East Coast RHD 4th gen build... - Honda Prelude Forum

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:31 AM

so i recently started going on preludeonline.com and preludepower.com so i decided to update anyone who hasnt seen my build thread on some other sites i have it posted on.

i started off with a 93 prelude s model (the silver one, that is how it looked after i sold it to my friend)... got a mugen bumper and side skirts along with a few other minor mods and then ran it into a concrete barricade. a buddy of mine bought it from me for cheap in college and i picked up another 93 prelude s (the white one). i moved to california from florida and sold it before the move.

moving on.... while in california i was fortunate to find and purchase a 1994 honda prelude rhd imported from japan. i spent 8 months legalizing it in the state of california and then a few months later moved back to florida with it.

how it looked when i bought it (it was 100% stock besides a red top):

i did a few basic mods while in california (shocks and springs, black housings, amber corners, deck and components, alarm, aem cai, apex'i n1 cat back, magnaflow highflow):

i get back to florida and 6 months later crank walk gets the best of my h22 and 2 quarter sized holes are knocked out of my block:

so i get another h22 from hmotors that was rebuilt by a buddy of mine and have it dropped in. i clean my car for 6 hours to get it ready for the JDM UPS meet in tampa and on my way there a guy cuts across 3 lanes of traffic and the lady in front of me slams on her brakes causing me to rear end her

from this:

to this:

so after dealing with insurance and what not.... i managed to come out on top.
the car is getting fully repaired, new paint, and a bunch of new parts...i bought a front clip from the ****ers at royaljapanesemotors.com (dont EVER buy anything from them, they are horrible)!

thanks to RB Motoring!

as you can see though they need a little bit of work, as expected.

so i am refinishing them (taking them apart, refinishing the lips, powder coating, cleaning, etc...)

PS. i hate 3 piece wheels, they are a *****.

JIC Magics...

retrofit in progress.

this will look much better once its painted and in place of my destroyed stock hood

so my rims will fit on the car.

rsr ex mag, dc header w/ 2.5" collector, test pipe, type s intake w/ k&n filter, 5 lug conversion

hawk pads.. the rest of the brake parts will be here soon (stainless steel lines and oem replacement rotors)

done stripping, sanding, and polishing the lips

with my girlfriends help while i was at work the rest of the wheels have been cleaned up nicely.

_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:31 AM

LCA Spherical bushing kit:

and
Radius Rod spherical bushing kit:

and i picked up another set of jdm black housing one pieces so i can finish my retro fit before i get my car back from the shop:

front end apart and the motor out. the frame work and body work started.

the passenger side motor mount as pushed into the shock tower a bit.

and the front corner and core support will be replaced

and i dropped off my new exhaust and intake

started by shaving the raised "DOHC VTEC" and the raised bolt holes.

i stripped it down and put some JB weld to smooth a part out and fill the 2 bolt holes.

after the JB Weld was sanded and the VC was washed.

sanded off the H and honda writting on the wire cover

taped off

primed..

base and clear..

_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:33 AM

-my muteki chrome lug nuts
-megan rear toe arms
-pioneer deh-p6300
-stainless brakelines

aaaaaaaannnnnd! i finished my valve cover. =]

before clear coat, just taped everything off

finished product:

so i got a polishing bit for my dremel, a mothers polishing cone for my drill and some q-tips for the hard to reach spots and i went to town on my lips and bolts for my wheels.

damage fixed

good as new

_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:35 AM

so everyone say hello to my babies ....

=]

door are about 90% ready for paint... dents and scratches removed and a few coats of primer are on.

rear bumper is almost there too.

trunk and spoiler are prepped. just needing final sanding.

rear quarter panels and roof are next in line

but here is a preview of the rolled rear quarters

carbon hood is ready for final sand before paint.

everything has been stripped.

i am doing all of this to a spare jdm one piece headlight i have since its my first time... just in case i **** up.

so i go tthe headlight all apart and i took out the low beam reflector bowl so i can mount the projector to it which will allow me to use the oem adjusters to adjust the beam once its all together.

here is the reflector bowl... i drilled out 4 holes i measures to mount the projector to it.

here is a before and after of the back of the projectors. i cut out the packs to allow the bulb to fit with no problem. i trimmed off the stock mounting points for clearance issues. and then i drilled out 4 holes where the 2 halves of the projector meet. i got a long threaded pole from home depot to use to mount them to the reflector bowls.

so i cut the threaded pole and used some washers, nuts and thread lock to hold the 2 halves of the projector together. i was then able to push the projector into place with the cut threaded poles going through the holes i previously cut in the reflector bowl in order to use locking nuts from the back of the bowl to hold the projector in place.

here is a practice cut for a home made shroud made from a stove top drop bowl. a flange of sorts will be used on top of this to clean it up a little bit. i got this idea from lilboi on bayareaprelude.com

_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:36 AM

so the roof and quarter panels have been primed and block...

antenna has been shaved

trunk, doors, and rear bumper have been final blocked.

rolled the fenders.

they had marked where the side marker goes but i elected to have them shave the side marker from my jdm fender. i figure it will look a lot cleaner without the side markers.

so i took out the housings of my spare black housing headlights and taped off the part for the parking light. i am having the housings painted the same color as the car (glacier frost mica). ive never seen this done on a prelude so i figured i would try it. if i dont like it i have my other set of black housings so not to worry. i am currently wetsanding and buffing the lenses and i am finishing up the retro fit. ill post pics of the progress later.
i also cut out the centers of the grills, filled and sanded them.

my inspiration for the color matched headlights comes from the honda fits, c6 vettes and nob's s15:

_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:37 AM

i have finished putting together the mounts for the projectors. i mounted them to the reflector dish and reinstalled them in the housing to the oem points to retain the beam adjustability.

these projectors fit perfectly inside the dish with very little modification allowing me to retain all the oem qualities of the outside of the headlight. the only thing done to the original parts of the headlight are the 4 holes drilled in the back of the dish in order to mount the projectors.

as you can see... the back of the headlight looks exactly like it did when i got it. when you look where the headlight bulb clips in you can see that the reflector dish to the projector is almost flush with the opening of the original reflector dish that the headlight came with. this should allow the bulb to go in just as if this came factory.

i began wetsanding one of the headlight covers.. hopefully i will finish with these this weekend and they should be crystal clear and good as new.

i am still in the process of making my own shrouds. i have a bit more cutting and test fitting to do.

and i just got this other little goodie in the mail the other day

alright so here is the test fitting on the practice headlight:

so i cut the inside of the drop pan and pushed it in so that when i pushed it over the projector housing it holds itself in place.

then i trimmed down the bathroom faucet trim that i picked up from home depot so that it would fit around the 3" projector and on top of the drop pan. i set everything up in the practice headlight.

that is basically what the finished product will be except the housings will be glacier frost mica to match the rest of the car.
the drop pan and the outter trim have been jb welded in place and arent going anywhere. now im just waiting for the housings to come back from the paint booth.
_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:38 AM

everything is pretty much taped off..

except the driverside door frame..

i got my tires in (i sent my 225-50-16s back for 215-45-16s)

i picked up some brand new slotted EBC rotors for $50 yesterday

and i picked up the painted headlight housings so i can put the retrofitted headlights back together this weekend once im done wet sanding, buffing and sealing the headlight lenses.

i started by finishing off the sanding and buffing of the lenses.
as you can see i removed the black on the bottom of the headlight and the black on the edge of the headlight.

then i taped off the lense so i could paint the portions grey that used to be black. this will flow better with the color matched inserts. i used a grey primer that matched pretty decent.

here is how it came out:

i started putting everything back together

for some reason getting the lense back on to the housing has been a ***** because of a slight distortion in the housing from oven baking them. but after some clamps and some wait time it seems to be holding up.

FINAL PRODUCT

and tires are all mounted, balanced, and the wheels are ready to be slapped on the car.

thanks for looking.
_zac

abstractlude · 06-24-2009, 10:39 AM

the only adjustable upper control arms available for the ludes that i am aware of. i believe is has -2.5 to +2.5 degrees of camber adjustment with the camber plate.

and they come with new balljoints

and...ummm..... a little teaser

well the one headlight i finished ended up not fitting as good as i wanted it and there was a spec of white plastic stuck on the inside of the lense that was bugging the **** out of me so i took the headlight apart again and shaved down the housing a little more so that it would fit properly.

then i wetsanded and buffed the other lense and put the other headlight together.
so now they are both finished and ready to be dropped off at the body shop...

there are some small imperfections and some little things i would change if i do another one but i am really happy with the final product.

_zac

madcatz · 06-24-2009, 02:41 PM

not gonna lie....that ish is hot

dawn0621 · 06-24-2009, 03:52 PM

yeah, wow, those are some crazy ass wheels

silver1998lude · 06-24-2009, 05:34 PM

Wow.....uuhhh wow.Great work now get it all together and get more pics up!!

dohcpower v2.0 · 06-24-2009, 08:46 PM

Great thread!

Can't wait to see the finished product.

abstractlude · 06-25-2009, 09:42 AM

thanks guys...

this is going to be a long build thread.
after i get it back and get everything together some interior additions and changes will be in store. then a few small exterior changes and then im focusing on the motor.

i am not made of money though so it will be a while but hopefully it will have steady progress.
_zac

minilogoguy18 · 06-25-2009, 03:25 PM

I searched all over for complete adjustable replacements for the control arms, I thought they never existed. I really like the headlights, thought about the same idea when I was walking past a C6 in a parking lot that was red. Strange that you shaved the side markers, most of us are cutting up our fenders just so that we can have them. Post moar!

abstractlude · 06-25-2009, 04:08 PM

hahah... yea if i want the sidemarkers back later i can always cut the hole. i just think that it will look much cleaner without them on it. the jdm rear bumper doesnt have the lights in them and it looks much cleaner so i figure i would try it out..
i will see if i can find a link to the UCAs. they just recently started making them. a company called chassis tech.
i will be posting some more pics soon

thanks
_zac

abstractlude · 06-28-2009, 03:49 PM

the car is still in the shop. ive been in orlando all weekend. i should be picking the car up any day now. this weekend all the parts will hopefully be going on.

since this is taking longer than expected i went to the shop this past thursday and snapped a few shots.

the paint is crazy. it looks gloss white from one angle, gloss grey from another, silver from another, then it shimmers with variations of a blue-ish purple.

thanks for looking. i should have a much better update in the next few days.
_zac

fatiye1 · 06-28-2009, 04:01 PM

WOW! I can't wait to see this project progress. I wish I had the time, patients, dedication and money to do a full on project form scratch.

PreludeVTEC01 · 06-28-2009, 11:27 PM

Speechless, great work!!

abstractlude · 06-29-2009, 10:35 AM

thanks!
_zac

abstractlude · 07-03-2009, 08:45 PM

motor is back in the car. it is being wired up and should be running by monday. then they are putting the front end back on and finally they will be waxing and detailing the entire car. i will probably set up pick up for this coming friday.

valve cover, header, and cleaning will be done before new bay pics are posted.

_zac

TruNinja619 · 07-05-2009, 03:33 AM

Great build so far! Just curious, what steps did you take to legalize your RHD 4th gen?

I'm glad a company actually created these adjustable upper control arms. Looking at those pictures put a HUGE smile on my face. Almost brought a tear to my eye as well.

OUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!

abstractlude · 07-05-2009, 09:11 AM

thanks man.
pmed'
_zac

golfradict · 07-05-2009, 09:37 AM

Wow, will be waiting for more of this awesome build!

h22jdmvtec · 07-05-2009, 09:39 AM

where did you get those adjustable control arms? i just lowered my car and im gonna be needing a camber kit soon. let me know. thanks.

abstractlude · 07-06-2009, 11:15 AM

they cost $115 with free shipping but thats the bare steel version. it is an additional $15 to have them powder coated and they have like 8 colors to choose from. they come with the ball joints and the camber plates. i am going to do a product review in the prelude section once i get a chance after i get them installed to make sure fitment and everything is good. the company that makes them is called chassis tech. airbagit.com is the site that sells them. they also have an ebay store. they dont make them for the rear yet.

thanks for the comments everyone!
_zac

h22jdmvtec · 07-06-2009, 11:48 AM

well i went on that site you posted. but... they were all 160. not 115 shipped. did i got to the wrong thing or no? this is where i went. AirBagIt.com - Air Suspension Kits, Mini-Truck Parts, Sport Compact Parts! Airride, Airsprings, Towing Kits, Lambo Vertical Doors, Airbags.

abstractlude · 07-06-2009, 12:06 PM

thats the right site! they are more pricey on the actual site. go through this guys ebay store.. the link i am providing is the one i won. i had to call him and have him change the pricing to include the powder coating. he is an autorized dealer for chassistech i guess and sells directly through his ebay store only.

92-96 Honda Prelude 4 Degree Adjustable Control Arms:eBay Motors (item 370137942458 end time Jul-28-09 17:35:18 PDT)
_zac

h22jdmvtec · 07-06-2009, 01:33 PM

awesome. thanks for the link. now when i get the extra cash i can get these.

abstractlude · 07-14-2009, 04:50 PM

sorry =]

_zac

abstractlude · 07-22-2009, 12:43 PM

just got off the phone with the owner of the shop.

the car is running and it is all back together.

im going to the shop today after work to go over everything with him. if everything was done to my liking then tomorrow and friday will be the final buffing and detailing of the car.

i will be picking up the car this friday =]
_zac

jimbo24 · 07-22-2009, 03:41 PM

amazing progress! subscribed!

fastkill · 07-22-2009, 03:55 PM

that looks so damn good! congrats on the long haul

fastkill · 07-22-2009, 04:15 PM

you must have powder coated the rims purple right? How much did that cost you?

Prelude1897 · 07-22-2009, 06:34 PM

This is real impressive...

abstractlude · 07-23-2009, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastkill

you must have powder coated the rims purple right? How much did that cost you?

they are powder coated candy violet. the candy powder coating costs a little extra. it requires a chrome base and then the clear over the top changes to the color when its baked. the color changes dramatically with lighting. i paid $210 for the powder coating if i remember correctly.

thanks everyone!
_zac

DaLude609 · 07-23-2009, 12:08 PM

I really like those wheels

Prelude1897 · 07-23-2009, 12:28 PM

This kind of makes me now want to do a RHD conversion to a 4th Gen since I've already done a 5th Gen. It's fun driving the car around, cause you get a lot of stares and asked questions about it all the time

lude2lust · 07-25-2009, 11:43 AM

wow very nice work, appreciate all the pics and details.
cant wait to see it done!

B86 · 07-26-2009, 02:05 AM

yup, very nice build, i'm curious how it all turned out ?

...so, waiting for the pics

lvlrkmart · 07-26-2009, 02:55 AM

damn. thats perfection right there

death_adder · 07-26-2009, 09:24 AM

mmmmmmmmmm.

Pretty BBS's!

abstractlude · 07-26-2009, 10:04 PM

thanks everyone!

final pics wont be up for a few weeks BUT!!!!!

the car was delivered late afternoon yesterday!

so, on to the beginning of the installation of all of my parts...

i am doing each corner individually, i started today with the back right corner. 5lug conversion, coilover, and hawk pads. i will do the ss lines and the spc camber kit tomorrow hopefully and then i will move to the next corner.

OUT WITH THE OLD...

IN WITH THE NEW!

and a lovely picture of her ass. i am incredibly happy with the paint job.

Thanks for looking.
_zac

abstractlude · 07-27-2009, 07:27 PM

thanks everyone.

i did some work tonight after i got home.

so far i have finished installing coilovers, 5 lug conversion, ss brake lines, and hawk pads in both rear corners.

i have the rear UCAs off to take them to a shop to have the ball bearings pressed out tomorrow hopefully so i can install the SPC camber kits. and then i will have to install the megan toe arms and the back will need to be cleaned and dialed in and then on to the front.

_zac

rayslude · 07-27-2009, 08:55 PM

it has been a VERY long time since such a nice 4th gen has come around, welcome to PO. Your work and taste are commendable.

Saman · 07-28-2009, 12:45 AM

very nice car my man. used to have a 4th gen. rear ended someone and the car ended up almost exactly like yours did. i wish i had the money back then but there was no way i could afford it. have a 5th gen now but will always have respect for the 4th. very unique, be sure to post more pics

abstractlude · 07-31-2009, 08:38 AM

well i got everything on the rear and cleaned everything (it was extremely filthy). so now the rear has:
SPC camber kits
OEM replacement rotors
SS brake lines
Megan toe arms
hawk pads
JIC magic coilovers

BEFORE:

AFTER:

otherside:

and a teaser:

so i need to adjust my toe in a BAD way! and i am not completely sure but my wheels might have a small leak... all my tires are flat

. but im not sure if the tire shop filled the tires up, they have been sitting for like 5 months, and if there was a leak i highly doubt that every single one of them would be leaking....
_zac

prepreludesh · 08-01-2009, 03:23 PM

I'm going to take a guess and say it's your 3 piece wheels that are creating the leak, not your tires. Unless tires are really old and unless somebody isn't using the tire sealant to mount them (which even people not in the automotive industry know is a must), then I highly doubt it's your tires. Perhaps you need to observe your wheels by filling them with air and spraying a soap/water combination all around the wheel to see where it's leaking from (bubbles will appear). Just my $.02

abstractlude · 08-02-2009, 12:05 AM

well i still havent got the damn axle nut off yet but everyone has been complaining about not having the entire car in a picture. so to make everyone happy....

_zac

97CBMbb6 · 08-02-2009, 11:18 AM

beautiful

abstractlude · 08-12-2009, 08:22 AM

here are the pictures... another photoshoot coming soon once i work out some bugs...

my car wasnt running at its best that night so we had to do a quick shoot in the target parking lot. light was fading quickly. the next shot will be a daytime shoot...

_zac