first honda have lots of questions and need alittle help

[mcwille117]

Ok, a bought an 1989 two door manual honda accord lx-i. Runs great 147K on it body has alot of bondo, new paint, not done very well, but presentable. The car is now silver it was a greenish blue you can see the old color in a few places like the doors, firewall, trunk, etc... I paid $1400 for it, i bought it because i need a car that get good gas mileage and will be reliable, and well my brothers first car(the one i learned on) was an 80 something prelude that died at 340K on it only cause at the time i knew nothing of cars and mixed the plug wires up.... so i know there good cars. Now to the present, i have taken a few classes at my local community college and i'm pretty good around cars but untill now i have only dealt with rear wheel drive V8s. And i am looking for some pointers about hondas. Now on to what i know need to be fixed it needs both CV axles, front shocks (pass side is BLOWN), alignment is REALLY bad, pass side rear taillight, driverside trim molding down the center of the door, AC does not work don't know why yet, gas gauge goes up and down, trunk will not open with key, and probly more to come but thats what i know right now. I have helped with the CV shafts on a 94 intrepid and this has to be easier then that everything that could go wrong did go wrong with that. But i still would love some pointers on that one and any other pointers you guys could give to a new honda owner. here is a link to the car on autotrader.com LINK (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=187178554&dealer_id=56726364&car_year=1989&search_type=both&make=HONDA&sponsorModel=&transmission=Manual&distance=50&model=ACCORD&address=48462&make2=&certified=&advanced=y&max_mileage=&max_price=1500&bkms=1125029274935&min_price=1500&end_year=2006&color=&start_year=1981&drive=&isp=y&engine=4+Cylinder&doors=&fuel=〈=en&cardist=32&LNX=ESTAFSRCHUSDTEXT) . I already bought new axles but i would like to find the taillight and door trim if anyone knows where i could get them that would be really helpful. Does anyone know any commen problems i should look for?

thanks
matt

[SteveDX89]

Welcome to the site. Sounds like you got a decent deal on your car. First, the axle changing process should be the same with pretty much all front drive cars. If you've done one, you should be pretty good. Check the How-To section of the board. You'll find one about changing axles in there. Be prepared for frozen bolts, etc. in the suspension. The missing pieces you're looking for should be readily available at a junkyard. If you can't find them there, once in a while stuff pops up on eBay. Just be on the lookout for it. Search around the board for answers to your other questions. It may have happened before and was discussed. If you can't find it, someone will be glad to help you out.

Hope you like it here.