By Kamil Kaluski
“I have nowhere to park it, nowhere to drive it, and no time to spend on it”
That’s what I said about this bone stock Integra when I bought it back in November of last year. In the nine months I have owned it, I’ve put exactly forty eight miles on it and I am not proud of that. But that’s all for bad news, because the good news (I think) is that I have thrown a lot of money at it! 
Suspension and exhaust installed
The car was all factory original when I bought with the exception of certain serviceable items and repairs that it needed in its almost twenty years of existence. First order of business was to repair anything that may hamper reliability. Actually, first I bought a car cover and performed minor anti-theft modifications. So, list one went like this:
- New radiator, hoses, thermostat, thermostat housing.
- Passenger side axle (boot was torn).
- Outer tie-rods (both sides).
- Clutch master and slave cylinders (leaks).
- Valve cover gasket (leak).
- Muffler (was rusted, replaced with OEM Integra Type R muffler, yo!)
- Engine mounts (they looked like Jeff’s).
That was stage one. During stage two the Integra will receive all new OEM steel brake and fuel hoses. At some point someone replaced those hoses on there but whoever changed them did a horrible job of splicing and they are leaking. But before I got to that, I jumped ahead and tackled the suspension. 
I wasn’t really looking for one, but found a nice set of Tein adjustable coil-over springs with matching shocks on Craigslist. The price was right and they were almost new and of very high quality, so I jumped on it. Of course I wasn’t going to just half-ass it. So I ended up replacing all lower control arms, all bushings, and every single nut and bolt in the suspension system. That was very labor intensive and pricey. The suspension was set to its highest position, roughly one inch lower from stock, and aligned. The suspension is not done yet, as both of the sway bars need attention. I bought a used rear Comp-Tech sway bar off a friend but I have yet to have it installed. I think I’ll leave the front sway-bar stock but replace links, bushings, and hardware. The same friend sold me a CompTech Icebox cold air intake, supposedly one of the best and OEM looking, too. I wasn’t looking for one of those either, but the price was right. Once all of the above is done I’ll give her a proper cleaning. Then it will get all new speakers and antenna mast (I’m keeping the power antenna!). Then… I don’t know. I may ditch the airbags and get an OEM non-SRS steering wheel as replacement. More security features perhaps. Since the car is so original and in such good condition I am having a hard time convicting myself to do any modifications that would take away from that originality. I do plan on autocrossing it soon but I wouldn’t do a track event without a roll-bar. Unfortunately a roll-bar means getting rid of the rear seat, adding two race seats and harnesses, and I’m not ready for that. But first I need to drive it more!
Jeff Glucker