Soul_Popper's 1989 Lxi project

[soul_popper]

My First build thread and I wanted to start this a bit sooner but oh well, and I know I'm not the best writer so please bare with my guys...Post is a bit long sorry


History of car:
I recently got a 1989 Honda Accord lxi 5 spd for 475 Bucks. Which I think over payed for considering all the work it needs, year, and mileage (243k on body and motor) but I fell in love the body style so in the end I can't argue. The guy who I bought the car off of was nice enough to hold the car for me till I had the money and it was in very rough shape but some what very well maintained over the years (about a 4 inch stack of recipients & documentation of all the work and maintenance done to the car over there years) So with that being said the project begins .

The good: runs and drives, interiors decent and just about everything other then the ac works. Under the car isnt rusted to hell like most cars this age especially considering all the salt over the winters (im from connecticut)

The Bad: quater panel rust, needs fenders, driver side corner light, driver side taillight, Rocker panel rust, passenger mirror, and has a misfire & a oil leak believe its just from the valve cover but havent looked into it.

Its a big project and I'm on a budget but I wanna do things right the first time & i already feel invested and committed

My plans condensed : Bodywork - Suspension - swap - Paint

Goals - reliable as I plan on daily driving the car but im not driving it till I'm done with most to all the work. My hp goals are 350 - 400 whp

Ive been floating around piecing a bunch of the information i need as im new to accords but i need help and info on the swap , i searched but
havent found much specifics. I know i need the motor, tranny, ecu, wiring harness, axels, and shift linkage and custom mounts but I'm not sure what axels I need and about the wiring. I decided to go with a d16z6 with a d16y8 head with a ef si tranny but before u guys knock on me and give me a hard time I'm set on this motor swap. Since I'm getting it for cheap & The a20a3 currently in there is kinda strong with everything considered but there's no after market support and my goals are 400 whp . This is my biggest obstacle parts are extremely rare and I'd rather drop in a lower mileage motor that's cheap and easy to replace in worst case scenario , compared to custom parts most the a20s need . I'm getting the motor and tranny for about $200 with goodies plus some other parts I might buy from a friend. Downside is I'd have to wait till he comes back from basic training to get the parts. But till then I'll read up and work on the rest of the car.

So far I started prepping for the body work. I've sanded down the whole car already. I'm probably going to start doing the bondo tomorrow and work on the quarters and rockers on Monday.

It took me a whole week of searching but I finally found the parts I need , tried every place online that seemed trust worthy with no results and junkyards all over but I finally found all the parts I needed for the car in a junkyard in western up state NY a 5 hour drive from where I'm located. They would only ship it freight for 220$ just for shipping so I decided to just take the drive. So I'm going to go on Friday morning soonest day I'd be able to go and they were closed this weekend for the holiday.

I'll post pics in a bit and I'll keep you guys posted on any work I do on it even if no ones reads this.

[Tdurr]

Im liking the sounds of this. Good deal man! Deff post any updates(and pics) you have as we loog a good restore/build!

[soul_popper]

Update : Ended up having to hold off on doing the body work as I injured my leg the other day. I did get to doing a tiny bit but not much. I'm still trying to post pics but not sure how to post pics yet .

[soul_popper]

Picked up the d16 cable tranny with shift linkage for 100 bucks the other night off a friend. I also seen a d17a1 motor on cl for cheap i might pick up friday as well if the guy still has it. If he does then im building the d16z6 block to a stroker. Using some of the d17 internals . Hope the guy still has it, ill let u guys know soon.

[Tdurr]

have fun doing the D swap. lol

[soul_popper]

Update: so I went to upstate ny and picked up the fenders corner lights and a new Hood latch and installed them the next day. I also ended up picking up that d17a1 block from that guy on cl looks in decent shape.

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[soul_popper]

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[soul_popper]

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[soul_popper]

I was going to just try and cut and patch sheets of metal in the quarters but I ended up deciding on just buying replacements. So waiting for the quaterpanel replacements to get here, it will save me so much time and headaches from the rust and crap bondo job previous owner did on quarter panels.

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[nastytee]

It looks promising! Looks like a nice score since it still runs.

[soul_popper]

Thanks for the encouragement, Its been a while since i updated but i got the quater panel replacements a few days ago. I haven't got around to doing them yet ima have a buddy help me with it soon . I also got a pair of rims for a decent price. decided to drive the car for the time being till the swap gets done cause of school and work reasons.

Also coming in the mail, new valve cover gasket, o ring to fix oil leak, gallon of primer + activator, new steering wheel, shifter and boot , pedal covers .


I preferred to keep them silver but decided to paint them black since the plastic film on them was crap.







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[MessyHonda]

cool build thread. i was wondering if the b swap mounts could help you swap in a D.

[soul_popper]

Thanks and yea from the research I did the driver side and top tranny mount are the same just the passenger and tranny bracket mounts differ from the b and d . Wasn't sure if I should just buy the b series Innovative mounts and adjust them to work or just buy some d series mounts and customize those to suit my needs . Does any one happen to know why u guys swap axels and mix and match intermidate shafts ? Is it due to the length? Or spline count? Kinda of a noob question but any help would be greatly appreciated .

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[soul_popper]

Update got the quater replacements in im no professional but it came out all right my friend helped me with a bit of the body work still got alot to go

We figerglassed the gaps in the crappy job i did and i just got to do the rest of the bondo once everything sanded down, which ill do throught out the week hopefully.

















More to come soon.

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[soul_popper]

Also did wires, cap, rotor, valve cover gasket new pcv vavle and degreased the motor from the oil build up from the valve cover leak .

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[Tdurr]

Respect. That's some dedication there!

[soul_popper]

Respect. That's some dedication there!

Thanks man i try lol


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[soul_popper]

Update : So my steering wheel hub didn't fit it was slightly to big so im waiting for the new one to come .

Decided to boost the a20a3 soon. When i eventually use it as my daily. Got a couple turbo things laying around so it shouldn't be to much to boost the a20.

Sanded down the center caps for the rims and have the horn center out. They are sanded down and prepped for printing .



My pops works at a printing company so ima have him print some thing on them. Now the question is what should i have him do??? Here are some options, any ideas would be great . It could be anything.



I plan to epoxy them after aswell so it would have a nice rounded glassy finish

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[Shane86]

Nice body work how long did that take

[soul_popper]

Took me a most of a saturday just stripping the interior and getting the moldings off and a just few hours to weld & cut the quater replacements . Then a few more hours to do the body work so far. Hopefully the rest should be done soon . So maybe like 6-8 hours in body work and like another 6 -8 in sanding

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[soul_popper]

Before



After




I might change it eventually to white with the honda logo in chrome red

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[Tdurr]

I like this reverse

[Dr_Snooz]

Nice work!

[soul_popper]

Nice work!

Thanks man

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[soul_popper]

So haven't worked on the car much but i did manage to do most the bondo. I might have to do a bit more after sanding but haven't been able to sand yet cause its still a bit tacky so it clogs the sand paper. So ill just wait till its completly cured. Other then that i just need to do the rocker panels.









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