Hello! New 5th Gen Member

[Rexximus]

Hi there!

Was told this was an awesome community from a number of folks so thought I'd pop in and say hi!
I've inherited Phil's awesome VTI (viewtopic.php?f=17&t=23393) and I'm absolutely loving it.

Use it as my daily at the moment, got plenty of plans to make this thing the perfect daily. Startin' off with the classic cam seals (Even PAW couldn't fend off that chestnut, hah) valve cover seals, new PCV valve and a brake system refresh. Flush 'em with some RBF 600, grab some fresh calipers and powder coat them, Ferodo pads, braided lines and they might not cook within a couple miles of...'mildly freaking insane' driving up the Scottish hills!

Clutch is probably next, I'm hearing good things about the lightened flywheel (5Kg one, not the 4) and probably a Stage 2 clutch. Rebuilt an E36 with my dad a couple years back and the super lightweight flywheels seem to clatter a fair bit on idle unless the clutch is well sprung, or so I hear. Have a fish around to see if I can get some hybrid racing cables for not silly money and swap the bushings for metal ones if not.

Providing the alarmingly supple suspension doesn't collapse under the ton of potholes I'm dodging around by the time I've done the above, grab an antiroll bar for the rear, refresh the bushings with some polys, and get some solid coilovers for a *mild* drop and stiffen. This car looks damn good low, but speedbumps, potholes and dodgy-ass inclines are all too common where I am!

I got some occasional hesitant throttle when warm, so probably have a look at refreshing the knock sensor, O2 sensors, EGR clean and crankcase breather sooner rather than later hah.

But overall, adore this car and can't wait to see what potential I unlock with it - and hello!

[TitzonToast]

Welcome to the forums. Best of luck with your new Prelude.
The lads are great here, they've helped me out no end since I joined up.

[Scott560]

Welcome,

I've never known a PCV valve go bad. If you blow/suck on one end of it that will confirm if its working or not. Just clean it out it will be fine. Be sure to clean the inside of the valve cover when its off. Make sure you get the valve cover kit that comes with the 4 spark plug well seals as well.

You shouldn't need any uprated fluid for day to day use - the RBF stuff doesn't last as long as far as I remember. Not worth it unless you are doing track days. If you are overheating on road, maybe reconsider your driving style. The ferrodo ds2500 pads will take more heat, but I found mine crumbled away after a few track days. Harder pads will give you better feel, but the feeling is inconsistent at lower temps (which is most of your daily driving). Braided lines can be a bit of a pain - be sure to get a decent tool for undoing the nuts and pre-soak them. I wouldn't bother tarting up the callipers, they always end up looking bad after a while if they get hot.

No need to upgrade the clutch - guaranteed to make your daily driver something you don't want to drive daily. An Accord Type R clutch is slightly uprated, it's more than enough. That said, mine seems to be nearly worn through in handful of years and not so many 10's of thousands of miles (but a few track days). The clutch is heavy enough so you don't really want to make it any heavier or less smooth to engage if you want to daily it.

I would avoid the hardest bushes (entire lot as strongflex yellow) - they make the road noise and ride worse. Perhaps look at OE replacements although a bit of a pain looking up all the part numbers, might even be cheaper than aftermarket. Avoid going too hard on coil overs - my biggest regret. Try before you buy if you can, check out someone else's car if possible. Come the summer I hope to go down from 10kg/mm springs on the front to 7kg, and raise the height. It might look good low, but crawling over speedbumps and hopping around on the road are not positive experiences.

If the car hasn't been used too much recently, the hesitation may go of its own accord. Id not bother with the knock sensor (other than to check its not loose). I wouldn't even replace the 02 sensor until id been through a few tanks of petrol with some injector cleaner.

[Merlin]

Welcome to LG!!

[JEBB4]

Hello and welcome, you were told right, it’s the best prelude forum for sure
Scott seems to have blown all your hopes and aspirations of modifying and upgrading your new car away with a single post
I’m with you though, I’m a firm believer that if something needs replacing then why not replace it with something better, that being said it depends what you want from a daily drive, if you want comfort and easy day to day use then Scott’s probably right… but if you like a tight feeling car that can entertain you on a back road and your happy to close your eyes over every pot hole and chipping you hit as you do so then go for it..
I’m the latter, dreams of gt3 RS’s and m3 CSL’s are a daily thing for me sadly ….
Anyway, get a build thread up so we can see progress sounds like you have some good plans

[wurlycorner]

Hello and welcome!
I agree with Scott re: the egr, knock sensor etc. They just aren't a problem on ludes.
I've fitted the ES red polley bushes to the front of my BB4 (not done the back yet) and tbh I am surprised but haven't noticed any harshness or vibration from them - they're fine. Just stiffer when it counts in the cornering.
If you're concerned on that front, people tend to rate the Hardrace replacement as a good alternative to OEM (when available).

[Rexximus]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

And thanks for the insights as well - To be honest a lot of the stuff i.e. Knocks and O2 sensors is largely 'cause they're 20+ year old sensors I'd prefer catching before they go - and if that buggers up anything I'll just pop the old ones back in, hah! Valve gasket kit's already been ordered, along with some Hondabond.

Brakes wise, I don't mind flushing once a year, and until I can grab my hands on some larger discs (I see ATR calipers/carriers with a 300mm setup thrown around a lot, but buggered if I can find anything) it'll definitely do for the time being. I theoretically could not blast it for a solid afternoon but where'd be the fun in that? ;P

Clutch is a while down the road just yet, until I get all my lil leaks sorted; but I'll probably take your advice on that front - lighter flywheel is definitely on the list though. Absolutely transformed the beamer when we tried it in that.

In terms of suspension setup, I wouldn't run a harsh setup anyway - be it springs or bushings - got my dad's old Peugeot 406 to thank for that nugget of life experience (Had rims, custom exhaust, coils, bodykit; and I'm convinced that was his midlife moment). 8Kg Seems to be a decent upper limit for the kind of roads I'll be using from what I've been reading, and bushes I'd only really want to go the softer route. We ran Powerflex blacks on the BMW initially and ended up swapping them for Purple - I'll have a look at those ES Poly's wurly and Hardrace is already bookmarked on my PC, hah!

The hesitant thing is too inconsistent at the moment to pin down so I'm starting with cheapest solution and working up - developed sometime in the last 3 months and I drive about 50 miles a day to work and back, largely country road and motorway. Annoying thing is I've heard everything from EGR to sparks, PCV, Throttle body, O2 sensors, Distributor, The Curse of the Ancients, Cat etc. so that's gonna be a fun adventure in beginner diagnostics, methinks.

Either way I'll get that build thread up when I get some bits and pieces ready to go! There was an Accord Type R intake on Ebay I've been trying to ignore that keeps worming it's way back into my search bar...

[vanzep]

these old cars need a bit of fettling for sure - when you get them running just right its a good feeling
looks like you have a good base to start from - ive seen phils thread on the car and the bodywork that was done

wherabouts are you - there are a few of us lude owners in Edinburgh - always happy to help out

[toadster]

Lo
Welcome along
Cheers
Toadster

[Rexximus]

I'm in Dunfermline, so across the river from Edi
And yeah I've been meaning to go to a car meet or two but my work makes it damn hard these days