Little Blackie aka Mordo – 1995 Honda Civic EX Coupe

Updated 1/12/2016 8:20 am @ Union City, California – I’ve decided to give Little Blackie an actual nickname as well – Mordo.  🙂  I love the movie Doctor Strange and Mordo (aka Sorcerer Supreme) is the super villain character and he is pretty badass.

Updated 12/25/2016 8:47 am @ San Francisco, California – added photos of little blackie and more info about it

Written by Frank M. Lin 12/21/2016 8:36 am @ Union City, California – I picked up this car few days ago with the help of Luke LFP from Santa Cruz California few days ago.

I needed a daily driver because both our 1999 Lexus LX470 SUV and 2002 Mercedes Benz E55 sedan needed to be worked on.  At first I was looking at Craigslist’s used 2002 Mercedes Benz E55 which is available $6500-8000.  It has 145k miles but looks well cared for and very clean.  And from our own experience with my brother’s 2002 E55 I feel like it is a worthy car to get.  I had to moved out and cash was very tight so I decided to buy this beater Civic I found on craigslist for $1500.  It has TEIN Basics coilover kit and Skunk2 intake manifold, and also 7 spoke fat mirror face from EK Civic so I thought the $1500 asking price was reasonable but in retrospect I should have made a lower offer say $1300.  The car has no AC system but it does have a working stereo with a big subwoofers system in the back so  I can play music via. bluetooth.  The car has many small issues, almost all I can fix no problem so even at $1500 it isn’t a terrible buy.  It actually manage to have a clean title which is quite rare now days.

1995 Honda Civic EX coupe

• originally grey but has spray can black paint job lol
• limo level tint on rear 3 windows, good quality.  very dark but clear
• was slammed and easily scrapped, i raised it about 1.5″ all around about 1 finger gap.  much better ground clearance now and still looks decent.
• car felt slow even for D16Z6 and i found out why, cheap ebay header is smashed to half diameter due to ultra low ride height and TEIN Basic is rather soft.
• clutch seems like, and i’ll guess the flywheel probably is too, but it is perfectly fine.
• transmission seems okay but it does grind 3rd gear at times.  i will change the fluid to Redline MTL soon.  i have over a dozen quarts of MTL i forgot where i got them from.  i think it was a cheap deal i bought off CL many years ago.
• missing fender underside covers on both sides.  also missing driver’s side skirt for some reason.  i hope to score these for cheap at a you-pick-it junk yard soon.
• cheap intake
• exhaust appears to be crush-bent 2.5″ resonator-less with a magnaflow muffler, decently quiet. not sure about its power making ability will have to dyno and find out
• has a factory Honda catalytic converter; should pass smog pretty easy
• no AC, PS seems to make minor noises I’ve already adjusted the belt tension it was way too tight before, but it might have damaged the pump already.  makes a slight funky whine at times.
• interior was dirty and nasty AF, i spent 2+ hours vacuuming and cleaning it.  it is acceptable now.
• front license plate was stored inside on windshield.  i scored two OG old school 5Zigen license frames from Motorsports Techniques so i installed them.
• windshield has a huge spider crack, it’s not bad enough to bother me.  so i will probably ignore it for a while…
• has a decent Kenwood deck, stock interior speaks and a pretty solid sub and sub amp.  this thing has some good bass.
• clean title but there is front end damage before.  nothing beyond the radiator core support, so it is okay.
• all four wheel bearings are bad.  like really bad…  i need to change them all soon.
• has LED headlight conversion, nice a bright
• has GSR style short shifter wrongly installed so the shift position is wrong, way too up front.  i jacked up the car and correctly this already.
• front tires were beginning to cord.  luckily i have two General Tire from FF Battle 4 that has been unused sized 195/55/15 that goes perfectly with the stock EK Si wheels (15×6 et40).
• oil was really dirty so i flushed it and added 4 quart of high milage mineral oil from Walmart.  didn’t have time to change oil filter element.  there are some leaks from valve cover that i will fix later.
• engine torque mount bushings are shot, i will probably try the $65 ebay 3 piece mounts.