Restoring my 200K future 550whp prelude (tips please) - Honda Prelude Forum

pkspx · 08-10-2005, 08:26 AM

This was posted in detailers forum but I didn't get a reply so i'm posting here in hopes for some more tips. Sorry for the miss leading 550whp think lol just tryign to get you guys to click in to give me info on the body. Check out the posts below for my upcoming project ideas for the car though.

Hey guys I bought this prelude Jan 05 and have put about 10K on it. Has now about 199,600 and its still going strong it just needs some attention on the body I think. Please visit this link and give me your comments as to what I need to do to restore it. Maybe wet sand buffing or something? Clay bar? Who knows, Notice the hood and front fenders are very dull doors and quarter panels look like the lady before me had it fixed from the rust around the wheel wells

http://www.honduh.com/showthread.php?t=423

bogus · 08-10-2005, 11:06 AM

Gee... for a 12 year old car, it's surprisingly clean.

However, you will never bring that old black back to new. You can try, but I ain't holding much hope for it. My 94 VTEC was black and the paint was dead on the hood. It just takes a beating.

If you just want to do this as a stop gap, by all means, but the scratches and chips in the hood and front bumper will not polish out. The bumper is done, sadly.

I would get that car into a body shop and have it done right!

You also need to take the interior out and replace the carpets. They are toast, too.

My 94 had 173k miles on it when I sold it. And it needed paint and carpets... also, the leather was shot.

Here is what I would do:

1) remove the interior. Cleaning everything in it's path!
2) remove all emblems and prep for painting
3) remove the front and rear bumper caps
4) remove all external light assemblies
5) take it all to a body shop for paint

the reason for step 3? body shops use different paint on the bumper caps then on the rest of the body. more flex agent and such. by you removing the caps, it saves them that much labour - and you money.

This is also the time to consider a body kit.

The under hood area needs some serious love... considering the miles, I would yank the drivetrain and send a bear shell! degrease the engine compartment and then let them paint under the hood, too. I mean remove everything! Every line, hose and wire! Think custom under hood paint, too. Maybe something bright, like a neon green or electric yellow to make the under hood pop.

With the engine out, rebuild it. 200k is a lot of miles on any motor... detail and clean as you go.

Before it goes to the body shop, rebuild the suspension. The bushings and ball joints are junk by now. So getting in there and cleaning/reconditioning everything is in order. Remember the bright colour under the hood? I would consider it for suspension arms, too. If you can, perhaps powder coat the arms. Energy Suspension has the best bushings available. Perhaps new sway bars and a nice coil over set. just to add to the killer high tech look, and, dramatically improve handling. I love the Koni/Eibach combo I put on my 94 VTEC.

then reassemble.

red92s · 08-10-2005, 11:24 AM

I may be a dick for saying this, but I can't see how anyone asking questions of this nature can realisticly expect to undertake building what would be one of the most powerful street driven Preludes ever built . . . unless, of course you just take it somewhere and start signing checks.

Additionally, expecting to drive a massivley-turbocharged H22 20,000 miles per year is just asking for trouble.

pkspx · 08-10-2005, 11:40 AM

I'm a past 2001 Accord Turbocharger owner that I recently parted and sold. Time to build the lude now that I just got I love this car! The plans for the car are already in progressive, h23 non vtec built bottom end blue printed and balanced crower rods and je forged pistons 9.0:1 with GE sleeved block. The suspension is getting an overall upgrade as well, Tein HA coilovers with upper pillow mounts, front and rear camber kit as well as front rear sway bars. I also considered putting in a full roll cage. This isnâ€™t going to be a daily driver. Streets I won't be pushing anymore then 10Ibs, but track I want to push at least 15Ibs or more depending on my fuel management system I go with. Leaning more for doing it the correct way getting AEM EMS.

thepreludedude · 08-10-2005, 11:46 AM

...not much to add....

car looks pretty good for the miles and age. where in ohio are you? I would love to check this out when you get the motor bulit.

didn't know about that forum. i guess i will check it out.

welcome to PO.

red92s · 08-10-2005, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkspx

I'm a past 2001 Accord Turbocharger owner that I recently parted and sold.

Building a 550 whp H22 is a lot different than building a 200 whp Accord. I'm not going to say you can't do it, or fault you for trying . . . but typically people who are talking about building full-blown race setups arn't strugguling with the technical aspects of freshening up the paint. Show me your 500+ whp dyno plot, and I'll buy you flowers and write you a nice card for ever doubting you. Promise.

UWNTSUM · 08-10-2005, 12:26 PM

uh... 550whp... well its not as easy as u think. Maybe with a really BIG turbo and a big bottle of happy gas to kill that lag mite do the trick on a fully built motor.

bogus · 08-10-2005, 12:31 PM

I think I ignored the 550whp comment as being a typo.

That is way out of the question. At least if you want to maintain streetability.

400 is a more realistic goal.

550whp is hard to reach - period. Think of the cars that actually do it! Turbo Buicks, Supras, Skylines, some Vettes and Vipers, but only after serious modifications.

An I4 won't do 550 without fighting you... aim for 400 and you will have more then enough car! Don't forget an LSD, either. There is no way in hell that much power can be laid down with an open diff!!!

besides, there is that nasty reality of too much power for FWD... and 550 is it. Think of it this way, 550whp is over 620hp at the crank... and the top drag teams are getting those numbers with huge turbos, nitirous and 115 octane racing gas.

pkspx · 08-10-2005, 02:16 PM

My post is a miss leading, I'm sorry I just thought that would spark some interest.

My goal is to at least run around 350whp at the most on the setup I want ot run with the fully built h23 non vtec engine built for turbo. I will also be using a Garrett GT35R BB turbo. The tranny is rebuilt h23 with Quaife LSD First project with the accord was fun. I was using stock block with fmax kit bolted on but I learned the hard ways. This time I want to do everything the correct way. The reason why I was actually posting today was to get some info from you guys about the body, as it sounds the body is great condition, hell I may just have them repair the little rust and screw the rest of the body roll the money into the turbo that I want. Maybe do the a complete repaint next year

bogus · 08-10-2005, 03:12 PM

Then as far as body is concerned, my post should cover that.

One other thing... I noticed that once mine passed 160k, the uni-body started to feel a bit, uh, funky. you may want to strip the body down, as I suggested, and hit some of the welds, or, reseal the seams.

With that much power (350 whp is still 400chp), I would suggest a small, welded in 4 or 5 point cage. Best bet would be to tie in the front suspension and motor mounts. That gets tricky, tho.

I am trying to remember his name, but on the old hondaprelude.com, there was a member who did turbo kits. About 5 years ago, he was creating one for 4th gen 'ludes. He lives(d) near Orlando, FL.

cliffburton · 08-10-2005, 10:08 PM

some preludes have over 500whp
oaks racing has 788whp
and someone on h-t has one that has around 500-550ish (can't recall the name, but i think it was a 5th gen)

its still really really hard to do though. And would cost you an arm and a leg unless you have mad hookups

bogus · 08-10-2005, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffburton

some preludes have over 500whp
oaks racing has 788whp
and someone on h-t has one that has around 500-550ish (can't recall the name, but i think it was a 5th gen)

its still really really hard to do though. And would cost you an arm and a leg unless you have mad hookups

and never expect it to be streetable... let alone street legal.

Remember, in the 1980s, F1 was using a 1.5 litre format, and those cars (V6s) were getting 1500hp... but the problem is that they were running insane levels of turbo boost and BASF "rocket fuel". And they were barely drivable.

red92s · 08-11-2005, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffburton

its still really really hard to do though. And would cost you an arm and a leg unless you have mad hookups

Even with mad hookups, I see a projet like that going wayyy north of $10k.

When XES sold his car, it was pushing ~500 hp, and he said he had ~$50k invested.

bogus · 08-11-2005, 07:40 AM

It's a formula I live by: Cubic horsepower costs cubic dollars.

The other formula: How fast do you want to go? How much money have you got?

Anytime someone starts mixing any engine and 550whp around, it starts to cost money. Lots of money.

Take for example the new GM "small" block, the LSx family of engines. These started their lives as a cross developement with the truck Vortec motors. The truck motors having an iron block, the car, aluminum block.

It should be noted that when ignorant amounts of power are needed, tuners resort to the iron block. But, even in these environments, when 550+whp are requested, the price gets staggering. LPE has twin turbo conversions that start $19k!!!!

Those are V8 prices... can you imagine what it would cost to assemble an I4 to produce the same level of power? AND there is no way in hell it would be streetable.

I feel the 350whp is more attainable, but it will still be a beast. Considering the research I was doing 5 years ago, to attain that will still set you back the best part of $12k~$15k!!!! With most of the hard work DIY. I was using a couple of different Turbo kits as a price basis... DRAG and another that I don't see in print ads anymore.

There was a guy on the old hondaprelude.com that was designing a 4th gen turbo kit. He already sold kits for the earlier Ludes at that time... I can't remember his handle off hand, but he was based in the Orlando, FL area.

95_5speed · 08-11-2005, 01:48 PM

I'll restore the entire car for you, and build it to your spec for a fee. PM me with a parts list, a power goal list, a budget for the project, and the timeframe in which you'd like th entire vehicle completed in. I am sure I have more then enough resources to help you out.

Brett R.