New w/HX in VA

[jbi]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for a great site - I've been reading on here for over a year. My wife and I drive Civics - a 98 HX (mine) and a 97 EX for her. I joined this site because we're gathering parts for a swap - converting her EX to an HX.

We both put about 500 miles a week on our cars, and her gas mileage is usually around 33-35 mpg. I get around 45 with no problem. We need to get her mileage up there, but she wants to keep her sunroof, so trading her car for an HX is out. She's a little more rapid than me, but I still think it will be a cost-effective swap.

Right now I'm nearing the end of the parts-researching stage and I just got home last night with a worn-out D16Y5 engine. I'll post details about my plans for it in the proper place.

I need some more parts and I expect you all can help me out there with some of your connections. Also, there isn't too much detailed info on this swap, so I plan to start a thread which will exhaustively document this deal. It helps that we already have an HX here to compare parts and wire routing on. And I'm sure you all will have some advice for me as I go, which I look forward to.

Thanks in advance for your help, and I hope I can make a worthwhile contribution here. -Joe

[theholycow]

It sounds like a great project, but wouldn't it be easier (if less satisfying) to add a sunroof to an HX?

[jbi]

Well Mr. Cow, it might be at that. But then we'd still have a car with an unknown history, where we've owned her EX for the last 100k miles and know it's issues and how it's been maintained. The devil you know, and all that. I also like the EX's bigger front brake setup and stiffer suspension.

And lastly, if this works and is cost-effective, I may set it up as an addition to my regular business, which is auto repair and mobile fabrication and repair. Buy a nice EX w/ blown engine and convert to HX specs - profitable? Who knows. We're about to find out.