Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

My main focus with this car is to have it look as era specific as possible. For me that means using parts that would have been available at the time of the cars release or shortly after. I am also using parts that may be new but have the look of being from that era or are oem parts.

The main reason for chosing the 2g lude was because i figured it was one of the few honda's out there that would be a big target to theft. After having my EK w/ gsr stolen from right in front of my house i wasn't exactly looking to get right back into the ring with a car that i knew would be stolen again.

Bought 5-11-09 - 1986 Honda Prelude 2.0Si - 64,351

Here it sits before i bought it. These were the first pics i was sent, and all i had to go by before taking the train ride down to D.C. to pick it up.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11.../prelude11.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/IMG_0353.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/IMG_0350.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...DSC_0007-1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/DSC_0006.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...34307_0_BG.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...34307_0_BG.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/IMG_0368.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11.../prelude17.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11.../prelude15.jpg

It looks mint and by that point i'm sold. I make arrangements to have the owner meet me at a train station just outside of D.C. to make the transfer. I took the LIRR into Penn station and at 5:45am i was off to go get my new ride. I was very tired but couldn't sleep the whole ride there.

Met up with the owner just outside D.C. and went to the DMV to get my temp paperwork and signed over the title. Ripped out the cancer strips in the rear fenders. filled it up with some gas and began my journey home in my brand new 1986 Prelude Si. feels good man.


After getting the car home i did a little cleaning and proceeded to take some pics.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...reluderear.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_5900.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_5889.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_5887.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_5908.jpg

here are some various tags and owners manual. also had the orig first paper inspection when the car had 6 miles. various other orig paperwork and documentation.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_5886.jpg

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

The first thing i did after settling in with the car was changing the bronze rear "Si' Emblem to red. simple red vinyl that i got from kinkos did the trick nicely

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_6004.jpg

After that my parts binge began. i started searching forums and ebay trying to find basically anything and everything that i could

Orig USDM Corners:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...tonemapped.jpg

JDM Smoked Corners:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_6903.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_6902.jpg

also decided to get a 2.0 badge from the 07+ JDM Civic for my front grill. it matched the red badge theme that i was going with on the rear since most of the newer and older S and Si badges were red the lude was for some reason bronze...:shrug:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_6921.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_6994.jpg

next mod was another option that i didnt have and wanted. a center armrest. luckily i was in found a friendly parts man on a prelude forum had a few of them and i managed to secure one. well worth the asking price, and i was more than satisfied with the addition, it fits perfectly with the rest of the interior.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7106.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7105.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7104.jpg

and here is the first folly i made on this project so far. buying wheels i knew i would regret buying. you see when i first saw these wheels pressed up over my stock wheels i was in love with how they looked. nice lip good design that went well with the car. so i picked them up. only cost me $750 for the wheels with tires already mounted + a set of rays locks lugnuts.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7109.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7108.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7107.jpg

here are some pics after they were mounted:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7195.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7237.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7372.jpg

and then it happened. what i realized as i pulled out of the lot after i bought the wheels. prodrives are for subaru's. and then while at a meet someone came up and asked what kind of wheels they were i said prodrives and they just shrugged and walked off. booo. time to upgrade. luckily there was a second option.....

meanwhile...

so i had managed to get myself a pair of the rare auto cover foglights for the 86/87 Si. Luckily they were working and they had the oem clips cut on the harness side not just cut at the back of the fog light.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7114.jpg

so after a trip to the local honda dealership with some part numbers and a nationwide inventory search i found what i needed. the foglight mounting kit. some dealership in indiana had one left and it included the brackets, dash harness and the switch! all for 30 or so bucks shipped.

after the bracket arrived i knew something was awry. the brackets seemed to be for the non auto cover lights. but i could make a bracket to get them mounted. here is my first attempt at them being mounted before i had the wiring harness made.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7524.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7523.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7522.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7521.jpg

obviously something was a bit off with how they were mounted. looked like an old 80's rally car :lol: oh and the stock wheels went back on and the prodrives are now sitting in my basement as i try to sell them....sigh.

weeks had turned into a month or so and i still hadnt finished the harness and done the wiring. luckily i had some help with a wiring diagram and got all the necessary hardware to finish the harness and do the wiring.

while i was at it i also decided that i had enough w/ the rally look on the fogs and decided to mount them correctly after i was given a few pictures of another Si w/ them installed from factory.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7692.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7702.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7700.jpg

i had also found the last set of brand new rear mud flaps w/ hardware in the country thanks to a dealership in oregon.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7695.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7691.jpg

oh yea. about that back up plan on the rims. literally an hour or so after i got home from buying those prodrives the girl who had this set of really clean Mugen CF-48's w/ the Aero disks and center caps hit me back after i had been waiting weeks. so after a month or so back and forth emails and pictures i jumped in and picked up the CF-48's and still had the prodrives sitting in the basement....collecting dust. boooooo

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7721.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7715.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7713.jpg

i also got a bit anxious and put one on just to see how it was going to look. sexxxxxx.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7712.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7709.jpg

after a few weeks i finally got them mounted and since the weather was finally getting warmer i popped them on. took a really quick shoot on the way to work since i couldnt wait any longer. :lol:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7736.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7731.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_7745.jpg

and a few nights ago i purchased a Mugen SW3 Steering wheel with the cruise control pad. in like new condition. with some minor wear. gotta get some better pics once it arrives.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...90121142_o.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...90121021_o.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...90121041_o.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...90121006_o.jpg

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

bought and installed the red clip large jdm flare. surprisingly the usdm kick panel has the mounting hole for it so it was a nice easy install.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8158.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8162.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8163.jpg

finally got around to ordering the momo hub so i could install the mugen sw-2 wheel ive had for a month or so now. the install took about 15 mins. i still have to wire up the cruise pad so i dont have a horn or cruise control right this minute :lol: anyways on to the pics.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8191.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8186.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/_MG_8185.jpg

i also got some mugen reservoir covers and installed them as well. dont have any pics though.

Then i was cruising ebay one night and i thought i was seeing things but there it was. the 2G Mugen rear aero spoiler. it HAD to be mine. here are some pics from the seller

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1..._spoiler_1.jpg

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1..._spoiler_4.jpg

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1..._spoiler_2.jpg

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y1..._spoiler_3.jpg

i also managed to snag the front jdm map light

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/51ff230c.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/189a1847.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/675b9d07.jpg

and here are my other are goodies i managed to get lucky and jump on from another prelude forum member.

electronic navigator:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/P5160655.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/P5160682.jpg

Digidash:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/P5180895.jpg

The mugen rear spoiler took about 6-8 months to get ready to go on. manly because the shop doing the work was hooking me up and took their time but i wasnt complaining with the end result.

here is the dx lid mounted before we attached the spoiler:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/54dac5bf.jpg

:lol: doesnt even look like the same car without its stock spoiler sticking off the back.

and here it is finally attached:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/9a4d3bd7.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/2cd7691e.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/007c4d31.jpg

so happy with the results. the trunklid wasnt in the best shape so i think im eventually going to buy a new oem trunklid and just remount the spoiler to that. also the stupid stickers that honda attaches the rear quarter panels to prevent the stock spoiler from rubbing, one was a PITA. because the previous owner had gotten some small body work done the body shop clearcoated over one of them so it was a bitch to get the sticker off and its gonna need a bit of a touch up but you can barely see it unless youre up close.


last year i found this sw36 in shit condition but the price was right

https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...2/57ee09f6.jpg

doesn't have the horn pad but this wheel is for the car unlike the sw2 which is for the 3rd/4th gens.

here it is after getting it reupholstered

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...X/IMG_9553.jpg

MINT

The other day i pulled the trigger on the Spoon sport duracon knob.

Here are some shots of the Spoon Sports duracon knob installed. a LOT smaller than the OEM knob but i LOVE it so far. Pus i think it goes well with the rest of the interior

Attachment 534115

Attachment 534116

and here is a quick shot of the interior.

Attachment 534117

i also managed to get a complete jdm parking pole from a DA teggy.

http://www.newageenglish.com/jdmisme...le11-24-12.jpg

http://www.newageenglish.com/jdmisme...-12%20(15).jpg

http://www.newageenglish.com/jdmisme...4-12%20(7).jpg

http://www.newageenglish.com/jdmisme...4-12%20(6).jpg

Now i just need to figure out what switch im going to use and how to get it mounted to the USDM 2g bumper. :shrug: shouldn't be too bad.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

thumbs up

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

In for more thats for sure. this is by far the most legit jdm lude ive ever seen.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

This is awesome. I love these ludes and this thing is insanely clean. You'd never find one like that out here.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

I said it before but this thing really takes me back. I love that you're working so well with one. One thing I don't miss are the miles of vacuum lines under the hood!

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Yea the vacuum lines are definitely not fun. Luckily I haven't had any problems so far. Just a bit of a lumpy idle when it's cold but I think that's due to the fast idle control valve.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

:o love this!! More

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Nice and clean prelude buddy! That was where it was at back then. Keep up the good work

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

quick vid i made a while ago after i got the auto cover foglights mounted and wired.

http://youtu.be/u6wZVAXo1M0

one of em isnt working due to the contacts on the cover not working. i have a second set of auto covers that i'm going to use for parts in the spring.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

seems legit :thumbup: good luck!

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Car is looking good Stefano. Tell your mom to make me some spaghetti.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Nice work. It's definitely different and unique to have that style Prelude. Add to that the fact you're going with an OEM+ attitude makes the car that much more attractive and unique. Keep it up dude. :thumbup:

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Excellent work and keep it up! I sat here with my coffee this Sunday morning and read it all. Nice to see an OG car get some love. Nice attention to detail and love the direction its going. Suspension mods next?

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

suspension is definitely on the list. My biggest concern is doing it right.

There are a few companies out there that make full coil over set ups for this car (gaz shocks, hot bits..etc.) but i'm not sure about their reliability in the long term. A few of the guys on the prelude forum i'm on have a few sets floating around, and i'm just waiting to see if they have issues.

I could temporarily go the easy route which would involve me using some new koni's or kyb's and a slightly modified ground control sleeve from a 3rd gen teggy. much cheaper but it's not a direct bolt on.

I really want the mugen variable adjusting suspension but i know one person that owns a set and he sure as hell isn't giving them up lol

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

that radio is butt secks

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

i managed to find a pic of the oem parking pole button.

Attachment 534078

now what i've decided to do since finding the oem button is going to be near impossible is use the switch for the auto antennae that was available on jdm/edm preludes. its the exact same style switch but just has different text on it. so i will have to recreate the text in illustrator and have a vinyl sticker made that i can cover the text with the "corner pole" text

Attachment 534079

i found a friend in south africa who has a few switches laying around and he is willing to ship me one

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

cool car/thread...

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Dope car. You from Freeport ?

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

few towns over. usually go down to the docks in freeport to get some pics though lol

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Yeah that's why I asked lol I saw the pictures in the industrials lol I used to live in Freeport

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

Mansex.

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

this thing looks great!

Any plans on bringing it down alittle?

Re: Now for something different. 1986 Prelude 2.0 Si Retromod
 

all i can say is wow! very nice thread subscribing cant wait to see more!