Honda Prelude Revival

Last week the 1995 Honda Prelude Si that was my dad's  last car was in the paint shop all week..  I had stripped off the trim, bumper covers and  various side and tail lights.  I also pulled the passenger door trim panel to give the shop access to the inside of the right door where the worst body damage needed straightening.

When the car arrived here in north Texas from central Calif it went right to an independent Honda-Toyota mechanical shop.  It needed a new timing belt, serpentine belt, exhaust header, all four suspension struts, new electronic fuel/temp gauges and other misc. mechanical and electrical work. just to make it road worthy and pass the state inspection. 

​Following that I had a new radio head unit put in at Best Buy with navigation and rear-view camera..  I purchased five new speakers and a subwoofer amp, which I installed myself.  The factory retractable antenna was broken (which I learned is common for Preludes) so I purchased two aftermarket antennas that (1) attaches to the rear window glass and (2) mounts to the rear deck.  I connected them to the radio antenna lead with a Y-adaptor.  I had the quarter panel antenna hole filled before painting.

There were cracks, chips and a missing outer lens cover on the headlight, turn signal and side marker light units, so I purchased updated headlight units with modern high intensity beams and DRL rings, plus all-amber corner and turn signal lamp lenses.

 The tires on the car all had good tread, but were over seven years old - the "use-by" date specified by the tire industry.  Upon leaving MAACO. the car went down the street to the Wal-Mart tire shop for four new tires and the addition of an aftermarket TPMS system..  Factory spec tires are 205/55R15, but these are exactly as wide as the wheels, providing no cushion against curb rash.  I wanted slightly wider tires to better protect the alloy rims.  Surprisingly, only Wal-Mart had what I wanted in the form of Kuhmo 225/50R15's.  Since TPMS was not a feature of this '95 model, I found an aftermarket set that uses the cig lighter for the tire display, eliminating the need to mount an unsightly mini-screen somewhere on the dashboard.

Now all I need to do is reinstall all the bolt-ons and I will be ready to go!