Cheapskates' corner

[Randal58]

I have owned my Gen 2 for 12 years now and it runs better every year. It is fun to drive, but possibly its best feature is that it is incredibly cheap to maintain. I recently added up what it had cost me over the past five years and the total (excluding fuel and registration) came to $140, of which $70 was a new battery back in 2009. Now that the car is over 30 years old I can get half-price registration provided it is my second car so I have acquired a second Prelude, but until the last few months the Gen 2 was my only car.

Naturally I have done a bit of work on it here and there (primarily faults that existed when I got it), so I thought I would start with the problems that cost nothing to fix.

Sunroof operation

This problem developed over several years, with the roof getting hesitant during operation and threatening to remain stuck open. It never did, though. Eventually I delved into the dashboard to extract the switch, then just cleaned the terminals and put it back. Working fine for three or four years now.

Electric windows

These got markedly slower in operation only when the car was close to the thirty-year mark. Although I suspected that they might simply be worn out, the fact that the left and right windows behaved similarly pointed to a lubrication problem. The grease on the regulator arms at the bottom of the window had got stiff and gummy; cleaning and regreasing worked wonders. I took the glass out to do this thoroughly, but if I were doing it again I would settle for simply wiping the runners with solvent and greasing them in situ. In my case, however, realigning the passenger door glass got rid of some annoying wind noise which I had previously attributed to worn Bailey channels. (I should have known better, as the passenger door would never suffer worse than the driver's if it was a matter of wear and tear.)

Interior rear view mirror

Some spring in the ball joint broke and the mirror went floppy. At a glance you would say it is all going to be sealed for life or unrepairable moulded plastic parts, but I pulled the mirror apart and fixed it. I can't remember the details now, but all I needed was a bit of welding wire (like thin coathanger wire). Someone I know had the same problem with another Honda of the same age and paid about $100 for a new mirror.

Interior door locking levers

On the 1983 Prelude these were made of plastic and broke when they were about 20 years old; I would hope that later ones were metal like the Gen 3. They were only obtainable as part of the whole remote latch release assembly. My solution was to cut a slot in the plastic shroud under the release lever, then put a sharp bend in the link rod so it poked through the slot. This works well. The only drawback is having to explain to passengers how to lock the door, since the protruding rod is rather hard to see.

Timing belt

This is a common topic of discussion, and I may attract condemnation when I say I have no idea how old my timing belt is. But I have not seen either in the Haynes or the factory workshop manual any requirement to change it every 100,000 km, as many people insist. The books say only to inspect it, and this I do every year or two. As long as I don't see any perishing or fraying I will take my chances. Mind you, I believe this is a non-interference engine; I am less comfortable about my Gen 3, which has 330,000 km on the clock and is probably only on its second belt.

Tail light seal

If water is getting into the boot (or trunk, if you prefer), the tail lights are the most likely culprit. You can quite easily make replacement gaskets from closed-cell foam, if you can lay your hands on some. Water leaks in the body are well worth keeping on top of, as that lingering musty smell in wet weather is really damaging to morale. While the tail light assemblies are out of the car it is a good opportunity to give them a hose out. That really freshens them up and only needs to be done every twenty years or so.

Valve stem oil seals

Now this wasn't a zero-cost fix, but it might have come close. Normally it is a good rule to buy parts only when you have inspected the old ones and you are sure you need them, but in this case I was going to replace the valve stem seals with the head in place. I made an air line adaptor from a Ryco fitting and an old spark plug to keep the valves closed while the valve springs were removed one cylinder at a time. So naturally I bought the replacement seals in advance. But when I came to do the job the old seals seemed surprisingly resilient, and it was only when I came to cylinder no. 4 that I realised that the reason why one seal leaked so badly was that it did not exist! Yes, twelve valves but only eleven oil seals. I don't know how it came about, but if you suspect leaking valve stem seals then the first thing to do is to check that your engine has the full complement.

Although I have concentrated above on the really cheap repairs I don't mean to suggest that it is not worth spending money on a car of this age. It is a pity to see interest in the Gen 2 forum languishing as people move on to the later models. If I look ahead to when the cars are 40 or 50 years old I think the Gen 2 would be a better prospect than the Gen 3 and later models, so it is still reasonable to fork out for things like stainless steel mufflers or upholstery repairs. If the bodies are rusting out then by all means throw them away, but if you live in a climate where the bodies last then you can be assured we have a car that is mechanically durable.

[spiffyguido]

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