uncleben

Hey guys- long time, no post. So, I've had the R in storage the last couple years and I think I've only logged about 300 miles since 2013. Odometer is sitting at about 97k miles. I've gone back and forth over the years on whether to sell or not, and I think I've pretty much decided that I'm keeping #1214 indefinitely, but with the idea that it might reach a point years from now that it's tempting to sell. I recently visited a local specialized dealer that sells exotic classics and seeing 30-40 year old cars in super great condition really kind of inspired me. I got the old girl out of storage a couple weeks ago and had some maintenance taken care of. Got all the fluids done, timing belt, water pump, belts, and several other miscellaneous things.

Now I'm thinking about the future of my R, and the Type-R in general. What will it be worth in 10, even 20 years? Will anyone care? If the 97 R recently selling for $43k is any indication of things to come, I'd say the future is promising. This has me wondering about a few things to prepare for an eventual sale some day.

1) What really is the best way to store a car LONG term, not just months or years, but decades? I want to keep it below 100k miles, so that only leaves me 3K miles to spare. I've currently been storing it with a full tank of gas, 94 octane, no ethanol, and with Sta-bil fuel treatment. I keep the battery unplugged, but it eventually dies, so I'm considering hooking up a battery tender to it (have electricity in my storage unit). What else should I be doing? How often should it be driven?

2) What about parts? It won't be long before we won't be able to get OEM parts from the dealer. What items should I buy now, not only for my R, but to be valuable to other owners down the road? I think about this guy I talked to a few years ago restoring 69 Camaros - he'd go to the end of the earth to find an original OEM part, and he'd pay a ton. I'm curious what parts you all would consider grabbing now. I've already bought several things. For one, I got replacement Type-R decals and emblems in case I decide to paint later, which brings me to my next thought...

3) My R needs some TLC on the body. Particularly the front bumper and hood have quite a bit of bad chips and large blemishes in the paint. I also have a slight 10 inch "crease" on the driver quarter panel from a truck bumper (oops). I've gotten a quote for body/paint work for both the trouble areas or doing the whole car. But should I do that now or wait? If I'm going to keep the car for another 10-20 years as a possible collector's sale, would it make more sense to wait and do body/paint then? Do I gain anything by doing it now, other than immediate enjoyment for the rare occasion I get to see and drive it?

Anyway- that's my rant, sorry for the length. I've been having these discussions in my head for a long time and figured I'd put it out there to see what others thought.

Ben

KraZyCHOWMEIN

I can't comment on question 1 because my car isn't stored long term. But I also thought it was better to have an empty tank then a tank full of gas.

2) Parts are harder to come by and also difficult to tell what will have higher value in the future. If you're looking for parts that will gain value anything optional (carbon pieces, trunk mat, valences, front lip, etc) are all gaining value. The other OEM parts (belts, headlights, etc) not R specific should still be available for a while.

3) Me personally - I would save the paint and body work for later. Who knows what will happen if you take it out for a drive or even while in storage. If something falls on it and you just had it restored you'd probably kick yourself.

Again these are just my thoughts. It's exciting the predictions of our cars maintaining and gaining value is there. The flip side is most of us are keeping them for the long haul.

Klasse

Would agree on getting the damage fixed later, provided it doesn't have potential to rust. I'm also think of stocking up on bits like decals, anyone know how long the glue or whatever on them lasts? Same with rubber bushings...

Danger

Im almost done completely restoring my 00 ITR. A lot of stuff is discontinued now so you will have a harder time in the future getting the parts you would like.

Klasse

Just curious, what are the major things you came across that are discontinued?

Seedc2

iTrader: (1)

yea ^

redGSRguy

Sounds like your specific car might not be what a collector will be looking for in the future. I would just drive it for now and shop around for mint condition ITR you want to store away and save.

For instance the Edmunds ITR my friend got is more likely to fetch a higher price to collectors in the future.
1998 Acura Integra Type R vs. 2010 Honda Civic Si

white rocket

1) Put the chassis on jack stands and remove the wheels/tires. Remove the battery altogether. A full gas tank prevents moisture from getting in there and creating rust(although I'm not sure about a 20 year plan, perhaps an empty tank is better). Store it in a dry place, preferably climate controlled. Not sure about the engine as there are a few different opinions.

2) Buy whatever you can now. If I had a nickel for every part I "should have" bought before discontinuation I'd be rich. Ha! Anything ITR specific. You're on the right track with emblems and decals. Pretty much any wearable item would be good to have on hand.

3) Leave it alone for now. The caR could be a "survivor" in 20 years OR it could be a "restored" caR in 20 years. Don't spend the money now, just store it appropriately and see what happens in your life.

joey1320

Okay although I don't have an R, Im "restoring" an EM1 to almost stock condition, with the thought in the back of my mind that I'm going to keep it forever, so I kind of have an idea of what you're going through.

Now as an avid car enthusiast and a fan/collector of air-cooled beetles and old school BMX bikes, I can honestly tell you that OEM accessories and original components are always
more desirable.

Don't paint anything, unless you're doing so for rust prevention. If you have to paint anything, have a reputable shop do it.

Keep all original panels with VIN#'s and the matching engine. If something happens to the engine and you have to swap it, keep the original engine. Don't sell it. You can always bundle it later if you decide to sell.

I would highly recommend putting some seat covers on. Specially on the drivers' seat, in order to maintain them.

Keep ALL original parts and receipts for any work you do. These are the extra add-ons that will raise the value of the car when it's time to sell.

This is a weird one and kind of hard to actually do, since you will be de-valuing the car BUT if you can, buy the EBay front lip and use it. You don't want to ruin your OEM lip and be screwed in 5-10-15 years because you can't find one.

When it comes to extra parts - anything that's R(SI for me) specific and it comes up for sale, buy it if you have the extra cash. Wether it be a bumper, fenders, truck blah blah. Whatever it's R specific with a VIN# buy it. Why? Because 5-10-15 years from now when some ******** smashes your trunk, you won't find an OEM one to save your life.

On the same boat, if you buy OEM matching fenders, doors or anything VIN'd, install them and keep your original ones in storage. Rather have someone **** your spares than your original ones.

Don't cut/roll/**** any metal - meaning strut towers for a slammed ride. Rear quarters for that stances life yo and any other stupid ****. You have no clue how long it took me to find a clean, unmolested, unfuck'd EM1 around my way. So imagine an R in 5-10-15 years...

These cars are getting older and harder to find in original shape. Therefore you must do anything possible to keep them og, or whatever you add can be removable at a later date.

As far as storing;
Remove battery.
Fill the fuel tank to the top and add one or two bottles of water drier.
Put the car on jacks and remove the wheels.
Apply WD40(to be cleaned later) to brakes or cover them with plastic bags.
Clean all underbody panels from dirt so it doesn't keep moisture.
Apply some type of rust preventer to inner quarter panels.
Removed door panels and apply rust preventer to interior, specially the bottom.
Removed spoiler, if you have one, and spray rust preventer to inside of trunk.
Spray silicone to all weather seals and engine belts.
And finally disconnect ECU and distributor and store them in a dry location.


You must understand that we are now into the rust years of these cars. Also 90% of the 90's-00's Homdas will be eaten by rust, stolen, crashed, stanc'd, riced and overall fucked by the owners that didn't give a **** about preserving them.

So now you must think as a rust specialist and think of anything that can be fucked by rust and stop it before it starts. I myself will be using POR15 along with Castle Dry-Lub molylube to spray in the insides of my doors, trunk, hood, and rear interior quarters. Anything that can help the deteriorating process is a good idea.
Good luck and I envy you cause you got an R

Dr. DC2

I'd say yours isn't low mileage enough to really matter. Just drive it.

joey1320

Not true imho.
They only built so many of these cars, so although a low mileage car will always bring in more $$, the fact that it's a special edition car ogled by many guys, means that in the future, once the guys that couldn't afford them when they were young have some extra cash, many will be searching for them.

Think about this, you were 16-24yo when the R's started selling in the states. You saw them on the magazines, on the streets and around town and always wanted one. Now 30-40 years later, you're married, a few kids are off to college and now you want to relive your youth, what are you going to be looking for?

Now imagine in another 20-30 years, how many of these cars are going to be available and in good OEM condition?
Supply and demand amigo.

At the end of the day, most car guys were happiest when they were younger and didn't have all the responsibilities of life. Hanging out with their friends in the garage, at the track, at the car shows and so on. So as soon as you become "free" again from those responsibilities of life, you will end up searching for the fountain of youth and an R, NSX, SI(to a lower degree) will be the cars you will be looking for, if that's what you liked when young.

OP I say keep the car a closed to OEM as possible and only add things that can be easily undone.
Then drive it and enjoy it.

97CWITR

In 20 years I'd be more disappointed that I didn't drive it more, rather than let it sit in a garage, let it go to waste, and not do what it's designed to do. Drive.

When I look back I want to remember driving around on a great road with a great car at high rpms, not scared about how much its going to be worth to another potential owner.

LUV4JDM

iTrader: (2)

Couldn't have said it better

I have a 80k km PY and I also plan on driving it every opportunity I get once it's finished. I bought the car for me and I'm going to drive it whenever I want to.
Couldn't care less about the next owner, hitting the 100k milestone or the price it's going to be worth in 20 years really...

What's the point in owning a nice car and not driving it anyway? There's no certainty it's going to be worth more in 10 or 20 years either.
I even find it a bit sad you have this car and don't drive it, sounds like you care more about the value rather than the car itself maybe?

joey1320

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm NOT about show cars or as we call in the bicycle world "carpet queens".

I'm all about driving the car like it was designed to do. I was just answering the OP's question as to how to store over winter(like I'll he doing) and how to maintain its originality.

Drive the car!

KraZyCHOWMEIN

Yup! There are certain specimens which need to be put in a hyperbolic chamber. But for most of us the value may increase incrementally but we won't be looking at a substantial pay out.

slooogsr

Long term storage is out of the question for me. I recently purchased an R and have had these same thoughts cross my mind but want to balance enjoyment and preservation of heR. As it stands she (Penelope) is completely original minus the badge and has 97K miles on the clock (not a speciment to be stowed away). It is not my daily driver and i intend to drive it on the weekends and enjoy it. However, part of me wants to keep her "fresh" and clean up the minor body work, replace weather stripping etc. The other part of me wants to do minor tasteful mods to the suspension and engine bolt-ons and take her to my local track at NJMP.

How do some of you balance the enjoyment and preservation?

As someone stated, an ebay lip, seat covers and possibly removing some of the rare bits prone to wear might be a good idea.

Maybe a "Preservation" thread is in order?

()()DC2

iTrader: (1)

Don't be fooled.. I'm really curious to know what actually happened. I thought the car was sold to an Acura dealership?

1997 acura integra type r hatchback 3 doors

white rocket

Curious if one were to disperse the weight better using 2x4's. I kinda thought about that after I posted and considered the stress that jack stand points would put on a unibody chassis. I suppose one could just store it on steelies with shitty tires.

Werd to the gas tank being empty. Wasn't sure of the implications after 5 years or so as most only do this seasonally(store for 8 months then drive it)

Klasse

x2

dc24me

As these cars get older, I think there are more of us who appreciate these cars nearer to stock with maybe minor bolt ons at most.

I picked up 00-768 last fall. It had only 77k km a on it and had been sitting for 7 years. Clean title, all matching numbers and it was cw/on black which was what I wanted and only two previous owners. It was almost stock except for the seats which I got rid of and IHE and sus, which I tossed because they were junk. I've already spent 3k in oem parts maintenance parts and replaced the outdated busted and half assed junk with what I think are aftermarket parts that will not hurt the resale value of the car (GC/Koni, JDM 4-1, Fujitsubo cat back and a CT intake and a set of rims). Stock Rs are kinda boring IMO.

What is nice about having an R today is that restoring an ITR is much more rewarding that modding any other Honda because you will likely get your money back.

2000FBPITR

iTrader: (5)

As these cars get older, I think there are more of us who appreciate these cars nearer to stock with maybe minor bolt ons at most.

Stock Rs are kinda boring IMO.

Scratches head...

dc24me

As I sit and scratch my head looking at what I posted, I meant boring to look at and some mods enhance the driving experience and makes each of these cars more unique. I had a lot of Stella and Grey Goose before I typed that....

(I can't wait to drive my R for the first time next week.)

KraZyCHOWMEIN

Stock R's are boring in the power department especially by today’s standards. Handling has always been amazing and that's the draw aside from the nostalgia. There’s a difference between mod’ing and ricing/stancing out a car. To me keeping the R a virgin (not mod’ing) and seeing it as an investment for the future is counterintuitive to owning a driver’s car. To each their own I think we can all agree there’s some cars which need to be kept off the road and in a museum.

fatalman

There is a company that makes oil that is meant for stored cars. I would put that in. I would drive it every 3 months. Let it get up to operating temp and drive it a little bit. Do a complete detail. Keep it washed and waxed.

I would not paint it. I am restoring a 70 camaro (a version that is as rare as the type r.) I know the price of 45 year old oem parts. They are expensive. And as for paint, i doubt you would get a 1:1 return on money invested in a paint job if you are going to sell. A 4k paint job isnt going to get you 4k more on your price. And unless you do a full "resto" to get top dollar, you will get better value out of the car in a healthy stock configuration.

Keep it running, drive it around, keep it washed, and change the fluids when you get a chance. I wouldnt do a full tank of gas either. I would leave a little in, run it, fill it up with another gallon, and repeat every 3 months. Take an hour of your day and try to maintain it.

lightsleeper

iTrader: (1)

I 100% agree. I am fine with having a "classic car" and maintaining it, but what good is a classic if it isn't showed off and driven around. This is no early century Ferrari, it is still a Honda and it might be rare, but to have a car sit for two decades to make 10-15k doesn't make too much sense to me...and at that point, if I kept it that long I would probably just keep it forever or pass it along to an offspring of mine. Of course, that is what I would do and you are completely entitled to do whatever with your car. Best of luck!