Need to buy a 1.7EL (2001 to 2003)

[m4gician]

As part of my research, I need to find out a few things about getting one. First off I live in Toronto Canada and finding one used won't be too much of a problem, though I want to get a loaded one, black with sunroof for less than $13,000 .

Secondly, I'm coming from contour.org where the boards were really helpful in diagnosing issues, as well as help with mods from performance to aesthetics, and I was wondering;

1) What's the price I will be looking at for an EL from 2001 - 2003
- I've looked and liked the features and know that there is little difference in between years.

2) What would be the best forum to seek help / guidance / info on DIY mods? Would it be here? Temple of V-tech? 7thgen Civic?

3) Any other cars I should consider that are similar to the EL ? Any common problems? Any easy to do performance mods / aesthetic mods?

4 (really really superficial) but is there a premade projector retrofit kit available? Or do I have to custom frabricate projectors? i know that ELs and civics have the uni-light that is both high and low beam so I mean is there a way to easily and cheaply change that?

If you guys could answer my questions, that'd be great. Thanks very much for viewing my post and for any suggestions you may provide.

[04 EL]

Welcome to Acuraworld!

I can help with only a few of those items as I'm not really familiar with mods etc...but pricing you would probably have to lean towards 01/02 model years to get something lower, and perhaps sacrifice km's too.

One thing I recall is that the 01 model year had a few blurps that Acura seemed to correct by the later years (02/03).

That's all I pretty much can help you with but a lot of people on here will be able to field your other questions!

[TeLLY]

Welcome. Let's see if I can answer some of your questions here...

Originally Posted by m4gician

1) What's the price I will be looking at for an EL from 2001 - 2003
- I've looked and liked the features and know that there is little difference in between years.

Can't help you here I'm afraid, Autotrader will be your best friend to get a general idea.

Originally Posted by m4gician

2) What would be the best forum to seek help / guidance / info on DIY mods? Would it be here? Temple of V-tech? 7thgen Civic?

7thgencivic.com's kinda in a confused 'growing-pains' phase as it's been bought out and changed to civicforums.com. Still tons of info there, and a good amount of it applies to the EL, except basically for the front end and rear disc brakes. I'm a member of this site, 7thgencivic aka civicforums, and ClubEL.ca, which will have the most info specific to the EL (I've got tons of posts there, check em out).

Originally Posted by m4gician

3) Any other cars I should consider that are similar to the EL ? Any common problems? Any easy to do performance mods / aesthetic mods?

The EL is mechanically identical to the US's Civic EX sedan, the one with the D17a2 engine. More power is very hard to come by with boltons on this car, but suspension is easily and effectively modified if you do your research. My car is braced, dropped, and basically corners like it's on rails, to the dismay of my lower back, LOL. Cosmetic mods are easy to come by and are generally not too expensive, except for the front end - there are very few aftermarket front lips that fit the car, and NO aftermarket front bumpers. Anything you would want to do body-wise on the front end would be custom. Hell even my grille was a very limited and expensive custom run. The most common problems are:
- 01 EL's and some 02's had front shocks that would blow too easily. Just get coilovers and handle like a champ
- the gas/trunk release cable has been known to break, $50 + an hour's labour at the dealership to replace
- a few miscellaneous rattles here and there. Standard fare especially for a used car but if you plan on putting an audio system in you'd better invest in some foam and some sound dampener
- front seat bushings die rather quickly, I had mine replaced at the dealership once, then replaced my seats with the SiR ones. Yum.

Originally Posted by m4gician

4 (really really superficial) but is there a premade projector retrofit kit available? Or do I have to custom frabricate projectors? i know that ELs and civics have the uni-light that is both high and low beam so I mean is there a way to easily and cheaply change that?

Nope, no one makes anything specifically for the EL headlights (this is the most commonly asked EL question right up there with "can I swap EL headlights onto my Civic?"). You'd have to basically cut open your headlight and do some custom work. I know a guy who can retrofit HID projectors in for you if you need it, hit me up on ClubEL as I'm on here sporadically.