She was first true love...perfect body w/a personality to match, and what a set of cams.

She's an 88Prelude si. I got her in 92 and over the next few years, I added 91 bumpers/lights, 16" rims, suspension, cams, pp'd head, 11:1 comp ratio, bored TB, headers, hi-flo cat(POS), exhaust, and intake. This was an awesome ride!

But, because of some unfortunate events, she has been sitting, partially disassembled in a garage for the last 5 years Now I want to bring her back to life.

I am going to change all fluids (including old gas), replace all electrical components, and replace what gaskets I can in the head (but not head gasket).

In 2 weeks I will try to start the car. My plan is to disconnect the coil and crank the car w/the valve cover off. If oil squirts into the head, I know that there is oils pressure. I'll put everything together and see if it runs...thats the plan anyways.

Here's what I need help with. Although the car has been indoors and under a tarp, the valve cover has been off. There is some minor surface rust on the cams. I am also worried that the internal parts might have degraded over time. What else should I do b4 I try to start her up?

Can anyone give me some pointers? A guy told me to spray some oil into the pistons...Is this a good idea?

Thanks.

 

Yeah, put one fluid ounce of oil in each cylinder, put the valve cover on, and crank the engine without any spark plugs in it until the oil idiot light goes out. After that, put the plugs in, connect everything, and see if it fires.

 

Thanks.

What weight oils should I use? A guy was telling me about something called (don't laugh) Magic Mystery Oil. He said it is designed to be used in these types of situations. Heard of it?

Also, there is gas in the tank. I will siphon this out, refill the tank, siphon that out, and fill again. I think that will take car of the tank. Do you think there might be residual gas left in the injectors which might have gummed up? If so, is there any thing I can do w/o removing/replacing the injectors.

 

You have the name wrong, it's Marvel's Mystery Oil Good stuff, buy a can of it and use that in the cylinders, it'll burn off quicker than straight 30W and still do it's job to lube the cylinders. When you fill the crankcase with oil, use your favorite motor oil, but pour a quart over the head/cam, etc. before putting the valve cover on and finishing it off.

For the fuel injectors, if you don't get any fuel, you'll need to pull them and soak them to free them up, otherwise, run a can of outlaw fuel system cleaner in your first 4 tanks.

 

Marvel's Mystery Oil...So its real. I thought the guy was messing w/ me.

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, Ill have good news soon.

But, I just got back from the dealer. I was talking to the parts guy about this. laughed, shook his head and said 'good luck.'

He said something about these engines going bad when they sit for a long time. Oh well, this stage is cheap.

 

Update

I was able to spend the afternoon working on the Lude yesterday. I drained the old gas (8gal!), changed the oil and coolant, and Marvel's into each cyl. I didn't try cranking yet.

I need to install a battery (I had begun moving it to the trunk a few years back)and replace plugs&wires. If all goes well, next weekend will be THE DAY.

Man, I didn't think I'd be this excited. If she starts, Im going to get a paint job soon. Ill need tires too. I have 16x7.5 rims, right now I have 205/40s but I think Ill do 215/4 or 205/25. Im not sure which yet.

 

Going autocrossing with it or something?

 

This is why I shouldn't do much else besides work towards the end of the day. I am thinking about running 215/40 or 205/45. I think 205 is a bit narrow for a 7.5"rim.

As far as auto-x, Im putting her together for a daily driver. If the engine proves to be solid I might get her out, but I want to make sure first. I race my other car, but this Prelude has a special place in my heart and I would love to do some real driving w/it.

 

dude your going to make me cry
i thought i loved my civic... i mean i use to stare at pictures of honda civic si's on the back of superstreet magazines for like a hour at a time and wish i would have a civc one day... now i have one and wished i didn't waste so much money into... i wish i had a engine swap to solve my problems. hehehe

but thats cool that you are like in love with your lude... you even said it from the bottom of your heart....

now i can at least tell my family there is other people even more obbessed with there cars then me... hehe

 

sorry for the bad spelling its almost 3 am and i have posted alot of things tonight so i am like not all there...