Restoring a 1990 Honda Accord EX...after 21 years, it is time. :)
10-12-2011, 04:43 PM
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Restoring a 1990 Honda Accord EX...after 21 years, it is time. :)
So today I had the 1990 Honda Accord EX that was my first car back in 1991 delivered to my home near Indianapolis and am beginning the restoration process after 21 years.
A little back story. I first got the car back in 1991 when I was 15 years old after seeing it parked in a parking lot with a 'for sale' sign in the window, and an asking price well below what it should be. We had been looking for a first car for me for a while, and this was a little above the budget that was set aside, but the fact that it was barely a year old, larger and safer than the used Civics I had been looking at, and still under warranty for a couple more years, made all the difference.
Anyway, we struck a deal with the gentleman who owned the car, and I officially had my first car!! WOO-HOO!! Now, if I only knew how to drive a 5-speed manual. YIKES!!
So my mother patiently taught me how to drive my new/used car, and in no time flat I was good to go. I drove the car all through high school and part of college, putting tons of mileage on the car when I was not working at either of my jobs, or at school. So nights essentially were when I would drive the most.
Eventually I wanted something faster, sportier, and so on, and ended up getting another car, but kept the Accord. That is until a friend of mine offered to buy it. I reluctantly sold him the car, and regretted it immediately. He took horrible care of the car, and 6 months later I bought the car back from him and vowed to never let it go again. So the car sat for a while as during the years I had obtained a few NSXs, Integra GS-R, a couple of M3s, an E63 AMG, a couple of Evos, and other random stuff along the way. But the Accord stood strong and steady. Not driven much, and spending a lot of time under the OEM Honda Accord car cover in my mothers garage in northern Indiana.
Fast forward to this week. I am in a sales job, and have lately been catching a fair amount of resentment from customers when they see my current NSX and realize that is my daily driver. As much as I hate to give in to stupidity, I am paid based on my sales numbers, so I caved in and decided to go back to driving my Old Faithful....the 1990 Honda Accord EX. Afterall, nobody is going to resent me for 'making too much money' in a 21 year old Acccord.
Well, taking pride in my cars, I had the Accord transported down to Indianapolis so that I could take inventory of where I was at, what maintenance needed done, and so on. What I found was that my mother has no idea how to take care of a car, and when she drove it, she just must have tried to find new ways to screw things up. So I will be documenting here my quest to disassemble, clean, and restore, what I consider to be one of the best cars I have ever owned. Along the way I will need some help sourcing parts, as I plan to bring 'Midnight' back to his previous glory.
Parts I need (I would like to have either new OEM, or excellent condition used OEM):
* All (4) inner door panels
* New set of OEM floor mats
* New OEM trunk carpet
* New OEM headliner
Parts already on order:
* New OEM side door and fender mouldings (all the way around)
* New OEM front bumper turn signal assemblies
* New OEM wiper blades / arms
* New OEM light bulbs all the way around (to make sure they are all fresh and working properly)
Items already replaced by me since getting the car back today (10/12/11):
* Right front brake caliper
Body work to have done:
* Repair / replace hood and repaint
* Have rust repaired from 'dog leg' section on passenger rear quarter panel
* Repaint front right fender
* Repaint front bumper cover
* Repaint driver side mirror assembly
* Repaint any other panels that cannot polish out....so I want the entire car to look like it is fresh from the paint booth.)
Maintenance work to do:
* Fix jammed OEM CD player
* Flush brake fluid
* Flush clutch fluid
* Flush transmission fluid
* Flush coolant
* Clean / re-oil K&N air filter
I have only had the car back for about 8 hours, but I would like to move fast. I plan to remove the entire interior and scrub down EVERYTHING to see what can be saved, and what will be replaced. So any help is appreciated, as this list will probably be a work in progress as I find things. Wish me luck!
A little back story. I first got the car back in 1991 when I was 15 years old after seeing it parked in a parking lot with a 'for sale' sign in the window, and an asking price well below what it should be. We had been looking for a first car for me for a while, and this was a little above the budget that was set aside, but the fact that it was barely a year old, larger and safer than the used Civics I had been looking at, and still under warranty for a couple more years, made all the difference.
Anyway, we struck a deal with the gentleman who owned the car, and I officially had my first car!! WOO-HOO!! Now, if I only knew how to drive a 5-speed manual. YIKES!!
So my mother patiently taught me how to drive my new/used car, and in no time flat I was good to go. I drove the car all through high school and part of college, putting tons of mileage on the car when I was not working at either of my jobs, or at school. So nights essentially were when I would drive the most.
Eventually I wanted something faster, sportier, and so on, and ended up getting another car, but kept the Accord. That is until a friend of mine offered to buy it. I reluctantly sold him the car, and regretted it immediately. He took horrible care of the car, and 6 months later I bought the car back from him and vowed to never let it go again. So the car sat for a while as during the years I had obtained a few NSXs, Integra GS-R, a couple of M3s, an E63 AMG, a couple of Evos, and other random stuff along the way. But the Accord stood strong and steady. Not driven much, and spending a lot of time under the OEM Honda Accord car cover in my mothers garage in northern Indiana.
Fast forward to this week. I am in a sales job, and have lately been catching a fair amount of resentment from customers when they see my current NSX and realize that is my daily driver. As much as I hate to give in to stupidity, I am paid based on my sales numbers, so I caved in and decided to go back to driving my Old Faithful....the 1990 Honda Accord EX. Afterall, nobody is going to resent me for 'making too much money' in a 21 year old Acccord.
Well, taking pride in my cars, I had the Accord transported down to Indianapolis so that I could take inventory of where I was at, what maintenance needed done, and so on. What I found was that my mother has no idea how to take care of a car, and when she drove it, she just must have tried to find new ways to screw things up. So I will be documenting here my quest to disassemble, clean, and restore, what I consider to be one of the best cars I have ever owned. Along the way I will need some help sourcing parts, as I plan to bring 'Midnight' back to his previous glory.
Parts I need (I would like to have either new OEM, or excellent condition used OEM):
* All (4) inner door panels
* New set of OEM floor mats
* New OEM trunk carpet
* New OEM headliner
Parts already on order:
* New OEM side door and fender mouldings (all the way around)
* New OEM front bumper turn signal assemblies
* New OEM wiper blades / arms
* New OEM light bulbs all the way around (to make sure they are all fresh and working properly)
Items already replaced by me since getting the car back today (10/12/11):
* Right front brake caliper
Body work to have done:
* Repair / replace hood and repaint
* Have rust repaired from 'dog leg' section on passenger rear quarter panel
* Repaint front right fender
* Repaint front bumper cover
* Repaint driver side mirror assembly
* Repaint any other panels that cannot polish out....so I want the entire car to look like it is fresh from the paint booth.)
Maintenance work to do:
* Fix jammed OEM CD player
* Flush brake fluid
* Flush clutch fluid
* Flush transmission fluid
* Flush coolant
* Clean / re-oil K&N air filter
I have only had the car back for about 8 hours, but I would like to move fast. I plan to remove the entire interior and scrub down EVERYTHING to see what can be saved, and what will be replaced. So any help is appreciated, as this list will probably be a work in progress as I find things. Wish me luck!
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