I just bought a 4 door 1996 Honda Accord EX, and I'd like to fix it up to make it look nicer. Where do I start?



The first thing I'm going to do is get the windows tinted. Black on black looks nice.

Second, I'd like to get better exhaust pipes, the current ones are 2 pipes that look a little rusty.. how do I go about doing this? How much would it cost? What should I buy?

I'd need to get some new speakers I'm assuming, maybe a sub and amp.

I'd like to install remote start/keyless entry/alarm, what a decent one run me?

 

Congrats on your Accord! You can do many things to make it look better. I agree with the window tint, it will look really sharp. Secondly, I would get a new grill. They have them on eBay for about $35 and look great (you can see mine in the photo gallery section). Also, I would get ride of the corner lights and replace them with either amber or euro clear ones and once again those can be bought off ebay for $10 (I have those too). When you say exhaust pipes, do you mean a whole new exhaust system or just the muffler section? Just a muffler from a local autopart store shouldnt bt to expensive, but for cat-back systems they are quite a bit more. I have the Apexi WS2 and there is no ricey sound and it is really quiet. Then there are other systems with the big can that create quite a bit of noise. Speaker wise...many people have their own opinion as to which are the best. I simply bought $20 3-way speakers off ebay for the rear of my car and i'm happy with them. But others prefer Kicker, Pioneer, Alpine and etc. If you choose to get a sub and amp I would highly recommend an amp with a fan to keep it cooler, and increase its life. Once again there are many subwoofer options, it depends if you want the high quality stuff or just a little thump. As for the start, entry, and alarm that will cost youa little bit. My alarm/keyless entry was $245 installed from Best Buy and I think remote start will run you at least another $100. Anyways, good luck and thanks for joining HAF!

 

Thanks for the reply.

I just looked at your pictures, your Accord looks great. How easy was it to install the grill? That does make the car look pretty nice, I'm definately going to look in to that now. What should I search for on eBay?

I really want the Euro Lights, I'm going to be looking in to that right away. How easy are those to install, and do you think the clear ones look best or the ones with red in them?

When I was talking about the exhaust, I just meant the back muffler section that you can see from behind the car. I don't want anything noisy, just something that looks nice. I'll have to take more pictures of my car.

Anything else I could do to make the car look nicer?

I might get some nice speakers, but I don't know how much I really want a sub/amp.

 

No problem. And thanks The grill was very easy to install. To remove the old one you have to remove around 4 screws. Putting in the grill was just as easy although you have to put it together (two pieces) but its super easy.

About the euro lights, i'm assuming your talking about my tail lights instead of the corners. The tail lights are really easy to install as well. Simply undo a few bolts inside the trunk to release the inner lights, and two panels inside the trunk (it has a ****, turn it, and simply remove) and then you take out the bolts and there you go! The grill and lights are pretty much the easiest things to do! So it wont be a problem but when you order your tail lights check out the signal. For example, on my tail lights the lens thats used to signal was clear and my light bulb is white so thats illegal. I couldnt find any of the bulbs that were amber so I had to hard wire them in. So if the lens is clear then order amber signal bulbs off ebay or summitracing.com.

Muffler wise, I would check out your auto parts store since you dont want noise, but eBay also has a ton of weld on mufflers that you may like. A few are stock sounding mufflers but most I see will make alot of noise in which you could buy a silencer.

You should put your car in the gallery as well! Anything else? Well simply go to eBay and type in "94097 Honda Accord" and you'll see a ton of parts and accesories for it that you may like!

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

What % tint should I go with?

The legal limit in KY where I live is 15%, but I think I'm going to go to Ohio to get it done. The legal limit there is 50%. What do you guys think I should do? I don't think 15% is dark enough, but 50% might be too much?

I have a Black 96 Accord

 

the lower the number the darker it is, 15% lets 15% of light through, while 50% lets 50% of light through, so 15% is alot darker then 50%, my personal opinion is the darker the better.

 

are you sure because my friend got the legal limit in ky and it just didnt look that dark at all

 

Hello welcome to the forum. OK so before I started my car looked just like yours. The back lenses are easy but the front lights from my experience were a pain in the butt to put in. I had big problems simply getting out the factory lenses. They had to be torn out. There is not alot of room in there. As for the grill I went to Advance auto parts and purchased the mesh and I modded the factory grill. All you need is some glue and a dremel. But you know that was when I couldn't find a pre-assembled new grill. So then I got a new custom cat back exhaust system and when you do this you will deffinately notice a difference. I then went with new rims 17" Konig Imagine and Kumho ASX tires. I then found out that my tires were wearing very badly so I had to get chamber kits for front and back. SPC performance chamber kits. At this time I also purchased new springs. I have Eibach Sportline springs. They are great, just like factory. It is amazing how new tires and springs will make your handling so great. The other thing I did was I installed new eurolite guages on the inside of the car and a new stick to match. Now I still need to do some things. I want a new carbon fiber hood. I want to change my lenses in front and back to carbon fiber. I need new struts thanks to the performance springs and I'm thinking about a racing clutch. So there you go. This has been my journey. So good luck with yours. Breeze