3rd gen. Prelude 101

OR, learn me 'bout these, please.

Got a line on a cheap '89 Prelude. In fact, the very one in the picture. It's supposedly in good condition, but with a high mileage. 5 speed manual, with all-wheel steering.

I believe the engine is a B20A6, (so says Wikipedia.) Is that an interference design? Good engine? Any known trouble spots?

Thanks

I have precious little experience with these cars. All I know is that if my friend Kirby drives one, approximately 2 weeks later the clutch will have absolutely no gripping strength whatsoever and its Hondas fault for not including a better clutch as he is the best driver he knows. Sorry, thats all I got...

Yes you will bend valves if you break the belt. My neighbor found new replacement valves dirt cheap on ebay as theyre rediculous through the parts store. Good engine as most honda engines are, but not to confused with the newer generation of "b-series" engines, they are not the same.

Good cars, good luck finding parts if anything is wrong, as most have been crushed by now. Check in the usual spots for rust and you should be fine.

This is about the last generation of heavy rusting Prelude....during the 3rd gen. the factory sort of "got it all together" when it came to rust prevention.

Taken care of, the engines are "generally" long lasting, but they aren't big time powerful and there are few mods to generate more power. The rest of the car is also fairly well screwed together, but that also means it's heavier than it needs to be. You can do an engine transplant, and if you keep this car for any length of time, you will want to save money for that day.

Check the forums at PreludePower.com; you'll find some good info there, but be aware that there are posters who know what they're talking about and those who believe they know.

http://www.preludepower.com/forums/index.php

The 4WS cars were relatively low production models so some parts may be hard to find. The system was mechanical so (at least) you won't have to worry about wonky 20yr-old electrics.

They are nice cars for DD's, but are a bit lacking if you're looking for high performance platform.

Thanks for all the info!

I'm waiting to see how this one pans out...

That is a Prelude S, which was the base model, so no 4WS, which is a good thing. They were the last Honda's in the US with carbs. Twin carbs, actually. I think they were around 112 hp. They all came with sunroofs, so there's not a lot of headroom. The S seats were not quite as nice as the Si seats.

They were nice cars at the time, though.

EDIT: I just noticed where you live, so it's possible that none of this info pertains to you.

The 2.1L engine in some Preludes should be avoided. It used a novel cylinder liner material that was so hard it eventually destroys piston rings.

I had a friend who swapped the carbs on one with some he pulled off of a Honda snowmobile motor. The car was pretty peppy, but rusted quickly (lots of abuse and snow/salt in the Canadian maritime area.)

If those have anything in common with 87 Accords i would say they are good cars.