well im trying to find beginer stuff i can do to soupe up my civic. obviously a cold air intake is a begginer part but im also lookin for other stuff.
Alright, look, I hate you, most of us hate you, and you're a tool, but now that we have that aside, let me help you.
A cold air intake is a good thing to do. Also try wiring your own gauges up, that will give you some electrical confidence. You could possibly do a header swap, or a catback exhaust.
The best thing to do if you could afford it, is to go to the junkyard, and buy an old 4banger for like 200$ and just tear it apart, and look at how it works. 4bangers are all SOHC or DOHC, so it will be easy to find one similar to your engine. Just find any honda car.
After that, I'd suggest working on a nice drop, tint, nice 17" rims, no spoiler, and very very mild ground effects. You'll never get it into a race car, and you need to realize that now.