88 LXi Coupe - raising the dead

I was browsing the local craigslist about 4 weeks ago, specifically searching 1980-1993 cars, mostly daydreaming as my wife & I were in between houses at the time. We were living with her mom while waiting to close on our next house. We both finally found a house that has everything she wanted (relatively up to date, big enough yard for a pool) and everything I wanted - oversized garage.

I saw an ad for a crusty 1988 Accord right around the corner from me listed as $500 obo. After a few emails back and forth for an address, I drove over to take a look. It was pretty rough, had tags on the back from 1992 and had been sitting under a bunch of trees. It was complete, fuel injected, a coupe and the body was pretty straight. I held off a week before making an offer to check parts availability (everything is dirt cheap is what I found), namely a fuel pump and fuel tank. I emailed the seller with an offer of $350 and they accepted. We moved into our house on Saturday the 4th. I met the buyer the next day with cash in hand, got the title and had it towed to the new place.


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After we got it home, and after I fixed a broken spigot my daughter helped me get most of the heavy dirt off to get a better look at the paint. Sadly it's pretty bad. Lots of spiderwebbing and down to the primer in a couple spots. Only found 2 dings and a minor scrape to the passenger front fender and no rust.

https://i.imgur.com/uLuV4uh.jpg

I had her open the doors and trunk each afternoon to hep air it out when it wasn't raining. It was pretty musty inside. The interior is complete and all the seats are in great shape. There is a little mildew on the headliner and visors. Steering wheel is toast from the sun and the windshield is cracked pretty bad.

https://i.imgur.com/FcoSvjh.jpg

Today I found my air chuck for the compressor, so I filled the tires up with enough air to roll around and since my son was visiting from San Antonio the 3 of us pushed it into the far stall in the garage.

I'll pick up a couple wheel dollies to put it on so I ca roll it around as needed. It's just kind of shoved in there right now.

https://i.imgur.com/XCEGAFs.jpg

Did I mention the garage was oversized? More like just right sized if you ask me. 3 bays wide with an extra 3 feet on each side plus an extra 14 foot easement at the head. Drop down stairs with decking in the rafters for more storage. Once it finally cools down I'm going to install a radiant barrier in the overhead, solar powered vent fan and add some insulation to the walls after I move some of the outlets and plumb in some running water.

That's my daughter's 2000 CRV (also a project). We have some EP3 SI seats waiting to go in. It's going to get some coilovers (haven't bought yet), headers, exhaust and some 16x8 gold BBS wheels w 225/50/16 tires.

This is going to be a slow project as I also have a new house full of projects.

Got the front end up on jack stands and drained the coolant on Monday night and it smelled pretty awful. Dumped a half gallon of distilled water in the top to help rinse a little of the old coolant out.
Pulled the plugs and all 4 are really clean. They look almost new.

https://i.imgur.com/cadB3x4.jpg

Pulled the driver side front wheel off last night and was able to turn the motor over by hand with the crank bolt. This was a big relief because I with no history on the car or why it was parked I was taking a gamble buying it.

https://i.imgur.com/LTwxIf1.jpg

Next step was to pull the ECU from under the driver seat to check for water damage. The car hasn't had a battery in it in a long time. I know this because of the giant nest of pine needles I pulled from the engine bay battery tray when I first got the car home.
There was some corrosion on the outer housing and mounting bracket and it looks like there was a little water inside at some time due to the tan corrosion near the top circuits. I'll probably pick up a used spare off eBay just in case this one is bad.

https://i.imgur.com/mNhAX1N.jpg

Seats and interior are in great shape despite the musty smell. I'll be able to clean the seats while they're out of the car.

https://i.imgur.com/jcWqWMR.jpg

Just under 101,000 miles on it.

https://i.imgur.com/uEYszHM.jpg

Still have a long list of things to buy and parts to remove and replace.

It's been a week and I haven't had any time to work on the car. I'm still unpacking from the move and trying to get things organized in the garage.

The garage itself needs quite a bit of work before I'm able to get any wrenching time in. There is almost no wall insulation up and no air movement in the attic space. With outside temperatures here in Houston around 100 degrees daily it's just too damn hot to work.

The garage to do list includes :

- Radiant barrier in the inside roof to reflect some of the heat back out
- Radiant barrier on the inside walls plus some insulation
- move some of the electrical outlets and light switches that were placed randomly
- ceiling mounted fan in the working area
- solar powered attic vent fan to move the hot air outside
- install more 4 foot lighting fixtures. Going to go with LED fixtures. I need at least 8-10 more installed
- plumb in some lines for the air compressor with fittings and moisture traps
- buy and hang a couple of electrical cord reels in the ceiling

I should have a little time this weekend to do some disassembly and hopefully drain the old gas.

If the weatherstripping or taillight seals were allowing water to enter the cabin, I could see the humidity alone causing the corrosion you describe. These cars are awesome. Most of the time a new battery and a few cranks are all that's required to resurrect them from the dead. Wonderful, wonderful little cars.

So after putting away all my tools from this weekend's repairs to my daughter's CRV I figured I'd start doing something to the Accord. I grabbed a magic eraser and a bucket of water and began scrubbing. Didn't get too far, but it's making a difference in removing the grime and mildew.

https://i.imgur.com/GaIRWQD.jpg

I cleaned the upper half of the door and you can see the difference compared to the armrest. I have a long way to go inside yet and I'm going to have to order a box of magic erasers to get through everything. I tried a spot on the headliner and it came clean, so that is another relief as I was afraid the headliner was beyond repair.

Here's a better shot of the dash showing everything is original. It even came with a few sweet cassette tapes.

https://i.imgur.com/PECBCsU.jpg

After my lone magic eraser crumbled into nothing, I went up to the driver side front suspension and hit everything with PB Blaster to get ready for disassembly.

Hello in Cypress, I'm in Pearland :D

If you ever want any help or just chill and wrench on a car :)

Got a little spare time today now that it's not unbearably hot out and made a little progress. Ordered 10 feet of 3mm silicone vacuum hose and began removing and replacing the brittle vacuum lines in the engine bay. Pulled the intake off to make a little room and remove more of the pine needles. Been cleaning everything I remove and all the rusty parts are getting an overnight soak in Evap-o-rust.

I'm a little disorganized right now and not sure exactly what I want to tackle first. I need to overhaul the entire cooling system, entire brake system plus all the belts. Additionally most of the suspension will need looked at also as the rubber boots for items like ball joints are probably as bad as the hoses/vacuum lines are.

If anybody has a complete list of all the hoses in the coolant system I would greatly appreciate if you could share it. Nothing worth taking photos of this weekend.

Heater and radiator hoses can be found relatively easy, but you should start searching for the bypass hoses now because it may be difficult to find those in their molded original form.
You can still use dealership online diagrams to reference everything too. They don't keep parts any more, but the diagrams are endlessly useful.

I have been doing the same to the lude.. Actually haven't driven it in like a month :/

Still replacing vacuum hoses in the evenings during the week, there are more than I expected. Most are being replaced with silicone and I have another 10 feet ordered and on the way.
Started buying some replacement parts also.

$25 shipped from Rock Auto goes a long way with this car. Outer tie rod ends, upper radiator hose, thermostat, thermostat gaskets, oil filter and another coolant hose that I have to figure out where it goes.

https://i.imgur.com/c8khdk1.jpg

I ordered some Prothane sway bar end links because these are done after sitting for 26 years.

https://i.imgur.com/bMoApP8.jpg

This is what most of the rubber looks like on the car. The transmission mount has a split nearly halfway through and all the vacuum hoses are hard as stone.

2 weeks ago I hit everything on the driver side with some PB blaster and tonight I began disassembly. Replaced the outer tie rod end and everything I'm reassembling is getting Permatex anti-seize on the threads.

https://i.imgur.com/B2Ej9eb.jpg

Removed the caliper, rotor and brake line. I'm playing it smart and placing all the hardware in labeled plastic bags. I have a set of stainless brake lines on the way for the front. It's going to get new upper and lower ball joints and new bushings in nearly everything.

This weekend I'm going to pull the fuel pump, drain the gas, blow out the fuel lines with compressed air back toward the tank and see how bad the fuel tank looks. If it's not super crusty inside I'm going to wire brush the inside and give it a good flush. Depending on condition, I might wind up dropping the tank.

I've also been reading here a lot on what works regarding replacement parts. I want to get it running right and then I'm going to install a new suspension with Tokico blue shocks and lowering springs. Been eyeing some sets of 15" wheels, but that's long term.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by schaff70

I've also been reading here a lot on what works regarding replacement parts. I want to get it running right and then I'm going to install a new suspension with Tokico blue shocks and lowering springs. Been eyeing some sets of 15" wheels, but that's long term.

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I've been watching this thread from the sidelines and I have to say that you're doing awesome work! Really respect how thoroughly you're going through the vehicle, I'm sure you know how reliable of a car you're going to end up with! And putting those coilovers in it is a great call, I ran Tokicos and Ground Control springs with 15x8s for the time I had my coupe on the road, and I couldn't complain one bit! Keep going!
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I've never been one to sit down and watch TV very much, so after dinner I was back out in the garage. Got the driver's side headliner clean, rear side panel inside, dash and center console clean also. My garage is too dark for photos, so I'll have to take one in the morning to show the difference. My daughter was out there with me using a hand held clothes steamer to remove the faded purple window tint from the driver side door and side window.

I pulled the speaker cover off to check what size the speaker actually is before ordering some replacements. The OEM speaker foam is long gone LOL.

https://i.imgur.com/hSZU8LR.jpg

While browsing Amazon this afternoon I came across a bluetooth amplifier that will allow me to use my phone as a tuner to the speakers that way I can keep the stock head unit, but still have quality sound. The only problem was it was only rated at 15 watts per channel and I know the rear 6x9s are going to need more than that in order to keep up with some Bohemian Rhapsody.

I'll be making some good progress on the car this weekend with more updates.

Got almost all the vacuum lines under the hood replaced. I just have to tackle the mystery box lines. Driver's side front rotor and caliper are off. Got most of the rust off the caliper. I was considering replacing both calipers, but They don't look like they aren't functioning correctly, no fluid leaks were present. The brake line is completely off and the stainless lines arrived on Friday.
I got most of the fuel pump fittings removed, but the 2 rubber nipples are refusing to let go of the cover. They're both one way type fittings. I don't think they're essential if they break, but I wanted to check before I damaged them. Had to run to Harbor Freight to pick up an LED worklight to help in the garage and while I was there I also picked up a battery powered fluid transfer pump for the old gas.
I began to hit the paint with some aggressive cutting compound to get rid of all the caked on grime. Some of the paint in spots is flaking off and primer is showing, so I'm not real concerned about causing any damage (it can't get any worse). It's working so far, but it's taking a lot of effort. Driver's side front fender is clean, headlight covers, the top of the front bumper and a little in the engine bay along the front.
I pulled the cowl cover off to clean it and whatever I found under it and came across a rust hole on the passenger side. It's about the size of a golf ball just below the windshield. I found another spot on the roof at the driver's door that isn't as big. Mostly from having a lot of dirt accumulate which trapped the water.
I need to pick up a parts washer for the garage once I start digging into some of the engine disassembly.

Photo of the progress halfway. The whole fender is clean now.

https://i.imgur.com/vfcnkwg.jpg

Injector rail is off, injectors are soaking in Seafoam. Cowl cover is off and clean, been cleaning under the cowl cover to get ready to apply some POR15 on the rusty areas. I need to pull the wiper mechanism to clean under it as well as lubricate the wiper linkage.
I was trying to figure out what to use in the cowl to get it clean. I started with a basic scrub brush and water which got the caked on crud off, but still left some mildew. The rubbing compound I was using is a little too aggressive as it's removing some of the paint and leaving heavy swirl marks. I looked around and just went with some Westley's Bleach White tire cleaner and it's working better than anything I've tried so far. I went ahead and used it on the whole front bumper cover and as much of the sides of the engine bay that I could reach.
I need to get a fuel pump, fuel filter and injector seals on order and figure out what I'm going to do about all the oxidized aluminum bits in the engine bay. My compressor can't handle the CFMs required for a media blast cabinet and all the portable unit's I've seen are garbage.
The list keeps growing, but thankfully the parts are reasonable and readily available.

I was finally able to sell the set of OEM Volvo glass headlights I took in on trade a year ago which freed up some money. I just dropped a $130 order with Rock Auto plus new (rebuilt) injectors and a new fuel pump from eBay.

Big box of parts showed up this afternoon. Pulled some of the larger vacuum hoses so I can stop and buy a couple feet to replace on the way home tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/7D15M66.jpg

replaced the transmission mount
passenger wheel is off and all the bolts/nuts are sprayed with PB Blaster
Sway bar brackets are off, driver side end link fully removed
Brake lines on the master cylinder are off and the nuts holding it to the brake booster. It was stuck on there and I stopped in here to verify there isn't a strange bolt inside the car holding it on. Found this thread to assist : https://www.3geez.com/forum/classic-...-cylinder.html
Yes, I read a lot before I start tearing into things.

A/C and alternator belts are off, alternator bolts are all loose.
Fuel filter showed up today & I stopped to pick up a short length of fuel hose and some larger vacuum hose for a couple fittings on the intake. It seems the fuel supply line running back to the tank is on the driver side below the master cylinder if I'm correct. Once the new fuel pump shows up I'll finish removing the old one and figure out a way to get some seafoam into the fuel line to soak before hitting it with some compressed air to blow out any crap back towards the tank. From there it's cleaning and maybe resealing the fuel tank.

By the way, if you're working on your car * especially in rust prone locations you should be applying this on everything before you reassemble it. Trust me, you'll save yourself a headache down the road. I must have 3 or 4 bottles or tubes lying around the garage.

https://www.permatex.com/wp-content/...6/02/80208.jpg

Be careful with that stuff. I have bolts rattling out because of it! LOL Nice to see a 3g getting TLC.

I only ever use it on exhaust and brake stuff, but I prefer copper based anti-seize

nice find. cars around here like that end up in the junkyard.

Got a little side tracked this weekend with my daughter's car. My kids car's seem to wind up being my project cars also. I just can't leave well enough alone. Installed her coilovers and 16x8" BBS wheels with 225/50/16 tires. It took a little while to get it all level and at the right height where the front tires wouldn't rub the fender liners except over heavy bumps.

https://i.imgur.com/IfNY08Z.jpg


My son's car we completely updated the suspension back in February. Koni shocks, Neuspeed springs, CL Type S rear sway bar, Neuspeed upper strut bar, 17" Enkei wheels and 215/45/17 tires.

https://i.imgur.com/PQZWZKs.jpg

sounds like you have a "can't leave well enough alone" addiction :p

Still no progress on the car lately. The remaining parts arrived - fuel pump, fuel pump gasket and injectors. Now that the weather has cooled off some from 97 degrees down to around 90 I took advantage of starting to get the garage under control. The house we bought was built in the 90s and the garage remained unfinished. There is no insulation on the walls and only a single air driven vent in the roof. Throughout the summer the garage was on average 5-10 degrees warmer inside than it was outside. I cant leave the doors open because the mosquitos have been relentless this year and I'm their favorite snack.

I had to relocate the light switches from the wall by the garage door to near the door because it makes sense for them to be right inside the door. Had to run some new wires to extend them over. I also installed radiant barrier on the walls followed by insulation and drywall. I got half of the first wall complete. The rest of the first wall should go pretty quick because there aren't many outlets to worry about. I ripped out the sketchy old workbench in the back corner and I'll be building a storage system with an 8ft workbench and a place to mount a bench vise. I'm also going to insulate the garage door, mount a solar powered attic vent fan and radiant barrier in the attic area to help reflect the summer heat up toward the peak where the fan will remove it.

https://i.imgur.com/XEyup5o.jpg

Nice work on the garage!

Other projects around the house and scheduled events mean to recent progress on the car. I was able to finish up about 1/3 of the drywall and insulation project in the garage, but the garage is now a complete mess because of it. I was also able to pick up a 500cfm solar powered attic vent fan on clearance at Home Depot. This will really help get the garage temperatures down once it warms back up.

I was able to get about an hour of work done on the car last night. Started tackling more of the coolant hose replacement starting with the heater hoses leading into the cabin. The original super rusty hose clamps were a challenge to get loose as were the hoses. I wound up using a box cutter to split the hose ends in order to get them off the fittings. I know I'm missing some of the coolant hoses, I'm just not sure which ones. I ordered about 6 or 8 of them from RockAuto, but I keep finding more hoses on the car the closer I look. Makes me miss my Volvo 240 that only had 6 coolant hoses in the engine bay.

I also ran into a problem removing the old master cylinder. I have the brake lines loose and off, but for the life of me I can't seem to get the master cylinder free from the brake booster. Any tips would be helpful. I know there's a rubber seal which is probably pretty stuck inside the booster.

Nothing worth photos at this point.

Page 10-2 of the manual shows all the hoses. Be sure to get the little ones hiding way down deep under the intake manifold. They will wait patiently until you have everything else done, nice new coolant in the system etc., then they fail at rush hour on a busy freeway leaving you stranded in a suit. Ask me how I know this...

For the MC, you should be able to wiggle it back and forth to break it loose. Failing that, a good whack with a dead-blow hammer might be in order. If you have the two mounting nuts off, then there shouldn't be anything else (aside from the brake lines) holding it on.

project has officially stalled out for now. Too many home projects getting in the way and having cold weather (what Texas considers cold) puts me in a mood where being outside is the last thing I want. I was able to finally find a 1st gen Integra front lip that only needs a minor repair. pick n pull is 50% off next weekend and I spotted a nice set of Integra LS mesh wheels with good tires that were still available. I haven't been able to find what I really want (Integra GSR blades) that are reasonable.

I only hope I remember how to put it back together once I'm done. At the very least I was smart enough to put all the hardware I removed into plastic bags with a label.

I remember that feeling when I had my engine and trans out of the car and disassembled. I stood in the big shop I was using, looked around at all the stuff and thought, "how am I going to get all this back together?" I wasn't as careful as you. I just set my parts in dedicated piles everywhere for the nephews to kick, but I still got it all back together. There were some steps where I had to think through some things carefully, consult the manual and make my best guess, but it worked out well. Once you get back into it, there isn't much that can get mixed up.

Good luck with your other projects.

Another month and no update. Bathroom renovation is almost complete, but the house project list keeps growing. Hopefully time will be available in March once the weather is regularly warmer. Still on the hunt for a few parts here and there and at least the car is inside.

Could really use the following if anybody has them or comes across them at pick n pull

- driver and passenger door weatherstrip : the one that runs up the a-pillar and across the top of the roof. Texas sun has taken it's toll on both of mine
- Prelude steering wheel w cruise control or another non-airbag Honda/Acura wheel that will fit without modification. The sun roached the whole top of my wheel
- Prelude upper control arms - would like to lower the car once it's running and from everything I've read I'll need these. I've located some parts cars on row52.com, but most are on the west coast

Any ideas on a rear lip spoiler for the trunk? I've never been a fan of typical 'wing' type spoilers, including the OEM style. I've always preferred a subtle lip spoiler instead.

Still no progress. Haven't had any time to work on the car since November. I have been gathering parts though. Picked up a set of used Tokico blue front and rear shocks with H&R springs. I was also finally able to find a pair of 2nd gen Prelude front upper control arms last weekend.
About a month ago I got lucky at pick n pull and found a steering wheel in good shape and both driver and passenger side door weatherstrip seals.

In other news, I was in 2 more accidents with my daily drivers this year. In April I got hit on the highway by a guy with no insurance. Took out the entire passenger side of my 01 Toyota Landcruiser that I've owned for the last 14 years. I wanted to keep it, but it was at the point where it needed a lot of preventative maintenance, so I used my uninsured motorist coverage and let the insurance company take it.

I picked up a 2006 Acura TL as a new daily driver. The day after I paid $300 in taxes and tags with the state, I got hit by a lady in a 2013 Escalade who cut over 2 lanes to try to make a left turn at the last minute. Due to the age/mileage that was a total loss also. Spent the next 2 weeks trying to find a good replacement vehicle for under $5000. Got very lucky and found a 1999 Lexus GS300 with 138k miles for $3800. It needs basic maintenance (timing belt, some oil seals, ball joints, tie rod ends, water pump, thermostat and radiator), but the interior was well kept and 2JZ-GE powered.

I already picked up a set of 19" Infiniti G37S wheels made by Enkei that were powder coated by the previous owner with 245/40/19 tires for it. Knocked out rebuilding the front end, still gathering parts for the timing belt/oil seals and VVTI cam gear rebuild.

https://i.imgur.com/9l6eltY.jpg

Almost forgot my reason for posting. Pick n Pull has 40% off this weekend and I found a set of 14" period correct wheels off a first gen MR2. I'm stuck deciding if I want these or want to hold out until I find a set of Integra GSR blades for it. I wish I took photos of the MR2 wheels while I was there Saturday.

You've had quite the adventures. Good luck getting the wheels. Post up pics if you get them.

https://i.imgur.com/x84CgkO.jpg

Decided on the period correct MR2 wheels yesterday. Ran down to pick n pull and was able to get all 4 after paying to remove the dry rotted tires for about $130. I'll be able to polish up the faces myself and remove the minor curb rash on 1 of the wheels.

I really wanted 15" wheels, but I think these will fit the look much better.

Good choice!

It's been a long time, but I'm still around. Finally have news worth updating this slow thread.

I was able to pick up a pair of Prelude front control arms from pick n pull over the summer. Still gathering parts also. A guy on the Facebook group had a set of Tokico blue shocks with H&R springs for sale, so I got them while I had the chance.

House projects and my daughter in college have been tying up most of my time (and money). We're paying for her spring 2020 semester, junior year. She's going to have to get student loans for her senior year. Pretty much the same deal my son had while he was at UTSA, but my GI Bill covered his first 3 years.

Back to the car - Upgraded lighting in the garage so I can finally see what I'm doing. Added more plugs with a dedicated outlet for the compressor in the corner near the Accord.

Driver side front suspension is completely off the car. I've been removing the decades old rust and painting all the parts satin black. It was finally time for me to get serious about tackling the timing belt. I raised the car up higher on the jack stands to get more room to maneuver. Tried using a 30" breaker bar with no luck. Tried my son's cordless electric impact wrench with no luck.
Heated the bolt with a propane torch for 20 minutes then tried the breaker bar with no luck. Bought a corded electric impact wrench with 1000 ft lbs of torque with no luck. Bought a hotter torch with MAP gas and heated the bolt until it glowed red then hit it with the impact wrench and finally the bolt broke loose.
Things are moving along pretty good now that the timing belt is off. Got the water pump pulled, alternator is out, battery tray is out, painted with POR15 to stop the rust then painted satin black. I also ordered a kit to rebuild the power steering pump. There's still a lot of parts I need to pull just to get the engine bay clean and painted where it's needed.

The goal is to get it actually running this spring, work all the bugs out then start prepping it for paint. I'm going to paint it myself in the garage.

List of things I still need to buy :

Crank seal
Camshaft seal
Lower timing belt cover
Harmonic balancer
Crank pulley bolt
Alternator
Tires
Brake calipers, pads & hardware
Possibly a radiator & starter

I'll update with photos this weekend.

Thanks to the stay at home policy I've been getting a lot done around the house, garage and with the cars. I installed a big brake kit onto the GS300, but couldn't get any brake pressure after bleeding 1 qt of fluid through the lines. Took it to a shop and it was diagnosed with a failed master cylinder. Come to find out the master cylinder is integrated into the ABS pump. I was quoted $3500 - $4000 for the shop to replace it and found it online for $900 rebuilt. Had to make a decision to let it go. It actually sold that same day. I had to find yet another daily driver and got kind of lucky finding a 2006 Toyota Avalon limited with 89k miles for a good price. Installed a set of coilovers on it and am in the middle of refinishing a set of BBS RK 18" wheels for it.

As far as the Accord goes, making a ton of progress. 90% finished replacing all the vacuum hoses in the engine bay with silicone. Replaced the power steering hoses, got the master cylinder removed (it was rusted and stuck to the brake booster), driver side rear suspension was inspected with new rear upper control arm and ball joint replaced. New stainless rear brake line and cleaned and inspected the drum brake on that corner. Waiting on the poly lower shock bushing to arrive before installing the rear shock & spring combo.

https://i.imgur.com/cQaQK88.jpg

Driver side front suspension has been torn down, cleaned and painted. New wheel bearing installed, stainless front brake line and picked up rebuilt front calipers yesterday. I'm about 50% complete reinstalling the driver side front suspension.

https://i.imgur.com/LKZN9Wx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PRcebYh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QAoHD8x.jpg

I cleaned the carpet and seats on the interior. I finally started the task I feared most - draining the gas tank and removing the fuel pump. I was so happy to find a drain plug on the bottom of the tank, but not so happy to find the tank almost full. Drained close to 8 gallons from the tank. I pulled the fuel pump and it was really bad. Completely rusted. Inspected the inside of the tank and it's just as rusty. I'm going to have to order a new tank. I already have a replacement pump and a guy in Canada is sending me a new rust free fuel pump bracket.

https://i.imgur.com/6ZhCLlW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7pUgBdi.jpg


I took a week and also started really cleaning the paint using a heavy polishing compound. This removed most of the surface dirt and top layer of the clear coat. I followed it up with a really good quality polish. The paint will never be perfect, but it is now white and glossy in parts. Other parts the primer is showing through. The whole car except the roof has been polished. I removed the rear tail lights and trim panel to clean all the dirt out from behind them. I took everything off the driver side front inner fender and was able to really get that part of the engine bay clean. Passenger side I didn't have to remove as much as it wasn't as dirty. Cowl cover is off and everything cleaned around the wiper mechanism.

https://i.imgur.com/a4VLiJh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cOx8aqn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pA5oGVq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pAG864e.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6KL1KWV.jpg

Yay for time off, stimulus check and progress! Go go go!!

It is nice to see another being saved, keep up the excellent work and bringing this car back.

Project has stalled out again. New projects and issued came to that need attention. My daughter's 2000 CRV had a coolant hose let go on the highway and she wound up blowing the head gasket. It's been down for about a month while I fix it. Head was removed, resurfaced, cleaned and tested. Pretty close to having it put back together. Other projects include new leather seat bases in the wife's Lexus GX460, building the prinsu style roof rack for it plus some cosmetic things I've been planning. I also have a number of projects for the daily driver 2006 Avalon I'd like to complete.

After seeing your pump, I am a tad scared to pull mine, haha! I will be looking into that AFTER I get my 86 LXi back on the road (doing front end work now). I will be posting up a thread to help me keep things sorted and to share with the rest of you 3geez nuts.
Still learning these Honda's but I will be doing some custom work down the road to get my hatch where I want it.

Cheers and thanks for the update.

Wow, this is great. Your work on this old car is awesome, sir. I myself have an 86' hatchback LX-i that I'm trying to get running too :)

Dropping by to say still no updates. I have most of the parts in the trunk of the car aside from the new gas tank, just haven't been motivated to work on it lately. This and attempting to fix my daughter's CRV for nearly a month took it's toll on me. Got the head cleaned, resurfaced and tested before installing it on the block only to find coolant was still mixing with the oil after running it again.
Had to make the decision to move on. Put the CRV up for sale and had a local Honda guy buy it and drop in a used JDM motor within a week. At least with COVID and working from home I for once wasn't in a rush to find a replacement vehicle, however, my daughter has become more and more addicted to her phone and offered little to no help in finding a replacement. Her social life (she's 21) has taken priority and is now the center of her attention. For example, while I was trying to find her a replacement car, she was driving my 06 Avalon. I finally got the car back and drove it for the first time in almost 3 months only to have the check engine light on with a failing ignition coil and the traction control no longer working. Not real happy.

Searched and searched for a good replacement, looked at several cars here locally, but every one of them turned out to be a turd. Car shopping in Houston is absolutely the worst. I'd almost rather wait in line at the DMV than try to find another car here. Expanded the search and found a 98 Subaru Legacy GT manual transmission sedan in Boulder, Colorado at an independent Subaru dealer. All the right maintenance was completed - recent clutch, head gaskets done (2.5L N/A are notorious for head gasket failures), new timing belt and water pump. Bought 1 way tickets to Denver for my buddy & I and went to pick it up and drive it back. Had a couple of needs once we got home, tie rod ends, end links, misc trim was damaged, but the worst of it was the shifter linkage bushings. Mother of God was that a total nightmare to remove and replace. Subaru decided to use this crazy spring pin with an inner additional spring pin to hold the linkage in place along with 20 years of age didn't help. I had to cut the old linkage apart in order to get a ball joint press tool up there and push out the pin.
When I put it back together I applied a good amount of anti-sieze compound and made my own linkage pin from a filed down aluminum rod with a cotter pin on top and bottom to hold it in place. All these recent difficult repairs took their toll and really got me to the point where I don't want to work on cars for a while.
Next the wife decided to remodel the kitchen, so I've been removing tile from a concrete slab. I'm going to take a couple week break then get back into the garage to get more done on the Accord. At least it's inside, off the ground and not acquiring any more damage.

Sounds like you have your hands full over there. Best of luck to you.

Finally at a point where I can start getting back into the garage and turning wrenches on the Accord. Finished the last house project with remodeling the kitchen. Got the garage straightened out, added new overhead lights, additional outlets, got most of the misc stuff either in the attic or stored on the walls. Picked up a new toolbox from Home Depot, something I've always wanted. Bought a 2 piece Husky toolbox for $399. Rolled it up to the register and before I went to ring it up, the cashier offered me $100 off if I opened a Home Depot credit card. Fine with me, I just paid the bill and closed the account. Out the door for $329.

Bad news, the company where I was working for the last 5 years went belly-up at the end of last year, so now I'm out of work and trying to find a new career. Been job hunting the last 3 weeks.

Still having trouble sleeping which is dangerous (military related) because I spend too much time on YouTube (completely streaming media now, no cable) and got the idea planted in my head to buy a wrecked NB Miata and swap the drivetrain into the Accord converting it to RWD. I have the tools and the talent and resources for answers, but it's a huge undertaking. I'm not 100% sold on it just yet, still exploring the idea and everything related. I've also been considering a more modern engine/transmission combo too. Leaning towards a Ford Zetec 4 cylinder, Audi TT 225hp 4 cyl or even the SR20 Nissan motor.

I've seen the Audi swap into the Rabbit (MK1 Golf) with insane power to weight ratio and I know the MK1 engine bay is smaller than the Accord's.

Just really shooting ideas out into the open without taking the leap right now. Thoughts and or comments are welcome.

Sorry to hear you lost your job. Get that handled first. Then decide what to do with the Accord.

I'm ok for a while. Only 1 car payment, mortgage is under control, wife is in a stable job and I have my military retirement to help out. Still looking for a new position though.

Hola, Excelente trabajo con este HONDA.
Qué tipo de amortiguadores KONICO se colocaron?
tengo un HONDA Accord LXi 1988, CA5. Necesito cambiar los de mi carro, pero no encuentro nuevo ni en desarme.
Todo dato para encontrar un reemplazo alternativo, se agradece.
Saludos a todos.