Daily Driver Build

[Sn3aKyGuY]

Hey there CB7Tuner.com members! I've been lurking around the forum here for a few weeks and thought I'd sign up and say hi. Also, I'd like to throw out a huge kudos to the admins and moderators here for keeping an awesome, drama free atmosphere. It's rare to find a forum where you can freely posts your thoughts without having the 'holier-than though' guys flaming you for a week straight!

I recently purchased a 1990 Honda Accord LX. It's a 5-speed, 4-door with the red cloth interior. This poor little car was on it's way to the scrap yard because the guy had no use for it any more. I offered him what it was worth in scrap value and he said sold. Still runs great, but does need some work. Right off the bat I'm going to have to replace the passenger half shaft as the cv joint is clicking pretty bad, so I'm just going to replace the driver side as well and call it good. The exterior is pretty rough with rust and what not. I'm guessing the person this guy bought it from was in a minor collision as the front bumper is held on with a few bolts and zip ties and the metal behind the corner lights are crumpled a tad. It has the typical Honda rust on the rear quarters/wheel wells, but I don't think any Honda I've owned hasn't had that.

My plans for this car is to build it into a clean looking daily driver, possibly throw 8-10 lbs of boost on it down the road, and pass it down to my son when he is old enough to drive. I've been doing a lot of digging around here for ideas and parts. Boost_Lee ... I love love love the look of your car. The Xenon kit looks awesome, good job. I also really like the look of the Value Sports kits, but haven't really had luck finding a US supplier for it.

As far as interior goes I got pretty lucky. Almost everything is mint. The cloth on the door panels are starting to sag towards the rear, but from what I can tell that's common with these cars. There are a few dings in the headliner, but no big deal there. I'm going to have to go through with some good cleaners though as the car set in the previous owners garage for over a year and some spiders moved in on top of all the dust that collected in the car. It still has the stock cassette radio, so I'll upgrade that and throw in some better speakers. Maybe some small subs, but I don't find myself jamming out like I used to when I was younger. Kids will do that to you.

Sorry I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I'll throw some up when I get some time to finish cleaning it. So, with what I've set as a goal, just looking for some input/suggestions. I plan on keeping the F22A1, so thanks but no thanks on the engine swap ideas.

[13k]

Idk if the way you typed is the order you plan on doing things, but I'd worry about suspension and comfort before you worry about boosting. And depending on how much rust you have, you may have a several thousand dollar project ahead of you. Pics help loads though

[deevergote]

I'd definitely take care of the rust first, as that will eat the car alive.
Suspension, as 13k said, is also a smart thing to focus on. Brakes as well. You really don't need to be thinking about increasing power until the car is in a condition to safely and reliably put that power to the ground.

Once you get to the engine, make sure it's healthy before you do anything major to it. Compression/leakdown test is a must. Replace all ignition components (no need to upgrade, just get quality parts.)
If turbo is your plan, and you want to do it on the stock F22A, then you should expect it to blow up eventually. Even if everything is done right, these engines won't hold boost forever. They just aren't made for it, and they are now 20 years old. If this will be your first time with turbo, then you'll be subjecting the engine to even more strain as you learn what you're doing.

I often suggest that people build a spare F22A on the side. Something with forged internals, all new seals, etc... while they practice with turbo on their old, tired, stock engine. By the time the old one blows, they should have the new one ready... and they will have gotten their trial and error learning out of the way!

[Sn3aKyGuY]

Thanks for the input guys. Yea, I didn't really post in any particular order, just what was in my head as I was going. I've turboed a few 4.3L Chevy V6 motors in the past so I'm not really 'new' to the turbo world, but this will be my first import turbo project. Also, you guys are spot on about comfort. Suspension/chassis and drive train will be getting work done before anything. The motor seems to be running strong, although I haven't got a chance to do a compression test yet. I have a buddy who is pretty knowledgeable on repairing rust, especially on Honda's, so he'll be doing most of that work for me. I do custom firearm finishes and gunsmithing as my side job so I have all the equipment I need to go ahead and paint it myself once the rust is fixed should I feel the urge.

Building a separate motor outside the car actually sounds like a good idea. If I can pick up a spare motor that's not to beat from one of the local scrap yards I may invest in that route. I've been checking out some of the Bisimoto components and they seem pretty solid for what I have planned. Even with small amounts of boost, these engines really don't last long though? If that's the case, would it be 'safer' for a daily driven project to just use higher compression to make more power vs forced induction? I'm not trying to go out and race this thing, I would just like to have a little more power under me while being as reliable as possible. As I said, one day my son may drive this car.

[deevergote]

The weak point with these motors when it comes to turbo is the ringlands... so replacing the pistons with forged ones is the best way to build the motor so it will survive.
In order to raise the compression (properly), you'd want to replace the pistons anyway... so the same level of work and cost would be involved either way.

You could do a mild N/A build and get 150-160whp or so, without opening the motor,

Boost will work for a short time (maybe 2 years, maybe 2 weeks...), but every boosted stock-block F22A that doesn't suffer some serious failure due to poor tuning or abuse usually ends up falling victim to broken ringlands.
Also, if you boost the stock block, you'll still need a new clutch. The old one won't last very long at all.
Additionally, you'll need to know how to tune the ECU, or find someone that can do it for you. It's not incredibly difficult, but there's a fair amount of knowledge necessary to do it.

Even if you find an F22A that's in lousy shape in a junkyard, and you pick it up cheap... you'll be rebuilding it.
Actually, if you wanted to get really serious with the build, you could resleeve the block, get high quality forged internals, and boost the hell out of it. 600+whp is doable. We have a member making over 600 right now, in fact.

[Sn3aKyGuY]

Thanks for the input, deevergote. Armed with that tid bit of info, I think I'll see what I can do on building a na setup. Fewer parts to go wrong. If I get bored with it I can always sell the motor and go a different route.

On a different note, I got a chance to go out and inspect the rust a little closer and I think there is more damage than I'd previously thought. I'm going to have to get it up on jack stands and do a full rust inspection. While I'm under there I've got a few other things I'd like to look at anyways, so it can't hurt.