My first Honda: 1997 Prelude, 56k beware! - Honda Prelude Forum

vainot4u · 10-09-2009, 10:17 AM

Hey everyone, I'm new to the site! I figured this would be the best place to introduce myself and my car all in one shot. I bought this car about a week ago and I absolutely love it! I don't know why Honda stopped making such a beautiful car!! The mods on the car are as follows:

* Wings West Avenger body kit
* Koni adjustable shocks
* Ground control springs
* Adjustable camber
* JDM H22A swapped motor with matching tranny
* Intermediate pipe replaced without resonator
* Turbo muffler (surprisingly deep tone)

The interior is pretty much stock except for the stereo. As stated above I really like the car and enjoy driving it quite a bit. I moved into this car from a 2004 Grand Am, which I had bought new. I don't think I'll ever buy a new car again! Anyhow I’m looking forward to meeting some new people that share my love for the Lude, Honda, and/or JDM in general. Thanks for looking!

Here are some pics of the car:

thegamettt · 10-09-2009, 10:26 AM

pics of engine bay? Did you buy it with all the exterior mods?

vainot4u · 10-10-2009, 11:26 AM

I haven't taken any pics of the engine bay yet, I still need to detail it. Yes it did come with the exterior mods.

Spent some time last night changing fluids:

Full synthetic oil change (Mobile 1)
Full Synthetic Gear lube change (Synchromesh)
Flushed and refilled clutch fluid (DOT3 synthetic)
Checked and set plug gap

Car shifts and drives like butter...plan on flushing and replacing coolant soon, as well as full brake change, and fluid flush/change.

PreludeVTEC01 · 10-10-2009, 12:54 PM

Good start.

El Cucui14 · 10-10-2009, 02:20 PM

looks like a really well taken care of car, IMHO I'm not a fan of body kits, but this one isnt "As" ricey as the others haha, the tail lights would look so much sicker in stock for sure tho, really nice car though, JDM Type S engine!

vainot4u · 10-13-2009, 04:40 PM

Yeah I wasn't too impressed with the body kit myself, but the price and everything else was too much tto pass up...I alwyas figured I could find stock bumpers and skirts and maybe sell the Wings West kit...Like you said it wasn't so rice that I couldn't stand it.

I was wrong about the springs...it's a Ground Control coilover set with Eibach springs...I was very surprised it handles really well...

I plan to throw in the Energy Suspension motor inserts soon...

I wish it was the Type-S motor but no it's the SiR motor...the primary difference is the bump in compression from 10.0:1 to 10.6:1 which gave it a few more ft/lbs in torque from what I've seen...H22A4 is USDM motor, H22A is JDM - Did Type-S also use this marking on the motor or did it have something after the "A"? Mine is marked H22A with nothing after the "A"

minilogoguy18 · 10-13-2009, 06:04 PM

It was just H22a for all models. The Type S and Sir S spec had red valve covers with 11:1 compression and 220hp. Post some pics of the engine and tranny.

vainot4u · 10-20-2009, 08:12 PM

Ok so here are some photos of the engine. I didn't get the chance to clean it before taking the photos.

I've also included some pics from the previous owner of the swap, so you can see the tranny codes.

*EDIT* Yes he painted the valve cover blue...personally I don't care for it, but wil wait until spring before painting it.

vainot4u · 10-20-2009, 08:19 PM

Some more photos of the engine...

Keep the comments coming guys!

I'm taking a trip down to Milan drag way tomorrow to see what I can get with it as it sits. I can already tell I need the polyurethane torque mounts, as wheel hop sucks!

lilbill97 · 10-20-2009, 08:24 PM

i think that the wings west "big mouth" fron tbumper. it came on my lude too

hnguy4 · 10-20-2009, 08:29 PM

you gonna take the body kit off? please do

vainot4u · 10-20-2009, 08:31 PM

Yeah it sure is. I have the original receipt...

Bigmouth Front Bumper

Tunner Type 2 Skirts

Avenger Rear Bumper

I "think" this is the Avenger kit...

vainot4u · 10-20-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hnguy4

you gonna take the body kit off? please do

LOL...yeah I hope to, but the trick is going to be finding the stock bumpers and skirts...I was hoping to find someone to trade even up but Preludes are kind of rare here in MI to begin with. My ultimate preference is to get the SH ones...

vainot4u · 11-14-2009, 10:28 PM

Well, just picked up the stock bumpers and side skirts. They came off a silver Lude, so I'll be needing to paint them. Good winter project I guess! Thinking I'll have the whole car sprayed though, as it was sprayed once before and there are some spots that could use touchin' up...ie the door: chips from hitting stuff...I'll get some pics up of the parts soon...

This also means my WW kit will be for sale...I don't think there will be much interest here but if you are interested feel free to send a PM.

vainot4u · 11-15-2009, 08:30 PM

As promised some pics of the parts...side skirts arer still pretty dirty.

Also included some pics of the other parts I've got...extra set of rims (with 2 winter tires), and a stock USDM intake.

98Lude-R · 01-19-2010, 07:06 PM

Looks great! I can tell you are off to a great start. Take very good care of it.

Imagine its the only child you will ever give birth to... Spoil her every chance you get. In about 20 years from now, it will be as hard to find one as a 68 chevelle malibu.

vainot4u · 04-19-2010, 08:59 PM

Did some more work on the car this weekend!

Changed all 4 wheels - pads and rotors.
Painted the calipers red, and caliper brackets black.
Full brake system bleed (there was air in the lines) with Prestone DOT 3 Synthetic

Bought some good pads for the Prelude (not sure what was on there before) Hawk HPS, still have yet for them to set in all the way but they already grip way better. Started this week on sanding the rear OEM bumper, long way ahead of me but gotta start somewhere! Plan to try and hit the rear bumper with some primmer this weekend.

vainot4u · 04-20-2010, 08:53 PM

Some pics of my progress...

Before and after shots on the calipers...

vainot4u · 04-20-2010, 08:56 PM

Some pics of the bumper and the one side skirt I have on so far...

The rear bumper is missing the bottom part of it because I am still preping the bumper for paint.

vainot4u · 04-21-2010, 07:55 PM

Okay did some real good work on the car today! Primed both front and rear bumpers and mounted them on the car as well as removed the old ones and side skirts. Still working on sourcing the turn signals and what not but I was able to temporarily mount the ones from the kit into the bumper...

Body work is no joke! Sand, sand and sand...and went you think you're done sand some more. Pretty happy with how it seems to be coming together. You'll notice that the body parts are dirty (primed ones have hand prints and stuff from me handling them) the car has dust ALL over it from sanding mostly. I kept the car out in the drive way while I sprayed in the garage. I went and priced paint...HOLY COW is that stuff expensive!! DuPont was like $120 for the base coat and another $60 for the fast drying clear,and that was just enough to do the bumpers and rockers!!