Lurker turned owner

[spazmos]

Hi all! So I've been a member on 3geez for about a year now it must be, but have never posted on here. There's a bit of a back story to this.

So my grandmother owned a beautiful 1988 Accord LX hatchback, 5 speed manual, and garaged its whole life. And it only has 112,000 kilometres on it! (That's roughly 70,000 miles!)

Sadly though, my Nana passed away not too long ago, but for the past year or two she had promised me her car. No one else wants it and I loved the thing growing up. When I first saw the pop up lights I loved it to pieces. I haven't actually got the car yet as I'm also moving house (I know, there's a lot going on right now!) but I am gonna cherish this 3gee.

I have had a passion for cars since I was about 4 years old, so it seems only fitting that the heirloom I get from my grandparents is a car. My grandfather (who passed away a year prior) always took meticulous care of both of their cars, his one being a 1986 Nissan Laurel. He did most of the driving, so before he passed away the Accord only had about 90,000 kilometres on it. It just sat in their garage unless it went out for a warrant of fitness or something.

I have plans for this car, so sometime in the future expect a build thread from me.

I have some kinda crappy photos of the car in question. Glad to be a part of this awesome community finally.

[conozo]

Nice, I was going to say where is the rust. But then i noticed that your brake system is gone, where did it go?

[spazmos]

Nice, I was going to say where is the rust. But then i noticed that your brake system is gone, where did it go?

Do you mean the ABS? If my grandad was around I would ask him. From what it looks like it didn't come with ABS but it has a brake booster, if that's what you mean..? You probably can't see it in the crappy photos, the lens cover on the back of my phone has gone cloudy.

[conozo]

Do you mean the ABS? If my grandad was around I would ask him. From what it looks like it didn't come with ABS but it has a brake booster, if that's what you mean..? You probably can't see it in the crappy photos, the lens cover on the back of my phone has gone cloudy.

Nevermind, i see now that your car is right hand drive, so thats why i didnt see it.

My car is a family heirloom too, grew up in the car and I never want to get rid of it.

[spazmos]

Nevermind, i see now that your car is right hand drive, so thats why i didnt see it.

Yeah I'm in New Zealand, probably should have mentioned that. lol

[2ndGenGuy]

Mint hatch!

[spazmos]

Mint hatch!

Thanks man! Yeah I have seen a few 3geez around in the past around here in NZ. I know two owners/ex owners of some. The first is my mate who had a red DX sedan auto carb, he has since sold it and it was giving him problems, was in pretty average condition really. The second is someone I have met recently, a friend of a friend's brother has a white 1989 LX sedan auto carb, been garaged it's whole life also and also has low mileage, sadly it isn't in as good a condition. Perhaps it needs a bit of a wash and stuff like that, but yeah I'm pretty proud of my hatch.

To be honest I have never seen another hatch on our NZ roads and I've lived here for 20 years. And I'm 20!

My Nana had told me that while she had been driving it around after the passing of my grandad, that about four different people have come up to her at fuel stations and asked her if she's selling the Accord, and if she ever does here's my number kinda thing. So it's rare even for New Zealand, especially in such good condition. Considering it's a manual as well, it's hard to find even a poor condition manual 3gee here. So I'm pretty proud of her, needless to say.

One thing I am definitely glad about is this community. Honestly, if I had never stumbled across 3geez about a year ago I would have no clue what to do with her. So I have some ideas for her, so watch this space.

[Fixedit]

Sweet ride my man, made a little mess in my pants that is such a nice 3gee. Glad she's in good hands

[spazmos]

I have a long list of potential plans for this awesome hatch, should I post it here? Or does that belong in another subforum?

[spazmos]

Ah what the hell, here goes.

ENGINE/EXHAUST
A20A2 CARB
- Weber DGES 38/38
- Snorkel kit (either a K&N Weber adapter or the Redline Performance snorkel adapter kit incl. hose)
- OBX 4-1 stainless steel headers/Pacesetter 4-2-1 headers
- 2.25" test pipe (no cat, didn't come with one anyway, also is legal in NZ)
- 2.25" cat back exhaust system
- Dual 3" tip rear muffler
- Red H/T leads

TRANSMISSION
5 speed manual transmission
- Short shift linkage
- Upgraded bushings

WHEELS/SUSPENSION
- DTM Sugoi 15"
- Anodised wheel nuts (maybe)
- Bilstein B4 series shocks
- H&R performance springs set (moderate lowering) (maybe)

INTERIOR
- Autometer Auto Gage series vacuum gauge (mounted in single pod on left side of gauge cluster housing)
- 52mm (2") fuel pressure, oil pressure and oil temp gauges mounted in 3-gauge pod in front of clock
- Reclinable bucket race-style seat (driver's seat only, because hatchback needs to have a folding passenger seat)
(also needs to be bucket because the factory seat sits too high for my liking)

[conozo]

Weber, Suspension, and good tires will make your good car even better. All the extras you mentioned are icing on the cake. That will be a nice ride.

[spazmos]

Weber, Suspension, and good tires will make your good car even better. All the extras you mentioned are icing on the cake. That will be a nice ride.

Well I'm glad my mods are gonna be seen as tasteful then.

I think my first plan of attack will be a flipped lid (of course), then the winking mod (there's a how-to thread by a 3geez user, I forget the name) then wheels, headers & exhaust system, Weber & vacuum gauge, in that order. Everything else I'll either add in at random points or after the mods I just mentioned, but I'll figure them out later.

[Hauntd ca3]

Welcome from Invercargill .
I'd start with wheels and suspension first, then carb and exhaust and everything else after that.
Best to have nice tight suspension and have the car nice and planted for a start then move from there.
If you talk nicely to matt or aaron (a18a and accordb20a ) they may be able to point you in the right direction for
Any parts you may need since they are both up your end of the country .

[spazmos]

Welcome from Invercargill .
I'd start with wheels and suspension first, then carb and exhaust and everything else after that.
Best to have nice tight suspension and have the car nice and planted for a start then move from there.
If you talk nicely to matt or aaron (a18a and accordb20a ) they may be able to point you in the right direction for
Any parts you may need since they are both up your end of the country .

It should probably be noted that I don't intend to daily drive her. As it's an heirloom I want to keep it in pristine condition for a long time. The more I drive it, the more risk there is of someone crashing into me or something, then I'd be pretty upset. I have a 1997 Integra sedan, 1.6 auto single cam piece of crap with pretty rough paint. I could bump that into something and dent it and not really care. But in saying that the Integra is really easy to drive and has fantastic visibility and a great driving position, so for me it's a perfect daily that can take a beating. The Accord? No way would I daily her.

Thanks for the heads-up on some other North Island 3geez members, good to know who's around me.

And I forgot about suspension, I think it would be wheels then suspension actually.

[Hauntd ca3]

Good to hear you don't want to muck with it to much.
Keep it as a weekend toy as a few of us do ( that's what my Si is going to be )
Check your local suspension shop , I think George stocks is in Auckland, see if they can get king springs to suit the hatch.
I have some low kings in my accord, they are pretty nice riding with some good shocks.
Even just some Monroe sensatracs or KYB ones will be nice .
Koni are nice, but expensive for new ones. Don't stick coil overs in it, you'll get the urge to drop it on its arse and completely screw the ride and handling.
And, if you cant find info you want on a 3g here , it doesn't exist

[spazmos]

Good to hear you don't want to muck with it to much.
Keep it as a weekend toy as a few of us do ( that's what my Si is going to be )
Check your local suspension shop , I think George stocks is in Auckland, see if they can get king springs to suit the hatch.
I have some low kings in my accord, they are pretty nice riding with some good shocks.
Even just some Monroe sensatracs or KYB ones will be nice .
Koni are nice, but expensive for new ones. Don't stick coil overs in it, you'll get the urge to drop it on its arse and completely screw the ride and handling.
And, if you cant find info you want on a 3g here , it doesn't exist

I would quite happily replace the shocks and not even do the springs. I haven't actually driven it yet (its still sitting in my Nana's garage), but from the ol' wobble test it seems pretty soft. I would love some Bilstein shocks if I can get them for the car. At some point I'll be getting inheritance money, I have no idea how much that will be yet but I intend to use some of that on the 3gee, so who knows, maybe I could afford some Koni suspension or something even nicer. Thanks so much for the advice though.

At first I was gonna do things like an external oil cooler, upturned/slant cut pipes at the back, black deep dish steelies and all that crap, but I realise now that that would be tacky, and I don't want that at all for this car. So yeah I don't wanna do too much to it, really.