3rd gen accord/prelude?

Hey guys,

Using a 1989 accord as a daily driver, (and a 96 mustang as my autox/esp car), just curious if anyone's autocrossed a 3rd gen accord or prelude?

The drivetrain should last forever, I'm most concerned with the 110k mile balljoints taking the extra parking lot abuse...

Thanks!

Check for excessive play in the joints and inner/outer tie rod ends. You should probably check the strut rod bushings too. If they are OK, so are you. If anything is worn, replace it and go have fun.

For more specific info, check out this forum:

http://www.3geez.com

It's a site dedicated to the first three generations of Accords; yours is a 3rd gen.

Thanks!

I'm already a member on 3geez actually.

I've owned several 3g Preludes. I've never got the chance to auto-x one however, in fact i haven't driven my current one in 3 years.

Rear upper ball joints are hard to get a hold of, the rest is easy. Don't be afraid of 4WS models, I've never even heard of a problem with the system. It's 100% mechanical, no hydraulics or electronics. Avoid the 2.1L motors, they have a tendency to burn a lot of oil due to FRM cylinder sleeves.

preludepower.com has the largest community of 3g prelude people.

My first Car was an '88 Accord. I had pushed that thing to the ragedy limits of handeling with cheap 13" all seasons. God that was a fun car and I do miss it.

Said abuse happened after we bought it from a junk yard, was used as a Pizza delivery car, totaled and put back on the road. (At over 200K miles)

Sorry I dont have much to add other than I loved mine. Good luck and have fun.

A friends little brother had a 88 4WS 'Lude, and it was freaky riding shotgun @ auto-Xs. I remember one course in particular where there was a fairly tight pivot, and from the pass seat it felt like a giant hand picked the car up and spun it around

I've been searching for a 87-89 LXi hatch back thats not completely used up for a while. Those 3G accord 5spds FLEW for what they were.

Goldmember,

Check autotrader & craigslist, there's always 4-5 of them for sale at any time... I found mine a year ago via AT. with just 77k miles on it.

edit: finding a hatch is going to be alot tougher...

Goldmember wrote: A friends little brother had a 88 4WS 'Lude, and it was freaky riding shotgun @ auto-Xs. I remember one course in particular where there was a fairly tight pivot, and from the pass seat it felt like a giant hand picked the car up and spun it around I've been searching for a 87-89 LXi hatch back thats not completely used up for a while. Those 3G accord 5spds FLEW for what they were.

There are usually at least a couple at any given time on the Raleigh, NC CL. Most are usually sub $1000 and we don't have rust.

Of course, there aren't any on there now.

This is nearby though in Winston-Salem: http://winstonsalem.craigslist.org/cto/1219802570.html

Reviving an ancient thread that I found via the SEARCH feature (Yay me!). There's a nice one of these in my area, anyone have anything else to add to this? Decently fun momentum car?

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/4546798639.html

In reply to sethmeister4:

It looks good in the pics but it's a 25yr old car (with 226K miles) so it needs a closer inspection. The A-series engine (if well maintained) is nearly bullet-proof, so that's good. Expect at least 300K on the bottom-end.

Fun is a relative term but I'll say it is with the caveat that I like "momentum" cars.

This place is still a good source for info: http://www.3geez.com

There was a guy back home around 96 or 97 that bought, refurbished and sold 3rd Gen Accords exclusively. He always had at least five on hand at any given time. His cars were always immaculate. I put tires on most of them for him and he always used Michelins' so he wasn't cheaping out on them either. I don't know how successful he was in the long term but it always struck me as a novel idea.

First car was an 89 lxi hatch. Great car and autocrossed it once in h stock and it got out of its way pretty good. It's an 88 lxi so has about 120hp stock and they all came with front and back double wishbone suspension, respond well to turbo as they cast iron block. Totaled mine 5ish years ago with something close yo 240k on it (odometer had been out a year or two). That looks like a good car in Va beach, has a somewhat rare and desirable arm rest. 3geez should catch ya up on most everything you would want to know. If that was a hatch I'd be interested myself.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/picked-up-a-4ws-prelude-for-challenge-money/74662/page1/

From this thread:

"In reply to JamesMcD:

That is indeed, roughly, what they do. It feels supppper weird when running hard, but using a blind test when they came out, all the testers were faster in the 4ws even though they thought their runs were slower. Don't remember what article that was.

Tossing an h22 is the big swap, with an 88-89 you should have the b20a5, which likes boost. 90-91 have the b21a1 w/ the FRM sleeves that feel much torquier (really! they do!), but burn oil late in life. (Bastard B series, they share nothing with the b16/b18 etc, in fact, they share nothing with any of their brethren, it used to be popular to swap into CRX/Civics). I'm pretty sure integra b series LSD fit in the transmission, it's documented on the site.

90-91's have clear corners on the rear and different front bumpers, 88-89 had the amber rears, and wrap around turn signals on the front. Mine was a 91 w/ an 89 front bumper.

I miss my 91 4ws badly. Should have never gotten rid of it. Seriously the easiest car to parallel park EVAAAAA.

Good sites:

http://www.prelude3g.com/

preludepower.com"

And I wouldn't stay away from the b21, they're not bad at all. You can re-ring them and they're trouble free for another 100k or ignore it and make sure to add oil at every gas up, mine had nearly 200k and was still very very torquey and spirited, only burnt when you really tore into it.

I had a 1991 Prelude Si with the best snic-snic shifter ever !

It loved to rev & run ! Strip one out of all the pork-chop weight and it will be a rocket on rails !

The Accord hatch disappeared after 1988 when it was replaced by the coupe. Those were great cars at the time.

No, they made the hatchback for the entire 4 year production run of the 3rd generation Accords. The coupe was an 88/89 vehicle, and the first Japanese car to be built in America and sent back to Japan.

I'm Vanilla Sky over on 3geez.com. My 7th 3rd gen is in my backyard waiting for a new engine, and my 8th is going to arrive pretty soon.

What are your usernames over on 3geez? I've probably seen you guys post or answered your questions before.

Also of note is that 3geez.com now also caters to Prelude owners for the first 3 generations of production.

Officially, maybe, but I worked at a Honda dealer for all of 1989 and we didn't get a single hatch after the first of the year.

My bad on the coupe. I forgot that they appeared in '88.

While I haven't owned an 89 hatch, I've worked on 3 of them.

At some point, I'm importing an Aerodeck with a B20 and a 5 speed. That's my dream daily driver.

I am also planning on a ute build, since I have so many of these things right now. The Hondamino is the only one I've seen, and it looked odd due to the way it was put together. Mine will be a usable ute that looks like it rolled off the production line right behind a coupe.

I loved my 5spd '88 Accord LX-i. It was a beast in 1st and 2nd gear.

johndej on 3geez, haven't been active in a while but remember Nate and the goatse issue back in the day and remember your user name vanilla sky/Derrick. Still got an arm rest out of my 89 hatch but keep leaving it at my parents place. Might hold onto it as I'd love to own another.

Jeez, you have been around there a LONG time, then. Nate lasted like 2 years on the current board, with his ban coming in like 2004.

Actually, now that I think about it, I might have traded with you at some point.