1993 Prelude Through hell and back.

[Rocket Man]

First off just let me say this Dont ever Jump into a project like this if you know its over your head and your homework/research you did involved speculations in your head. Which well,.... I did. I Jumped into this project before I even knew about these other great projects by Whitesol and Racecity_usa. I did happen to ponder across them a month or so after I jumped into my project. I actually started a thread too but... Lack of me posting progress because of me being away for work, had it removed I think. I actually like racecity's and whitesol's Ideas and I think theres another one or two floating around that I am not saying. How they retained there vehicles in the fact that trying to only use honda manufactured parts. Where as I mostly didn't cause well I could not think of any transmissions and such that would latch onto the H22a1 from my car allowing me to turn it without having expensive plates and such fabricated(which I dont even know how expensive it would be, yet more examples pointing to my lack of research.) But, there Ideas are unique as is mine which makes these projects and stuff well, unique and special to each individuals tastes. My Idea pretty much evolved from when I removed the engine to rebuild it after blowing a piston with to much boost 16.7# to be honest. There was a chevy 350ci motor sitting on the floor and I lowered it in just cause well I guess I was curious and well... I will show you the rest. The car is not done really yet, but its getting closer and closer. I'll pretty much post up new stuff every night/ day if I can until I catch up which will be no time soon! I am hoping though to be finishing up by the end of this summer if not sooner as I will be attending college this year. Yes, I said college. I am only 20, I kinda of took a break from school and I honestly think it has helped alot being out in the workforce for 2 years realizing that hey maybe I want to get and education and have a good job. I've done almost all the work myself and have tried to be as professional as I can. Ive honestly learned so much from doing this not just about cars but other things needed in life. My dad helps me out and gives me guidence when I get lost. So if you find things not totally awsome or as much craftsmenship as another person could put into it, its not cause I didnt care, or because I was lazy. Its mainly because I am a begineer who Skipped all the inbetween difficulty levels and headed straight into the big leagues, I do try my best to do my best. You must remember though I have like 0 experiance. As for the cost of this project. That might surprise you. I already owned the car I paided 5,750 for it if you really want to throw that into the total. I picked up the rearend for 1,100 and the engine/transmission for 4,800 Right now for all the parts I've purchased additional+ metal not including the price of the car Im sitting at 7,600. There are things I could do to cut down costs, but personal preferance cuts in and I take a different route on things as sometimes its just easier considering the amount of fabrication done already and not wanting to add another task. I'm hoping to keep it under 10g, It is looking like a very realistic goal as Theres, only a handful of things I need( or so I think but I will still be away from the 10g border). With that said I ll start posting pictures and descriptions! Oh where oh where do I begin. I think ill skip the beginning and skip to the start of the project! Well here we go I gotta post some pre-pictures atleast though! Boom!! This came in the day after. Sizing everything up mentally. okay the engine compartment looks big enough... hmm might be some problems here. and here.. Okay so lets do some test fitting... oops wrong way.. ahhh, thats better! Modified by preluderacecar at 6:45 PM 6/11/2006

This ad is not displayed to registered or logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on Honda-Tech!

[Rocket Man]

More!!!

Well the first thing I bought has came in. 1995 RX-7 IRS

Old rear supension.


And so,... It begins.



First mistake did not cut enough out.

Second mistake same as above^^^!!! lame!


Okay so, we have removed enough material to move on.
Lets have a look with that bad boy up inside!


At this point something clicked in my head it wasn't a lightbulb turning on it was more like a slow release timer or trigger that is still going off. Basically it was, "OMG Shawn..... What the hell have you done, and What the hell where you thinking." I mean I didnt even know where to start. Sure I cut the hole and all and the IRS was jacked up into the car. But I had just cut a huge hole the size of texas in my 6 grand car. Most people would probably think that I am a completely crazy person. Believe me the more this project goes on the more I believe that I am.

So after all the shock wears off and I gather my thoughts and the decision on where to run the frames rails to and fro was made. the estimated height of the IRS was set, and it was time to start mocking the Rails up! I used a 2x4 basically cut down to a 2x3 to match the height of the rail I am using. Then ran them close to where the IRS was set at. Im sorry I dont have any pictures of the wooden frame rails I really ment to take them I just never did and they got dismantled but heres the IRS sitting in the car if something looks amiss, its cause something was. Ill get to that later.




Well here are the frame rails I made, this is the last 2 pictures for tonight as I must go to sleep. I hope to put up some more tomorrow, as I have plenty to show!




Goodnight!

Sorry if my grammar is horrible. I already had to edit the post to make it atleast half ledgable! LOL!

[SteveoBA8]

I remember your posts many months ago, keep on rollin!

[93civic_sedan]

nice work so far keep it up!

[Rocket Man]

Okay so here we go for today! I realized that you can't really see the problem I am talking about in the pictures so maybe this will help! If not then well you will find out anyways just keep scrolling. If you are even reading this that is which im guessing not.

Well I just realized I dont have a picture that truely shows what im talking about but this is close look at the upper right corner. And no those are not the wooden frame rails I was talking about



Alright, now where was I last night.... hmm, Ah yes that is right! So anyways I just got the Real frame rails made, well it was time to installl them now!!!

Unfortunately I only really have one picture I just discovered



Wow I just made a Liar of myself just found one more yay!



Now this is where I stand trying to figure out how to center the IRS up and set it at the right height!!!




Notice the string line??? Good, now forget about it! cause that didn't work. This is where we got stuck a while on the IRS. Some idoit didnt plan things out nor did he take suspension measurements and such things(wonder who that could of been? "points finger at preluderacecar!!!" Doh!!). Well in the end though luckily my dad came through. Before I dissasembled the rear he marked the centerline for the wheels for the old suspension assembly! Then it was only a matter of centering the rear end inbetween those 2 lines and setting it in the centerline of the car!

No Problem! Wait though, How come when I center this side up the, and go to center the otherside up it throws everything out of whack?!?! What the helll is going on here? something fishy is up. Unfortunately no pictures where taking because my fustration and such things. we took the IRS back out and started to inspect it more closely. Well sure enough it was bent. A compound bend a Diamond compound bend to be precise! The answer? hmm Try to bend it I guess! The outcome = not successful. What now? It was either spend more money and tempt faith by buying another used one, as mazda wanted $1,400's for a new subframe, or... Fix this one.

Before I continue let me put this out there because everyone should know. The person I bought it from refused to help me out in anyway and told me I was lieing so for that he gets this.

Do not trust Mark Aguliar(Ebay ID lemansracer) to send you any parts nor buy from him. I paid him in full and it wasnt till about 4 weeks afterwards that he shipped the IRS, Even though I emailed him about every 3 days asking if he sent it and received replys saying Im sending it now or am sending it tomorrow, which ofcourse never happened. So after this I finally manned up and sent a real email basically telling him I want this thing shipped or a refund as I paid him over a grand and had nothing to show for it and I was getting worried he was ripping me off. Well here is a quote from that email,

"Hello. I dont rip off anybody. I am gratefull for youR business. I got the crate build and loaded. I have a customer from Germany, He bought an engine. I will crate it on Thursday and ship them out. The shipper is kind of far from me. I am shipping them together. "

The following Tuesday after that Thursday he was suppose to ship it on, he finally shipped it.

Edited June 02 2006, Oh yea I forgot someone superglued the front of the mounting point for the rear end back on as the ear was broken off and I didnt notice it before but I have just not so long ago so I got to weld that back in place with a nickel rod, Oh joy Ive never done any Cast Iron welding.

I know what you are thinking enough rant and back to the car/pictures! So here we go! Please though cover your eyes For these next pictures are quite disturbing as they show a Chopped and rebuilt IRS subframe. Sorry I dont have any pictures of me doing so! The good news though is that well Now the IRS was in and it was lined up and all the other good stuff!

Here comes a mistake! When I made the original mounting surfaces for the IRS they were correct but as I fixed the IRS They apparently became quite wrong and a additional plate had to be welded on.






WOOT!!!

Whats next?!?! Im ready for anything now! Especially since we actually Did it! and almost 3 months of aggrivation and depression is over with!





More to come in about 10-20 minutes after dinner!!!
[IMG][/IMG]


Modified by preluderacecar at 3:53 PM 6/1/2006


Modified by preluderacecar at 7:50 PM 6/2/2006

[Rocket Man]

In the pictures if you see the date its 3/23 well that means i'm most certainly 20 now and on this great day I got an awsome birthday present! The IRS was finished like a week before just got around to taking pictures on that day because well... I wanted to take a picture of my birthday present.



Man that pizza was like the best birthday present ever!! Oh yea my engine came in on this great day also pretty cool huh?!?






Not being able to play pool kinda makes me sad




If I remember Right I left off with what was next. The above is just kind of what came in. What happened next is...



and Whaalaa!




just so everyone knows... THIS ENGINE IS FREAKING HUGE its like 3inches bigger all the way around than the mock up engine!




I know a load leveler would work much more effective!!





I think with that I will stop tonight, Tune in tomorrow night though for some more fun yay! Comments are always welcomes so are negative ones.

Thanks!!
See you tomorrow

[Niles]

Wow, what kind of a wierdo converts a 4g prelude to RWD?
Just kidding, looks like good work. Glad to see your project back on the board. Also, It takes a REAL MAN to admit mistakes and for doing that you get an E-beer for your 21.
Have you anchored the frame to keep it level and square? Just a warning that when you start cutting metal out, the body can warp. I've got a link (somewhere) to some anchors that work well for me if you need. Tell your dad he gets an E-beer too for helping out.
Where are you going to school this fall? Hopefully it gets done by then so you have a neat car to show off when you get there!

[makelove2hondas]

Thats pretty sweet, I like how some guys are starting to take it a little bit farther than just engine swaps between series. It takes some balls and ingenuity to do this. Good job

[Rocket Man]

Here goes some updates for tonight!! Sorry I am awfully tired I know that's no excuse for posting errors but if there is one I'm sorry and will fix it when I wake up!

No Niles sorry I did not use frame anchors as I feel and my dad that we left enough of the structure in the rear for it not to spread, if it did though it was not visable or evident and that still stands. Because when I cut the parts of the car out I left most of the structure in tack until the parts I cut out where strong enough to cut out more of the car. I didnt cut out the whole tunnel until I had a brace on the bottom that connected the car's rails to keep it from spreading. I don't know If I will get that far in my update tonight but we shall see!! I'm hoping to kind of keep this thread alive so everyone can get a chance to see it so i'm not just throwing everything out there! I hope you get your camera back though so I get a chance to see yours!!! If you do you can send them to my e-mail!! Promptly! hehe. I will be attending Costal carolina community college, for a year or so to learn everything I have forgot, Plus I made alot last 2 years and I will not be getting any aid until im broke again and the government sees that!

Alright give me a second let me look where I left off last night!!

Ahh yes mounting the engine

First we set the engine height in the car in a totally random position and basically cut the old rear crossmember into a couple peices. Okay okay so it wasn't random it was a carefully calculated position, kinda... As always I didnt take any pictures of the building process (sorry ). So I will tell you how it went about. We used the old mounting points for the front suspension so we would not have to mess with all that as it handled fairly well in the first place and even though others may say its not that great of suspension I believe it is and sometimes you just gotta kinda go with it ( I want to say have faith but im not religious ) Then I made a kinda of a V/U shaped piece and set it to the engine and tacked it into the old mounting points. after that we decided we weren't so sure that those 2 suspension bolts on each side would hold up the engine and stuff so we made a 3rd mount Then I just filled it in and strengthed the whole peice and it was getting kinda heavy So I just started drilling holes!! Unfortunately my intelligence failed me on hole drilling day. (this applies to the holes on the bottom only!!) I was marking the holes in a straight line so they would be pretty and my marker had failed so I was using a pencil. I have these cool drill bits that don't walk or anything just put the drill down and it drills a hole they are pretty neat cost me $52 bucks for the whole set its like 29 bits or something from dewalt. So I drilled the first hole, and of course used metal cutting oil to preserve the bit and keep it cool . Then the next one and then... I could no longer see my lines... Son of a and it was covered in oil so my lack of brain functions told me just do the best you can do. So you know if the holes arent straight I apologize I could of redid and sometimes I wish I would of but there just holes.. it does look stupid though and unprofessional Yes, I know center punch... I was just in dream land or something that day.

Well I commend you if you read this long boring section now to the pictures!!!



Painted just for fun, I plan on sand blasting everything and most the car when I get done. More parts are actually added to this peice, but thats later.



I hate when I make a liar of myself! I'm totally blind tonight as I found, Oh I dont know alot more pictures! haha!! so here they are!

Steering rack is there for referance only!






This is one side of the engine mount done, I know you already saw the hole thing done...



This is a picture of the extra Mount otherside is the same, mostly. Steering isn't as tight as it may look.





I know this stuff is kinda posted in the wrong order but I apologize.

Yes, I am writing as I go so If I write something then find out I'm wrong I just say i'm wrong. Guess i'm kinda being lazy but I think it adds in fun and shows how I'm not really that great, cause I dont want to give anyone the impression I am.

More to come in a couple minutes!


Modified by preluderacecar at 7:46 PM 6/2/2006

[Rocket Man]

Totally neglected I'm hoping to clean them up soon and rebuild the engine so I can sell it!

So we got the engine crossmember done and the engine mounted. Look at all this room up front!!



One small concern is whether or not the hood will be able to close, can't tell by eyeing it, and im too scared to get it down off the wall to find out.

Had to raise the cowl a little bit for the engine to sit where we wanted it to. Possible problems might be encountered with the windshield whiper stuff, but we already got it figured out just incase it does interefere.




As you can see we devised a better way to hoist the engine. In the picture above.

I welded a cross brace into the rear end to strength the framerails up and the mounting surfaces.





Time to design a transmission brace yay!



I'll show mounting pictures later. Right now though I will discuss a issue that was ran into. I was all excited because I was gonna order some rims and wheels because it was definitely getting close to the time for them. So i'm measuring backspace's and offsets and trying to determine what will work and such.

The IRS we decided upon setting it at 13 inches at ride height from the fenders, that way we have a inch adjustability of the IRS itself because we didn't know the stock ride height. Well I can't quite remember why but I was looking at something trying to figure out this wheel thing and I just couldn't see how the wheel was not gonna scrap on the inner fender well. So I run around looking for preludes and there are not many here. I find one on the military base and ofcourse I dont have anything to measure with so I basically just took a zip tie that was in the work van and held it up to the top of the wheel to the wheel well and cut it off. I took it home set the rear suspension at ride height, took a old stock wheel put it up there not on the suspension because of wrong bolt pattren but on the outside and put it about the zip ties length down and looked through it, and Oh SHIT. Somehow or another we made yet another mistake the rear end was set at 10.5 inches. So the next day we were on the air station and I saw a prelude and I had a tape measure this time with me and measured it, it was 14inches then I stopped at a car dealer on the way home that had one but it had rims, it was still 14 inches though.

I knew there was no way I could run a 3inch spacer there nor did i want to or w/e. Son of a after 2-3 months messing with this stupid IRS here I am again, about to start messing with it again! argh!

I must admit I was quite angry about it and totally did not want to. In the end though it turned out best, because I did want to redo how it looked back there, although it doesnt look much different I used a thicker plate to make it more sturdier and other things you might not notice. In all my anger though it only took 6 hours to cut the top off the frame rails make new ones, make new mounting surfaces, weld them in, then set the IRS back square to the car. Amazing it absolutely was something that took us SO long before, was now done in a incredible amount of time I think, and it was done right this time. The IRS was set for 13.25 inches from fenderwell, I still liked the adjustment option.

Had to go out and buy more metal as I only had enough for no mistakes to be made




Well thats it for now Im extremely tired and have a hedge to deal with tomorrow a couple more posts and I will be up to date.

[Honda Sport]

awesome work man!

[lak8]

danm man, i can't even imagine how much time and effort you put into this. props to you!!!. That thing is going to be a beast

[Rocket Man]

Sorry for not updating last night but was very busy! So last time it was showing how I had to cut out the IRS and reassemble heres some more pictures!

Old top



New Top





Kind of shows how it was centered up, but don't worry alot of other things where invovled also.

[Rocket Man]

I am tottally out of it tonight so thats it, sorry ive been slacking

[EsQueue]

Are you kidding me?

[sixfiveoh]

holy crap. how do you guys figure this stuff out??

[bluemax189]

this is ridiculous. we got some good builds on here, this thing, a mid-enigne integra, what next?

[boostincoupe]

*faints*

[djbutler007]

you get a from me

[sohc_coupe24]

Lets just say...im speechless...keep up the good work

[Rocket Man]

So yesterday I need to get some bolts. The usual places I go to don't have the right bolts. So I go out of my way farther away and look at this one store they recommend. Sure enough there they are great! I start picking them out and had them ready to go. Oops forgot to get the prices for the people. 2x M12x1.25x80mm class 8.8 $4.60.... EACH 4x M10x1.25x40mm class 8.8.... $2.19 EACH.... WTF?!?! You got to be kidding me... sure enough.. So i'm like forget this theres no friggin way. So I was walking out then I was like well maybe you should ask them because there wrong. So I asked the lady at the counter she told me to go ask service so I go ask service, there response was there more expensive because they are metric.... My response was your on crack bye. So I get home and I look some up from Mcmaster or w/e get a 10 pack of the big ones for like 7 something and a 10 pack of the small ones for like 5 something.... 4.60 a bolt... i swear...

Figuring it out takes some thinking and stuff but other than that its all fields of green mostly.

So stuff came in not today but on the day that it did which was well whenever the picture says.



Date on gas tank is wrong just forgot to take the picture, it came in same day as shocks.



Rear shocks will be mounted upside down, they are oil shocks 50/50 could of went with adjustables, but money.. was a reason not to, and other factors, which I cant think of right now because i'm blazing music way to loud.

[Rocket Man]

Oh yea I realized theres no date in the pictures sorry, just disregard the date in pictures comment.

Shock mounting and stuff oh yea got driveshaft to so if you know you see it in the pictures but im not posting that yet!












Other side Check







Okay so I was gonna make a removeable brace for the top of them but in the end decided just to make a welded in tower.

weight being a concern and trying to keep it light....



Tada



More holes will be drilled in things that are already on the car but thats like one of the last steps I'll do.

Trying to keep the weight under 3,000.. Can I do it? I doubt it.

One more update after this one and you will be current mostly. Wish I could move faster waiting on sway bar sometime or another????? hopefully it will come in soon so I can get the gas tank mounted up then the radiator gets here tomorrow and steering should be finished eh this week? hopefully.

[SteveoBA8]

Hellya, keep kicking ass and takin names

[clayton bigsby]

wow this is one insane project. bet this would make a killer drifter

[swifty4u]

Wow what a quick moving project.