Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

I was coming home from work tonight when I was sideswiped by a box truck. Both of us think we had the green; I know I saw stopped cross traffic as evidence. I'm fine, but the 4th gen took a beating in the right rear. The bumper is hanging off, the tie rod on the right rear is bent, and the quarter panel and door have nasty damage. The tow truck driver said it's all fixable damage, but it may cost more than the car's worth. There may be one less 4th gen in the world soon, but we'll see.

No no no!

I can't stand the thought of yet another Prelude biting the dust. Do these cars have targets on the side of them?

That's such sad news.

Pics of the damage? Hopefully all can be mended.

The blue book value of the car is assessed at $2600. Not sure if that'll get that fixed.

Uggh.

That looks worse than I was expecting.

Your C-pillar is still straight, so the fender could be straight out replaced, but that would cost quite a bit of money. Looks like you're also in need of a new door and the trunk hinges are probably bent as well.

Sad news.

Just an update: the car was officially declared a total loss today. I'm not sure where I'll go with it from here, but I may part it out.

Sorry to hear that.

I guess you'll be driving the 91 more now?

Just had a thought.

I know RedRacer has a 95 that is in need of an engine. I wonder if he might be interested in some of your parts.

I am driving the 91 again for now, but I'm looking for something with a stick shift. I'm not entirely sure of my price range yet because I haven't heard back from the insurance company, but I found something I like that I should be able to afford.

RedRacer's car has a turbo H23, correct? I think some of my parts could be used in there, but I think he, or anyone with a manual car, would need to buy a transmission separately from my engine.

Yeah, Red's is a turbo H23. The transmissions can be put on any block, so his transmission would work fine. If your engine was an auto, a person with a manual would just have to be sure to use their own ECU.

There's more to the swap than that a well, since the Type-S engine is OBD2. There are a couple of toggle switches on the center console that switch OBDs, but I'm not sure of the specifics of the wiring.

Another option I'm considering is selling the car as is. The damage can be fixed, but I don't have the time, money or skill to do so. Although I do want to take the aftermarket stereo out and put it in the 3rd gen, as its speakers and deck have totally bitten the dust, so the 95 wouldn't have a radio if sold.

Ah man, that totally just sucks. Sorry to hear it. Please sell it to someone who will promise to repair it and put it back on the road. That's the thing about insurance companies, unless you just fight them tooth and nail like I've had to do in the past, they will just write off a totally good car in the interest of money. Their money. When my Prelude was smacked in the rear by the idiot woman driver, it was tooth and nail with her insurance company and mine and I had to threaten to A) sue them both and B) pull all my other insured vehicles, house and boat coverage from their company if they didn't do what I wanted. I got my way at that point. Got the car fixed, and beautifully so, by a high-end, exotic-car repair shop. Then the engine blew up. So now she's sitting in my garage doing nothing. But she sure looks nice sitting there!

Your engine is a red-top type S, is that correct?

Correct. It's an extremely potent engine, but the gas mileage isn't great. Mine has approximately 101,000 miles on it and the body had just hit 190k a few weeks prior.

Off topic a bit, when I started the 91 today the fuel needle dropped all the way down to empty for a few minutes before rising back to where it should have been. Cause for concern?

So that's OBD2 then. I've never heard good things about OBD2, so how did you work around that?

Do you still have your car? Down here, if insurance totals the vehicle, they take the car. Otherwise you can keep the car and default on any insurance payment.

Are you interested in selling the motor?

Yeah, they let me keep the car for a $300 fee. They're giving me more than I expected for it, even after that, so that at least was exciting.

Yes, the engine is OBD2, but it was converted to work in OBD1. I don't have the contact info for the guy I bought it from anymore (gone with my previous phone), so I don't know where the seal was done, but I've seen other pre-96 4th gens with that engine, as well as other OBD2 to OBD1 conversions in Hondas (such as a B16B in an EG or even a K20Z3 in an EF hatch), so there are ways to do it. If I sell the engine I'll give you a good deal on it, but I want to try to sell the whole thing first.

Sure, I respect that one hundred percent. I don't think you will have any problem selling it. Just hate that you're having to do it. That's the same situation I'm in now. 5 / 10 years ago when I had all the tools and the time (and the money) I would have already had this block pulled and a new one in and on the road running. But now it's different. I don't have the time, the tools or the money and some of the skills I once had as well. Good luck and just post back whenever you have info. No pressure from this end. Still trying to work out the logistics to get there, get the engine out, crate it, transport it, etc. Thanks again!