So, I've been an Accord guy for a while now. Purchased a 96 LX Coupe as my first car back in 2008 as a junior in high school. You can find the build HERE. It was a super daily driver and even as it started to show its age and have small issues here and there, it never let me down. Unfortunately, in April of this year, I had it stolen from my house at 4am. Local PD was able to locate the car (less than a mile from my house, in front of the theif's house too), and as they were watching it, the thief hopped in and drove off. When they tried to stop him, he took off and led them on a (short) chase. Scumbag blew through a stop sign and hit another car. When I got to the scene, I initially didn't think damage was too terrible, but once I got the hood up (the carbon was toast, as well as the latch), and I saw the front frame smashed in, I knew the car was totalled.


I had a lot of sentimental attachment to the car, but it had become a POS both externally, and mechanically. Only nice thing was the interior. I knew it was time to let it go. Grabbed the few parts I wanted off the car, and let insurance take it.


I actually got more for the car than I expected, and had already found a replacement by the time the check came. Found a 96 EX Coupe with 270k miles, but it was stupid clean, stock, and priced right. Color wasn't my favorite, but my only thing was I did not want an Accord with a tan interior, and there weren't many on the market in the limited time I had to look for a replacement. Mechanically, it was night and day better than the old car....no fluid leaks at all, no exhaust leaks, etc. Pretty much everything works as it should minus the ABS (which are broken on 99.99% of EX Accords anyways).


Within the first month I slapped on some parts to make it a bit more fun of a daily driver. Koni Yellows, Neuspeed Race springs, FFC extended top hats. My super clean Racing Hart Tracer Type Cs, S2000 steering wheel, Depo SiR replica headlights, SiR bumper lights, SiR front lip, Honda Access window visors, and Stromung exhaust.


This is how the car currently sits. No more plans for it, minus just enjoying driving an almost stock Accord that looks decent and is a bit more fun to drive. May get some PDR done and get it detailed, but that's about it. There is a reason why this one isn't getting touched any more.....

 

Back in 2017, a buddy of mine I purchased a bunch of motor swap parts from made me an offer I couldn't refuse....he had abandoned his Accord project, parted it out, and had the shell sitting at a friends house. It needed to go somewhere, so I threw him $300 and he towed the car up to me. Its a 97 EX 5-speed Coupe in Sherwood Green Pearl, one of my favorite colors (except it came with a tan interior). It also came already 5 lug swapped, and with all new bushings and ball joints, which alone exceeded what I paid for the car. Threw on my CE28s I owned at the time so I could roll it around.




Prior to this shell, I had started collecting parts for a motor swap for my first Accord. But now that I had this new one, it opened up the opportunity to really put work into the swap and go about doing it the "right" way, as I could continue to daily one car, and build the other one on the side.

Snagged a M2B4 LSD transmission for dirt cheap, and sent it to Synchotech for a full OEM spec rebuild.



For the motor I lucked out and snagged a 00 H22A4 with about 100k miles for $300. I really didn;t know the history of the motor, so we separated it for inspection. Block was in good condition, for the time being that is staying completely stock, as I plan on trying to BAR the car, so I'm not messing with compression for now. The head, i had some spare parts I had collected that I figure I may as well throw in while I get the head inspected. Ended up sending the head to Joe Alaniz and had him work his magic on it. The head now has Euro R cams, Supertech valvetrain, and new Ferrea valve guides, along with a valve job, and overall refresh. To pair with the upgraded head I had my OEM manifold ported and gasket matched, and paired with a 68mm Professional Products throttle body.




To compliment the refreshed motor, I decided to bling up the bay a bit. I had my FGK header polished to like new condition (attached to motor in pic above), along with a bunch of other parts I had chromed or polished....


nabbed a Greddy SP1 catback to run until I decide which custom route I want to go.




I also just snagged this beauty of a piece last week....a complete carbon fiber Mugen intake box for a CL1 Euro R Accord. Should take minimal work to fit properly.




Seeing as the car came with a tan interior (and leather too) I ripped the whole thing out and sold it. Sourced a full light gray interior for $25 (also leather), and a 6 hour trip lol. I knew I wanted to go black, but as the Accord never came in black, I set about converting. Got the dash done and installed back in. Then the door panels, and other misc bits (including a gray headliner to replace the tan).


While in the interior, I swapped to a RHD center console, to relocate the ebrake handle to the passenger side away from me. I'm a tall guy at 6'4", and my knee always hit the handle and was super annoying. The handle itself I swapped to a Prelude VTEC leather one. And I also have a 1 of 1 CF cupholder for the console. I'm also running a JTC Customs short shifter, FFC solid shifter bushings, covered with a EG Civic boot, and topped with a Greddy weighted shift ****. Will be rocking the stock stereo and CD combo until I decide what to do there. To finish off the interior, I have Recaro seats from a CL1 Euro R (the green and black should match the car perfectly), and new black carpet which will be going in. Still haven't decided on my steering wheel setup, but at some point I will.




For suspension, I don't have any pics, but I'm rocking Koni Yellow/Ground Controls with custom rates, Tanabe sway bars, FFC strut bars, and a DC rear tie bar for bling. I've had an Acura RL 4-piston big brake kit since 2013, that will be transferred over to the new shell, along with changing the color from blue to something more fitting the green.




Exterior wise, I have a decent collection of parts I've acquired, I have my SIR lip (on my daily Accord), one of the last remaining authentic CD chassis Modulo lips, an Azect eyeliner grill, and a Mugen grill.




all clear JDM Stanley headlights (may sell and buy blackhoused version instead. still uncertain)






Probably the rarest pieces going on the car are on the *** end. I'm converting to a Malaysian (same as Euro) long license plate trunk bezel, and pairing it with a matching Malaysian spec OEM SiR Accord wing. This wing is something I have wanted for years, but I've only ever seen a handful for sale, and none in recent years. When I saw this one, I immediately purchased it, despite it being broken. One of those part worth having regardless of condition.




That's about where I'm at now.....the goal is to have the car running by the end of the year (still have a few random bits to buy), and button up the interior as well by that time. So at least the car will be drivable. Then I'll have to figure out the last few remaining exterior pieces, get everything paint matched, and make it look presentable. Super excited to have what will virtually be a brand new Accord, along with what is many of my bucket list parts I never thought I'd own.

Stay tuned!

 

Damn dude. This new one looks badass! Nice work

 

Thanks man. Its pretty much the culmination of 9 years of learning and knowledge, that I now have the ability to execute the vision of the car I've constructed in my head.

 

Lots of things changing since the last update.....

Ended up selling my daily coupe in November to a buddy of mine. Had one last hurrah, installed a few extra parts and took it to the Chronicles meet at Eibach. Kept all the good parts off it, and sold it with a few parts I didn't need to keep.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hEJRSV]


While I love my Accord coupes, I decided having 2 of them just wasn't practical. My dark green project one isn't going anywhere, so it was time to let go of the daily. In its place, I picked up a wagon in Washington for $900. I scoured SoCal, but everything was overpriced or sold before I could check it out. Exterior wise, the car needs some work, but I was more keen on it having a clean interior, and running properly. I had a buddy check out the car for me in WA, then I flew up Halloween weekend and made the 1200mi trek back down to California. The car performed flawlessly, netting 28mpg at 80mph. The owner kept it in good condition mechanically, minus a few small oil leaks which were easily fixed.




Once I got it home, It was time to start transplanting some parts. Ditched all my USDM front lighting in favor of some mint condition JDM clear Stanley lights, along with SiR bumper signals. Being an LX, the wagon was equipped with drums, so I snagged a full rear disc conversion from the junkyard. In addition, I converted the car to 5x114, and installed my Acura RL bbk. Also installed my rebuilt Koni/GC with extended top hats. And my RH Tracer Type Cs made their way over as well. The Tracers won't be mounted for long though, as I plan on rebuilding them to wider specs this year.



Scored a set of 18x8.5 +33 SSR Type Cs for $600, which I will be powdercoating shortly and mounting. I plan on running a full lip kit on the Accord, so going up to 18s will give me a bit more ground clearance. And look a bit better.



I've always felt the rear of the wagon was a bit "naked" because Honda never offered an OEM rear wing. Even in Japan, they only made a rear visor. I was extremely lucky in sourcing a Kolnes rear wing, and after painting and installing it this weekend, it nicely completes the rear hatch area.


This is where I'm currently at. I'm just about done rebuilding and repainting a trashed Mugen grill i purchased for cheap. I'll post pics separately once I get it all back together. Was a 2 week undertaking, but came out much better than expected. Once that is complete, I'll be moving on to repairing my front lip I have for the car, along with sourcing and painting the side skirts and rear I want to complete my kit.

 

Looks great Luv it...The accords always have a special place in my heart.

 

same. I grew up wanting an EM1, but when I bought my first car in high school, it was out of my price range. Got the Accord, and luckily got involved in the local community early on, and fell in love with it.

 

Wagon looks great. Very jealous of that wing

 

Been a little bit since I've posted in here, so here it goes.


Wagon update:



Finished up the repair and painting of my Mugen grill for the car.




Got extremely lucky and found a Fujitsubo Legalis R catback here Stateside already, from an importer. Besides being my favorite wagon exhaust, they are only sold in Japan, and getting them over here is brutal with shipping.




Did a quick polish of the canister and tip.




Got some cool night shots from a buddy who was passing through





And this dope roller




Swapped in some Acura CL gauges into my cluster, as they are a bit fancier font.




Found a clean AP1 S2000 wheel for the car. Got the cruise control wiring modified to work as well.




Picked up some more Acura CL interior pieces to further class up the wagon's interior. Just been scrounging the yards for CLs and grabbing what pieces I can use. Just need to find a clean driver seat. Then I'll be dying the door panels the darker gray to match, and eventually getting the rear seats done in matching dark gray leather. And eventually order some darker carpet.




Since I'm such a sucker for Racing Harts, I sold my SSR Type Cs when I had the opportunity to grab another set of Tracers from a friend. These ones are nowhere near as nice as my other set, which is fine, as they are now mounted on the wagon for daily duties. Specs are 17x8 +30 with a 235/40, and 17x9 +34 with a 245/40. And since they nice set is no longer being driven on, I can finally get them rebuilt with the original RH lips I've sourced.






And then last week, someone hit my car in my work's parking lot. Thankfully, they left a note, and are covering all the damage. It wasn't too bad actually. All that needed to be replaced was my bumper and corner light. The fender, and bumper are getting painted as well, and I'm throwing my Modulo lip in as well to be color matched.






Besides the interior, all I have left on the exterior is to decide on side skirts, and source the rear lip I want. Once those are painted, I'll consider the wagon "done" and just continue to daily it. Because the real project has been picking up steam...

 

Coupe Update:

Finally happy that I'm making some decent progress on the Coupe these last few weeks. And happy that I am just about done with the one area of the build I was most undecided on....the interior. I feel this part of the car gets overlooked by a lot of people (especially Accord guys), because of the lack of aftermarket support in this area. I however have always had a thing about clean interiors, even my first Accord was an eyesore on the outside, but inside, I had a super clean interior. I originally had planned on dyeing all of my interior panels black, and do a full black interior conversion, as that was never an option on the car. I even did most of the work, but I just wasn't happy with how it looked in the car. So then, I picked up a full dark gray leather interior from a CL. The 1st Gen CL is based off the Accord, so if you have a coupe, everything below the dash line swaps over. The Accord gray interior is a 2-tone dark/medium gray. The CL is all dark gray. So you swap in the whole lower CL interior, and you get full dark gray in your Accord coupe. So I did all that work, and again wasn't happy with the result. The color was good, but the panels just had too much wear and tear on them, and the different sides, were beat up differently. As I was mulling this over, I happened upon some NOS Acura door panels on eBay for a killer price. And as soon as those arrived, I knew I pretty much had to replace all the main interior parts in the car to finally be happy.




So that's what I've been doing the last few weeks, finding and sourcing as many new interior pieces as I can. And whatever is discontinued and I can't find new, I'm finding the best used pieces to use. Way more money than I ever would have anticipated, but now that I have a majority of the parts installed, its 100% worth it.

New OEM CL carpet vs my used CL carpet





I got extremely lucky, and after years of searching nabbed my favorite steering wheel of all time. The 5Zigen N1R. This was the first one I had found preserved this nice.




Waiting on my last order of interior parts to arrive....new center console pieces, glove box cover, steering column cover/coin holder, and all new plastic covers for the fuel, trunk, and hood levers. But for the most part, everything else is in place. Night and day difference sitting in the car now compared to before. Nothing too fancy, but for me, you really can't beat NOS OEM. Will get some better pics when the last parts arrive and are installed, but here is one for now. Once the car is running, there is a few other things I'll circle back around to....redoing the back seat from CL leather to alcantara/green fabric to match the Euro R Recaro front seats, and converting to the Acura CL digital climate control.





Moving to exterior, I have my Malaysian spec license plate bezel mounted up and matching SiR duckbill wing mocked up to drill to the mounting holes.




Next up on the list is to save a bit and purchase some Fortune Auto coilovers for the car, as well as piece together my Brembo front brake setup. Once that is done, I just need my exhaust setup for the car, and purchase a Neptune/Demon RTP setup, and I should be good to drop the car back at the shop for the swap. Not much to do, just a few more expensive items. Stay tuned!

 

Fantastic thread, can'twait for updates! I also have a 95 accord I bought as my first car (2007) and still have it. I've been accumulating parts for a year and it's about that time to put her under the knife. Your thread gave me the juice to finally get back after it.