Bought a Cheap Accord

[JoeDirt41]

New update. We had a really bad storm the other day and a branch fell on the car. Didn’t do anything too terrible but did leave two small dents and some scratches. I got most of the scratches out but the dents are now there. Not that the car was even close to dent free before, but I guess it’s just a bit more character.

Also I ordered a new AC compressor from eBay last week. I was going to get one from the junkyard, but I was able to get a brand new knockoff one from eBay for only a little bit more, and I didn’t have to go pull it and I know it’ll work. I’ll probably try to get it installed later this week.

 

[researcher]

thanks for the update.. but what a bummer! stoopid trees! did that one dent in the roof affect the movement of the sunroof?

and be interesting to see how the no-name chinese compressor works for ya! maybe it will be as nice as that no-name chinese power steering pump you installed before, like the one I had in the civic.. plus I got a no-name catalytic converter that was better and thicker.. (honda original was thin cast iron for the exhaust manifold). so there's hope!!

 

[JoeDirt41]

thanks for the update.. but what a bummer! stoopid trees! did that one dent in the roof affect the movement of the sunroof?

and be interesting to see how the no-name chinese compressor works for ya! maybe it will be as nice as that no-name chinese power steering pump you installed before, like the one I had in the civic.. plus I got a no-name catalytic converter that was better and thicker.. (honda original was thin cast iron for the exhaust manifold). so there's hope!!

The dents haven’t affected the operation of the sunroof, it’s just slight cosmetic damage, kind of a bummer, but they aren’t too big and it’s not like the car had a perfectly dent free body anyways.

But yes, I am very tired of these storms and the associated damage. My truck got hail damaged just a few weeks ago and I just got it back from the body shop where it got $4k in paintless dent repair.

The AC compressor I got is very similar to the power steering pump in that it has all the same casting marks as the original, so it was probably reverse engineered in the same way that power steering pump was.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Got the A/C compressor installed today. Wasn’t too bad to install but I did have to remove the power steering pump for the nth time and remove the alternator. Had to reuse the manifold off of the old compressor, but it fit with no issues. I vacuumed the system down for one hour then let it sit for another hour and it held. The system capacity is 22 oz and I put in two 12 ounce cans and the gauges still read slightly low compared to my chart, but the compressor isn’t short cycling and the air in the car is coldddd!!

 

[researcher]

Got the A/C compressor installed today. Wasn’t too bad to install but I did have to remove the power steering pump for the nth time and remove the alternator. Had to reuse the manifold off of the old compressor, but it fit with no issues. I vacuumed the system down for one hour then let it sit for another hour and it held. The system capacity is 22 oz and I put in two 12 ounce cans and the gauges still read slightly low compared to my chart, but the compressor isn’t short cycling and the air in the car is coldddd!!
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woohoo! awesome! good to hear it's working and nice and cold! which takes a lot of research for good performing a/c parts to get it right on the 90s Hondas!

EDIT: thanks for the good news this monday morning, always nice to start with good news!

 

[JoeDirt41]

woohoo! awesome! good to hear it's working and nice and cold! which takes a lot of research for good performing a/c parts to get it right on the 90s Hondas!

EDIT: thanks for the good news this monday morning, always nice to start with good news!

Thanks! I am ecstatic about it. Cold A/C makes the car so much more enjoyable to drive. I’m always hot so I use the A/C a lot. Even in the winter, I run the A/C in the car with the knob turned to heat, just to keep the humidity down and prevent the windows from getting foggy. Anyways, it was a very pleasant drive to and from school today!

 

[JoeDirt41]

Small update. Not much new with the car, been driving it quite a bit. Knock on wood, no real issues to report. Did an oil change today and did a drain and fill on the transmission. Put in 5 quarts of Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 High Mileage and a Carquest Premium filter. The threads on the engine oil drain plug were really chewed up so I replaced the plug. Luckily the female threads on the pan still seemed to be fine.

Drained 3 quarts of ATF and put 3 quarts of Idemitsu Type H back in. Same fluid as I used last time.

 

[researcher]

Small update. Not much new with the car, been driving it quite a bit. Knock on wood, no real issues to report. Did an oil change today and did a drain and fill on the transmission. Put in 5 quarts of Mobil 1 Extended Performance 5w30 High Mileage and a Carquest Premium filter. The threads on the engine oil drain plug were really chewed up so I replaced the plug. Luckily the female threads on the pan still seemed to be fine.
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View attachment 283630
Drained 3 quarts of ATF and put 3 quarts of Idemitsu Type H back in. Same fluid as I used last time.

thanks for the update! sure looks like whoever was doing maintenance was using an SAE sized socket/wrench on a metric drain bolt head. Good to hear that it still had enough meat on it to be removed.

Nice update!

 

[JoeDirt41]

Another month gone by, just a quick update. Cleaned the outside of the car very thoroughly today and since the black Maaco-special paint job had developed some chips in it, I decided to touch those up as well.

I have no idea what color the car actually is, other than a metallic black. I took a shot in the dark and got a tube of Ford Tuxedo Black, which surprisingly seems to be a near perfect match.

After I used some of this Griot’s 3 in 1 wax and shined it all up.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Couple glamour shots from this morning all cleaned up.

 

[redhat]

That is a nice car you got there, nice runner, looks great. Well done.

 

[We're Metals]

Attractive car I must say. nice job keeping it on the road.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Just a proof of life post. It’ll be one year next week since I’ve had the car. Really nothing significant to update. I’ve been driving it at least once a week, sometimes as much as everyday. I don’t rack a lot of miles on it, but it doesn’t sit either.

I popped some of the small rust bubbles around the rear wheel arches and brushed some POR15 on them in hopes of slowing it down. I didn’t poke holes through the metal, just got underneath the paint.

My younger sister got a small upholstery extractor and was eager to try it on something stained so she did the seats in this car. They came out really nice, especially the back seat which had some very old, set-in stains.

Today I replaced the wipers. Just went with the cheap, Carquest XC conventionals. The beam style blades don’t seem to fit well on this car. I also touched up the paint on the wiper arms with some Tamiya lacquer based model paint.

That’s about it for now. It will need inspected soon but I don’t expect it to need anything. Maybe a bulb somewhere or something, but certainly nothing major.

 

[crashz]

The car is looking great. Nice work!

 

[researcher]

Thanks for the update @JoeDirt41, looking really good. Just goes to show that if you do a little work and start with a decent quality platform you can get an old car like this back on the road and using it everyday! awesome!

oh and the rust, typical of that era, my 96 civic had the same thing, best thing you did trying a rust encapsulator like POR-15, Eastwood has a similar product, I've used before and they really do stop rust in it's tracks!

and I really like that cleaner your sister used, those back seats look almost brand new now! I bet it might smell a little better inside the car too! lol

 

[Passport1]

Very nice restoration.

 

[meep]

What a really nice car! It really is a classic at this point.

 

[researcher]

@JoeDirt41 I was zooming into the picture you have at the gas station.. I see blue and red handled nozzles on the gas pumps on the other gas lane. Does that gas station have ethanol-free gas? Usually Red denotes ethanol-free. I did use that in my 96 Civic and the mpg's went up about 3-4 mpgs! More expensive too.. Just had to ask.

 

[fdcg27]

You have that old Gen 5 looking better than most later Accords on the road.
Your pictures also remind me that Accords up through Gen 7 have much nicer interiors than than current models.
They're also better drivers in my experience, more engaging to drive and with much better tracking.
Nice work in doing so much to make this old dear fully functional as well as nice looking in and out.

 

[JoeDirt41]

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

Thanks for the update @JoeDirt41, looking really good. Just goes to show that if you do a little work and start with a decent quality platform you can get an old car like this back on the road and using it everyday! awesome!

oh and the rust, typical of that era, my 96 civic had the same thing, best thing you did trying a rust encapsulator like POR-15, Eastwood has a similar product, I've used before and they really do stop rust in it's tracks!

and I really like that cleaner your sister used, those back seats look almost brand new now! I bet it might smell a little better inside the car too! lol

Yes, even at 28 years old, it’s still quite capable of daily driver duty. I’ve been aware of the rust in those spots since I got it, I could immediately tell when I bought it that someone tried to patch it in the past. I’m not ready to dive into body work, at least not at this point in time, so for now I’d just like to slow it. That little extractor did a great job on the seats! Wonder if I could bribe her into doing the carpet?

What a really nice car! It really is a classic at this point.

Hard to believe they are almost 30 years old. I’ll occasionally see another one on the road, and it seems like the people that own them must be enthusiasts, because I almost always get a wave or some sort of acknowledgment from other 5th-gen Accord drivers.

@JoeDirt41 I was zooming into the picture you have at the gas station.. I see blue and red handled nozzles on the gas pumps on the other gas lane. Does that gas station have ethanol-free gas? Usually Red denotes ethanol-free. I did use that in my 96 Civic and the mpg's went up about 3-4 mpgs! More expensive too.. Just had to ask.

Yep! The blue handle is 88 Octane E15. The red handle is ethanol free. Like you said, it’s more expensive but might be worth trying out sometime just for fun, maybe when I get enough reward points to make it the same cost as 87. It’s at $4.44/gal vs regular 87 is at $3.49.

You have that old Gen 5 looking better than most later Accords on the road.
Your pictures also remind me that Accords up through Gen 7 have much nicer interiors than than current models.
They're also better drivers in my experience, more engaging to drive and with much better tracking.
Nice work in doing so much to make this old dear fully functional as well as nice looking in and out.

Thanks! The materials quality in these older models is much better than a lot of the current cars. My only real gripe with this car is that the interior is a bit cramped for a mid-size car. I’m 6’3” 275 lbs and it can be a bit tight. But I’ve never needed to accommodate rear seat passengers so I can lounge the seat back as far as I need. As far as handling, when they switched to MacPherson struts, it was a big downgrade. The double-wishbone suspension does a lot for the understeer associated with FWD.

I gave the car a good wash and wax today. I clay barred the top surfaces, which are usually the worst. Waxed with Collinite then went back over with Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax.