My beater with a heater ;))

The_Head · December 2010

Alright so I am bored today and needed something to do so I figured I would make a thread about the car I got after I sold my wagon.

I found this on the Billings, MT craigslist for 1800 OBO. I ended up getting it for $1650. It is a 1990 Honda Accord LX with almost 216K on it. It's old and high mileage but is overall pretty nice and runs just fine. It appears that it has been well taken care of.

Pros

Torque! (relatively speaking of course) This thing has tons of low end compared to my RT4WD
It's not a Civic! (can blend in with the old people

)
Much quieter
A/C works!
Cruise control works!
Decent Stereo
Burgendy Interior (one gets tired of grey after awhile)
Manual Transmission
Stock, unmodified
Easy to find cheap engine parts for (if needed)
Got 35 mpg today on a 83 mile drive!!
Can put crap gas in it (85 octane):twisted:

Cons

No topend... For the most part, the show is over at 3500 rpms... (F22A1 nonvtec)
14" Steelies with wheel covers... blah
Needs a brake service pretty bad, I am pretty sure the front rotors are warped.
Could use new headlights, but the current ones work alright, they just have some pin size holes in them from rocks
I think the main relay is on it's way out. I killed it yesterday and it didn't want to restart. I had to cycle the key a couple times then it fired up.

Plans

Upgrade to the 15" EX Alloys, I think they look good.
Brake service/Alignment
Plugs/Wires, maybe a new distributor for peace of mind
New Main Relay for peace of mind
No plans for a swap.

It's going to need a major service at 240,000 miles, so I think I'm going to keep it at least that long then possibly move up to a 2003+ Accord Coupe with K24A1 and manual transmission.. or a 2001-02 Accord Coupe with F23A1 and a manual, depending on what I want to pay for at the time..

Thanks for looking!

Charb · December 2010

Ban!!!1!

lol

The_Head · December 2010

I know, I know

wyld kardz ee2 · December 2010

I used to have a 91 lx.same color and everything.it was my first car and how I miss it.I had lowered with a intake,brospeed muffler,piping aand hks tip.1995-1998.

Honda HP · December 2010

toss that big SOHC into your RT4WD! just an idea...otherwise I definately like the maroon interior.

The_Head · December 2010

My RT4WD is sold. I did entertain that idea for a short while though, but I hear an F2D swap in a EF is kind of a pain in the ass. I don't do "pain in the ass" when it comes to vehicles anymore. I just go with what is quick easy and reliable.

My Accord wouldn't restart today and left me stranded. I highly suspect the distributor took a dump. If it's not that, I don't know what it is.

91_wago · December 2010

i had one of those too. same color inside and out. i liked it your right it was torquey mine was a five speed too. the only thing that sucks about those is the front rotors. i got mine for 1200 and totaled it and got 3000 back. i wish i had another one but the five speeds are kinda hard to find.

The_Head · December 2010

You will have to tell me more about the front rotors and why they suck. I believe mine are warped because when I use moderate braking force I can feel it, the pedal kind of pulsates. I was wondering how hard they are to change out and was thinking about doing at least that part myself.

The_Head · December 2010

I found the answer on cb7tuner

CarGuy · December 2010

The exterior looks really mint IMO congrats.

The_Head · December 2010

Thanks!

Well, I got er running again. Put 400 miles on the new distributor with no issues. 35 mpg, 72 mph cruisin is sweet.

The_Head · January 2011

Well, another 1,000 miles has gone by. 1400 in the first month of ownership. I got some 15" alloys from a 95 Accord to mount my new tires onto. I am also painting the corners amber.

The rims look way better in the pic than they do in real life. They have alot of corrosion near the lips where tire weights used to be at.

JDMWago666 · January 2011

I've always had a soft spot for these. I like when they are lowered with some nice rims or even the oem 6 spoke rims from the 98 accords. Looks good though.

High Mileage · January 2011

Looks solid. My advice: don't even consider modding it. I put full exhaust, clutch, and light flywheel in a car exactly like yours for a friend, and it got smoked by my stock LX Civic. I had another friend with a full H22 swap, same result...

The_Head · January 2011

Yeah, I'm not going to make it into a boi racer car. The plan is to just drive it hits 240K, then it will need a timing belt, water pump, and probably a clutch. So, I will either sell it and let somebody else deal with that, or do a JDM F22B (DOHC) swap, along with all the maintenance. That would not cost alot of money and it would extend the life of the car for a few years.

I would also like to get a newer Honda. What I would like is a 05-06 Accord Coupe with K24A and a manual transmission. Driving around in 20+ year old vehicles is starting to get old. We'll see what happens.

High Mileage · January 2011

Yeah the newer Accords are dope, especially the 3.0L 6-speed models.

If you do a swap, get the tranny too or its not worth it...

The_Head · January 2011

meh, true if your looking to make the most use of the F22B. But for a beater with a heater it would be ok to reuse the F22A tranny.

The_Head · January 2011

Today I replaced my ECU with a one from a '92 Prelude S that I got off of Ebay. According to CB7tuner, the Accord and Prelude S engines are the same except for the ECU's, but the Prelude S has 10 more horsepower. It seems like it livened things up from 3500-5000 rpms. At any rate, it was only 40 bucks.

ludeman · January 2011

really? thats weird that the prelude ecu does that

The_Head · January 2011

beats me. It runs the car just fine though.

ee2mommy · February 2011

nice!! i think i will post a pic of my accord now too!

konigwheels · February 2011

I'm thinking maybe starter solenoid as your non-start culprit. I've had bad luck with Honda starters lately and don't know why. If your relay's good I would definitley look there.

The_Head · March 2011

I got this trailer to haul my bikes when I need to. Now I am going to get a hitch for this car so I don't have to use my truck as much.

The car needs quite a few other things tended to. Cruise control is out, the drivers automatic seatbelt stopped working, the front brakes need work, the drivers window sealing needs to be replaced, needs a new main relay, headlights are busted and out of alignment, etc. I have some down time planned in the near future for all this to be done.

brownrice · March 2011

Nice looking accord man. You can try this DIY on your main relay. Worked on my cb for over 2 years now.

http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthread. ... +relay+diy

rbwdriven · March 2011

Automatic seat belts are the fuse holder on the battery.

replace that little piece that holds the fuses and you should be good to go.

The_Head · April 2011

rbwdriven wrote:

Automatic seat belts are the fuse holder on the battery.

replace that little piece that holds the fuses and you should be good to go.

I have power to the motors. I think it's a sensor issue. Near the ends of the tracks are little switches that the seatbelt runs into to let the brain know where the seatbelt is. I think the forward one is not working. When I would force the latch to the rear, it would go right back to the front when I open the door (normal) but not return to the rear when I would turn the key back to on.

The_Head · April 2011

Passed 220,000 miles today.

I got the hitch put on today also. I still have to have the wiring part done. I took my Honda '81 CM200T on a 40 mile trip to see how the car would do pulling a load. The total weight was about 675 pounds. The car did ok. You can tell there is something back there because you have more understeer than usual. I got about 25 mpg pulling this load and fighting a 25 mph wind. I did 60-65 mph.

The_Head · May 2011

Well, lately I have had the fuel filter, main relay, and thermostat replaced. I also finally got the trailer harness wired up so I can roll legally. Almost 221K now.

I think I'm going to go back to the stock ECU, as I noticed that it is starting to burn oil working it hard at high rpms. The Prelude ECU seems to take power from 1000-3500, but add it from 3500+

The cruise control decided to start working again for some reason.

The_Head · December 2011

One year anniversary bump... now 225K miles. I just had a bunch of stuff done to the car, like $1400 worth. New radiator, alternator, belts, battery, timing & balancer belt, water pump, valve adjustment, valve seals, brakes, etc, etc. I also got the window trim replaced and the window adjusted so it seals good now. I think it should be good to 240K and then I'm going to put a clutch in it, maybe. I also had the compression checked, 145 across the board at 5100 feet. I think the car should be good for another year at least. The driver's seatbelt motor decided to start working again by itself too, don't ask me why.

Here is how it sits today. It is rolling on the 14" steelies with 94-97 hubcaps, the tires are snow tires. Once you get snow tires you will wonder how you made it through a snowy/icy winter without them..

I also gave this car to my wife for use as her daily driver. I assumed control :twisted: of her '91 DX wagon for use as my work car and around town beater. It's also going to be our spare car, as we are picking up a '92 Accord Wagon in a week or two.

.JoshuA. · December 2011

its like a ef sedans dad

The_Head · February 2012

It's still doing good. We took it to Wal-Mart (180 mile round trip for us) last weekend and averaged 35 mpg. It was loaded up with 3 weeks of groceries for 3 people on the way back too. It's a good car.

I think the clutch cylinder may be going out though and it is going to need a left axle soon too, but other than that it keeps on truckin.

I am going to get a nicer wagon for my wife though if one pops up, I have my eye on the classifieds.

My beater with a heater ;))

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