This page just details most of the things I've done with this car. It's like my personal record keeper, so you don't have to look. Yup.

let me tell you when i got my car first of all. i got this car from a possible racer, but that's okay because i brought it to the honda dealer and they said it was fine, had strong compression throughout. the only thing that was wrong was the clutch master cylinder was leaking and the tires had maybe 5-10k miles left. i was able to drop the price from $13.5k to $13k flat. it had 57k miles and was running xint.

the car might have been raced out a little bit, but i'm not sure. he said the previous owner was a stereo guy and he just used the car over the weekend. with the few miles he added, i believe him. felt like a strong car to me, compared to the civic anyway. it's okay because i had the car looked over before i bought it. it had 200 compression across the board. pretty good. after i received the car, i immediately did a tune up replacing the spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, coolant flush, brake fluid, valve adjustment, and front brake pads. a few days later, i replaced the fuel filter, crankcase filter, and routed one of the coolant lines.

may 7, 1999
busted a fuel service bolt a few days earlier while releasing the fuel pressure. ended up having my car out of commision for a while. changed that and it runs great.

may 22, 1999
friend from the dealership hooked me up with this 3 bottle fuel system cleaner. one goes in the tank, another for the throttle body, and the last for the intake manifold. runs even better. woohoo...

june 9, 1999
i did the throttle-body coolant bypass. feel maybe something, but could be nothing.

june 21-22, 1999
replaced the 92-93 prelude wheels with the 94 and up vtec wheels. supposed to be 17 pounds compared to 22.5 lbs i was using. i think i felt a difference. could just be my money talking.

august 4, 1999
changed the tranny fluid myself and saved $40.00. took much longer than a dealership probably would, but i'm happy i did it myself and saved money too.

newer updates...

nov 15, 1999
got my slicks installed perfect by a friend who works at a dealership. freaking ran over a ladder on the freeway and i flat both my right side tires. freaking almost brand new dunlop sp8000's. having new ones hopefully installed thursday. running on my cousin's jacknife s7's with bf goodrich 205/40/16's. feel a gain in acceleration, even the steering feels more neutral probably from the smaller diameter tires up front. good note is that i'm shooting for 14's with these mickey thompson's at the pomona on nov 27-8. should be good to go.

nov 18, 1999
put in 2 sp8000's in the front wheels. turns out great, but the steering doesn't feel as neutral anymore and the acceleration doesn't feel as quick. i think i'll buy a set of low profile tires just for the hell of it one of these days anyway.

nov 24, 1999
did an oil change myself with honda oil filter and castrol gtx oil. i think it's the first time with no annoying oil spilling all over the place, so i'm happy. preparing for pomona coming up this weekend.

nov 29, 1999
day back from pomona. some good things and some bad things. slicks are broken in and i got some low 2.1 60 ft times. much better than the 2.4's with street tires. problem though is that i missed a couple gears on some of my runs and the best i could manage was a 15.078 @ 89.27 mph. i missed 4th gear at least on that one, so i'm sure i could have broken into the 14's with a little better driving. oh yeah, kick ass burnout on the 1st run. only had 3 runs which was disappointing. fastest mph was the last run with a 15.162 @ 90.78 mph. this was a great run, but i didn't use up 1st and 2nd gear to its all. oh well. i'll do better at carlsbad or the next pomona or something. i'll have pics of the timeslips after i get my digicam.

dec 7, 1999
thought i had an alternator problem on my car because i kept getting this buzzing on the low end that was near the alternator/header. dad thought it was an exhaust leak. brought it to a mechanic and it was an exhaust leak. tightened up a few bolts and what do you know, it's gone. said the studs on the engine are too short and the nuts don't close them up all the way. but i just have to keep an eye on it and it'll be okay. cool..

dec 10, 1999
car seems to be stalling on me a lot now. the idle gets so low that the car dies. it's like when i gas it, the rpm's go up like normal but fall very low under 500 and even lower and eventually dies. usually only happens after the car is fully warmed up. i'll try raising the idle when i have time.

jan 16, 2000
the car died on me twice making turns. when you let off the gas, the rpm needle goes down, but too too far down below 500 and sometimes even below that to the point of the car stalling. turned up the idle a little bit, and it seems to work so far. we'll see. will have more stuff coming soon.

jan 23, 2000
freaking someone keyed my car yesterday. really pissed. went all the way around the car. can't believe some people are like this. damn schmuck. guess i can't take pictures of the car just yet. hopefully insurance can handle it, but i'll still have to whip out the 500 deductible. damnit!

jan 24, 2000
just did an oil change at 75,620 miles. took about an hour, so it's getting better. used to take longer.

jan 27, 2000
used some meguiar's cleaner/wax (scratch remover) and it covers it up a little bit, but the deep scratches that are white will be there forever i guess. i'm going to try to use some touch up paint then use the wax and buff the thing like crazy. hopefully looks a little better.

feb 6, 2000
replaced my k&n air filter with a new one i had lying around. cleaned up the old one also. i don't know if it's me, but the car feels faster. i'll know for sure in the next couple of days. the old one might have been clogged up or something.

feb 27, 2000
day back from pomona. i had one run and did well for that run. check in the timeslip page for more information. good day though.

feb 29, 2000
I put back the old filter that was cleaned up. At Pomona, I was using the brand new filter because it gave me a little bit more power. I want to save it for special occasions or something. When I find a free filter or something, I'll use the new one. I also want to get some shocks and some infinity kappas.

Mar 17, 2000
This morning, I won a hifonics z440 amp on ebay and also bought some infinity kappas (for a great price) from the same guy. They should be delivered by Wednesday and I should install everything on thursday unless I have problems. Also, an oil change should be coming up once I buy a batch of oil filters.

Mar 29, 2000
I finally received my amp and speakers. The package was shit. There was an installation screw that I guess through bad shipping poked a small hole into the amp. It's maybe an 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch in depth. It pisses me off, but I don't think I want to return it solely on a cosmetic issue. I'll try to install it tomorrow after I go to DOW and pick up some rca cables, splitters, fuse, etc. Should turn out nice tomorrow. Oh, the amp and speakers look great.

Mar 30, 2000
I'm in the middle of installing all that stereo crap. I should be finished some time tomorrow. I need to talk with the hifonics technical support possibly. The instructions are a little bit vague and I need some clarification on a small thing. Just about the fuses. I'll have most of the install documented with pictures.

Mar 31, 2000
I finally got the thing started. The interior is all in pieces. I'm trying to make it look as clean as I can make it anyway. I'll have the whole story on my stereo page.

Apr 1, 2000
I could say that I'm finally done with the install. I say it took me close to 15 hours or even more. It's so tiring and I have the blood and sweat to go along with all this work. The final product looks and sounds pretty good. The trunk is kinda funny with particle board keeping the amp in place. It'll be like that until I find a more suitable answer. I'll have pics and descriptions on the stereo page soon.

Apr 7, 2000
Yesterday, I cleaned up the ground near the antenna and ground for the amp. I was getting a little static from the radio and some guys at Sound Domain told me to clean up the ground. I did yesterday by shaving off a little more paint and sanding it down. I also used a washer a little bit. Now... it works. I'm getting the stations pretty good. Stereo still sounds great. The bazooka... I don't know. I'm thinking of the sub when I find some money.

Apr 8, 2000
This morning I did an oil change on my car. I bought 4 honda oil filters and washers and it came up to freaking ~$33. I can't believe that crap. I called other honda dealers and one was actually more, but there was another dealer that had it for a buck less. I think next time I buy, I'll get like a dozen from online to save on shipping or buy it from the cheap dealer up near kearny mesa. Oil change was good. I'm getting faster at changing the oil. About 45 mins now. Being on your back sucks big time though. Everything was okay, so I'm happy.

Apr 13, 2000
I haven't driven my car in maybe more than a week. I'm taking my old 240Z to go to school and see my girlfriend. It's pretty cool though. I'm able to save my car a few miles and spend about the same amount of money on gas. Stereo still sounds great, but I really want to get a subwoofer now.

Apr 21, 2000
I found an ad for a used JL Audio 10w0 on SoundDomain.com for $40.00. After a few good emails, I decided to buy it and also signed up for PayPal. I used his name as a referral and paypal pays him 5 bucks for the referral and I get 5 bucks for signing up. So he was nice enough to honor the 5 buck discount and after the 5 bucks I get from paypal, my total cost on my part is 30 bucks shipped to my door which is super cool. I'm cheap... Yup! The guy... Jesse Choo is cool. He works at some dealership in Washington state that takes back leased cars and sells the stereo stuff that was in the car. I suggest everybody signs up for paypal just for the 5 bucks alone. I hope to build the box maybe sometime next week or the week after. I've got school stuff that's coming up.

Apr 28, 2000
The subwoofer came in yesterday. It looks pretty nice for a used subwoofer. I hooked it up with no box to my amp and I could barely hear anything. It really needs a box. It's basically worthless without a box. I should buy the supplies over the weekend and then put it together during the week. I'll have pictures of the sub soon and for the box later. It'll be cool.

May 1, 2000
I'm halfway done with building the box. I picked up speaker terminal cup at Ronnie's Electronics for 2 bucks and I should put it all together in the next few days. I don't think I'll put a carpet on till much later. Should sound great.

May 2, 2000
Almost done with the box. I just have to let the silicone (sealant) dry overnight and glue/screw the back on and I'm done. It's a learning experience though. I'm happy. Oh, my dad did half of it helping me out. Pictures up soon.

May 3, 2000
I'm pretty much done with building the box. I tested the subwoofer just a few mins ago. It sounds pretty good. It plays much lower than the bazooka and a little bit louder. I'd say it's cleaner too. Hmm... all I have left is to seal up the back panel, let it dry up and screw the sub in. I should be all done by tomorrow.

May 4, 2000
I'm done with the box and everything is hooked up. You can definitely tell the differencebetween feeding the amp 55 or 220 watts. It's not that loud, but loud enough for me. I'm not quite a bass head, so it's okay for me. The box works great. It's totally sealed. I'll have pictures up soon.

June 1, 2000
I haven't done much with the prelude because I've been driving around my 240Z for a while. It's a fun little car, but slow from the automatic. Yesterday I was smoked by a dirty looking 4speed 240Z. I think it was mostly the tranny that beat me, not the engine. I'll be putting up a page for that car and my girlfriend's corolla. Just bored I guess.

July 13, 2000
Yesterday I did an oil change on the car at 81,615. It's been about 3 months, so I figure it's enough time. I don't think I've passed 3,000 miles though. Everything went smoothly and the car ran much faster on a test drive. I plan on rotating the tires front to back in the next couple days.

July 18, 2000
I just rotated the tires front to back and vice versa. I figure I do it now since I've never done it before since I blew out the tires 8 months ago. The car has 81,886 miles. Since the dunlops are directional, they have to be this way. Cool.

July 23, 2000
A few days ago I decided to check out the sparkplugs on the lude. I recently checked the plugs on the z, so what the hell. They're a good blackish color, so I guess that's good. Also noticed that I'm running a colder NGK plug. I thought it was the correct plug, but I guess someone at honda sold me a colder plug, PFR7G-11. I think it's better for VTEC cars anyway. Good for me.

July 25, 2000
Couple days ago received the renewal of registration notice, means I need to get a smog check in the next upcoming few months. I probably have to change out the AEM intake because there's no fitting for the PCV valve, I think. One of those fittings. Either going to stick the akimoto that came with the car or put the stock one back, no filter, so I'll have to find one.

Aug 1, 2000
Today I took the car to get it smogged. I almost failed the HC test. The max is 125 and the car measured 124. Whew... Oh.. I switched out the AEM for the stock one. I'll put it back later, but it seems like the car is faster with the stock one. Weird... We'll see in the next few days. Oh yeah, the car is rock solid at 15 degrees timing.

Aug 2, 2000
After going to school, I was able to test drive the car and it feels faster with the new filter. I knew that all along. The old one just restricts more. I think I might buy a new filter as a reserve for this one. Hmm... and installing it was a pain in the ass. The rubber connectors were hell. Couldn't decide which one went where. And I think the filter is hitting something, so I have to check it out. Making noise.
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I took the bottom piece apart because it was rubbing against part of the car. I have kinda fixed it. Should be fine. I'll keep an eye on it.

Aug 21, 2000
The past week or so I've been playing with the tire pressure on the prelude. I'm trying to get rid of the annoying understeer and trying to get a neutral to slight oversteer balance. I like the oversteer of the 240z, that I'm now convinced that setting the tire pressure can affect the balance of the car. Currently I have 42psi rear and 32psi front. The car so far is very close to neutral if not there already. I'm going to try 44psi rear and see if that makes the difference. The max I'll go is 44psi rear because that's the tire's max pressure, so they say..

Aug 25, 2000
Today I drove around with the prelude with 44psi rear and 32psi front. The car seems very neutral, but I haven't had a space to really push the car hard in a corner. Maybe some time this weekend I'll have an opportunity and can better feel the balance of the car. I do think though that I'll end up putting the front 34psi just to get the tire pressures up. We'll see how it goes.

Sept 6, 2000
Today I was able to test out the balance of the car a little bit better. To my delight, the car is very neutral. I took a 270 degree on-ramp and pushed the car a little hard, with no over/understeer that I could feel. The rear is 44psi and the front is 34psi. I'm wondering though if, it'd be wiser to run with a higher front psi, but it'll stay like this for now.

Sept 11, 2000
I was wrong about my car being neutral. I tried that same 270 degree turn and pushed it harder and I felt the front end sliding out. I can say though that the car understeers a lot less. Maybe when I get some money, I'll go for a neuspeed or suspension techniques rear sway bar, but I'm happy for now.

Sept 21, 2000
Not a real update, but something funny. I was looking all through the garage yesterday looking for my oil filter wrench. I did a late night oil change for my brother yesterday. Looked all over the place, then I thought... It couldn't be still on my car could it? Well... it was there through more than a month of driving and more than a 1000 miles. Pretty cool how it hasn't shaken off. I'm happy. That won't happen again. Bad memory.

Sept 24, 2000
Yesterday, I found a small problem. I've noticed this one funky leak near the bottom of the car. It seemed to drip from the top of the cv boot. I always thought it was from the clutch master cylinder being changed and they never bothered to clean it up. I noticed some sandy liquid greasy oil or something near the top of the engine too. I asked the next door neighbor mechanic to take a look and he says, it's the cv boot. It's probably torn somewhere and it's slinging the grease up to the top. Easy fix if I was a mechanic. CV boot is cheap, but labor will cost me. Oh, and it's been running like this for a while, so I'm guessing it's not too bad a leak. If i wait too long though, the cv joint will have to be replaced too which is a lot more expensive. Probably get it fixed within the next month or so. Tia..

Oct 6, 2000
I just got back from getting the driver side inner CV boot fixed. I went to Japanese Auto Tech in Mira Mesa. The guy said that the band for that one boot was bad. Basically, it poked the boot. The other 3 boots have good bands, so this one is mysterious in the fact that only this one had the bad band. The passenger side CV boots have minor minor cracking, but nothing to worry about. I'm going to clean up the grease flinging around another day. Took about hour and a half. Half an hour, they were stuck on the hub nut. They needed to use a stronger impact wrench. Cost comes out to about 40 bucks... much better than honda 150 to 200. Oh yeah, axle is fine.

Oct 7, 2000
This morning I was cleaning up the grease left by that leaky CV boot. It's looking better now. I'll be doing an oil change with the synthetic soon. It's getting close to 3 months now.

Oct 8, 2000
I did an oil change just now. It's 700 now. Hmm... took me a little more than an hour. I let the oil run out longer than normal because I wanted all that old oil to get out of there. It still looked pretty good, not that yucky blackish color. I changed it out with the new royal purple synthetic oil. Right off the bat, the car seems smoother. Beats me if it's faster, but I believe it's smoother/quieter. I'll be able to tell more in the next couple weeks. Oh yeah, the oil is a purplish color. Cool.. I'm happy.

Nov 3, 2000
Nothing much happening with the car. I'm running 44psi all around because I figure it's better for gas mileage. Gas is still rising and it's about 2 bucks a gallon. Also, I think the synthetic oil made the engine a little quieter. I'm happy with it.

Nov 11, 2000
Car runs fine. I'm getting close to get the timing belt changed. About 85k miles right now. I recently bought a feeler gauge and will attempt my 1st valve adjustment after the timing belt is done. Oh yeah, had some hard rain recently and the SP8000's suck. One more thing, took out the "amp rack" under the amp. Instead, i screwed in the amp to the wooden floorboard and screwed it in to some small pieces of wood. Cleaner look.

Nov 19, 2000
I just finished up with a compression check. I've never done one of this car before, but I remember when I got the car, honda said the compression was something like 200-205 on all 4 cylinders. I checked today. Here's what I got.

Compression Test
Cylinder 1 2 3 4	Test 1 207 195 195 194	Test 2 182, 195 *** *** 185, 200

*** didn't do test

The numbers were kinda funky. It's strange how I get one number one minute and doing the test over get a different number. Overall though, these numbers are pretty good. Some people on the honda prelude board think the highest for a non-modified motor is 185psi, so I don't know. I think these are good numbers though. Indicates the motor is still strong.

Nov 22, 2000
The car does not have a hard time starting anymore. I don't know if it's the car being level now instead of at an incline, or the fact that I topped it off with oil. Also, I think the car is smoother and quieter and most noticeable at high speeds.

Jan 3, 2001
I wrote up a page about the timing belt job and rear signal light project. On a side note, I'm hearing a vibration/rattle around 2500-3000 rpms. When Reynold was here, he thought it was like a heat shield too. It doesn't seem to be affecting performance at least. Because the timing belt was done, I have more peace of mind on revving the engine.

Jan 18, 2001
I found another problem from that stupid timing belt replacement. Well.. my guess is that one of the bolts on the power steering pump wasn't threaded correctly, so they forced it in. When I tried to remove the bolt, it snapped. Screw them. I should have just gone to Honda. Damnit!

Mar 23, 2001
I did a full oil change today. No updates recently because I've been real busy with school. I think I might know what my buzz is at 2500 rpms. I think it might be the greddy header, so I'm going to swap in my stock exhaust manifold and see if it goes away. I'm bored anyway.

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