k well i figured id start a thread of my lil project i got goin on right now. i own a 96 prelude si and hit a deer about a week back. i thought about taking it to a shop like always but when they gave me a rough estimate (very rough estimate) i was told it would be atleast $2000 so i decided to take on the project myself. Im usually pretty nifty with this kid of stuff and iv read a lot of forums on here about preludes and seen other projects so i figured id save the money i dont have lol.

first off tho here are the damage pics...





got most of the parts to completely fix it just waitin on the bumper to arrive. all the other parts from junkyards n stuff. got new after market lights and some jdm all amber turn signals everything else will be stock. tryin to keep it clean

day 1- the strip down




tomorrow i will mount the headlights, fender and hood probably to insure fitament

 

headlights and fender are up

 

just make sure the radiator core support didn't break and that the hood shuts properly and securely... I unfortunatly had that experience on the freeway! Otherwise looks good, I would stick with the OEM nostrils on the lude as opposed to the lights you put there, but thats just my opinion... luckly its a cheap, and easy, switch if you change your mind down the road. Good luck! Also are you going to paint the fender? You can prolly just take in the fender to a paint shop and have them paint it for cheap, or DIY! Good job...

 

Time for a CF hood

Take nostril lights out x2.

Check alighnment and paint that fender.

job done.

 

yeah im still deciding about the nostrils ill probably wait n see what it looks like when everything is done with and go from there. they got a lil light in them but i doubt ill connect it, i thought it flowed nice with the new lights but we will see. i was gunna do the hood today 2 and make sure it fit right but the hood is def a 2 man job i could not hold the thing still enough to get the bolts in but its whatever i still got a couple days till my bumper arrives anyways

thought about a cf hood but i really dont have the extra money to spend on one and i dont really like any of the ones out. I was lookin for something with vents that went up along the sides with the shape of the hood. like wider in the back and smaller in the front.

oh and quick question... i wanna put a rear lip on it and i have seen a lot of preludes with accord rear lips on them and my question is if its a direct bolt on without cutting (which i highly doubt) or if you gotta customize it a lil bit. i found a few off of like a 94 and 95 accord in good shape i could take one from

 

accord rear lips you will have to trim. I have wings west RS lip i'm trying to sell but it'll need some repainting.. but since you need it anyways.. haha. check my sig if interested, if not, search for accord lip prelude and i'm sure you will come up with something.

 

Hood can be done by one person, just gotta be crafty... accord rear lip looks really nice, and shutta has that WWRS that looks good to most (of course looks are subjective) lights of course are your call, but I feel they are a bit chessy and ricey... but since YOU will be the one driving YOUR car it all comes down to taste... maybe if you could put some fog lights in there it would be cool, my old Isuzu I-mark turbo had that same look with the fogs right next to the headlights, I like it.

 

looks like its going well so far. i prefer the nostrils myself but like you say once you have it all together if you still like the look go for it. Hope it all turns out well for you. btw that deer sure made an impact.

 

Looking good so far. I like the lights.

Ummm I hope you aren't working on the car while it's on the jack.
Jack stands will save your life.

 

Take the intake box out!!! The front bumper is off, you might as well drop the added weight and let the airflow a little better to your intake.

 

tru dat..

Lookin good, and i agree with the intake airbox.

 

what exactly is the intake airbox?? the black tubing on the side and where it leads?

oh and about the west wings rear lip, no thanks, i appreciate the offer tho.

thanks every1

 

The oem intake box/resonator is the big black plastic box on the very front right of your prelude. It is outside the engine bay, and usually concealed by the FR fender and the bumper. While you have no bumper on it will be easy to remove. You may have to undo the front of the wheel well liner if you have secured it back in place already. I got mine rid of mine easily and that was with the fender and bumper in place. But yeah get rid of it man it with improve air flow to your filter, ditch a bit of weight and get rid of something which no longer is serving any purpose.

 

Good job, $2k is crazy to repair that! Few hundred bucks at the most

 

I must be the only one that sees the radiator support is damaged. That part is a weld in piece that takes a bit to replace, and should be done for structural safety, and to make sure your lights, fender , and hood fit right. That's why he got quoted 2000+ to fix it right.

My car had nearly identical damage on the drivers side, and the shop spent 2100 to fix it, and that didn't include any of the lights or c/f hood, I bought and installed all of those myself. And that was at buddy pricing, my friend owns the body shop.

 

The rad support can be bent back into shape. what he should be worried about is the fender walls. Those typically sink down quiet a bit in front end collisions.

 

Very true Adam, but they look ok in his case, more of just making the point of why he got quoted so much.

 

Yah, i know what your saying. I had the same thing happen to my first lude. Got hit, had a friend repair it for $1500 and i put it all back together. The rad support had to be removed and a new one welded on. Costs a fortune. I also had my drivers side fender drop down about half an inch. I could not visually see it but it was pretty badly damaged so i had to have that fixed at the same time.

 

yeah i kno the radiator support is bent a lil but its only minor sofar everything is comming into place fine. if i run into problems then im stuck fixing it but im keeping my fingers crossed that i wont have to worry about that. just got my bumper in n everything. should have it complete by tomorrow...hopefully

 

ok well i got a couple pics of roughly what it will look like when everythng is said and done.




i love that pic, its a lil dark but i think it looks nice

and of course i ran into a couple problems. first off is the haedlights on the passenger side arent lining up right. probably because the rad support is bent. got a pic tho of how it should b and how it looks



the second pic obviously is the problem. any advise??

and the other problem is when i was bolting the hood back on the bolt was rusted some and broke halfway in. havin some trouble getting the part thats stuck in there out. im tryin to just kinda hit it into the hood or something to atleast open the hole back up.



i was hoping to have it done by today but with just about every project there is always something that usually poses a problem and delays it

 

oh and one other thing, the hood wont latch all the way down. the first part will latch down but it wont go all the way.