disposables all have Honda labels.

It pays to read the owners manual before one starts messing with a car. The drivers side door lock is fine. Apparently to lock that door you have to hold the handle open then hit the lock switch. Dumb IMO

This owners manual is sweet. It actually tells you how to do most "normal" things. E.g. coolant changes, clutch fluid requirements etc.

#1 - the hood problem you mentioned. Common problem. Clean and grease the latch up good - the problem is the cable. I'm not sure if they stretch of what but I used to have to push the handle back in while the hood was in the up position then drop the hood shut. It would normally latch.

I think I had Hankook? tires on mine too when I got it, but they were a full set. I couldn't stand them as I knew how much they were killing my mileage even at insane psi's I still got shoddy mileage.

In the 2+ years of ownership I worked all the quirks out of the car before it got a mileage that was acceptable by me. Then I sold it. :o

As far as that dent goes, remember your little car is aluminum, even the body. A HUGE plus is you have the skirts. Practice, practice, practice on pulling and reattaching them. In the end you may just carry zip ties and attach it with those.

Tow eyelet. Are you definite they lost it when they impounded the car? Check under the rear tub where the spare tire is, it "should" be in tool pouch.

What's the# of the car? Is it a real early '00 or almost a '01? Mine was (I think) 2713.

Looking good though so far :thumbup: