97' Civic DX Interior Upgrades

[Trainman93]

My older sister recently gave me (for free) her 1997 Honda Civic DX 2-Door Coupe, Automatic Transmission, Milano Red. It has an aftermarket stereo unit that has a CD player and an Ipod plug which is hidden in the glove box. Other than this one upgrade the vehicle is bone stock. Most of you probably already know what this entitles, however, for those of you who have no clue or are not clear on the subject, this means that the mirrors, windows, and door locks are all manual (non-powered); there is no cruise control; and there is also no tachometer. I really can't complain as I did receive this car for free and it's in excellent condition. Only about 105,000 Miles. I would however like to changes some of these things.

Here is a list of items I wish to change. Items on the left are current, items on the right are what I would like to convert to.

Instrument Cluster w/out Tachometer ==> Instrument Cluster w/ Tachometer
Manual Crank Windows ==> Power Windows
Manual Door Locks ==> Power Door Locks
Manual Mirrors ==> Power Mirrors
No Cruise Control ==> Cruise Control (I probably won't be doing this conversion, just a thought)

I was hoping to get some input and opinions about how to perform the cluster swap as well as some input as to what kind of cluster (Model?) (preferably stock) (that has a tachometer), the approximate price that I should pay for the cluster, and where to look for these clusters. Personally I would like to get a new unused cluster but that is probably really expensive and and hard to obtain.

I also wanted to get some input and opinions about how to get powered mirrors, windows, and door locks. My thought was to find a similar model Civic in Milano Red that has these options and just do a complete door swap. I don't know if this is reasonable or not but it was my first thought. I also would like to know what might be involved in the conversions and approximate price figures.

As for the cruise control, I can live comfortably with out it but it would be nice to have it, so if it is not too difficult or expensive I may go through with it.


I would say I am pretty good with electrical and mechanical work so these tasks probably won't be too hard but some opinions on the would be appreciated as well. Unless I find some ridiculously good deals I won't be doing any of this anytime soon as I am still trying to find a job, but I wanted to know if these were things worth saving for. The car has a sort of sentimental value because it was a gift and with this Civic I know the shape it's in and a dealer would definitely not give me a fair trade so trading it is not really an option, plus I'd like to have some of my own labor into my Civic, makes it feel more mine.

 

[TigBitties]

gauge cluster can be swapped in under five minutes. You need to buy just a 6th gen gauge cluster with a tach such as an ex or si. I prefer the ex since you can swap the spedometer so the mileage is correct and it matches. If the miles are below what they should be it wil cause problems come inspection time. Then just throw it in. It will plug right up to what you have now and work. i paid 120 for my cluster. If you have any questions pm me

For the door swap, your idea is what i did. I also had a dx and swapped ex doors on. I now have power mirrors locks and windows. What you need is the doors and the floor harness. You also need the harness running to the doors. This swap isnt to difficult to do if you can take a front end off and unplug the harness and take your interior out. You will need to take the whole interior out except for the dash, gauge cluster, and glove box i think. idk about the glove box. Then just swap the parts out. you dont need the dash harness. If you need to know anymore just pm me also. Hopefully this helps. Ive done both so i can answer any questions

 

[scarhead92]

gauge cluster can be swapped in under five minutes. You need to buy just a 6th gen gauge cluster with a tach such as an ex or si. I prefer the ex since you can swap the spedometer so the mileage is correct and it matches. If the miles are below what they should be it wil cause problems come inspection time. Then just throw it in. It will plug right up to what you have now and work. i paid 120 for my cluster. If you have any questions pm me

For the door swap, your idea is what i did. I also had a dx and swapped ex doors on. I now have power mirrors locks and windows. What you need is the doors and the floor harness. You also need the harness running to the doors. This swap isnt to difficult to do if you can take a front end off and unplug the harness and take your interior out. You will need to take the whole interior out except for the dash, gauge cluster, and glove box i think. idk about the glove box. Then just swap the parts out. you dont need the dash harness. If you need to know anymore just pm me also. Hopefully this helps. Ive done both so i can answer any questions

i paid 40 for my 97 ex cluster from an auto... from my local junkyard. if you get it out of an auto the car you are pulling from will have one more clip while the dx like me and you hvae uses only three. they plug up the exact same just the manual doesnt use one more clip just cover the PRNDD1D2 with a piece of electrical tape. if you do go through with the doors and cruise please post up a diy as im getting very sick of not having cc while driving since most my driving is on the freeways

 

[scarhead92]

did u ever go through with the swap if so get a diy up

 

[cksnah252]

gauge cluster can be swapped in under five minutes. You need to buy just a 6th gen gauge cluster with a tach such as an ex or si. I prefer the ex since you can swap the spedometer so the mileage is correct and it matches. If the miles are below what they should be it wil cause problems come inspection time. Then just throw it in. It will plug right up to what you have now and work. i paid 120 for my cluster. If you have any questions pm me

For the door swap, your idea is what i did. I also had a dx and swapped ex doors on. I now have power mirrors locks and windows. What you need is the doors and the floor harness. You also need the harness running to the doors. This swap isnt to difficult to do if you can take a front end off and unplug the harness and take your interior out. You will need to take the whole interior out except for the dash, gauge cluster, and glove box i think. idk about the glove box. Then just swap the parts out. you dont need the dash harness. If you need to know anymore just pm me also. Hopefully this helps. Ive done both so i can answer any questions

I did power windows, locks and mirrors on my 97 hatch. I didnt use the floor harness, because I dont want to lose my rear wiper arm lol. I mean the floor harness isnt necessary unless you want to do things the right way. I couldnt spend any more time (or patience lol) waiting for the floor harness. What I did was run the wires from one door to the other, and power it up. Works good and legit for me . Let me know if you need any help!

 

[TigBitties]

I prefer to do things correctly and using factory parts, your guarenteed for it to all plug up. a floor harness swap takes maybe 10 mintues if you kow what your doing.

Scar im confused about what your asking.

 

[scarhead92]

pictures please of wires and other things

 

[TigBitties]

well in order to get pictures i would have to strip the car apart.

 

[emerican]

^ i was thiking the same thing thats alot of work for pictures.

 

[scarhead92]

i meant like as you did it

 

[TigBitties]

i didnt own a camera at the time, sorry. you shouldnt have any problems with it. its actually very simple to do. just swap things out

 

[scarhead92]

all i need to do is go to a junkyard and get door panels and pull the wiring, right? and then color match and connect?