Starting out

[Arseassin]

Hello everyone, I am new to these forums, so let me describe my car before I get to asking questions

I recently purchased an 89 Honda Accord LX 5-speed for 1000$, body is in great shape except for a dent near the driver side door, and a broken foglight in the front, and it only has 188k on it.

I bought the car as is, and when I first got it it looked pretty rough, the entire outside of the car was covered in black mildew spots (and since the car is white, they *really* stood out), and the interior had alot of dirt and grass n crap in it, and the car had obviously never been cleaned well.

The owner was just ready to get rid of it, because he never drove it anymore, and aside from a cracked distributor cap, it ran fine.

When I finally started it I got it home and threw some bleach on it, which cleaned all of the mildew spots off of it, then I washed it and waxxed it, it looks great now.
I got into the interior and vaccumed/shampoo'ed/armorall'ed everything, and the interior is now absolutely goregus, looks and smells brand spanking new.

As far as the engine goes, the car runs extremely well, I have replaced the distributor cap, and I've already driven it about 800 miles in the two weeks I've had it, it is extremely good on gas mileage.

I did run into some problems with it because I live in the city of Atlanta and have to have emissions, and it wouldnt pass emissions due to over-idling, so I took it to the shop, and they said it would cost more than the car was worth to fix it, so I managed to work something out where I got my tag at my fathers house who lives up in the mountains so I havent had to deal with emissions.

So far I have had no problems whatsoever with the engine giving me trouble, that little car will sh-t it and get it for having such a small engine :P

Anyways, I have come here to ask those of you who are already much further down the path than me, where do I start?

I am looking to get some new rims, custom tail and head lights, and perhaps a body kit.

I would also like to spruce up the interior some and give it a more modern look to it, but I'm not sure where to start.

Basically I would like to know what everyone reccomends as far as the best for the price parts, and where to get them, I personally dont know much about cars, I've worked on them on and off my whole life with family and friends, but nothing serious, and this car will hopefully be what teaches me how to do everything.

I would personally like to start with window tints, and I was wondering what everyones opinion is on this:
I have always been skeptical of the do-it-yourself tints, because I tried them on my old wrangler and it looked like crap, but I was in wal-mart the other night and they have some do-it-yourself tint kits that go down to I think 5%, which is extremely dark, and the instructions seem to be logically solid to me, what would yall reccomend? I figure its only 10 bucks for the all of the tinting, so I wouldnt lose much if it didnt work right.

Also does anyone know what the legal tint limit is in georgia? :P

I found a site tonight that someone had made a while ago about their steps in upgrading their 88 accord, and since the sight was so old, most of the faq's he had were not found, so I kept searching and found this place.

Hope I can learn something from everyone and be an asset to the site


BTW, I hopefully will have pictures up before too long.

[3gn86lxi]

You will learn alot from these guys, I know that I have. First of all, aftermarket support is very poor for our year Accords, it takes some searching to get things.
Don't tint the windows yourself if you want them to look decent, pay to have it done proffesionally.
Good luck, and welcome to the board!

[snow_man_20]

Welcome dude, I'm a newbie too! Your state law for tinting is 32% net on the sides and back. You also can only tint the top 6" of your windsheild. If you know anybody in law inforcment i would ask them how lax the law is. In oregon it's 35% but you can get away with 25% and only get stoped mabie once every 6 months. If you go down to 5% you better leave 30 to 40 min. earlier for work to make it on time. My bro has 5% over factory on his 96 jeep and has only got stoped once in 10 months but it's a suv and cops don't stop suv as much for tint. I would also have the shop do the tint. Why do it twice right?

[truetune]

welcome Home dood, you will learn a lot here soo much info to review its just awesome.

[A20A1]

Over-idling
How high is your idle... may just need a carb rebuild ( DIY kit for $30 - $40 ) and or some new 5/32" vacuum lines.

Or it could be a bad adjustment on the part of the previous owner.

[Arseassin]

Well, the over idling is kinda wierd.

When you first start the car, it will idle at about 3000-4000s for a while, but after the car has been driven for a few hours, when you stop, if it is still idling high, you can just punch the gas, and the rpm's will gradually go down to normal.

The guy who I bought the car from is a very close friend of the family, whenI bought the car I looked in the glove box and there was even a little notebook that he jotted every single thing he had ever done to the car in it, from putting in more washer fluid, to getting the brakes changed, and I'm sure he didnt get in there and screw with it.

[Neuspeed87lx]

lower it.... put some 15,16, or 17 inch black or gunmetal rims with a silver lip on it .... paint the tails all red.... and tint the windows... thats all i would do to the outside... welcome to the board man

[Dr._8t9LX]

Factory Fog lights or Aftermarket?

Welcome aborad!! Use the search feature and this site will answer all your questions.

[Arseassin]

I'm pretty sure they are factory, they have the ugly orange in them, and the left one has the cover broken on it..

I also have a few more questions reguarding the car..

Firstly, tonight I took the ash tray off and noticed a little green light in the top of it that doesnt seem to work, as well as above my cd player there is a green light that I have never seen come on.. anyone know what I can do to get those working?

Also, I would like to know if it is possible for me to change the bulbs in certain locations such as the trunk light, and the door lights, to perhaps brighter and/or different colored lights, and if so, what size and where should I get them?

I would also like to know if anyone knows where I can get a seatcover to cover the back seat, I already have a zen and yin-yang seatcover for the front, and if possible I would like a peace/dragon themed seatcover for the back, preferably black, if not, do any of you know where I could get a plain black seatcover to fit the back?

Thanks

[snow_man_20]

Clear front "fog" lights (without Ugly orange in middle) on ebay. $25 + shipping

[sporkHSP]

i wanna see pics, but i think you are talking about the turn signal lights, not fog lights... i could be wrong tho.
want afew extra ponies? search for the civic air box mod... its a sticky in the carb tech sub-forum.
tints (professional), lowering, all red or tinted tails, and H4 headlight conversion are all good mods in my opinion.

[snow_man_20]

i wanna see pics, but i think you are talking about the turn signal lights, not fog lights... i could be wrong tho.
want afew extra ponies? search for the civic air box mod... its a sticky in the carb tech sub-forum.
tints (professional), lowering, all red or tinted tails, and H4 headlight conversion are all good mods in my opinion.

what is the h4 headlight conversion???

[AccordNut]

the H4 conversion is basically the same headlight you're using now...but instead of having a sealed beam where you cant change out the bulb, you can switch out the lights with almost any headlight beam you want. I just bought some on ebay and my lights are super bright, people keep flashing me when i pass them lol. Its deifinitely worth it, you could even use colored lights if you want, totally customizable.

[snow_man_20]

the H4 conversion is basically the same headlight you're using now...but instead of having a sealed beam where you cant change out the bulb, you can switch out the lights with almost any headlight beam you want. I just bought some on ebay and my lights are super bright, people keep flashing me when i pass them lol. Its deifinitely worth it, you could even use colored lights if you want, totally customizable.

thankx i just read all about it in a thread i'm going to do it in a few months.

[A20A1]

Well, the over idling is kinda wierd.

When you first start the car, it will idle at about 3000-4000s for a while, but after the car has been driven for a few hours, when you stop, if it is still idling high, you can just punch the gas, and the rpm's will gradually go down to normal.

The 3,000 to 4,000 rpm is the fast idle

usually 4,000 is a bit high for fast idle in my opinion.

Fast idle is used to warm up the motor quickly.

Usually you'll find that the fast idle will go away as the temp needle starts to raise... or once the temp needle has moved to normal operating temp.

There is a linkage on the fast idle that is affected by pressing the gas pedal... but I can't explain those things in detail cause I'm not entirely sure of the mechanics myself.