First off, I am a middle age male having a midlife crisis. That is at least what I tell my wife. I call my 97 Prelude my midlife crisis car. I acquired it a year ago with spun bearings for a cheap price. I drove through the mountains of B.C. to pick up a different Prelude and trailer it home to Alberta only to find out the original car was destroyed and falsely described. I did not drive for hours through blizzarding mountain passes just to come home with an empty trailer, so my son and I did some frantic searching to see what else was for sale in the area. Luckily we got a hold of a black auto Prelude nearby for a decent price and the engine lasted just long enough to get it up on the trailer. (I had no winch)
After getting back on the road, even worse blizzard conditions rolled in and we had to pull over just before the first pass to stay overnight on the side of the road. We finished our trip home the next day averaging about 50 kph due to severe weather. I will post up pics of this event later.
I bought a JDM h22a4 from a guy in Calgary that had lower mileage and got the lude running and have been driving daily since. I love driving it, but it's not an SH and cornering leaves me wanting more. I also live in Alberta so snow is a 6 to 12 month a year threat. I soon decided my midlife crisis car needed some love to keep it on the useful side for my needs.
I looked into doing an AWD conversion and found info for some peoples RWD conversions and one AWD using the h22 and crv drive train. I wanted something more modern. I also chatted with the people at S1 built about their upcoming conversion for the 5th generation, but I am wanting something different. It came down to two options, using a Cadillac 3.6l from a CT6 and its drive train or an acura with J35. It came down to less fabrication and lower price so the Acura won. I started my search and, after almost a year, I finally found a salvage 2015 Acura TLX for $1500 with engine, drivetrain and rear suspension completely intact. It had 62000 km and I just couldn't say no. I jumped on it and drove the other direction to Saskatchewan to trailer it home.
Again snow storms made roads nasty but the lack of elevated terrain made it much easier. I took my son again and brought the donor home.
So here I am. The project for this year and maybe longer is to swap out parts like mad and fabricate until the 97 Prelude is SH-AWD worthy. I know this is insane and a lot of work. I know it will take money and time, but this is a midlife crisis!
I will be using almost the entire TLX electrical system, including instrumentation and interior controls, steering column, cameras and sensors. That includes lane departure and rear cross traffic warning systems. I have access to LDWS calibration equipment at work to make sure it is functioning properly. I will have to 3d print and finish a ton of parts to get the dash to look "factory" with all the additions and dual screens but I think it should work.
I am planning on using the rear suspension from the TLX, as well as almost everything under the hood, braking system included. A shortened prop shaft will be needed as I will be a few inches shorter than the TLX and custom front axle shafts will be a minimum. I am still looking into the front wheel speed sensors and brake mounting as I don't want to use the TLX Macpherson strut garbage. Steering will have to be changed for the electric power steering and the gas tank is a real problem as well. I want to stick with the Prelude airbag system too.
I have all the wiring printed out for both vehicles and have been planning the whole thing out for a while, but have reached the point where until I start dismantling and swapping, I won't know what will really work until parts are in my hands to see it all in person.
Really, it will be a TLX with shortened wheelbase and a Prelude body with not much left untouched. I will begin work as soon as the weather here starts to warm up and try to update as I go along. Images will be included as well. I am stubborn enough that this might actually work. I hope this project is of interest to some of you luders out there.
Here's to my midlife crisis!
After getting back on the road, even worse blizzard conditions rolled in and we had to pull over just before the first pass to stay overnight on the side of the road. We finished our trip home the next day averaging about 50 kph due to severe weather. I will post up pics of this event later.
I bought a JDM h22a4 from a guy in Calgary that had lower mileage and got the lude running and have been driving daily since. I love driving it, but it's not an SH and cornering leaves me wanting more. I also live in Alberta so snow is a 6 to 12 month a year threat. I soon decided my midlife crisis car needed some love to keep it on the useful side for my needs.
I looked into doing an AWD conversion and found info for some peoples RWD conversions and one AWD using the h22 and crv drive train. I wanted something more modern. I also chatted with the people at S1 built about their upcoming conversion for the 5th generation, but I am wanting something different. It came down to two options, using a Cadillac 3.6l from a CT6 and its drive train or an acura with J35. It came down to less fabrication and lower price so the Acura won. I started my search and, after almost a year, I finally found a salvage 2015 Acura TLX for $1500 with engine, drivetrain and rear suspension completely intact. It had 62000 km and I just couldn't say no. I jumped on it and drove the other direction to Saskatchewan to trailer it home.
Again snow storms made roads nasty but the lack of elevated terrain made it much easier. I took my son again and brought the donor home.
So here I am. The project for this year and maybe longer is to swap out parts like mad and fabricate until the 97 Prelude is SH-AWD worthy. I know this is insane and a lot of work. I know it will take money and time, but this is a midlife crisis!
I will be using almost the entire TLX electrical system, including instrumentation and interior controls, steering column, cameras and sensors. That includes lane departure and rear cross traffic warning systems. I have access to LDWS calibration equipment at work to make sure it is functioning properly. I will have to 3d print and finish a ton of parts to get the dash to look "factory" with all the additions and dual screens but I think it should work.
I am planning on using the rear suspension from the TLX, as well as almost everything under the hood, braking system included. A shortened prop shaft will be needed as I will be a few inches shorter than the TLX and custom front axle shafts will be a minimum. I am still looking into the front wheel speed sensors and brake mounting as I don't want to use the TLX Macpherson strut garbage. Steering will have to be changed for the electric power steering and the gas tank is a real problem as well. I want to stick with the Prelude airbag system too.
I have all the wiring printed out for both vehicles and have been planning the whole thing out for a while, but have reached the point where until I start dismantling and swapping, I won't know what will really work until parts are in my hands to see it all in person.
Really, it will be a TLX with shortened wheelbase and a Prelude body with not much left untouched. I will begin work as soon as the weather here starts to warm up and try to update as I go along. Images will be included as well. I am stubborn enough that this might actually work. I hope this project is of interest to some of you luders out there.
Here's to my midlife crisis!
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