Time to improve (some mushy crap too)

This thread does not fit anywhere in the performance, tech or even in offtopic so i put it here. sorry :)

Well, i have always felt left alone in the world of modifyling cars or street racing or whatnot. I have never imagined i would come this far, never thought i would be this inspired to do things i have done or have thought would have learnt things i have learnt. Being an indian who came to the US in 98, i can still remember the look on my face when i saw my uncle's 4th gen, sat in the whole car, made me like cars. I was excited, extremely. Then i got my license and drove a car on my own. It was a big step for me. crashed my 87 civic hatchie the second day i took it to school. I like that lil thing, It was a family inherited car for about 11 years and i killed it. Well next was the 3g. We got it in the sept of 2000 right about a week later my 87 died. I did not drive my 3g till the following january cause i was scared to drive alone to school with my sister. But i got enough courage to drive it. The car was in bad shape, but my love for it started to grow. More than i ever thought, i can see myself cleaning the car adding a fog light :). It was fun, it made ppl notice me on the very end of the parking lot with my hood open looking at the engine bay. Then the following 2002 feb the car was acting really strange. I told my sister that the car is behaving really strange. It was slipping way too much even with lilttle flurry and then yeah it happened, i crashed again. It tore me apart. but i felt compelled to fix it. and i did, ran the car with no hood no bumper ziptied radiator right after my efi conversion. I felt alive, ppl looked at me like i was weird. In a quiet neighborhood, this crazy dude driving his car with nothing but just a frame and a seat. Then i figured out i cant fix the frame. Luckly i found Chris (Civtek) had a body he was wanting to sell.

I got his car in the summer of 2002 i believe, im not even sure, started to clean it up. tore it down to the frame, cleaned it off, took the rust. fixed the DX good with sound deadener. Slowly the car became better i can see it take shape. It was no longer a dx, but a Dx with flip down seats pwr everything and efi. Got it running in the summer of 2003. Bitter winter of 2002-2003 and heavy rain and wind was just a hurdle. My mom asked me if it was a bad sign by the weather being soo harsh on me. Every spare time i had, i was unable to work on the car because of the weather. i told my mom its just a hurdle i need to clear, and i did it. The car got a final paint job in the august, started taking it too school in 2003 sept. and then came the lowering. konis and progress springs. Got it lowered. Got DX, catco and dynomax. Got the exhaust done and the car became alive. I felt myself pushing the car fit me. It was like it was my extension of my arms and feet. I felt the way the car behaved. I learnt what it liked and what it did not. its not happy yet, but i know its time to improve.

SO yeah, after all the life story, it comes to this. I felt the car wanting more after knowing for a fact im quicker than a lot of cars out there. even on a wet road with stock tires and clutch, i managed to pull out a 8.6s on 0-60 with a lot of clutch slip and tire spin. My friend and me were suprised that it even did that fast. we tried it again and it was 8.7s and nothing big. I know it has more. Now its time to more up. I have decided that im finally going turbo.

One of managers at my office builds turbo kits and custom projects for VW and him and his buddies have one of the fastest street legal VW here in the central NJ. One of his Corraddos does 10s and its street legal. I am new to turbo world, but im taking a ICE class in my school and we are learning about engines in both thermodynamic and mechanical ways.

This is what i have come up with

1. Turbo pushing around 200-250whp for the begining but capable of pulling 300hp+ and all fuel and ignition management.
2. Stage 4 clutch
3. Mechanical LSD (cusco or Quafe<<preffered) or Viscous coupling (Phantom grip)
4. Much bigger tires like 215s or 225s (requires different fender flares)
5. camber kit along with my 3rd gen lude arms.

So far this is what i have got planned out. I am also in the process of building a computer for my car to run my audio and my navigation primarily, but if possible, i would be glad with running my engine management off of that.

Here is the life story in pics to go along with my description above. and SOrry about the long post, i just felt like talking a lot rather than usual. :cool:

First 3g in 2000
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...672_1_full.jpg

after the accident in 2002
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...672_6_full.jpg

Car being let gone (in the process of stripping)
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...672_8_full.jpg

Second 3g being stripped
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_18_full.jpg

After paint job in 2003
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_21_full.jpg

after lowring and exhaust in 2004
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_29_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_30_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_31_full.jpg
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...72_34_full.jpg

wow man it's tears me up to see a person with soo much dedication to a car. i think your at that level like talked about in initial d cartoon, where a driver is one with his car. you did some good work man and you inspire me. i hope everything turns out the way you want it. good luck with the turbo and keep me updated

Its funny you mention that you talked about the initial D cartoon. and funny thing is i was watching it for the past three days. I have the whole two seans and the movie. Besides, the more i watched it, it made me realize the level i am in and how much i love and know my car. Its funny how even silly tv shows have soo much in them that make you realize what you deeply want. Well i guess im just really emotional about my car now, and lately i been talking to my manager about my plans and he would get my a good deal on the parts and labor and even more when i told him i can manage his website and make him one with all the info. its funny how we get really attached to even a old car like this just like the way Takumi gets attached to his 86.

Hey man, that's why we're all here: we mod what we have. Despite the fact that my family and friends cut me down over restoring it, the idea of buying a new car is absurd...and working on the accord is like a kind of meditation. Good luck with the turbo. Hope to be there in a couple years after I fix the body, fix the leather, fix the suspension, fix the trans...

As much as I want a different car, I really am gonna be sick when I have to watch my beautiful 3g go away. Especially if I wreck it. I don't have the time or money to fix it like you did, and it's gonna be a real sad day when I don't get to drive it. I love that car like I never knew I could.

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Originally Posted by BMS

As much as I want a different car, I really am gonna be sick when I have to watch my beautiful 3g go away. Especially if I wreck it. I don't have the time or money to fix it like you did, and it's gonna be a real sad day when I don't get to drive it. I love that car like I never knew I could.

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i absolutely agree. if i get a new car now it's gonna take me another year to get familiar with it. my 3g though, not that fast is my baby gurl. i'd hate to see it go. and whenever it's at a shop (since i've been havin lots of trouble)i just miss it, miss driving it, miss seeing, just miss my car man! and there's no feeling like when you go pick it up at the mechanics and just driving her, you know it's your car. and all my friends knows its mine. they're like "oh there goes CT and his car." you just get that weird attached feelings with your car. god! i hate driving my dad's camry! DAMN! feel like driving her now! this thread really got me to think! on a deeper level about my car.

Amen. I grew attach to this car because it is the first car I ever driven! I love it because it's my first car and that just makes things a lot more worse when i let it go (its bound to happen). Definitely, this car has taught me that any car can have fun in, given some time to learn the car and give it some modifications. I loved my car and I learn new things about the car everyday. Like while doing my suspension, I saw that accords have traction bars!! So strange to me as my friend's with their civics and sentras always talk about investing in one. Before I didn't even know LXi had stock rear sway bars (however dinky they are). My car has been with my family since day one. All miles were done by my parents or me! The car was kept in the garage for most of it's life. A few minor accidents at the other's fault caused this car to have a bad rear end paintjob especially the trunk that looks like someone scratched my trunk with 50grit sand paper. My parents bought a Lexus IS300 and that gets garage now while the accord is parked outside and starting to slowly deteriorate due to nature.


I definitely admire your dedication to the 3gee. I would've left the car itself and moved on especially since the car was damage. Makes me realized that sentimental value is far more stronger than price value. I see all these people doing b series swaps into the accords as well as turbo kits and I see that money doesnt matter as much if you love the car. Some people think that it isn't logical to do what few members here do, but hey to each man his own.

Kudos to you smufguy. To convert a DX to your LXi is just flatout amazing. Alot of people would've just looked for another LXi but you decided to transfer your car over to a host. Amazing dedication. :werd:

swear to god i did not imagine this thread would get this many hits. But it did and your replies makes me realize that i am with on board with a lot of people with attachment to their 3g. yeah, my new DX is not a DX anymore, it even has rear sway bars ;). I like the car too much you could say. I went for a drive at 330am and my friend got back from work and he was like where the heck u going, and i was like going for a drive. before going for turbo, i wanted to keep my car NA, there is nothing like having an NA cause its more predictable and much nicer to drive, but there is only so much u can squeeze out of the cc we got. that is why im going Forced induction route. I know for a fact here in NJ there is nothing like my accord, atleast from places i have gone and ppl i have met on the forum from NJ and now its time to go big. Show what this thing can do and also prove to myself how far i am willing to go without thinking twice. My parents dont know about my plans for this car and i know they will be more than happy that i am learning something even tho they dont know crap about automobiles. I want this car to stand out, a 4door family sedan that subtly says, dont mess with me. You dont have to race it to find out, just looking at it will make you stay away from it, thats how it needs to be and thats how its gonna be. Maybe the color might change from off-white to something else, but its a detail im not too concerned about.

When i took the car tonight, i just wanted to see how i can relax. Cause the only fun i get outta my daily boring life is ripping it open in on a highway and sharp exits at the middle of the night. man.... my car was just flying on the street tonight, i wish there was no cop so that i dont have to watch my speed. i love the way it takes the curves, its amazing how i can stay on the gas thru an entire turn or curve unlike my dad's camry of my sis's 4g or even my aunt's J30. There is this unspeakable pleasure and satisfaction that you get when u are right on the limit, pushing the 3g to its happy limits, makes u feel silly enough to conquer the skies. Makes u feel like a hunter looking for a prey to rip the shit out of just cause you are all happy and hyped by a 5 minute drive in it. its just funny how you become a different person when you are in ur car and its just you and the 3g. The smirk on your face when u see an exit with a posted speed of 35 and you know ur gonna do no less that 60 on that turn and u smile soo big coming outta that exit.

There are soo many of you that amaze me and still continue to amaze me in what they do. I learn a lot from them, reading and researching and sometimes just observing it makes you wiser. I like to stand out with my 3g in this world of cars. I even had a guy in Virginia give me a thumbs up at a gas station around 1am at night when i was leaving for nj after seeing my gf. and of course he was driving a blue 3g and i was gonna have a talk but he left before i could act on it. Its fun how many ppl you meet and get to know and be friends with. Its funny how this online community actually is a community with real people and real talents.

PS: ppl talk about direct shift like the S2000 has and think its sooo amazing and what not. Shit our 3g has direct shift. This car amazes me as well as scares me about its advance for its year. It was way way ahead of its time.

I agree with everyting said in this thread. The 3G was my first car, paid for by my own blood, sweat and tears, and I just love it. It has never let me down, except for some piece-of-shit-$20-balljoints getting ripped apart; hardly the cars fault. I am never gonna sell it again. Yes, the fall of 2003 i sold it to a friend of mine, when I baught the Audi. I have never regretted anything as much as selling my dear 3G. Then, a few months ago, the 3G was stuck with another busted balljoint, and I offered the owner 15.000 crowns for it (sold it for 19.000), and then it was all mine again. Now the plan is basically to lighten it for everything that is weighing it down, turbo it, and some other misc. upgrades like brakes, coilovers, wheels etc.

The handling of the 3G deserves an entire paragraph for itself. I mean, with spiked wintertyres, 185/70-13, I have outrun numerous more expensive, sportier and newer cars. They ask me "How the hell can this old piece of shit handle this well?", but I don't know how to reply to it, other than the fact that the double-wishbone suspension is superior to everything else, and that I know the car inside-out, and know exactly where it's limits are. That is why I am upgrading it - to move those limits further away, to be able to drive it even faster trough the curves.

Might sound kind of stupid, but the car is a combination of my best friend, my baby and my girfried. I just love it alot, and that is a relationship other people just don't have with their car. The design, build quality, and technical solutions in this car was way ahead of it's time, just take the suspension for example - other cars (even today) use the inferior MacPerson-system, with the knuckle stuck to the leg that also the damper and the spring is mounted in. With this system you've got no control what so ever over for example variable camberangle with different spring compression.

3g = very modern for it's time. Shame they didnt put all the special features included on JDM/EDM accords. ie. 4 piston calipers as well as ALS (earlier abs) and other various things.

good run. I love my 3g. I can predict my car better than any other car.due to the exposure I get to it. :D Hopefully I want to be a better driver where I can take a car and drive it like I drive my 3g. Someday..

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Originally Posted by smufguy

I went for a drive at 330am and my friend got back from work and he was like where the heck u going, and i was like going for a drive

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haha I drove for 7 hours three days ago. I had the day off and I just decided to drive. For 7 hours straight I had the ol car running, through flats and hills and curves, and I only used one tank. I was like holy shit, that's crazy. I love being able to drive whenever, and just like 88accordhb said I also miss my car when I have to put it up, or when I had to do without it for the entire first semester this school year :(

One of the things about my car is that the doors are so easy to close. Other people try to slam the door like on their other cars, and I yell at em. I tell em to use one finger, and give em a demo proving I can close the door with my pinky. Then if they slam the door again, I make a rule that they have to close the door with their nose. Teach em to slam my doors...

Also when I'm driving if I have to do something "abusive" to it (rev past 4k let's say) I always give my car a love pat on the dash. If it's being extra good to me I kiss the H symbol in the center of the steering wheel. One time I was out camping with some people I didn't really know, and I bent over to give my car a hug and then kissed it before I kept walking. The next morning this girl came up to me and was like, "was that your car?" I didn't know what she was talking about at first. She thought I had kissed some random car while in a drunken stupor.

BMS, you really take care of your car dont you? there were days when it never passed 4k but now, its alive until 6K, the sound of the car just revin to 6K and the sound of the engine is just purely amazing. I do baby it at times during city driving, but forget about it when i see a turn or a exit, let alone the look on other people's face. once in a while, i have had truckers flash at me cuz im going a little too fast. its fun. Its unspeakable how you get to know if you can make it with your car either in a curve or passing someong few inches form them. my dad gets scared, my cousin got scared when he was with me and i pass people like that, not all the time, but when im in a hurry.

Busted blue - despite the fact we dont have the add ons like the Japanese and european accords had, you know we can make it happen. I got a contact here in NJ who make CNC machined slotted and cross drilled one piece and two piece racing rotors. Its a new company that was let known to me by my manager whom i am possibly going to get the turbo from. They are gonna be in the SEMA this year with their product. I am most likely gonna give them a call today and see whats their application is all about and if it suits my needs.

I really appriciate everyone expressing their feelings about their 3g and one of my wants is to keep this car for a while. Possibly till it falls apart on me, but even then, i dont know if i will let it go. It might not be a daily commuter like 5 or 7 years from now, but its still gonna be there as a project car or 'my classic' car that reminds me of my teen and budding years in this new world. Its a car bound to have memories and its a treasure for me. :)

Well my philosophy is drive it nice when I can, so that I can drive the hell out of it when I want to. When I'm in the city I drive real nice, but when I get into the mountains there are some passes when I just pull 3rd all the way. I scare myself sometimes. It's amazing what a stock car can do in the hands of a semi-capable driver. I have become a pro at identifying that point where you're right on the edge between turning and just slipping right off the outside of the turn. I love driving by the seat of my pants, and the 3g is excellent at giving you the sensitivity neccessary not to kill it and yourself.

About the doors and such, I don't see any reason to abuse that either unless I need to. The car already has 296k on it so it doesn't need any extra abuse. So yes, I take care of it in the sense that I watch it's back so to speak. I don't wash it all that often, and I don't armorall the interior too much, but when I rev it I literally get a mental image of those pistone going up and down, and can visualize my head gasket "flapping in the breeze" ready to give out. I see the valves open and close, and I picture the cam spinning around.

My God I love my car. Thanks 3geez.com for giving us geeky car-lovers a place to express it. And thank you Honda for building me one of the best cars in the world (that I can actually afford :))

damn man, thats how i feel about my car, everyone makes fun of it, even my family, my mom keeps sayin its a peice of junk that belongs in the junkyard, but i dont need no one, just my car. BTW, does that mean u have a DX-i? lol.

BMS. You live in San Jose? I go to SJSU right now and I'm just learning about the mountains near san jose. Mount Hamilton is the best place I ever gone to in terms of long cruise/sprited driving. maybe we can go sometime for a central bay area meet or something haha.
http://community.webshots.com/s/imag...0zBWRsw_ph.jpg

Smuf: you are right. Shame honda cars had some many differences on each model. The best model to date for a thirdgen accord will still be the Accord 2.0Si. That thing got all the nice things like the sidemarkers, powerfolding mirrors, b20a!!, 4piston calipers, as well as Anti lock brakes.

We can only improvise nowadays and that's not that bad of an idea. Of course, I'm not thinking of upgrading the brakes anything soon (just got new brake pads haha). Since I'm a college student and the car has been with me since i was 3, i think it's safe to say there is a bond. The car has been with my family all it's life and it's only got about 148,500 miles on it (about 15k of it from me in the last 2years). I'm sure alot of people here got a bond with their acccords otherwise these things wouldn't be possible.

3gee>civic<horsepoopy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BITESIZE

3gee>civic<horsepoopy

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:rofl:

Yeah Busted, I go to SJSU also. I thought I had told you that somewhere... anyway I haven't really been around the area much except for Calaveras Road. That is a wicked road. Super dangerous though. We should definately take a day and make a mini-tour of the bay area. Highway 1, the mountains, stuff like that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BMS

:rofl:

Yeah Busted, I go to SJSU also. I thought I had told you that somewhere... anyway I haven't really been around the area much except for Calaveras Road. That is a wicked road. Super dangerous though. We should definately take a day and make a mini-tour of the bay area. Highway 1, the mountains, stuff like that.

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Man if you go to SJSU, mt hamilton is like right there! 680 north and then exit alum rock road and go right and stay on the road till you hit 137. Then 22miles to the top.



anyways, so if horseypoop is better than civic, and accord is better than civic, exactly where do the top2 stand? accord > horseypoop or horseypoop<accord. haha

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originally posted by Busted Blue
accord > horseypoop or horseypoop<accord.

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hahahahaha, those are the same thing

glad you notice =)

i had my accord since turkyday, drove it from florida to chicago with only 4 gears(still havent fixed) 5th is like nutral... but i was flying at like 90 easy in 4th most the way. thats when i realize man for a free car this thing is awsome!!! i put a system in it and ever since i fell in love w/it. i think the best times ive had in chicago is crusin in the car... just listenen to music and driving manual makes me so happy... i drive an hour to work and back through traffic and i think its fun, the best part of my day. it funny to how your saying your one with your car... everyone that rides with me, well at least the first time, most people get use to it but they get scared as hell... one of my friends was telling people about how i drive and described it perfectly, no going into details but pretty much was saying how i know my car soooo well.

I know everyone does it... when I walk away from my car, i always watch it as i leave... during my breaks at work i just go sit in the car listen to music and smoke a cig and think of all the things im going to do to it. Yesterday i was out side w/ my neghbor just drinken, smoken B's next to our cars, listening and tuneing our systems.
Im so glad i found this site too, i would not have any idea what to do if it wasent so thanks to 3geez.com and everyone in here!!!!!

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Originally Posted by $mokenB'$

during my breaks at work i just go sit in the car listen to music and smoke a cig and think of all the things im going to do to it.

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I hear that! It's like the car is saying to me something in the lines of: "Hey my friend, how will you improve me next? Can't wait to get those mods on me! Even I will enjoy having one of those!" etc. etc. :)

EDIT: The first time one of my balljoints broke, it had been raining, and as I stood there watching the sorry angle of the front wheel, a little water ran from the headlight and on to the bumper. I swear to God, it looked like the car was crying, and wanted to say something like "so sorry I've let you down, pal". I was like "This is just a minor defect, you will be up and revving again in no-time!".

Why do we 3G-owners have such a relationship with our cars? It must be magic or something!

ahhh man... my thread is being taken over. :(