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Well, lets start this story just after I finished 'building' my 5th gen Prelude. The H22 was pretty fun and the car was pretty clean, but with poly filled mounts, no balance shaft belt, 205/40/17's, OEM replacement shocks/2.5" of drop - it was not comfortable. My now wife(yeah, got married June 20th, I don't know what she was thinking but now she's f*cked) put her car into a curb over the winter and pulverized the front driver corner. Lots of shit to replace. She got a rental car, but itwould've been nice if she wanted to drive one of mine, but can't because Manuel Transmicion. I've tried to teach her, but she's.... not great. Anyway, we also want to start having kids soon. And my lease on my Fiesta ST is up in June. Kind of a culmination of a lot of different things.
So I sold the Prelude. Lost money on it(of course), after replacing just about everything on it. Ugh. Paid off a credit card and stashed some money in the bank towards a house.
3 months roll by. I was getting sick of blending e30 for the Fiesta, and decided to 'part out' the intercooler, tune, rear motor mount, and a couple other misc things on the car. I never drive it anymore. My lease ends June 2019, and I'm 20K under mileage because I drive my work car 95% of the time.
Flush with about $1000 in my pocket, I decide its time to start shopping for a new daily. I wanted my old CD7 back, so I sent the guy I sold it to a message, asked if I could come look it over, and he agreed. I went over to his place and started looking the car over. The rocker corners were gone. Rusted to hell. He wanted almost as much as I sold it to him for, with 40k more miles, worn tires(that I replaced just before I sold it), P/S rack was shot, and the engine bay looked like it hadn't been cleaned since I sold it. Leaks everywhere. I passed and continued my search.
While looking at different cars, I thought about what I really wanted. I've been dabbling with J-series stuff with a couple friends cars for a while, so it had to be J-powered. I loved the idea of a 5th gen Accord sedan V6 with a J-swap, but then thought about the shit that would be involved to sort it out. I liked the 6th gen sedans, but am very"meh" about the interior. Considered a 3rd gen 6 speed TL, but price is still a littlehigh, and wife couldn't drive it. 1st gen TL's are awesome looking, and 5th gen based, but the G and C series have ZERO support and they never come up in yards for easy parts replacement.
Then it dawned on me. The 97-99 3.0CL. Slushbox, check. J-series, check. 5th gen Accord, more or less, check. Time to start my search. Within about 3 hours I found one. It was an hour away, looked clean, and had a slipping trans. Only 120K miles on it. Asking price was $600. Perfect. I sent the guy a message and we set something up. He sent me a few pictures in the meantime to show me the extent of the rust and wear on the car.
I showed up a couple days later to test drive the car and check it out. Car drove pretty decent, had enough power, trans had a little bit of a flare between 1-2, 3-4, and rough engagement. Negligible rust spots. Trim work was all dented in rubber door seals were trashed. Looked like a blind meth head put in the windshield and fucked up the trim around it. Passenger side fender was dented, headlight and turn signal busted. Various dents, scratches, dings, etc all over the car. The inside was absolutely filthy. It had some really nasty looking Hyundai Sonata wheels with mismatched, no-name 205/60/16's. The brakes were absolutely GONE on the car. Heavy, instant fade, long pedal travel, super rusty looking, and pad dust galore. Discovered it had an aftermarket cheap Kenwood radio. No real clunks, rattles, or weird stuff going on(aside from the brakes and trans).
I needed it. Threw the guy his asking price, got the title, and told him I would be back in a couple of day to pick it up.
Brought the car back home and immediately took it to my friend to have a quick detail done on it. No buffing or anything, just a heavy, heavy clean so I could see exactly what I was working with. Oh, did I mention the car drove flawlessly the hour or so back? What a great cruiser. Cruise control set to 80mph and the thing just glided. The car felt super composed and comfortable at speed.
My friend worked his magic. The only thing that would work on the filthy leather was a Mr. Clean magic eraser. The carpet was absolutely wrecked with dark stains. The glass looked like someone smeared a teen's face all over them. The outside wasn't quite as bad. Just very dirty, brake dust particles all over the place, paint contamination, spots from stuff sitting on it forever, etc. It took him two days, but it cleaned up beautifully. He said he's never had a car that "bad". The engine bay looked like new and the plastics really came back. The paint definitely needs correction, but that will wait until I get a new fender and front bumper. Taffeta white looks so great when it's cleaned up. The car only had 120K on it and now it looked like it. It blows my mind how people can spend so much money to purchase a car and then completely neglect it.
While looking over the car, I began to notice just how clean and stock it was. Aside from a few things being recently replaced, the car was stock. I opened the airbox to check the air filter, and was pleasantly surprised with a K&N drop in. Score haha! All the windows and sunroof worked perfectly, as did all the switches, buttons, etc. Noticed the aftermarket Kenwood radio was basically just sitting in the hole. I don't know how I didn't notice it when driving the car previously, but while it was idling, I noticed it had an exhaust leak near the flex pipe. Checked the A/C for the first time- it worked great! Seat heaters worked too! Awesome!
After examining the car, I made a list:
Replace the headlights and turn signals
Replace the door seals and damaged trim
Drain and fill trans, clean solenoid screens, replace pressure sensors
Fix the brakes
Replace the tires
Fix exhaust leak
Replace the damaged fender and bumper
Check timing belt
Replace plugs, wires, cap, rotor
Mount the radio, replace the stock speakers with something a little nicer.
Should be a decent daily driver. I didn't NEED a four door as my wife has one. Any driving I do is either in her car, or just around town to run errands.I just wanted something fairly quiet, comfortable, something my wife could drive, if I needed to, I could throw a baby seat or two in the back.
First things first, the headlights and turn signals had to go.
Threw in some black Depo's and clears in the bumper. Removed the intake resonator while the bumper was off. Did some junkyard divingand got new door window chrome strips for both sides, a driver side door seal(still need a passenger side), windshield trims/clips, and other various trim pieces. This really made the car look 100% better.
While poking around the car, noticed the transmission mount was pretty roached. Decided to replace that the same time as I was cleaning the transmission linear shift solenoid screens, replaced the two pressure sensors, and did a drain and fill of the trans fluid using Valvoline Max Life ATF after reading some threads on bobistheoilguy forums. The drain plug on the transmission was covered in metallic goo and the screens on the dual linear solenoid were clogged. After cleaning everything up, the car drove infinitely better but still had a little flare on the 1-2 and 3-4. Added a little bit of line pressure by adjust the dual linear solenoid. Shifts are firm now, but no more flares or slips! Just need to do the drain and fill a couple more times and I think the trans will be good to go. Gave the car it's first real test by driving it out to my dad's property about an hour away to tend to his garden while he was out of town.
Discovered a new issue on this drive: either the car has a problem with the immobilizer and the valet key(only key I got with the car), or it needs a new ignition switch. It shut off while driving a couple of times on the way out and back, spooked me at first, but once I was able to restart it while coasting(put it in neutral, started it back up), I pretty much figured it out. When it shuts off, the green key light on the cluster blinks. Sometimes when starting the car, it wants to shut off immediately after it fires unless you turn the key back slightly slower than normal. Not too worried about it at the moment as it's not a really big concern.
It was finally time to address the brakes. When shopping online, I figured "If I'm going to replace the brakes, might as well replace the bearings." Then I thought "Wait, why don't I just 5 lug swap the car?" Did some parts number cross referencing, and discovered the 1st gen Odyssey and 3.0CL used the same front knuckle and bearing. The rotors were the same dimensions. Easy enough, got two new front bearings, 5 lug 1st gen odyssey front hubs, rotors, and some Centric 106 compound pads. I figured the rear would be the same as any 5th gen, and ordered RSX rotors and a 5th gen Prelude hub/bearing assembly, and another set of Centric 106 compound pads(foreshadowing...). I could've used the front 11.8" 3.5RL rotors, but didn't feel like trying to source another set of caliper brackets, and being about to fit a 15" wheel/tire will be nice.
Found a set of OEM 02-04 RSX 16" wheels for $60 locally with tires. Guy said two tires were good and newer, and two needed to be replaced. For $60, I didn't really care. For those wondering, the 02-04 RSX wheels are actuallya pretty good wheel. 16x6.5 +45 offset, made by Enkei, 16lbs a piece. Very strong too. Why a 16? I didn't want the car to have a "tuner" look, but more "OEM Plus." It's a bit nicer than an Accord, and thus, heavier. It's an Acura after all. I wanted(wanted) to preserve this as much as possible. The paint on them sucks, and the two "good" tires were only about 2 years old and had decent tread depth, but had toe wear. Ugh. Align your cars people!
Ordered a set of 205/55/16 Nokian Z-line A/S tires after lots of research and seeing the prices. Nokian makes awesome snow tires, and this all-season out performs the summer tire it replaced - Lime Rock even uses the A/S on it's school Miatas. These are supposed to be awesome in the rain, super quiet, and have decent snow traction. Perfect.
While doing my nightly craigslist stalking for deals, I came across an ad for Neuspeed springs and Konis for a CB7.... Priced at $125. Immediately sent the guy a message. He said everything was brand new, and he had been sitting on the parts for about 4 years as the car they were going on was wrecked and he never got to put them on. Took the CL on the almost 3 hour drive down to him and once again, the car worked great with only the brakes and ignition cutting out a couple times.
Turns out the springs were Neuspeed Race springs and the shocks were brand new fronts. Score! For $120 they were mine. Ordered a pair of rear Koni's online last week and am waiting for those to come in Tuesday. With how much these springs drop 4 cylinder cars, this 400lb heavier fatboi is probably gonna be pretty low. Oh, wait, didn't I wanna keep this thing pretty stock and ride nice? Ruined my new daily, time to look for another daily....
Started my 5 lug conversion yesterday morning. "Started" being the key word. The fronts went together no problem. Everything just dropped into place as it should've. All the bushings, tie rods, and balljoints were in great shape. Awesome. took about 3 hours to get the front end done on both sides really taking my time.
Went to go start on the back and hindsight, or hopefulness, bit me hard. Of course the rear lower shock bushings were seized to the through bolt. Made a trip to Honda to order those(and rotor screws). Decided to try the hubs instead of messing with that. Turns out, 1st gen CL's use the same rear knuckle with the larger spindle shaft from the Accord Wagons. DOH! Last minute scramble to the junkyard, and an hour of rage smashing my way through a couple of lower shock bushings(after breaking two brand new sawzall blades) with a pry bar awarded me with rear knuckles off a black '97 Accord EX coupe. Ha. It was like pulling parts off my old car.
Got them back home, cleaned them up a little bit, threw on the Prelude rear hubs and rotors. Need the 626 axle nuts now. Good news is now everything fits as it should. Rear shocks should come in Tomorrow, and Honda should have my parts on Tuesday. Should have the car back on the ground and driving by the end of the week. Can't wait.
Now just deciding on what color to paint the RSX wheels. Been thinking about a semi-gloss black, or a dark silver(not grey/charcoal).
As of 9/9/18, currently there's about $2000 invested into this thing so far. My bank account is hating life right now. Soon, we shall be done. My Fiesta ST lease ends in June 2019, and while the car has been great, and a total riot, it will be pretty nice to be able to kill off that car payment/insurance and put it towards a house.
Plans:
J35A4 swap, using the J30A1 cams to run the distributor at first
J35A6 Odyssey intake manifold
J35A3 MDX throttle body(purchased for $30)
Ebay Headers(purchased for $40 already)
AEM intake(included with the headers)
Quiet 2.5" exhaust using the Borla Type-S muffler currently installed on my Fiesta ST
I have a set of J32A2 Type-S cams I could put into the car, they would just have to be machined to run the distributor. Why machine the cams instead of converting to coil on plug? Sounds easy enough, just use an 00-02 Accord V6 ECU and harness since those are 4 speed as well. Not that simple. The 6th gen Accord have an integrated TCU within the ECU. The 1st gen 3.0CL's utilize a separate TCU, have a different style coolant temp sensor, as well as various other wiring differences. Too much of a headache.
I HAVE NO PLANS TO 6 SPEED SWAP THE CAR. I do not want to 6 speed swap this car. It will stay an auto. IF the trans blows up, I'll rebuild it and use the stronger Raybestos GPX clutches/steels, add a big external cooler, and stick a converter in it. Aside from my wife being able to drive it(auto), I love the consistency of an auto for drag racing, which is what I've primarily done now that I'm 'done' with autocross. It's a daily driver, an auto is just fine.
A big lazy turbo could be in this things future, but who knows, I may just go a little nuts.... a couple of my friends have some REALLY fast Mustangs and always have goodies sitting around...
HA! Kidding! A blower is definitely out of the question. Zero room for that. It may get something along the lines of a Borg Warner S366 or something that's big and lazy and can make about 400whp at 8lbs or something dumb like that. That's WAY down the line though, and I'd then probably convert it to coil on plug and figure out a standalone to use. Remember that whole, "ruined my daily, time to look for a new daily"....
Ohhhhh haiiii there bic boi!!! I gotta say you got a hell of a deal and lots of progress in a small amount of time. Dang my kid looks like a baller in that car hahaha Keep it up Beans!
Rear Koni's came in today, waiting on parts from Honda now to finish the rear. Should be ready to touch ground Wednesday as I have no intention of rushing tomorrow to get it all done. I'll probably get both sides "done" tomorrow but go through everything Wednesday after work- brake grease, double checking bolts, anti-seize, etc. My friend should have the tires mounted for me Wednesday as well, just have to decide on what color to paint the wheels.
Maybe I can coheres you into huffing paint fumes and getting anti-seize all over everything, Jon.
Got everything all "done" late last night and took it for a quick drive around the block. 90foxnotch(Jon) came over and did a killer job on the wheels and helping me button things up.
Oh. My. God.
The results speak for themselves. Simply outstanding. The wheel style fits the style of the car perfect.
(Oh look, it's Jon)
Just got home from work and snapped this walking in(scope my sweet work car)
I love the way this thing looks. The brakes work perfect now, so glad none of the calipers were seized. It rides almost like stock with the Koni's at 1/2 turn from full soft. Going to get some Mazda 626 axles nuts for the rear soon, align it, bleed the brakes(I'm sure the fluid is old AF), and throw cotter pins in all the balljoints since every single one broke taking them out.
Just a little update, not much has changed with the car. Yesterday after work, I got a bug up my ass and took the crappy cheap seat heater switches out and traced the wiring back to the power source. No surprise the wiring was ran like shit and was arc'ing out under the carpet. While I had the console apart, I took the opportunity to take it apart piece by piece, scrub it with dishsoap, then go over all the plastics with a Mr.Clean Magic Eraser. Amazing product, made the whole center console look new again(sorry no pics). Took the opportunity to re-mount the radio as well, surprise surprise, that was mounted like shit and wired in poorly as well. Lots of electrical tape and poorly grounded/twisted together wires. Keep kids away for this shit. The carpet is disgusting, so I'm gonna look around for a cheap alternative or keep my eyes open in the junkyard for cleanish carpet. Anyone know if 2nd gen CL's/TL's, or Accord Coupe/Sedan carpets are similar?
Today was our annual local car group's Fall track rental. Decided to get a baseline on the CL to see where it sits. I was gonna take the Fiesta, but it's like all the fun has been sucked out of that car without any mods on it. Still a great car, just not quick enough to be fun anymore. Made a couple back to back passes hot lapping as soon as I got there since the weather was absolutely perfect- 55degrees, no humidity, near 0 for DA. Just rolled up to the line, gave it a little brake torque, and let it go. Three times in a row it ran a 15.6@89 with a 2.372 60ft. Let the car cool for about 20 minutes, then another 3 hot laps, this time, just hitting the gas and let the converter do it's thing out of the hole. 60ft was basically the same, 2.36's all three times, first of the three was a 15.6@89, second was 15.5@90, third was a 15.4@90(which would be the best of the day). The car had been hitting limiter and getting a bounce or three on the 1-2 for all the passes so far except for the 15.4 where it shifted just perfect on the 1-2. I decided to try taking some weight out, pulling the spare tire, backseats(which weigh nothing) and the passenger seat(maybe 30lbs). Went back out, still just stabbing the gas, and got a bunch of 15.6-15.7-15.8's, same unremarkable 2.3 60ft's. Let the car cool again and thought about each pass. IF the 1-2 was a clean shift, the car goes faster. That's an easy one. Thought about the start. Noticed the car would engage the torque converter at launch around 2500rpm, then lazily accelerate out of the hole, just past the 60ft, and VTEC would engage just beyond that mark. I know these cars are pretty weak on the ignition timing side of things until VTEC engages, but it's bad. Feels like it has about half the ignition timing it should, probably because of the J30A1 being tuned for 87 and no knock sensor. For the next 5-6 passes, I tried neutral dropping, gradually increasing the RPM from about 2500 up to almost 4500. No change in ET, but the car would spin out of the hole now, then drop on its face and still have to climb into VTEC. 60ft's worsened. At this point it was almost time for the track rental to be over, so I collected all 15ish time slips and left for the day.
Just for funzies, lets look to see what my F23 swapped '97 Accord coupe did with about 140whp/tq and the Accord 5-speed
Accord looks a lot faster, right? It's not. From about the 330ft to the 1/4, it's a dead heat, and the CL actually starts to pull up top. Why is the Accord so much quicker to the 1/4? The CL just can't get out of the hole worth a crap. I don't think I've ever had a car this consistent with 60ft's. If the CL had a trans that could click off a 1-2 without the bounce, a converter that would be better in the power range at the hit, and more low-end timing, or just torque in general, this car would easily be in the 14's. I knew it felt like it was just about as quick as the Fiesta from a 40 roll.
Had my friend hot-tank my J35A6 manifold and got in my P2R DBW to 1st gen J throttle body adapter(Part #P850). Removed the old RTV gasket material between the upper and lower sections of the upper manifold. Bought thermal runner and throttle body gaskets from P2R as well. For the MDX throttle body, I may have to play with the IACV coolant routing, or just bypass that. I'll definitely have to change the plug on the MAP sensor since the MDX uses the single screw style and the J30A1 uses the two screw style. Two of the wires are reversed as well, we'll see if that makes a difference when I get there, just swapped pin locations on the sensor itself as it appears they just switched the colors for the ground and signal wires when they changed MAP sensors. . Picked about four 03+ Accord V6's clean of their shiny 10mm intake manifold lid bolts/nuts to replace all the lid and manifold bolts on my J35A6 intake. The throttle stop bracket clears the adapter-barely. I'll probably grind the adapter a little bit to get it to work right. I need to buy a barb fitting for the adapter as well so I can run a small, 1/8" vacuum line to that location for the EGR or whatever needs it. I'm really wishing I would've spent the extra $ for the Prankparts adapter and thermal gaskets at this point as the P2R stuff kinda fits like shit and has a lot of "shift" in various places for holes and the sort. Side note: no porting was done to the manifold after it was hot tanked, just a quick rub down on the inside with some scotch brite. I'm really impressed with this casting.
Figured out J30A1 lower and fuel rails won't work with my J35A6 upper. The lower runners have SMALL "D" shaped runners and the port to port spacing is different, although the flange bolt/stud pattern is the same. The EGR port is also a small "D" shape as well, and the J35A6's is round. The early J30A1's also had a tall fuel rail that pokes in towards the runners and "large body" injectors. My J35A6 intake won't even get past the fuel rails, which presents a new problem . Another interesting point, the J35A1 from the pre-00 Odyssey's are the same fuel rail, fuel crossover, injectors, upper and lower manifolds with a longer soft line fuel feed.
Looked at a J32A1 from a 01-02 TL-P. These things must have the J30A1 head because the ports in the upper and lower intakes were TINY like the J30A1 intake.The injectors looked about the same height, but more importantly, the rails were canted towards the valvecovers rather than the lower runners and a much lower profile. Verified fitment on my J35A6 manifold on them. Aside from the lower runner ports being the J30A1 size, the EGR port was a D shape, but the runner bore spacing was now correct. I grabbed a pair of these to potentially port to match the J35A6 upper for some testing on the J30A1.
Looking at the J35A4/3 and J32A2, it shares it's fuel rail/injector style with the J32A1, but has larger ports in the upper intake and lower runners. Also has a large 1.5"-ish thick runner spacer, with a D shaped EGR port. The J35A4 lowers can be used with a J35A6/7/8 upper from past experience using that setup on a friend's Odyssey.
Reading more about the post 00-pre full returnless style system shows a whole host of issues with the all in one fuel distribution block/FPR with hot starts and fuel distribution to the front two cylinders, probably due to fuel starvation at the end of the rail and fuel getting too hot. No bueno. I may end up using my fuel rails if I can get them to work with the lowers/uppers, but I grabbed the rail off of a J35A4 just in case since it's just like the 00+ rails with a longer soft fuel feed line. I read of one NSX J-Swap guy encountering a similar issue with a return style system, but he spent a buttload on P2R rails and a whole slew of fittings to route it like the early J's. No thanks, I'll figure it out the cheap way.
Did another drain and fill with Valvoline Maxlife ATF and decided to pull the J30A1 manifold off the car to test fit the J35A6 upper
Looked at differences between the J30A1 manifold and J35A6 manifold. Looks like I'll have to add two small 1/8" vacuum ports to the J35A6 manifold(one from the manifold and one from the throttle body), and block off one of the larger ports. I'll definitely have to extend the IAT wiring as well as swapping over my old sensor as the J35A6 sensor uses the newer style of plug. Other than that, nothing. The P2R adapter has a port on it I can add at least one of the 1/8" vacuum references to. I may be able to pull one of the larger vacuum source ports and drill/tap/thread another 1/8" barb fitting into. That would solve my vacuum sources.
Was playing around with fuel rails at the junkyard again before I got poured on after my last visit. The J35A4 and J32A1/2 rails have to match their lower runners due to the attachment bolt hole locations on the rails to runners. The J30A1 rails would need drilled to mate with the J32A1/J35A4 lowers and vice versa. The J30A1 w/ distributor gets in the way of where the FPR block from the J32A1/A2 and J35A3/A4 mounts to- right where the cam cap is on the backside of the back head. I'll probably just grab a piece of steel and make a little "boomerang" shaped bracket to move it out of the way enough to not kink the 4"-ish soft line going from the FPR block the the back rail if I use the J35A4 rails/lines. On my way out I found a J35A4 spacer on the ground while i was walking out and snagged that, nice little $10 pickup. Planning to mill it about in half to see if it'll make a difference and fit under the stock hood.
Ended up grabbing the rails/lines off a J35A4 '02-04 Odyssey, lowers off a J32A1 '03 TL-P, and Injectors from a J35A3 01-02 MDX. Got the whole setup for $40 as they just charged me for two rails.
Here's what I figured out for the J30A1:
J35A6 upper intake
J32A1 (from an 03 TL) lowers/runners, ported to match the upper
J35A3 MDX 270cc injectors
Use either the J30A1 rails with a new bolt hole drilled to fit the J32A1 lowers, or use the J35A4 rails/lines modified to fit the car. Drilling the J30A1 rails seems like the easier way out if they'll fit under the J35A6 manifold.
It would be awesome to get all of this on, and fix my exhaust, by the time the tracks close around here to see if it helps with ET's. It could show a difference on the dyno, but make make none at the track. I kinda wanna see if it'll all work first before I go stuffing a J35A4 into it.
Replaced the ignition switch, turns out the 98-99 3.0 CL's use the same one as the 98-01 Preludes. Went to my Honda dealer, gave them the part #, and got the new switch for about half off. I love my discount. Replaced it and the car doesn't do the stupid random shut off while driving it did previously and I can turn the key quickly and have the car start normally rather than having to slowly come off of it when starting the car. Nice!
Speaking of the J35A4 swap, it almost happened sooner than expected. Took my wife to the ER last Sunday night because she was experiencing some abdominal pain(kidney stone), and on the way back we stopped at McDonalds. Why is this important? Well, a couple of days later I took the car to Honda around the corner to get the oil changed, dropped it off at the express building across the lot behind the main building, and walked up front to the main building to pick up my ignition switch I ordered. The express guys called the parts guys while I was there and were freaking out about a massive oil leak coming from my car. The TWO YEAR OLD oil filter on the car(whatever was on it when I bought it- had a date on it when it was last changed) had a small chip in the paint on the bottom of the filter, which ended up turning into a rust spot - the rust spot finally gave out in the McD's drive thru without me noticing, leaving a little snail trail from there to my apartment where the car sat for a couple of days before it snail trailed to Honda for an oil change. Talk about dodging a bullet.
Couple little tidbits:
Option for better timing curve while keeping distributor: 99 TL. 4AT, has slightly better cams. Has knock sensor. Would probably require some repinning at the harness plug but could very well work with minimal effort. Need to find the pinouts and compare them
Option COP: 99-00 Odyssey. 4AT. 2 rocker VTEC system(lame), weak cams. Has Knock sensor.
Option 2 COP: 00 Accord. 4AT, same internally as the 3.0CL engine/trans wise, no knock sensor. Probably the easiest plug and play solution.
FYI, 97-99 3.0 CL's and 98-02 Accord V6's do not have a knock sensor, and have been tuned exclusively for 87 which means a VERY conservative timing curve.
Haha, thanks, I guess. I don't like to rely on other people's information so much and always test, test, test before finalizing. I don't plan on doing much with the J30A1 in the car just because there's not much point considering it's airflow and displacement. When there's $200 J35A4/3's to be had in just about every junkyard, it makes more sense to figure out the correct combo of what works. I've seen a few 05+ RL's as well and have made some decent profits off their cams, intakes, and advic calipers.
if I only knew I would be doing this about 3-4 years ago i would be way ahead of the game with the parts I picked. Oh well, made money on them.
@Beanstune I feel that there is always quite a bit of trial and error in anything I do. Even when I think I have thought something totally out I always learn something new after starting a project.
I am curious in swapping some advic calipers. Have you personally played with that swap on a cl yet? I'm a little hesitant just due to the fact that my car has ABS.
Are you planning on swapping the manifold or toying with a j35 swap?
Really looking forward to the progress on this build!
@Beanstune I feel that there is always quite a bit of trial and error in anything I do. Even when I think I have thought something totally out I always learn something new after starting a project.
I am curious in swapping some advic calipers. Have you personally played with that swap on a cl yet? I'm a little hesitant just due to the fact that my car has ABS.
Are you planning on swapping the manifold or toying with a j35 swap?
Really looking forward to the progress on this build!
As for the Advics, I don't think it's a real big issue with the ABS. I'd get ahold of the guys from fatfourcustoms and pick their brain about it. I think the fastbrakes guys make a kit too, but the FFC guys really know this platform. I know tons of Accord guys have done it, I'm sure there's some CL guys that have as well.
FYI my ABS light is on(and has been on since I bought the car) probably due to a bad sensor- which is probably compounded now that my car has 5th gen prelude rear hubs with smaller ABS tone rings. I've noticed zero issues with it and I've gotten on the brakes pretty hard, I'm a firm believer in bedding in pads properly and that is NOT a tiptoe process.
The J35A6 manifoldwill definitely go on as soon as I port my lowers. With the weather being under about a constant 55 degrees, and the mess it makes, I haven't had much motivation to go to my parents and ruin their driveway with aluminum chips lately. It's getting To about the time of year where I'm going to park the car for winter, too. If we get a nice weekend, it'll get done though.
The J35 swap WILL happen. It's just a matter of time. I'm not really in a rush with winter coming. I really should probably spend a weekend day at the yard pulling one, but... meh. There's always going to be at least 5 there. I can always wait until a nice warm holiday weekend and get 40% off at LKQ pick n pull.
As for plans/timeline, here's what I've got brewing until the end of the year:
Port runners
J35A6 manifold swap
headers/exhaust(replace cat, delete resonator, install my 05-06 RSX-S muffler)
replace bushings and align it
99 TL ECU swap(if I can find one)
Once it's parked, I'll prpbably start gathering things for the J35 swap and trans rebuild. I'll probably use a 99-00 Odyssey harness and ECU since I would convert it to COP to be able to use 2nd gen J cams(05 RL) and still run the 4AT. I would love to put a 5 speed auto from an 06+ accord into it, but I don't have a place to fab a trans mount and modify anything like that if needed, plus how the CL shifter/shift selector is set up makes converting to a 5AT a bit more involved. Maybe an 03+ Accord shifter could be used? I'm not sure. Sounds like more of a hassle than it's worth. If I wasn't so dead set on keeping it an auto so my wife can drive it, I would've went and pulled a 6-speed from an accord last month at an LKQ 2 hours away.
Progress will probably slow down over the winter depending on lots of things. We're gonna be house shopping around the start of the year so that will kind of put a hamper on how much time and money I can throw at this pile.
Went and grabbed x3 1/8" NPT x 1/8" barb fittings from fastenal this morning, and I'm never buying brass fittings at Lowes/HD again. $2.10 for all three vs almost $3 per fitting everywhere else I looked. Using one on the TB adapter, and probably using the other two after I remove the larger hose barbs on the J35A6 intake manifold.
Got my J32A1 P8E runners port matched this past weekend. Spent about $8 on some cheapo rasps at harbor freight and $15 on some sanding rolls. About 3 hours of constant buzzing got me this. It's not pretty, but it's a smooth transition and will work just fine.
Spend about 2 hours at the junkyard this morning pulling another set of J32A2 cams after I ended up discovering two wiped out lobes on my other set of J32A2 cams. Got the front one out no problem, but then I dropped my 12mm deepwell socket into the watery, muddy abyss that was under the car, got pissed, and gave up on the rear one. All that I had left to do was to remove the rear cam bolt, but was struggling since the belt was snapped and had zero tension on the cam. To get the front one out, I had to remove the ABS module and used my impact on the bolt to break it free so it wasn't so bad. For the rear cam, there's probably no other way(at this point) than to remove the head and impact that bolt off as well. I'll probably end up using the J32A2 throttle body off of that car as well as it has the same style MAP sensor as the J30A1 in my car and I won't have to splice in a new plug. I stashed the front cam and TB under the passenger seat and reassembled some stuff so it all stays dry until I can get back out there and spend an hour getting the rear cam out. We're slowing down at work getting into the winter season, so I should have an early day sometime this week where I can get back out there. I considered pulling the heads/lowers as well, but with a J35A4, I don't see the point. If I did that, I'd have to swap out pistons to clear the larger intake valves, not to mention headgaskets and everything that goes with it. I've dropped in J32A2 cams into a J35A4 before and didn't have any issue with valve float, not to mention with that previous experience it wasn't making power to necessitate a higher than factory(for the J35A4) redline.
Things are progressing, just have to pick up another few odds and ends to get it all on!
I wanna go fassssst. I was wondering if you can recommend some cold air kits or exhaust systems to make my car loud? Oh yeah what type of oil do you use? Thanks bruh
Put the CL away for the winter at 90foxnotch's garage. Kinda sad feels, kinda glad feels. Maybe I'll get something done this winter on it, maybe I'll just stare at it a couple of times.
Sorry for the poor quality of the first picture, Jon apparently can't use his f*cking eyes properly.
Things I need to get done:
Drain and fill trans again, probably going to use a "Type-F" fluid to see if it eliminates the flares on the 1-2 and 3-4 when the car's cold.
J35A6 intake swap with J32A2 TB, J32A1 lowers- need to figure out how to block off the IAA ports, the nice thing about the J30A1 is the IAA valve itself is very simple to remove and doesn't require a "kit" like the later J's do since they don't go into the coolant crossover. May replace the injectors I got with the lowers as the pintle caps are old and crusty and almost all the o-rings need replaced.
Switch out the Neuspeed Race springs for the Eibachs Pro-kit springs I bought(waiting on my friend to ship them from California)
Replace passenger fender
Remove audio control buttons on steering wheel Buy house
Things I could get done, if I get the motivation:
01 Odyssey ECU swap/convert to COP
J32A2 cams
Headers/replace cat/remove resonator/05-06 RSX-S muffler - something needs to be done with this exhaust, the leak at the hanger on the J pipe is driving me nuts
Not a lot to do, but got some other things I really need to turn my attention to by spring.
Finalized my J35A6 intake(upper), port matched J32A1 lowers, and J32A2 throttle body on my 98 3.0 CL last night. More of a pain than I originally thought, and have to cut some of the hood webbing for it to fit properly. Deleted IAA, the J30A1 has a bolt on IAA that doesn't go into the coolant passage, just filled the holes on the lowers with Hondabond. Using the J32A2 270cc small body injectors with the "real return" style J30A1 rails and lines that the car came with. Had to drill two new holes in the fuel rail about 1/4" outside of the 8mm bolt holes to get them to bolt to the lowers and remove some of the hard looming around the wiring. I'm using J32A1 lowers because they're the same size/shape as the J32A2/J35A4 lowers, but with smaller ports. The ports at the head are the same size as the factory J30A1 ports and I opened up the ports at the upper flange to match the size of the larger J35A6. Chose the J35A6 manifold due to its lower clearance and similarity to the J35A7/A8 manifold, but without flaps as I would have No way of controlling them on the factory J30A1 ECU. J32A2/J35A4 style P2R gasket between the uppers and lowers. I was going to use a J35A3 throttle body from an 02 MDX, but found that the MAP was the newer single bolt style and I would have to splice wires/switch the plug- I'm saving that for later as I plan to switch to the J35A1 ECU from an 01 odyssey to gain a knock sensor(added the sensor and sub harness when i had everything apart), convert to COP, and keep control of the 4 speed. Using a P2R adapter/gaskets to the J32A2 TB allows everything to plug right in as factory. Since I removed the IAA system, the J35A6 intake/adapter/TB has almost the perfect amount and size of vacuum ports, with only the one larger port at the far end of the manifold needing capped off. The AEM short ram arm and filter are just pieces I had laying around, I plan to try to use the factory airbox(has a K&N) and make a 3" intake arm for it. Had to remove the hard plastic loom covers from the injector area and above the transmission, something, again, I'm not to worried about as I'm basically going to have to rewire the car for the odyssey ECU. Simple? Not as much as I thought but it works and no CEO, starts right up as it did before, idles, and red's just fine! The car is stored for the winter so driving impressions will have to wait.
Got a $50 amazon gift card for Christmas from my father in law, so I ordered a cheapest air intake "filter on a stick" off amazon that I could find - I've read the 95-97 Accord V6 ones fit so I went with that. Hopefully it's 3", if not, I'm returning it and building a 3.5" system just because Jon(90foxnotch) got a bug up my ass and is making me make him a 4" system for his car. I was letting Jon use a 3" K&N filter I had sitting around on his TL-S(just shoved it into the stock rubber intake tube on his car), so I'm going to be using that instead of whatever cheap chinese garbage the new intake will come with. Going to wait to cut the hood bracing until the new intake gets here.
Also ordering new front poly LCA/UCA bushings and front radius rod bushings since I got a $100 autozone gift card for Christmas as well. Should eat up about $60 of the gift card. I'll probably use the rest to buy some more coolant or something else. Vacuum caps. I need some of those.
Last weekend I cut the hood bracing slightly to accommodate and had to move the PCV hose from the top of the intake(90deg nipple) to the passenger side end of the intake to allow the hood to shut completely. The hood still hits the intake so I'll have to keep playing with things to get it to fit properly. Now I think it's hitting on the intake lid so I may take the upper back off and have about 3/16" taken off the flange to the runners. I'll grab a new picture next time I go over to install the intake... whenever that comes in.
Bought a nice christmas present for myself as well. I couldn't pass the deal up, even though the shade is a slight variation. Not going to put it on until I can find a suitable/matching airbag cover. It's a NOS optional 01-02 MDX woodgrain perforated steering wheel. It's YR202L Saddle, and my factory wheel is YR164L Medium Taupe. For $100 shipped though, I wasn't gonna wait to try to find the same thing in the 2nd gen CL Type-S medium Taupe.
The second picture is from another user on here(I forget his username).
That steering wheel set up is bad!! I dig it. matches perfectly in my opinion! Wish I could find one to match my charcoal interior! Your car is coming along nicely!
Thanks! Doing all I can, when I can, with what I have as I have TWO huge things coming soon. My wife and I are expecting our first baby in June - a little girl. We're also house shopping right now. Lots going on, so whenever I have a spare hour or two, I try to go and annoy 90foxnotch. Just like how I proposed to my wife while she was doing dishes, she told me she was pregnant(back in October) while I was doing the dishes.
Here's the picture of MY actual wheel in the car. The shade variation is definitely there, very slight, but not noticeable in a dimly lit garage. I may still try to track down a tan MDX airbag/cover if I can find one in decent shape. For now, it works.
In the intake world(which seems like my 10th post on this conversion) I can finally say that it is finally 100% done. I routed the PCV to the passenger end of the intake manifold, removed the 90 on the top of the manifold and filled the hole with another shiny bolt, and finalized the hood webbing cutting. Really hurt doing that. Once agian, the combo is:
Removed IAA valve
J32A1 lowers, port matched at the top of the runners, IAA ports filled with Hondabond
P2R Runner/TB gasket
J35A6 upper intake manifold
P2R DBW to J32A2 cable TB adapter
J32A2 TB
$30 Amazon 3" air intake for a 95-97 Accord V6, with about a 12" section of 3" welded onto the end of it/mounting tab welded on, 3" K&N filter in the fenderwell, as high as possible
For the finish, I rubbed the tubing down with different grades of scotch brite pads(green and red) to try to get it to have a brushed look. I'm keeping the 2nd nipple on the intake tube for now. It may become a good mounting location for something stupid....
09-09-2018, 01:18 PM
