Near-mint 4th gen Civie what can I do with this puppy?

My neighbors (northern New Jersey) have a 4th gen Civic hatch for sale. It's a base model, red, 5 speed, grey plastic upholstery, black bumpers. I don't know the exact year, I couldn't see the mileage (probably mid 100s), but it is in superb condition. There's a rip in the driver's seat, otherwise the interior appears near-mint, as does the paint, the silver-painted steelies look mint, and the car shows extremely minimal wear. The car looks 3 years old, not 11-14 years old. They're asking $2000.

I'm probably not in the market for this car right now, but it might be an intriguing second car.

I figure sport springs, shocks, sway bars, would cost about ~$1200, so I'm wonderin' how much more would it cost to bring the 0-60 time down to, say, 7-8 seconds, and I dunno, a 1/4 mile in the high 15s? Something reasonably fast for daily driving but not too crazy. Could this be done for a reasonable price without sacrificing too much reliability?

How much does a clutch/tranny re-do run on one of these puppies? (anticipating the end of the tranny sometime after the perf. mods)

I'm interested in creating a minor sleeper, not too interested in swapping the rims or changing much of the appearance.

Sorry if this is annoying super newbie stuff.

[ChrisCantSkate]

buy a b16a... you can probobly get in the 14's

This car weighs <2200 pounds!! That's crazy, that's like, as light as an original GTI.

:drooling....:

Assuming it's a base 1.5 liter, how hard/$ to crank it up to around 120hp/120lb-ft torque?

Does anyone know the stock performance stats? I couldn't find them, but I'm guessing: 0-60 in ~11 seconds, 1/4 mile in ~18. Hmm...maybe 0-60 in <8 and 1/4 <15 is a little optimistic?...

[ChrisCantSkate]

yank the engine... its the cheapest easyest way to get some extra HP. look at www.jdmclub.com for a old b16a engine. they have 160hp 110~ish tq i belive in stock trim. that alone will push your car kinda quick

Cool. So, for around $2600 it looks like I could get a 160HP B16A with tranny, ECU, and LSD...put ~$1200 into the suspension...get the car for $1600...get the engine installed...pull the power steering, AC, and seats...looks like a pretty fast sleeper for around $6000. Hmm...not great, but could be sorta interesting...mmm probably not worth it. But it's cool to think about.

[ChrisCantSkate]

well, if you can do install yourself, its pretty strait forward i belive as long as you get a harness.you dont need 1200 into the suspension unless you are planing on going all out. ground control coilovers and koni yellow shocks will kick ass and only cost you around 7-900 for the setup

OK, now I'm getting carried away...and I'm starting to lose the sleeper aspect:
Car: $1600
B16A transplant: $3000 (includes tranny, ECU, LSD)
Ground controls + yellow Konis: $900
15x6 SSR Competitions with RE730s: $1531
SI paintable bumper covers, stock spoilers, valances: $400
custom paint job: $1000
some other random crap I haven't thought of yet: $1000

OK that's between $7200-$9200. Any other important mods before I start going off the deep end into complete disassembly, stripping the paint, steering wheels, seats, roll cages, racing dash?

Anyway, what I've got already would be fun and could kick some ass here and there, right? I realize at this rate I could probably buy someone else's already set up, but then it wouldn't be a project.

It wouldn't have uncontrollable wheel hop or torque-steer problems or anything?

BTW this appears to be a good site for psyching-out part costs: http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/

[ChrisCantSkate]

polyurathane mount will take car of wheel hop. if your spending 3g's on the b16, might as well go with a b18c1