Because preludes are the red headed step child of the Honda family I have had to custom make many of the parts used in my prelude. Aftermarket companies like to make stuff for the civic and integra but not the preludes. Over the next few month I'm going to make up several small batches of these high performance parts that were custom made for my car. They have all been been track tested and work great on my car. At the moment I'm getting the web page up and having my machinist make some parts. The web sight is:
http://www.McKinneyRaceWorks.com

A short list of parts we are working on:
-Baffled PCV oil vapor catch can
-Spherical bearing kit for the front and rear lower control arms
-Spherical bearing kit for the front radius rods
-Front Upper control arms with adjustable chamber (huge range of adjustments)
...and more.

These items are meant for road race and auto-x use. Most of the bearing/bushing kits will work on both 4th and 5th gen preludes. I will give more info when I get the parts in. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.

 

!

now you come up with this stuff after i decided to retire the lude from the track!

the UCA's are key man. totally key.

 

Adjustable Front Upper Control Arms. That is boss!!! I'm very interested.

*waits impatiently for pics & pricing*

 

sounds good to me

 

The upper control arms are the only way to get more camber if you've lowered car aren't they? Because I can't even get my "camber kit" to mount.

So I'm interested too.

 

Walter, were you able to retain the spherical bearing with a c-clip so it can be replaced? I've been doing some research on making my own spherical bearing kit, but it doesn't look like there's much room to do a c-clip. I'm installing a set of LCAs off of another race Prelude that has a full spherical bearing setup, but the pieces are welded into the control arms making replacement of the spherical bearings difficult, if not impossible.

Did you do anything on the rear trailing arms?

If you get these projects done, you can count me in. I need a spare set of upper control arms (mine are slotted like Skunk2s, are your similar?) and a spherical bearing set to replace the ones I have when they wear out.


Modified by 117 at 4:09 PM 10/19/2005

 

One last thing, these front UCAs are for a base or SH? They're drastically different.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RudeLude95 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The upper control arms are the only way to get more camber if you've lowered car aren't they? Because I can't even get my "camber kit" to mount.

So I'm interested too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

there are other ways, but this is the best way to maintain the requisite UCA travel in the wheel well as well as offer the most adjustibility.

this would be especially useful to not only the road racers, but people that are trying to 0 out camber (for whatever reason) since anchor bolts will put the outboard end of the UCA past the alloted recession in the wheel well and make for some ugly noises.

all of this stuff are wonderful things that preludes have always needed but never got. baffled oil pan would also be very very good for h22's. hmm...what's next?

cheaper alternative to houseman and similar for FD's, extended top hats (which i believe 117 has already done).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Walter, were you able to retain the spherical bearing with a c-clip so it can be replaced?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes.. the adapter is made from stainless steal, and a large stainless steal retaining ring holds the spherical bearing in place. The bearings are about $30 and can be replaced with ease. I have been using them in my car all year now with several off track experiences (oops!), and they have never come lose. The bearings are also protected by thick foam, to keep dirt out.

They are for non-SH preludes.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">mine are slotted like Skunk2s, are your similar?) </TD></TR></TABLE>
they are similar only I use locking teeth rather than flat slots. The flat slots (aka Skunk2's) can work lose under hard race conditions on sticky race tires. Mine can not work loose.

 

Good to hear. You can count me in for sure then. Are you using metric or imperical spherical bearings? Also, where have you found them that cheap?! Most of the sources I've found are $35 to $40 for a 0.625" bore wide series Aurora or NMB spherical bearings. I decided to try these because of the larger load bearing ratings, plus the bushings can be made to spread the load across the suspension bolt instead of concentrating it at the single point where the spherical bearing and bolt meet (I prefer the wide series because it also spreads the load out a bit more). Anyway, I know you can't give away all of your data, but I'm just curious.

With these upper control arms I'm using, I use Schnorr (sp?) serrated conical washers, and I haven't had any problems with slippage. No way would I use them with flat washers. I'm sure they'd slip then. I'll know for sure at the end of the month if they've slipped. I had one off course excursion at TWS, and I'm going to get the corner balance and alignment redone, so I'll know if they slipped. I'm also running on 225/45/15 Hoosiers.

Have you done anything with the rear trailing arms?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Have you done anything with the rear trailing arms?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not yet but it's on the list of things to do. I know putting a stiff poly bushing on them is going to cause some binding thus a spherical bearing in this location would be nice to have. I did the front of my car 1st because in a FWD car that's were you need max grip. I do however, hope to get to the rear end some time before next year.

For most of the parts I'm using NHBB 0.5inch bore 1inch outer Dia. Wide Stainless Steel bearing. the NHBB part no is: ABWT8.

 

Ah, the 0.625" bore spherical bearings have a larger OD, 1.1875" much larger than 1", well at least when you're working with this little room.

So do you do anything to adapt the 0.5" bore to a 12mm bolt, like a bushing or something?



Modified by 117 at 4:08 PM 10/19/2005

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So do you do anything to adapt the 0.5" bore to a 12mm bolt, like a bushing or something?</TD></TR></TABLE>

12mm = 0.47244inch

bushing thickness would be (0.5-0.472440945)/2 = 0.0137795275 inch.
That's too thin to make a bushing. This is about as thick as a piece of tape, thus wrapping the bolt in a thin layer of strong tap snugs it up real nice. Yes I guess the "tape" could deform a little bit during hard cornering but it's going to be less than 0.01 inch and that's really not going to effect anything.

 

That's why I asked. I knew there wasn't much clearance, but I wanted to know if you did anything.

The thinnest bushing I made was to adapt a 7/16" AN bolt to a 12mm hole. That bushing wall is 17 thousandths, and it's quite thin. I think I could make something that's 14 thousandths, but you'd have to make it out of a very hard metal so it wouldn't deform. Probably not worth the trouble.

Glad to see someone doing this. I couldn't find a machine shop affordable enough to do this type of work for me. Not to mention the lack of interest. I had a run of modular aluminum upper mounts, but there was no interest even when I was selling just above my cost. I still have the prototype set that I'm using with my 3011s, and they're working great. I just wish I could have done a production run.

Anyway, for taking on this work.

 

I would be down for the rear trailing arm spherical.... Unfortunally, my Front UCA's are different

 

Count me in for bearing kits. Keep us updated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cheaper alternative to houseman and similar for FD's, extended top hats (which i believe 117 has already done).</TD></TR></TABLE>

??what is this??

explicame por favor....haha whats this all about...explain explain

 

Update:

Got a batch of the Universal PCV filter/catch cans made up. click below for more info:

http://www.mckinneyraceworks.com/CatchCanInfo.html

I ran the prototype of this design all this year in my race car. At the end of 1 day on the track it would be full of trapped oil. I also never had any problems with trapped oil getting splashed back up into the air stream because of the lower oil trap section (baffle).

I'm working on the spherical bearing kits as we speak for the radius rods and front LCAs.


Modified by 577HondaPrelude at 6:44 PM 11/16/2005

 

i'm looking to pick up one of your catch cans...but i'm not exactly sure where i can mount one...do you have any suggestions?

 

If you have CAI there will be plenty of room next to your battery. I have mine mounted were the power steering pump used to be. If you need any help with mounting it let me know... I can even fab up a custom mounting bracket if you need one, after you find a good location.

I do provide some generic mounting hardware with the catch can that might work out for you.

 

I'll buy the oil catch can.

But I have a question about your spring rates, if you don't mind elaborating:

Eibach springs 2.5” Diameter, 8” length.

* 800 lbs/inch front
* 1200 lbs/inch back

Why the stiffer springs in back? The Prelude's rear is very light already.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by myhui &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Why the stiffer springs in back? The Prelude's rear is very light already.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Tricks of the trade.. Stiffer springs in the back will help "overload" the rear tires and aid in reducing understeer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 577HondaPrelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Update:

Got a batch of the Universal PCV filter/catch cans made up. click below for more info:

http://www.mckinneyraceworks.com/CatchCanInfo.html

I ran the prototype of this design all this year in my race car. At the end of 1 day on the track it would be full of trapped oil. I also never had any problems with trapped oil getting splashed back up into the air stream because of the lower oil trap section (baffle).

I'm working on the spherical bearing kits as we speak for the radius rods and front LCAs.


Modified by 577HondaPrelude at 6:44 PM 11/16/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>

Price?

 

It's on the page, $140 free shipping.

I wish I could get the price down more but I just can't, with the cost of having 3 separate parts made on a CNC machine + O-rings+fittings+SS wool+filter material+mounting hardware+online purchasing fees, it starts to add up quick. However you are getting much more than the normal open canister catch-can that most places sell. This is a true filter, and baffled oil trap.