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I want to restore my wiper trim before I install it again, I was looking online to see what a good solution was. Mine had a bunch of light areas and overall grey and not black. I was considering hitting it with the heat gun but I didn't want it to be brittle. Many of the restorers seem to only work for a few weeks. As I was looking it looked like the dye products lasted longer. I have a ton of leftover black dye from my steering wheel project so I was going to try a few spots. I started out by cleaning it with some goo gone and... well crap it looks awesome. Maybe I just had old wax build up on the plastic, not sure. I'm going to let this thing dry for a while and see if it lightens up again, if it lightens up ill try the dye on a few spots and see how it turns out. Ill post some pics once I'm happy. I think as a quick solution for a car show or just to show off goo gone may be a nice solution. I may hit my side skirts with it in a few days.
Man I posted a ton of pics of the pedal install and not one comment, Ohh well maybe someone will eventually appreciate it. lol.
My heater hose finally went, I knew it was about toast, I considered swapping the one from the accord but it was different. I had ordered one from amazon and already had it on hand when it went so no big deal. Replacement was easier than expected. I have not see a single drip since then so I think I solved all of my leaks.
I am still going back and forth about the swap. I definitely want to go 5 speed, I'm not sure what route to take at this point. The H22a4 is running great, no issues. I still have a spare manual trans that just needs some syncros. I'm considering repairing that trans and swapping it in instead of doing the H23vtec swap. If I do that then I need a clutch/pressure plate and pressure plate bolts. I suppose that's not super expensive but will add another $500 to the swap, money is short at the moment.
I think ill just start prepping the H23vtec and hopefully the auto trans will blow up so I have to do the swap. lol.
I did pick up a new oil pan gasket and some skunk2 magnetic drain plugs for oil and trans. I have everything I need to get this done except immediate motivation.
I ran some errands last night and I noticed some wet spots in a few spots where I had stopped. When I got home I looked under the car and I could see a very slow drip.
I did some investigating today and I could see the water inlet to the IACV hose was cracked a bit, I touched the underside of the hose and I had coolant on my finger... well guess I found my other leak.
I definitely need to replace at the minimum that hose, but honestly the other hoses to the fitv and iacv are not awesome. I think I may do a FITV delete, and since I need to remove the TB I can add a thermal gasket. Should cost about 50$ for the pair. Not a big deal, I do plan to use this engine either on another project or in the accord, assuming I end up pulling it. So I don't feel like I would be throwing money away. I think I may just loop the lines for now, assuming I have a line that looks good enough to loop. If it runs and idles well without coolant to the IACV I may just leave both attached with no coolant lines. I'm in So Cal so it never really drops down cold here, I used to run my old preludes this way and never had an issue, guess we will see, ill report either way.
Well crap.. Instant surging idle. I went ahead and ordered some vibrant 5/16" heater hose from Amazon. Ill just replace both inlet and return hoses just in case. I already replaced the one coming from the block previously so its good but I don't want to fiddle with using a junction in the middle to make up for the short hose. Plus it will be nice to have some extra hose when I need it. I think ill go ahead and order an IACV gasket since I bet it will be bad once I remove the IACV.
I think this transmission only has a few months left on it, second gear shifts are a little rough sometimes. I'm slowly... very slowly pulling the engine/transmission from the Accord, I'm not in a huge rush. I may give this transmission a good fluid change and see if that helps, its not slipping or grinding or anything, just hard shifts into second. Swapping the transmission is definitely in the near future but I have had a lot going on and it has not been urgent yet. I can do it in a few days if it becomes critical.
I know my transmission has some Lucas in it and ill have to look at the beginning of this thread but I don't think I did a fluid change, I know I have added a good 3 quarts but not the Honda stuff. I wonder what else may be in there. I know when its cold the shift handle feels like its in honey, maybe that's the whole issue with the trans, too much thick crap in the fluid. I'm seriously considering doing a flush and adding Honda fluid, at least I will know if the transmission is still good if I want to sell it or use it in another project.
Anyone have a good procedure for a flush and fluid change. I'm going to google it but maybe someone has some good inputs.
I decided against the fluid change, its just a waste of 50$ since I'm going to drain the fluid when I do the swap anyway. I left on vacation and now my wifes car needs some work so I'm just delaying the swap until after hers is back up and running.
Hopefully this doesn't turn into a flame fest. It is what it is, I don't particularly care for this transmission so if it grenades no biggie, feel free to input if you have something to add to the conversation, if you think I'm an idiot.. that's fine, I am.
Well I did end up picking up some Fluid at Walmart. I'm not sure how long I will procrastinate on this Engine/trans swap so I decided to go ahead and change the fluid. Honestly I think I should have just bit the bullet and ordered some Honda fluid but I was struggling to justify the expense since the trans could(most likely not) come out next week. My trans like I said before is hard to move into gear when its cold, the gearshift feels like is stuck in honey. I know I personally put some Lucas in it and who knows what else is in it.
I went to Walmart to get some break fluid for my wifes car, new S2k Master and braded lines. As I was in the automotive section I felt like I should at least get some fluid for the prelude so I could replace the concoction of mixed fluids that are in it now. I stood in the automatic transmission fluid section for a good 30 minutes. Reading Labels and online posts about what works. Honestly... too many opinions and not enough fact in the discussions. I would say 70% of people say always use the Honda fluid, they don't care what it is, even if its grape juice as long as it says Honda on it. About 20% are clear about what it is they are putting in the car. There are plenty of posts claiming 100-200,000 miles on misc fluids. I totally believe it. I think where most people get in trouble is with the flush, yea I don't intend to do that.
So after a while, and very limited selection I picked up 3 bottles of the Supertech Dexron 6 I think. But I needed at least 4 so I was looking for 1 other brand to use as well. Some of the labels were Dextron/mercon so I grabbed a bottle of Mercon and read the label. Well it says on the bottle its a replacement for Honda Z-1 fluid and the Dexron III. So I just figured I would grab 6 of those instead, just in case I needed more than 4. My sons civic took at least 6 but it was totally drained.
So long story short, I'm going to swap out the toxic sludge that's in there now with some Mercon-V fluid. It looks like I may need to do 3x fluid changes, like Northern said above, I have plenty of fluid. I may only get 1 change done before I pull it but we will see. Hopefully each change shows improvement and not just blows it up. lol. Not the end of the world if it grenades, that's just motivation for me to finish things up.
I'm going to give it at least 100 miles in between changes. The shifts already feel smoother, actually the whole transmission feels smoother. 2nd gear is still a little rough, its not bad but its not exactly an Accord auto. It took 3 quarts of fluid.
I almost stripped out the drain bolt, that would have been bad. I planned to put in the Skunk2 plug I got for the engine swap, both a oil and trans plug but the diameter on the auto was much bigger. I guess ill look and see if I can find a nice drain plug on amazon.
Those Skunk2 plugs were expensive but it was an impulse buy at the time.
Looking for the Drain plug. I think.. its a M18x1.5
There is a nice Mishimoto one and some generic ones. The mishimoto has a 24mm head so I'm pretty sure it wont work with the tight area. I'm going to order this Evil Energy one and see how it looks, its like 1/4 the cost of the Mishimoto and it looks like it has a 17mm head on it.
Well I finally got off my rear and pulled the engine from the Accord. As I sat and looked at it for a while I was thinking I want to keep things as simple as possible. I'm going to go ahead and use the H22A4 Intake manifold, throttle body, injectors rail and pretty much everything off the A4. I think if I do that I can just run things on the Stock Prelude ECU and keep things super simple. I went ahead and ordered a new Thermal Gasket for the Manifold so when I am guaranteed to have a good gasket to use. I'm still thinking about the wideband... If I'm using the stock ECU I should be fine and not need it. I think the whole issue with my H23vtec tune was the H23vtec injectors being different and since no one uses them it was more difficult to tune. I may check to see if the skunk2 front shocks will work on the prelude. I still plan to let this car go if I get the right offer so I may want to save them. The suspension is working pretty good on the prelude already.
Next steps will be to get the accord back on the ground, I dug out my old KYB shock and stock upper control arms and lowering springs to toss on the car. The only thing I worry about is the bearings. If I don't throw some kind of Axel in then I worry the bearings will get thrashed.
The other thing I need to do is tear down the h23. Pull the mounts, alt, intake manifold, I'm not sure about the rear mount. I need to strip down the timing belt side of things so I can get the Oil Pump out. I'm really not too excited about that but its fine, best to be ready to go so I wont have much as far as downtime. I'm really excited to have this thing manual and have the H23vtec in.
I'm pretty much just waiting for the manifold gasket, ill have everything else done this weekend most likely.
I got the engine torn down, couldn't resist. Ill put the suspension back together tomorrow. The manifold gasket looks perfect so I'm not going to wait. if I get to that point before I get the new gasket ill just move forward. I didn't note this before but the oil was not as clean as I expected. I think its due to the engine running super rich for a while. It didn't really smell like gas but I'm pretty sure that was the problem. No flakes or anything in the oil, just darker than I expected. I cleaned all of the RTV off after I took the pics, I tried to tell myself I would do it tomorrow but somehow I talked myself into keeping working. I feel a little bad taking apart this engine since it ran super well, I just needed to adapt things to the new chassis.
I took a pic of the Oil pump for reference so I can document why I had to pull that side of things apart.
I pulled the auto brake pedal and auto cluster today. I still gota go back out and install them but first I was doing a little additional reading on the ECU and Immobilizer stuff.
The Car is obviously currently an auto. I plan to keep the car OBD2, I may run a Tuned OBD1 P13 but first thing I want to do is make sure its Smog legal. Looks like you can easily re solder one of the resistors on the automatic Transmission. The other option is to get a manual ECU reprogrammed but it looks like that may cost a minimum of 150. I worry that the tune in the auto ecu is not as good as the manual, I don't really have any proof to back that up tho.
I did already purchase a manual ECU and I would like to keep the Auto ECU... just in case I want to use the prelude auto. Don't get my started on that one. lol
I was reading about the IMMO bypass chips and such but honestly I like the fact that the car is protected by it. I also read one comment stating that you can move the stock IMMO from one ECU to another. So I was thinking maybe I should remove the IMMO from both ECUs and install female headers on the board. That way I can change out the IMMO again in the future or install one of those less secure emulator chips.
Any thoughts? Bad idea? I'm going to look around and see if I can find a header I can use for the ECU.
I got the cluster and brake pedal in a few days ago, found something interesting.. Check engine light is on. I'm pretty sure its just from the tranny errors it has been throwing. My check engine light must have been burnt out or maybe gone on the old cluster. Not a big deal.
I did find I was missing something I need for the swap, I need a Tranny bracket. I don't know if I will start the swap until I have it. Ill order one tomorrow.
I need to break loose the crank pulley bolt in advance, I tried to get it loose a while back and didn't have any luck. I did get the crank pulley tool so that may help. I also want to remove the screws on the center console so that's one more thing I can do in advance without taking away the car. I think ill break the axle nuts and remove the AC Belt. I think that's about all I can do now. Maybe ill just get impatient and start things tomorrow. I would have to assume its going to take me one day to pull the engine. One day of transferring parts. One day dropping the engine and 1 year troubleshooting. I suppose its possible to do it in one day but since I'm doing it myself and I'm not planning to beat myself up ill take it slow.
Didn't get much done in the last few days. I got the Accord Suspension back together, I threw a long bolt and some large washers/nut in where the axels go so I don't damage the wheel bearings since I don't plan to put axels back in yet. I swapped the half shaft on the motor to the prelude 5 speed one I got since the Accord one wont work unless I use the Accord Axel. Not much more to say at this point. Still Daily driving the Prelude and it runs great, the second gear shift is still a bit funky but I bet there is a good 6-12 months left on that trans without any work being done to it.
Got the Transmission mount, didn't take any pics yet but I went and double checked and we are good to go. I can use the mount on the engine bay side from the auto.
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but the driver side motor mount looks pretty wasted, seems to be getting worse. That most likely accounts for the vibration I have been feeling and the random clunking sound. I wanted to order an innovative 60A street mount and bracket but the price for that mount alone is like $200. Plus I couldn't find any 60A ones for sale. If you buy the mount kit for $270 you get all 3 mounts and can get the Street 60A stiffness. I can always change out the bushings later and get whatever stiffness I need for 20$ per mount if I want to stiffen things up. I cant afford the mounts now(Christmas) so I ordered a cheap one off Amazon for $22.99. That should get me by a few months at least.
I went to harbor freight and bought a second breaker bar and some new extensions. I will need 2 breaker bars so I can break the crank pulley loose. I tried it with the impact with no luck. I have the Pulley tool so ill use one breaker on the tool and one on the 19mm. Hopefully I can break it loose, if not ill have to hit up a shop to break it for me. I have always been able to break all of my others with just the impact. I think ill be able to get it. I went out tonight to see if I had everything I needed to get the pulley off. First I cant get a straight shot with the tire on so ill have to jack the car up and put it on a jack stand, I wanted to avoid that since its a little more stable on the wheels. Ill have to use the second Jack stand to support the breaker bar to keep things lined up. I also found that the crank pulley tool does not clear the engine bay. Ill have to remove the driver mount and lower the engine a bit to get the tool attached. Since I'm replacing that mount anyway maybe ill wait. I may... may wait for the new motor mount to come in first so I can swap it, I just want to get a gauge of how smooth things are before swapping in the new engine, just for comparison.
I was also considering swapping in my earls fuel filter and AN lines.. The filter that's on there may be the original from the factory so it wouldn't hurt to swap it out. Ill have to think on that one. I'm aiming for this weekend to have this swap done. We will see what happens. I may just find another excuse.
I've been following your build and I must say... I can relate so much to what you're doing. I recently bought an Azure Blue 4G VTEC with the original intent of flipping it, but the more I tinker with it and get familiarized with it, the more I want to keep it for my own! Great progress!
Thanks Litera.
The first car I really wanted was a 4th gen Prelude. I saved up for a while and looked for the perfect car and eventually I found a 92S that someone had traded in at Honda. That was back in like 02 or something like that. I think I spent about 12,000 on that car as the time.I ended up Tinting it, found some Enki rims, skunk 2 coils then went thru 2 different H22a and built a h23vtec as well and pretty much every other bolt on I could get my hands on. After 2 kids I ended up selling it and the track prelude I was building.
Spent a little time on the car today, broke loose the crank pulley, needed the jack handle as leverage but I was able to break it loose. I put some anti seize on it and torqued it back down. I also broke loose the Axle nuts and torqued them back down as well. Its super frustrating when you get into a swap and realize the pulley or axels wont come out.
I found one of the bolts on the driver side mount was also pretty stripped, I swapped it out with a longer stud and it bolted back down pretty well. Lets see if that helps the vibration a bit. Most likely it wont help much but at least that's one more issue I don't have to worry about later. I also noticed that the driver side mount on the block wont mount up to the engine mount, ill have to swap that from the H22a4 as well.
I would have pulled the AC belt but its shared with the alt so I cant drive without that.
I'm ready to start the swap now, only thing I am waiting for now is that driver motor mount so I can see if the vibration goes away once its replaced.
Got the motor mount in, that was a little more of a pain that I expected. I had to remove the power steering pump to get the new mount in. I decided to swap out he power steering pump with the one from the accord but turns out the high pressure side connector is different.
So far things feel smoother than they have ever been, feels like a new car now. I have not driven it yet but looks like this was an amazing $20 spent. Will drive it soon and see if its as good as expected.
I was just considering delaying my swap so I could get a new power steering rack but as I was trying to explain things here I'm starting to think that its definitely the pump. I get a noise when I'm in parking lots and such and I'm thinking back and I don't remember having the issue at higher RPMs. For example with cold start it seems fine. Next time I have the issue I think I need to pop the car in neutral and rev it up a bit and try again.
I have tried to replace the pump om several occasions with little luck. I bought a prelude pump from H-motors when I did my swap and that one didn't fit. I tried the Accord one and that didn't fit as well. Its just the high pressure line fitting that different. I'm considering swapping the high pressure line from the Accord so I can save some $$ but that may just make things complicated later. We will see I guess. If its really just the pump then I guess it can wait until later.
I wonder if I can add some washers to the power steering pump to increase the pressure? There is a spring inside similar to the oil pump, with the oil pump you can add some washers and increase oil pressure.
09-27-2017, 09:43 AM
Re: 1997 Base EGP Flip project
