quick, 3g in the shop

[snoopyloopy]

anyway, the mechanic told me that basically, the whole front suspension + drivetrain + motor mounts + steering is just about gone. he said it should be < $2000 to fix it all, so i'm gonna have him do the job. the tranny is gone too, but i'll pass on that and just put in a 5-speed instead. but other parts. what performance parts can i have him stick on? things like those moog lower ball joints. where can i find them? and do we have prothane (or similar) mounts available for us? and i suppose now is a perfect time to may throw on an addco sway bar. but anyway, back to the main question. he'll be fixing motor mounts + suspension + steering system. he said he'll be buying almost all new parts, so what performance parts can he put on and how easy are they to come by?

[mkymonkey]

damn....two freaking grand? crap. whats wrong with the front suspension and steering?

[MessyHonda]

you would have to get OEM mounts...un less you want to get solid mounts from johnny O. for the suspension...get some lude arms just in case you want to lower it in the future.you can get moog lower ball joints for 30 bucks a pop from rock auto...i got mine there....also i think protane has some lower control arm busshings for our car. i dont think you should spend 2000 bucks on geting it fixed...its not worth it when you can save that money and get your b20 ported and polished....cant you just drive the eclipse and keep the honda in storage?

[shepherd79]

he is charging you $2K to do all that. that is rip off.
did he actually gave the lay out of what needs to be fixed exactly?

you can get all the replacement parts easy.
as far as sway bars, you are out of luck. i think companies stoped making them for our cars.
bushings. well you have to mix and match, it can take a lot of time and money.
thank god i know how to fix cars. shit for $2K i can rebuild my car from top to the bottom.

[snoopyloopy]

damn....two freaking grand? crap. whats wrong with the front suspension and steering?

well, he put it up on the lift and said he was just going over everything as well as he drove it a little. he said it'd be probably around $1500, but i just took the liberty to round up to $2000. and he said the rack & pinion is moving around, so he has to replace that. he has to replace axles, motor mounts, engine seals (because it leaks some oil), lower ball joints, and some other things. and then labor on top of that. so i just figured i'll prepare myself for $2000 and if it comes out less, i'll take the extra money and go to the casino or something. but basically, he says he doesn't like doing half-ass jobs. if he's going to be doing something, he wants to do it right and all at once with quality parts. and i like that idea. on top of that, though, i have some of the suspension parts in my garage because i was going to change them myself. so i could potentially save money by giving them to him.

you would have to get OEM mounts...un less you want to get solid mounts from johnny O. for the suspension...get some lude arms just in case you want to lower it in the future.you can get moog lower ball joints for 30 bucks a pop from rock auto...i got mine there....also i think protane has some lower control arm busshings for our car. i dont think you should spend 2000 bucks on geting it fixed...its not worth it when you can save that money and get your b20 ported and polished....cant you just drive the eclipse and keep the honda in storage?

ahh, but that's the problem. the eclipse also is not a running car. so i need to get either the accord or the eclipse fixed asap because driving my dad's car is getting old fast. it's too slow. also, even if i did have the eclipse running and could store the accord, the problems wouldn't be gone. so i think i'll just spend the money now and get it fixed. the money i'm not worried about. i figure i can take out a loan if i have to and get both cars fixed for good. after all, i did get it for free. so i guess i finally get to pay for it. but i see it this way. i can spend $2000 getting it fixed and know it's in good condition. or i can take the $2000 and maybe add another $1000 and buy a newer car. but most $3000 cars aren't necessarily in that great of a mechanical condition and i might actually be in the exact same spot i am now. so that's why i'm having it fixed. and i also already have the b20a all lined up.
and mechanic says the upper control arms are alright, he's not going to bother them. (and i just changed them right before i sent it down to the shop so they better be still good.) but lower ball joints are gone, so that's why i was looking for the moog ones. but prothane bushings, you say? and which sway bars are bigger--addco or st? i might have him put those on too while he's at it.

[MessyHonda]

il talk to you later cuz now im going to school....my AIM sn is UNotLikeMeCuz

[guaynabo89]

moog front radius arm poly bushings

prothane bushings (heard poly bushings squeak though)

mix and math your endlink and sway bar bushings to waht energey suspension have available

[keruhas184]

Get the OEM ball joints and mounts from majestic honda, it is worth to pay a little extra for those parts.

[Sabz5150]

Tell him to replace the oil pump seals. Most people mistake that for crank seal leakage.

[thegreatdane]

Why bother with the engine if your swapping in a B20A?

lower balljoints are cheap, axle I wouldnt bother fixing if it's the drivers side one since you wont be using that with the B20A.

[w261w261]

Maybe it's time to take a half-step back and ask yourself: "Do I love this car absolutely, and am going to keep it for several years, so no matter how much more money I put into it I don't care because I love it." Or is this more of an economic decision, a trade-off between fixing an existing car (the devil you know) and buying another one (the devil you don't). If it's love, then go ahead on...now might be the time to think about springs/shocks as long as the front end is apart. Make sure the mechanic lubes ALL the new bushings and all the old ones he has apart with silicone grease. I've noticed not a lot of mechanics do that, and the squeaking, particularly from the upper arm bushings, is a real pain. Oil leaks from the oil filter housing are typical. To get at the rear main seal you have to drop the tranny, and thats a few hundred in labor, so make sure that's what's leaking. Maybe fix that when you deal w/ the tranny later.

If this is more an economic decision, now is definitely the time to do an overall assessment of what else needs to be done. You'll never see the money you're putting into the car, so make sure that after you take this big hit, that something else isn't waiting around the corner. Many people have gotten sucked into big repair bills, with no way to recover. It's not pretty when it happens.

[Legend_master]

Dude, I spent 1 grand to completely rebuild by front suspension with with 11" rotors and calipers, poly bushings, new ball joints, tie rods, bearings, everything. You can get sway bars from Suspension Techniques, you can get all the poly bushings from nopi. You can even get poly sway bar bushings for the factory sway bar.

[HondaBoy]

i'm sorry, but i think that mechanic is trying to make a quick buck. i'm going to school for auto tech and i've seen how you can screw people with parts they dont need. engine mounts and some suspension parts yes, but damn, $1500 or $2000 sounds like a rip, big time.

[snoopyloopy]

yes, i do think i will be keeping the car for another few years. and it's not only the suspension he'll be fixing and putting in new motor mounts. there's a host of other little perks he'll be taking care of at the same time. so the price he quoted me sounds about right for all that needs to be done especially since he's buying new oem parts which he said he would do. (although i might just tell him to use remanufactured stuff for some parts to cut the cost. and beyond that, i have some of the suspension parts sitting in my room because i was going to change them so i might just give those to him too.) but if upgrades are available, i might as well have them done now while he's at it is how i see it. so that prompted this thread. so anyway, so far we have moog lbj's (but are they really better than oem?), st sway bar, poly bushings from nopi.
and the reason i'm bothering to do the axles even though i'm getting a b20a is because the b20a isn't going in soon as it lands stateside. it'll be two-three months at best before i get around to installing it. so in that interim, i need axles.

[snoopyloopy]

well, 3g is now out of the shape unchanged due to the lack of the bank having faith in me. but the shit still needs to be changed/fixed. so still taking suggestions on parts. here's a list of what would've been fixed:
axles (so consequently, cv joints)
tranny fluid + filter change + adjusting of solenoids
steering rack & pinion
motor mounts
overheating problem
lower ball joints
tie rods
problem where when i put on my hazards, they won't come on. then for the next 10 minutes, my turn signals won't work either.

[MessyHonda]

well, 3g is now out of the shape unchanged due to the lack of the bank having faith in me. but the shit still needs to be changed/fixed. so still taking suggestions on parts. here's a list of what would've been fixed:
axles (so consequently, cv joints)
tranny fluid + filter change + adjusting of solenoids
steering rack & pinion
motor mounts
overheating problem
lower ball joints
tie rods
problem where when i put on my hazards, they won't come on. then for the next 10 minutes, my turn signals won't work either.

dont you have any mechanic friends? just buy them a 6 pack and food....lol most of the stuff can be done in your driveway..like axels...took my uncle and me like a hour...at the same time you can also drain and refill your tranny...motor mounts are not hard...if you change one at a time and have the right support.

[snoopyloopy]

yeah, that's what i'm going to do. but i'm hesitant on doing the axles since i'm doing a 5 speed swap and so then at least one of them will be useless. and no, i am the mechanic friend, lol. so it's the other way around if anything. but also, he was going to be charging me for all brand new oem parts. if i'm doing it myself, i won't mind remanufactured for stuff like the r&p and axles. those were probably the biggest expenses out of the job anyway besides the labor, especially to figure out the electrical problem.