CB7 1993 Accord LX or SE

[BLACK'98DSM]

This is the Build Thread for CB7 Daily Driver. Reply below.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Drove the car out to get groceries today. It's running great now, but I've been wondering how long the 11 year old rear tires would last. One of them gave up about a quarter mile from home. I could hear the air rapidly evacuate. You could say I got every penny's worth from it. A new set of tires has been in the plans since the beginning.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Damn. You like to live life on the edge.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

With it being 98 degrees out now, I discovered that the A/C function is intermittent. Sometimes blows cold, sometimes does not. The compressor surges, so I'm assuming the pressure sensor provides borderline readings. So I grabbed my R134 recharge kit and headed out to see if the charge was low or close. Well, turns out it's an R12 car. I figured since it were a '93 model like my Prelude it would be the same. It's actually 10 months newer than my Prelude. What a head scratcher. Time to order some fittings so I can run R134 in this thing. I've got plenty of PAG oil and R134 already.

Also notice how the Accord says "Made in USA" and the Prelude does not. Also "Honda of America" and the Prelude says "Japan". I know it isn't a direct import because I have all the dealer paperwork from Tennessee in '93 and it isn't RHD. Another head scratcher.

*scribbled last 3 of VIN for my safety*

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

The other day, I didn't even look at the fittings. I just saw the big shiny "R12" sticker from the factory and made the assumption that no changes had been made, especially since the car hasn't been worked on in a long time. Well today I find this little sticker, after wiping the dust off. It's hard to read, but I've seen this before and know exactly what it is. The car has already been swapped to run on R134A. Ramp Industries was a popular A/C shop in Birmingham around 2 decades ago. The bottom line reads "R134A REFRIGERANT ONLY". That answers this question, and makes my job easier.

My other question was also answered recently via some paperwork. The Accords were built and sold in the U.S.
The Preludes were built and sold in Japan, shipped to Ontario Canada, then shipped to the U.S. where the buyer paid the tariffs. Japan adopted R134A before the U.S.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

It was time to install a new battery and new terminals. This isn't my favorite battery and especially not the terminals, but I get the terminals for free with battery purchase and 30% off the battery from Advance Auto. Everything is functional and definitely looks better.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I'm finally caught up on some of life's BS, so I'm ready to start digging into this thing and make it daily driver capable so I can keep miles off the Prelude. I just placed my 2nd order on RockAuto for a few things that I noted in my recent inspections.

1. Right side CV axle. While I was underneath the car giving it a good once over, I noticed that the outer boot was almost entirely missing. The joint has gone dry. This comes as no surprise with the clunking/knocking noise I hear when turning hard left. A new axle was surprisingly cheap. I don't think I've ever bought one so cheap.
2. Axle shaft seal. Needless to say, I'm not interested in reusing a 31 year old seal when I have perfect access to it. I still have about 2 quarts of transmission fluid left over from the last change, and that should be enough to top it back off after it drips from the seal race.
3. Valve cover gasket set with tube seals & spark plugs. I've recently started to feel a slight misfire and the CEL shines at me. I decided to wiggle the ignition cables a little bit and see if they were loose at all. All of them seemed to move a little too freely and effortlessly popped out of the tubes. The tubes are flooded with oil. So I'll get those sealed back up and toss in some new plugs after letting the oil drain. If I have any stuck rings, that should free them up.
4. Left front wheel bearing. I've been noticing one hell of a noise from the left front wheel area in certain situations. I wouldn't dare try and describe the noise besides saying that it literally cries for help. I lifted the vehicle and gave it a shake down. The bearing is definitely shot, and pretty far gone.

I also picked up a new-ish tire from the auto center that just opened up nearby. $32 out the door for nice Hankook, you really can't beat that. I'm really in this car for a couple hundred bucks right now. I'll almost have budget left over to get this car painted, which doesn't usually happen for me. So I've done good with this one.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

These plugs have been in for a LONG time. The electrodes have eroded to the point of reaching a .060"+ gap each. I bet it runs much better once my new NGK's get delivered.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Just vacuumed a rat's nest from within the airbox. It's amazing how well a Honda will run when literally everything is wrong.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Installed the fresh NGK's @0.044". Also installed the new valve cover gasket, tube seals and grommets. The gasket had been replaced, not recently but was still sorting of pliable. The tube seals were hard as a rock and came out in pieces. Someone did half the job.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Drove the car to the city yesterday to pick 2 Yokohama all season tires. It runs great but the axle causes one hell of a knocking noise and vibration on the highway. I'm installing the new axle and seal now.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Going down my maintenance checklist... Fuel filter was today's item. I turned the old one upside down after removal. Water and rust poured out. This is exactly why I ran tanks of fuel through the system before replacing the filter.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Weather was nice today so I decided to roll out the crane and also take care of the collapsed transmission mount. RockAuto had an Anchor mount on sale for $3.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I've been daily driving the car to find the kinks. One thing that got on my last dawn nerve was the steering wheel completely falling apart and leaving my hands sticky. It wouldn't be long before nothing was left but a steel ring. I've made a few runs to the junkyard to see if I could find a decent Honda steering wheel, but no luck at all. They're all either in the same condition or too modern to fit. So I picked up a mid range tuner wheel to keep me going comfortably. I like having the smaller diameter anyways, it gives me more leg room and a tighter grip. I didn't spend a bunch but it feels sturdy.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

After squeaking, creaking and popping my way around town. I decided it was time for more front end work. Installed some new upper control arms. Definitely needed. The bushings were collapsed like most others on the car and the ball joints had both vertical and horizontal play. Can't wait for the car to shut the hell up

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

It was a slow day at the shop so I decided to run down to Phillip's shop and get the exhaust done. The rusty muffler with 1" tip had to go. We weighed our options with various mufflers but couldn't make a decision on what would fit and also sound good. Eventually we just decided for pipe and a resonating tip. It actually sounds good. The car has a big enough resonator stock, add the resonating tip and it really isn't raspy. It doesn't sound like a trumpet which is exactly what I didn't want, but it does sound slightly aggressive with a deep rumble on a cold start.

On to the next item on my punchlist. New tie rods are delivered. Whenever I feel like it those will be installed and I'll line it up.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Over night the car leaked out a few ounces of coolant on the shop floor. It didn't take long to find the source. The water pump gasket randomly gave up. It isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've been questioning timing belt condition the whole time. I'll go ahead and get parts for a full timing job. I'm not sure if the F series block needs a balance shaft seal retainer like the H series, but if so I'll go ahead and order that too. Probably a good time for the driver side engine mount as well. I'm not too happy about the car being down for multiple days because I was enjoying the fuel savings and the first auto trans I've had in years, but it's a good time to tackle more items on the maintenance list and do a small upgrade.

I've been looking thoroughly into turbo kits for this car. There's tons of options and information out there. I'll probably never pull the trigger on that for practicality and reliability purposes but it's fun to think about. A rough beater with a turbo. That's more modification than I'm looking for in this project though. But I may move forward with an underdrive pulley since the stock damper needs to come off for my timing job and will probably fall apart in the coming miles.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Check out what I just found, AGAIN... if you followed my Prelude build thread you'd see the same thing. The damn tensioner bolts are falling out for some reason. I've never had an issue with them but keep finding them missing! A bit of Loctite and use of a torque wrench, just like last time I found this. It's a good thing I keep organized bolts around and also that this one didn't jump timing before I could get to it!

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Timing job is done. Running great and leak free. Speaking of free, I picked up some new center caps for free. I'm not sure what model they're from, but fit perfectly in my wheels and don't have a scratch on them. Definitely beats the 3 peeling ones and the one I didn't have

Soon I'll have quite a few parts on my porch. I paid off all debts and am going full swing on this car. One of the packages contains stubby lug nuts from a newer Accord. The monstrous stock lugs are disgusting. The rest of the parts will be uncovered soon. I'm getting 32 mpg as it is, but that may go just a bit South for fun

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Installed a light weight crank pulley. It isn't an underdrive pulley, it's the same diameter as the stock pulley. Less than half the weight though. This is step one of performance upgrades that won't affect reliability or driveability. I had another package supposed to be delivered today but it appears FedEx has lost it. I'm beyond sick and tired of dealing with shipping carriers.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Finally received this gem today. It's an OEM P12 ECU. A good upgrade from the stock PT3 ECU that I have. The main difference is that it pulls an extra 15 degrees of timing WOT between 2500-4500 rpm, which is where this engine needs it the most. The Prelude S is rated at 140hp and the Accord LX is rated at 125hp. The drivetrain is identical, only difference being the ECU. A plug and play 15hp increase (measured @ crank) for less than $100. That's excellent bang for your buck in the 4 cylinder world.

I also bolted up some new sway bar links. I got tired of handling like a bass boat on the highway.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Upgrades are working their way into the schedule. Just ordered in some new wheels. The 5th gen wheels I'm running weigh in at 15.6 pounds each. I ordered wheels the same dimension but weighing in at 13.2 pounds each. Should see some fuel consumption improvements and overall performance gain. Also ordered the R1 drilled and slotted rotors with Akebono calipers and braided stainless hoses. For some reason I'm running Nissin calipers like a damn Euro model. This should improve stopping capabilities and give something nicer to look at since the new wheels are a little more revealing of what's behind. I also just snatched a 4-2-1 SE exhaust manifold from the junkyard. What a find. I'm not far from a car that is all three: cheap, reliable and fast. "Fast" is objective and opinionated, but shaving 1.5 seconds from the stock 0-60 time is pretty good for very minor changes. I've already logged that $150 in parts shaved 0.5 seconds from the time. I believe the coming upgrades can pull the other second with minimal effort. You just can't beat the practicality and ease of modification on a vintage Honda.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Lucked out at the junkyard again today. I pulled an F22A6 camshaft and intake plenum. With everything I have laying around, I'm only some labor and parts swapping away from a theoretical 155 crank horsepower. Not a bad increase from 125hp and just a few hundred bucks.

 

[CrackedDSM]

The older I get, the more I just enjoy modifying cars and making them better. Whether it's from 100HP bumped up to 125HP, or going from 190 to 350, or whatever. MightyCarMods honestly has the right idea, you don't need to make 1000HP like everyone on the internet wants to have fun. Taking a "nugget" and putting some mods for sounds and enjoyability and a slight bump in power is just as fun.


Old guys had it right. "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow".

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Wheels installed. Talk me out of coilovers.