I just got my first Prelude about 8 months ago for $600. A load of front end things needed replaced on it, which cost me $3k, which I'm actually pretty happy about.
However, I've also been in Texas until about a year ago, where I moved to Illinois. And now i've seen rust for the first time. On my own car.
Anyway, what I want to do is just completely replace the panels that have rust on them. The body shop said it'd be too much work to just fix it, and that it might turn out crappy anyway.
So the rust I have is on both rear quarterpanels around the wheelwell area, a gash just above the driver side rear brake light, around the nuts where the spoiler is attached, and along the bottom of the passenger side door.
I went to HondaAutomotiveParts.com to look at general prices, and they don't look too bad. But I don't know what parts I should be looking at buying. Trunk lid and spoiler is obvious, and I believe I just need to buy the "Panel set" for both sides for the quarter panels. But i'm not quite sure on the door. And as far as the panels, I don't know if I have an "Old style" or "Plasma style".
I have pictures of the rust that i'll be uploading as soon as I can.
From my calculations, I'm looking at about $2k for parts, not sure how much to install. I don't have the tools to do any type of major work on my car.
yeah all 5th gen Preludes body panels match each other. I would look on junk yards eventho 5th gens rarely live there, but you might get lucky if you ask every junk yard in 100 mile radius. I would also look craigslist and ebay.
It sucks tho. You spent 600 on the lude, plus 3k on front fixings and stuff, now you are planning to spend another 2k for all these new problems. That's $5,600.
For this kind of dough you could have bought yourself a mint prelude.
If you know a good body shop they can fix the rust and you'd never know it was there, the guy who painted my car cut the rust from my roof. He welded new metal in and even with the windshield and everything out you still couldn't tell, looked original with the primer over it.
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New Formula Red 93 BB2: JDM OBD1 H22a/T2W4 Accord Euro R transmission
Yeah, definitely moving back south when I get the chance. I hate snow., though driving in it is fun once I got used to it.
I went to a body shop, but they said its so advanced that they can't guarantee that it'll look good, and that it'll just come back within a year. I called BS but they stood by it and I didnt bother. None of the rust is actually noticable unless you're a few inches away, besides the trunk scratch.
I'm seriously thinking about just buying another prelude and putting my stuff into it. Only thing I really have to have out of this one is my sound system. But I'd prefer just to fix it if possible.
They're probably only thinking they can't fix it cause they're gonna do it the hack way using body fillers and fiberglass, my body guy actually cut the metal out and welded new metal in. Try to find someone that specializes in restorations of older cars, usually they do that sort of thing to totally eliminate rust from ever coming back.
Multiple body shops told me they couldn't guarantee a permanent fix of my roof rust but then I found this guy who does restorations and he sandblasted the area and cut out the metal that was rusting.
That prelude is GORGEOUS! And for only 3.5? I wish I had that mech.
I know one person that may be able to do it. How long were you without the Lude? It's my only car at the moment so that's a kinda big deal. Any tips on maybe being able to find a mech that could do it?
The door is a little tough to see, i'll have to try to get a better picture. Maybe at night with a flashlight shining up. And the spoiler rust isn't a huge deal for me, just the rust you can see that I want to get fixed really.
Also, it's a 1997 Base automatic. After going through here a little, i've seen a lot of crap about the transmission on the autos. I was planning on putting a manual transmission in anyway, but now it seems pretty much required. My car is at 130k miles right now, not exactly sure if it's had the tranny replaced. Are there any signs I can see that it might be going out soon? There isn't anything that feels wrong with the car. A very slight rumble when going into reverse, but it shifts up fine, and it only rumbles maybe every 15 times I start it up or so.
above tail light - have it sanded down and that section blended
Trunk - common place to rust, you can try sanding it and use some touch up paint or save for a cf hood if you'd like. Easy enough part to replace vs the quarters
quarters - any rust on the inner lip, you can have that lip cut off. Remove those rubber strips immediately since they are what causes the quarters to rust on our cars. For any rust that is above that lip - check if it's just surface rust or not, if it is - it can be sanded down and that area can be re-painted.
In the case of cutting the inner lip out you can have the shop put on a certain filler (can't remember what exactly) it's commonly used when rolling wheel wells to prevent rust - also have the wheel well coated with some rustoleumn or some other rust-preventive paint.
If it's not surface rust - than you will need the metal cut out and new installed. Not so much the entire quarter if you catch it in time.
and yes - the autotragic is an issue, but just drive it till it dies so you can swap (collect parts now so it can be done asap when it dies) or sell and purchase another 'lude.
I believe the drivers side is just surface rust. The worst part is the passenger side and the passenger side door. Anybody around Illinois know a reputable autoshop to take it to?
How much would a manual swap cost? And I'm not a big mechanic so I may have to have a mech do it, unless its a simple enough swap to do.
My car seriously has some kind of bad karma out of it. Got into a minor accident that crushed my passenger headlights, and some of the metal around it. I was planning on replacing the headlights and bumper to aftermarket anyway, but now its just ridiculous.
Pictures when I can get to a computer. I don't have my own because I'm literally never home to begin with. I'm very seriously thinking of just getting a new Prelude now anyway.
^ good idea on the new Prelude. Will save you a headache. But if you like challenges and projects, face the car you already have and make it into a masterpiece. Either way it all depends what you wanna do and how much money/time you have.
I love the car, nearly cried when I saw the damage. But this is just a bit much. I have the money, just not the patience. May keep the car for parts. Or maybe just part it out. Only things I really MUST get out of it is the aftermarket speakers and maybe the spoiler, in case the new one doesn't have it.
They're probably only thinking they can't fix it cause they're gonna do it the hack way using body fillers and fiberglass.
this is the second time you copied someones response word for word.
Minilo, look, he copied the first sentence of your response and pasted it as his advice. Looks like he is mocking us. He did the same thing tome in another thread.
weirdest spammer I have seen. You maybe just some dumb****e.
Pretty bad. I don't even know what to do with it anymore. Not sure how much I could sell it for as-is, but probably not enough to get a decent payment on a new car.
Hood, passenger headlight, passenger fender, front bumper
If it was the other drivers fault - their insurance should cover that easily.
As long as your radiator support isn't damaged, there's no worries here.
(if you are friends with any local bodyshops) When you get the car fixed -after you've gotten the proper quote from the insurance/check to get damages fixed- see if they'll "touchup" some of the rusted spots under the quoted amount since they'll be doing body repairs anyway. Or if it'll cost you an extra hundred or something. (like the line above the tail light to be filled and painted and some of the quarter rust to be sanded down and blended - long as it's only surface rust)
Another suggestion (if youre friends with the bodyshop) have them use cheaper parts to replace your OEM ones. May not be a perfect fit but they could use the extra money to work on the rusted parts and do it within the quoted amount -usually works best if you are given an outright check for the damages to have it fixed so its paid and done with. Wouldn't want them to consider it "insurance fraud"
Then you could either sell the 'lude for another or keep it and maybe enjoy it for a bit
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