I'm not sure this is the correct forum, but as this will be a long post I felt best to post here since it will cover multiple areas.

I'm not new to mechanics as I grew up doing various work, including engine swaps, tune ups, etc..., with my father. I used to want the newest and greatest but have moved more to the "Best Looking" anymore rather than age.

Due to a fault in design in the placement of the Temperature Sensor on the late '80's Ford T-Bird V-6 I blew the headgasket on mine February '05. Being an '88 it wasn't really worth fixing it. FYI, Ford put the Temperature sensor on the "WRONG" side of the Thermostat so if the Thermostat was failing you would not get increased temperature past the Thermostat so you would not see a drastic temperature increase. Essentially a bad thermostat will cause a blown head gasket 99% of the time on these cars.

I was looking for a new vehicle and my father was pressuring me into this '82 Honda Accord with a burnt valve for $475.00 down at a dealer he purchases a lot of vehicles from. The price had me thinking of my Brother's accord he owned with a beat up body, etc... so I was extremely leary until I saw it.

The exterior has no oxidation but the paint trim (black on this model) has peeled some. The dash is not cracked, the interior is perfect, and I do mean "Perfect". I couldn't believe it when I saw it so went ahead and purchased it for the final price of $380.00 including Dealer Fees, tax, etc...

Well, due to the burnt valve it lasted about 1 month. It was blowing oil back through the carbeurator and I was stupid. My Step-brother and I were working the same job and in order for him to save fuel costs he was paying oil/fuel and we were using my car. There was a large argument when I said it needed oil and rather than pulling over and forcing the issue I said screw it and we headed to Boise with him knowing if the engine blew he would have to repair it.

It didn't make it of course and as of last April has been sitting. In May of last year I purchased an '82 Honda Prelude, one of the two cars with the same 1.8L engine as the '82 Accord. I had every intention of getting the swap done since the Prelude looked horrid, had no dash lights, nice front end drivetrain noises, no suspsension to speak of, no gas gauge, etc... Due to time it just kept getting put off and put off, although I started work on the Accord to pull the engine the Prelude was drivable so it just kept getting put off.

In January I was finally going to get it done but my step-mom and I had an altercation causing me to lose my place to do the swap and postponing it until my Mom's house was built since no one in town would rent me a location to do the swap due to liability issues.

About a week and half ago on the way back from a 22 mile round trip to my Mom's house lot, I'm handling the construction, all front end noises went away. Now, if you have a mechanical incline you know this can be just as bad or worse than noises starting or proceeding.

I finally climbed under the Prelude to look and was thanking my Guardian Angel. I was about to lose a half shaft, the pads were basically metal to metal on the front although not screeching yet, the whole underside of that car looked like that throughout the 232,000 miles on the car "Nothing" had ever been done.

We are still 1 1/2 months from my mom's house being completed so I still had no place to do the swap so I started making phone calls. And I do mean phone calls, unfortunately if I didn't "Buy" the engine from "Them" no one was willing to swap them for me, even with a release of liability signature.

After multiple phone calls I finally found a Mobile Mechanic in the local Nickel Ads who would do the swap and had a place to do it. I towed the Accord down to him the evening of the 14th, explained the Intake/Exhaust and transmission from the Accord had to stay and agreed upon a price of $250.00 labor with me covering parts.

The next morning I took the Prelude down, essentially leaving me transportationless, and reverified the price along with verifieing the completion date of Friday Morning.

Friday came and no car so I went down to discover the engine/tranny was out of the prelude but there was one bolt holding the engine in the Accord still (I had it over half ready to drop when he got it) and he didn't have room to do it as he was borrowing shop space and they had a rig in the shop in his way. He agreed to have it done Saturday which took an angry voice mail Saturday afternoon just to find out it wasn't done. Sunday at 7PM after another voice mail, more civil, I was told he needs parts. This is literally 2 minutes to 7PM with all local auto parts stores closing at 7PM on Sunday. I gave up at this point till Monday and spent 6 hours running parts on Monday.

I finally had to help finish reattaching everything to the engine Monday night in order to take the car. Which at this point was having major carbeurator issues but I was unwilling to leave it with him another day.

The drive home was hell. The car warmed up over normal temp, but not overhot, but hotter than either the Prelude or the Accord ever achieved. Shifting was a nightmare as I was missing first, something I've never done even with the messed up shifter in the Prelude, and I was closing the ashtray to get into 3rd/5th. It had a perfect tight H prior to the engine swap and the tranny/shifter were the originals. I had a nice metal/metal sound when making left turns to top it off.

Basically I was extremely angry by the time I made it home. I took some time to cool down and called him. He was supposed to be down there the next day at 11:00AM to fix the shift and I was going to ask about the cooling. He never showed and I was due for an appointment I had to cancel and had my father run me home to get a T-shirt as I didn't feel safe driving the car.

The shift problem was a failure to reattach the washer on the extension rod tranny side. The bolt was there but without the washer the extension rod just slid right off. After this I found a coolant leak on the Heater Valve Control caused most likely by the engine hitting the upper pipe as it was oblong now instead of round. I was able to correct this be removing it, forcing it back as circular as I could, then hi-tacking the hose and pipe and using a regular hose clamp, not the original.

I had to get the carbuerator corrected and I don't know anything about these Klienes so I took it to a specialist today. On my way in I discovered the Cruise Control no longer works, although it did before the swap.

The carbeurator issue was definitely dirt confirmed by the carb guy, who did an excellent job under time and quote. Basically sitting a year had caused rust, dirt, and other buildup in the carb so a full rebuild was required, $254.75 later. He did test emissions though and it comes across as a very good engine (thanking my prayers for that).

I'm at the point now I have to basically drive out what I have into it. I originally thought some collector value, but the original block is done. It has a hole in it just above the oil pan about the size of the bottom of a pop can. A connecting rod broke and sent the piston through the block as it went through the oil pan. Can't expect much, it was my own fault for causing it.

I need to correct my current issues though and after a lot of research and considering the amount of time I intend to drive it I have been thinking maybe a show car.......

I would like some opinions on this. When I say the paint is equal to an '82 that was garaged for probably 90% of it's life, I'm serious. And the interior has been meticulously cared for by the previous two owners.

Now, my problems as I have 3 main ones remaining, other than the exhaust that is being fixed Friday with a new exhaust from the Resinator back.

1. Cruise is not working. Everything comes live inside, but I get no control of the throttle. The Haynes I own does not have "ANY" documentation on the cruise, although they are mailing it. I would like to get this resolved this weekend though as I have a trip coming up next week and would like it working.

2. After the carbuerator work I tested the AC. The compressor is not coming on nor does it appear to be getting power (need to check with ohm meter still) any ideas?

3. The Cooling Fan fuse is blowing intermittently, but often. I finally traced it to that today after I tested the Thermoswitch and that was not the issue, thought it was the fans till I checked fuses. (I know, I know, always check fuses first. )

As for the left turn squeal, he hit one of the Brake Shields forcing it to hit the rotor on left turns when the rotors would shift slightly during a turn. Les Schwab fixed it for free and recommended an alingment also (haven't had that done yet).

The exhaust had problems, but rather than fully drop the exahust he pushed it back. It caved in the front of the muffler and due to rust damage I have to replace everything from the Resinator back. I was trying to avoid this for another month as this bill is racking up high, but I don't have a choice due to the caved in front of the muffler.

I would like some advice on the problems, car in general, and service I recieved.... Please.

Thanks,
Larry

 

Holy **** my man , you wrote a NOVEL.........i tried reading it all but gave up , too long,, sorry...I will be very surprised but happy for you if someone actually takes the time to read all of it...

if you want a faster response you should not write so much,just come to the point..