bonsaitree

I just recently bought a 98 civic, mainly to save gas (because the gas money it saves me is paying for it) but also because I've wanted a little car to zip around in for a while. Its black and mostly stock with an Apex exhaust and this HUGE wing on the back. I'm not to fond of the wing, but for now it stays because removing it would mean either holes in the body or doing the body work and have it repainted. I did some research before I bought it and decided had I put the exhaust on it I probably would have chosen apex anyways. That being said there are a few things that I want to change. Since its already black I want to blackout/smoke the taillights and the headlights if I can get away with it, but I also want to get some LED taillights in it while I'm at it. I can't seem to find anyone that makes a basically stock looking LED taillight. Everything I find is those damn circular taillights that I don't really like. I found some LED taillights that are for a 92-95 that are almost identical to stock and they look the same to me, but as I'm new to the civic world I'm not positive. So my question is will the 92-95 taillights swap into place of the 96-98 taillights? I also sort of want to change the headlights and I like the idea of projector headlights but I'm afraid they wont be as effective as I want them to be. I know I can get brighter bulbs for my stockers but I like to have things slightly different. I'm not sure about the Halos though. So who has swapped projectors in, and would you do it again? Are they any brighter than stock or do they just diffuse the light more evenly? Also what is the general opinion of Halos? Like I said I'm not really trying to make it really stand out but I like to be different and I like things to look CLEAN and uniform.

That being said I want to say thanks to the crowd here. I've been searching and reading old threads and answers to questions I've had for about a week. The information I've found here is awesome and extremely helpful, and has already managed to help me reset my damn SRS button. So thanks guys! Hope I do yall proud with my new toy.

westcoaststyle

1) Tails - 92-95 (5th gen) tails are not interchangeable with 96-98 (6th gen) tails. Sorry, no go on that one. You can use various things to smoke the tails if you so choose. Search the board for "smoked tails" and you'll likely find yourself with a plethora of information. LED bulbs are available in small clusters by such manufactures as APC and Catz, but I don't personally recommend them. They do not project light outward and thus give the appearance of small dots inside your lenses. They look stupid.

2) Headlights - Stay far away from projections unless you choose to go with an HID retrofit kit or aftermarket kit. Projections usually use a much smaller, less powerful H3 bulb. Attempting to add a 'brighter' bulb (more wattage) can result in welding your OEM wiring harness to the backs of the bulbs and fry the wiring. It's not worth it, and quite honestly, projections look stupid on the 5th/6th gens imho. Consider looking into some Sylvania Silverstars as they are the best output for the price on the market. Your next step up would be an H4 HID kit sold by a couple vendors in our Classified section. There is also a DIY by Das Schmoo in the DIY section that is pretty informative. The vendor he purchased his kit from also posted in that thread so you could contact them. I believe they sell their kit for under $300.

General opinion on halos: if you don't own a BMW, don't try to make it look like you do.

This is also going to likely be a good read for you on CTR headlights if you do choose to darken up your headlight housings: https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=56277

hih and welcome to HAN.