When searching for a project car, I had a few things in mind. First, it had to be cheap, since I had a pretty tight budget. Next, it had to be relatively safe: it couldn't just be something that would explode into pieces in a crash. Finally, I had to be able to repair it within a reasonable timeframe.

Taking these requirements into consideration, I scoured the internet for a car that I could buy. I eventually settled on a salvage titled 1998 Honda Civic EX that I found on OfferUp. I was able to get the price down to $600 and had it towed to my house.

I initially found a few problems with the car, which I thought could be solved pretty easily:

  • The brakes were extremely loud, probably because the pads were completely worn down
  • A few lights were out
  • One of the lug nuts was missing
  • And it looked (and smelled) like ðŸ’Đ

In the next few posts, you'll see how I fixed each of these problems, and what additional issues I found in the process!