BrockFknSampson

I am new to the online Prelude community, so I figured I would post about my car here, and over at preludezone.

So I'll not make a long story any longer than it needs to be, about a year ago I wrecked my truck (cut a Toyota in half because the guy didn't look before he crossed a 4 lane highway). Two days later, a friend of the family's grandmother got word, and called me to say she was selling her Honda Prelude and would take $2000 for it.

Of course I needed a car, and didn't have the time to be picky. It sounded fair and without finding much about it I went and picked it up from her. Lo and behold, the car had 25k original miles on it ! Aside from the paint being faded (lived all but the first year of it's life in south Florida) and the tint being bubbled and melted (again GG Florida) it was a gem.

Fast forward to now; there are a few small issues that I wanted to ask the experts about (you guys, <3 car forums).

-The digital fuel/temp gauge has gone out, happened at the same time my alternator went dead. Wondering if the latter could have something to do with that? Also, where can I get a reliable replacement? (I have a cheap temp gauge that I put in just to be safe, but it's not the same)

-The small round parts on the fold down sun shades (You know...I have no idea what they're called) that pop into the clip have both broken off. Being that they are faded, I think I'll just replace the shades. Suggestions/opinions?

-The underside of the drivers side rear view mirror is cracked badly around the screw, as if some idiot used an 18v power drill to put it on. Can't be seen unless you look up from under, but it still bothers me.

-The motor and the interior are in desperate need of a good cleaning (the car was very well taken care of but the little old lady did not have an eye for detailing)

-Lastly (and the worst part about the car in my opinion) it's automatic.

All this aside, I love the car. It's an amazing daily driver, and still has just under 40,000 miles on it. I was just curious as to the value of the car, I know I can look at KBB and NADA all day long and quote prices, but things are worth what people will pay for them. Not that I'm looking to sell, I just like to know these things. Also, what do you guys think it will take to turn this from a good car into a showroom quality car? I've already replaced the wheels and repainted it. Pictures will be posted if requested. Thanks in advance.

-Matt

lovemylude95

Cleaning the engine bay is pretty easy. Get some simple green or simple green max, and dilute it in a 2:1 or so mixture with H2O. Cover up your distributor, fuse box, and any other electrical connections that you don't think should get too wet. Use a spray bottle and spray down everything in the engine bay with the simple green mix and let it soak in (stuff that's really heavily oiled will need more spray and maybe a couple attempts to really get it clean). Use a hose with a medium pressure spray and rinse down the whole engine. repeat as necessary to get the worst of the oil off. To really get it looking good use a rubber shine (tire shine) on the hoses and stuff and use either meguiars #40 or natural shine on the plastics.


For the interior. The first step would be the carpet. Use a vacuum to get the worst of the soiling up, then depending how much you want to clean it you could get a steam cleaner with an extractor to really clean it up, use it on the seats and everything. Depending how the gauge cluster is you can use a plastic restorer to clean that up and make it look nice or if it's just dirty use something like invisible glass. Use the invisible glass and microfiber cloth or crunched up newspaper to clean the windows (invisible glass is definitely the best glass cleaner out there). To clean up the dash and center console use again either meguiars #40 or natural shine or some other vinyl cleaner of your choice. That should clean the car up real nice!!