My Prelude build/rebuild

[lilmsprelude]

Ok.. ya' all have been buggin me to show you what I am doing.. what my Lil Project is... Keep in mind I do most of this stuff myself when I have (very little) spare time. I cannot afford a LOT of great stuff, and have to get parts where I can. BUT, I do like doing this kind of work and getting dirt under my fingernails.. so.........

Here you go, be nice and don't flame me to hard...

it is a work in progress:

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PRELUDE–noun
1. a preliminary to an action, event, condition, or work of broader scope and higher importance.
2. any action, event, comment, etc. that precedes something else.
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OR



-Verb-
1. A kick ass Honda, aka: 1992 Prelude Si.
2. A 2.3l DOCH sequential multi-port fuel-injected engine (H23A1) produces 160-hp at 5800 rpm and 156 lb.-ft. torque at 4500 rpm.-- STOCK!



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Most of you know the battle I have had with this little gem, but I think it is worth the fight.

History:
I bought the car in late 2005 with a blown engine, thats what'll happen if you dont put oil in it... :loltard: I purchased it from my sisters fiance's ex wifes who was then supposed to be son in law... who realized what a female dog he was proposing to marry and thankfully ran! heehee! Anyways... I picked it up for $500. A steal even with a blown engine.

I had it towed to Weiser, Idaho to some mechanic that thought he could fix Honda's. lemme tell you, DO NOT LET some shade tree mechanic work on ANY Honda Engine, come to find out they are a pretty precise engine and it requires a skill that a redneck chevy/ford mechanic does NOT nor will ever have. Hey...it;s the truth!

He got it running, enough for me to drive away after dropping about 2 Grand--- did you know I could have had a REAL Mechanic drop in an H22 with Vtec for that price? it pays to research kids, boy oh boy does it pay to research... :anger:
Back to the story, I drove it with full faith and confidence (a character flaw of mine) hundreds of miles, to Portland, to twin falls, to Salt Lake city, all around the West. I have a new engine, what do I have to worry about?
Iadded a few toys to it..
Old Asthmatic Lung:

New Hottness:

What a GRAND difference it made.....seriously....if you have not added a cold air intake to your ride... DO IT! You will NOT be dissapointed.. it is the BEST and EASIEST addition to your whip that you can do that makes the BIGGEST difference. Amazing how much more responsive it is when it can breathe.
Notice the new battery connections...Not pictured is the new deep cycle performance battery... that is coming soon.

Well, if you know Honda engines, they use a timing belt that is supposed to be replaced EVERY 60,000 Miles.. NO Exceptions, at this time you are supposed to also change the water pump and tensioner. One odd weekend, just cruising with traffic about 40 MPH my engine just dies, no warning, Just dead.

and here is why:

put it back together:

it tapped the valves on 3 of the four cyliders....figures....


the engine compartment has sincce been steam cleaned and de-greased.... even tho I am still finding more and more areas that need de-greased.... :sigh:

[lilmsprelude]

So...... I have been saving some money to pay cash to a real Honda Mechanic.... He is going to pull the head and have the valves all replaced and have the head machined... maybe we can queeze a few more HP out of it... How? I dunno, that is just what I was told.... LOL! I am NOT a mechanic... sheesh! :loco:

Since the hood was off, I decided to go ahead and do the big three and run some new 1/0 to the trunk. Here is where the old 4AWG was run:


That ALL came out and we get this in it's place!


SEXY Aint it? B)

I THOUGHT I could run the 1/0 in the same path.. you know, wire and tape the ends together and pull it through?? Ya .. no...... I ended up taking the fender off and following another wire harness through the fender and up in front of where the old breather box was. Gotta Find a Grommet to fit that hole.

it comes into the cabin in the upper right hand passenger foot well in a perfect, pre existing grommet.

and runs right down the right side--- yep, need two more grommets before final run to the tunk--


So, now we have a path for juice to flow from the battery to the trunk, now lets do the big three: First thing I did was take off the + and -(ground) wire on the starter:


Can you believe this little car even started????? I cut new lengths of my big ass 1/0 and grab my crimp connectors and my crimper.... CRAP! :anger: I find out I dont have a crimper big enough... I ran all over town yesterday, ready to drop $100 for a very valuable tool. Guess what I can't find for sale or rent in Boise, Id.???? ya... That SUX! I ordered one and it is on its way here sometime mid week, As soon as I can get the wiring done it will go to the shop. I was really hoping to have it towed down today... Dammit!!!

Oh, I almost forgot...Don't you LOVE how accessible the starter is? But, do you see what's wrong with this picture?


for the Non-Honda guy, it is missing the PRIMARY bolt on the engine mount... that stupid ass never put it in when he re-installed the engine!!!! :wtf:

[lilmsprelude]

Soooooo..... what else am I doing to it??? this MAY give you an idea:



GUTTED!


first, the small box,


and you know what is in the bigg boxes.....



and of course it is powered by none other than: (x2)

Thats sexy right thar!!!!


and signal from an Alpine HU (cant remember the model#)

But check this out.... it has it's own built in FAN!!!! LOL!

I wont be using the internal Amp at all on this, thank you to Alpine they give you the control to shut it off.

[lilmsprelude]

Finally got some more work done on the lude today.

The tool I ordered finally came in the mail on Friday!



I would rather have the "plier" type, but I can't afford the $150 this lil guy did the trick tho!
I started by laying out the parts/pieces I needed to start assembling.


I didn't have any tech-flex, I may do that later, as well as some better heat shrink.. this stuff was just ok.. it didn't tighten up around the fitting itself quite like I would have preferred. It was free with those MONDO 1/0 fitting so I am not going to complain.

Assembly:
Put your heat shrink and Jacket on first and strip JUST enough back to fit in the barrel,


Place it in the Crimper,


And SMACK the heck out of it... LOL! and this is what you get....


Fire up the torch and SLOWLY heat the shrink tube to prevent blistering and burning.


The next thing to do is take off the Battery rack so I can get my Dremel down into the Ground Mount:



And the new starter wire:


Not sure why I missed taking a picture of the final assembly-- the top hole on the ground mount is for the bracket that holds the two wires together and away from any moving parts.
Since I had the Dremel in hand... I took off one of the strut/shock mounting nuts and took it down to bare metal:


Gawd I Love the look of this BIG wire!

[lilmsprelude]

Next, the alternator.... Honda does this rather Odd thing and runs the primary from the alt through a sensor of some type... for the computer to monitor the output I 'spose.. but anyways, it runs over the top of the valve cover, goes somewhere down against the firewall the re-surfaces up at the strut tower and into the fuse box under the hood. It is "paralleled" and sent to the battery from there.


This factory wiring is 4AWG, so I just added another run of 4 AWG around the front. I will be replacing it with some better wire in the future. I didn't have enough of the good stuff left.. lol.. so I ran some of the 4AWG i pulled out from the previous install. It's not the prettiest, but it will get the juice there!


I used the stock flex tube and just pulled some more 4 AWG through it to go to the battery... the factory wire was full of corrosion!
(sorry for the bad picture... but it was so white the camera just wouldn't focus/differentiate)



And it all ends right here!






Compared to what USED to be there...


Slight improvement..... no?

of course the wire for the stereo is not hooked up yet... I still need to get some grommets for it.... the hole itself is 3/4" and the wire measures 1/2" I believe...

the token is about the same size as a quarter:


I'm gonna take the head unit out of the dash and tow her down to the shop!!! tomorrow or Monday!!!

YAY!! I am getting excited!!!

[lilmsprelude]

Just one more glory shot... she has her top back on and is ready for a trip:






Hey Andy!!... Santa is still watching!

[60ndown]

nice clean work.

A+

[darcness]

Looking good so far man, I've always loved Preludes myself. Looks like you're taking your time and doing an awesome job on the wiring. I love the care you took to shrink wrap and clean up the ends on everything. I'm going to have to do the same in my GTI this weekend.

[quest51210]

you should put some of that CD2 engine cleaner on order. stuff is good and easy to maintain.

[chad]

Lady can build

I like it!

[Aznattic]

Isn't the 60K timing belt change listed under "severe conditions?" I know it's 90K for regular maintenance. I could never figure out the explanation difference between severe condition and regular condition maintenance. I changed mine and it was quite easy, when i had the proper tools lol. Did you do a valve adjustment as well? Use OEM or aftermarket timing belt/water pump/tensioner? I'm just an OEM guy when it comes to that stuff and many people are too on the forums.

Where did you get the ring terminal crimper? Been looking for one like that.

I just worked on a 1995 prelude like yours only non SI and running the F series motor. It's nice, but cramped in the back more than the 240SX .

Keep us updated.

[khanhfat]

Originally Posted by Aznattic

Isn't the 60K timing belt change listed under "severe conditions?" I know it's 90K for regular maintenance. I could never figure out the explanation difference between severe condition and regular condition maintenance. I changed mine and it was quite easy, when i had the proper tools lol. Did you do a valve adjustment as well? Use OEM or aftermarket timing belt/water pump/tensioner? I'm just an OEM guy when it comes to that stuff and many people are too on the forums.

Where did you get the ring terminal crimper? Been looking for one like that.

I just worked on a 1995 prelude like yours only non SI and running the F series motor. It's nice, but cramped in the back more than the 240SX .

Keep us updated.

NIce work on the lude.... thanks aznatic for tips on valve adjustment with my car.. it's a civic used to b 25 -26mpg now up to 28 / 29MPG mixed together with city /highway and ac on.

[GlasSman]

Originally Posted by chad

Lady can build

I like it!

Nice job....we need more girls that can install.

[khanhfat]

OMG this is a ladys's car ? AWESOME

[lilmsprelude]

Hahahaha!!! You guys are awesome.... Everything I have learned I learned from the Pro's at DIYMA!!!

(did I just get some brown on my nose?? LOL! )
Seriously, i just do one thing at a time and make sure I do it well... I still wish I had got some tech-flex....I will probably struggle with that later and cut the shrink wrap off and re-install it... BTW... Anyone know where I can get some large Grommets for that 1/0??

I forgot to hit this one, of all threads/forums... I JUST got it back from the Shop...


I've officially parked that ol white bucket (THANK GAWD! I was starting to feel old!)

here is a pic of my shiney new Machined Head, they media blasted it, ground it (Machined?) and I had him go ahead and replace all the valves.. it cost me a hair more BUT so Worth it!!! The timing belt, water pump, and tensioner were all replaced earlier. New seals, runs like a charm... and the big 3 (or 4 or 5??) Sure did help it start -- no delay or sounds of the starter struggling to turn it over any more.



still trying to be careful until it gets "broken in." Any idea how long I shoul dwait before I should have the valves adjusted??? I think they call it Valve Lash... or is that even necessary?

[LiquidClen]

what kind of crimper is that and where did you get it? I have been looking for something to crimp 1/0 wire

[98honda]

Nice work where did you get that wire crimper