My journey only just started in late 2013, when I sadly had to part with my (CD7) Accord Coupe. It got totalled while waiting for a red light, rear-ended by some (sorry excuse of a driver’s license holder) - and after a lengthy procedure getting my claim from the insurance company, I sat out making my best of the situation, and behold a Prelude was cheap'ish up for sale
Was absolutely not a looker and the lowest spec Lude I’d ever seen, never the less it was a H22A5 auto with some 130k miles on the clock + a 6 month old receipt for a full gearbox rebuild at a Honda Dealer.
The Danish tax system is absurdly crazy and makes this car cost around 3000£ and a fair/mint Prelude will set you back 5-8000£ (ultimo 2013) not to speak of what a type-S would cost. The main reason is the VAT, it’s around 180% for all imported cars, new as well as used… well enough about that –
On with my plans for the Lude
My plan was to create;
- a nice everyday driver
- with a smooth clean look
- without adding too many aftermarket parts
- and staying true to the JDM/Honda look.
First adding some shiny bits
Clear JDM fog lights and clear side indicators + temporary red badges
After the first bit of fun I had to get my hands dirty and address a more pressing issue RUST! And I truly learned first-hand that when rust is left without any repair for a while it gets really BAD - really FAST!
And the previous owner ignored it long enough;
My solution to the rust problem was located in the UK
I picked up this fine Motegi BB8 Lude for the net sum of 650£ with 6months tax/mot, used it for a few months and drove it back to Denmark. Now I had 100% spare parts for my Danish Lude.
Long story short, the UK lude had lots of fresh parts that my Danish Lude needed
And a few nights + a reciprocating saw later I had a few cardboard boxes of parts and a Prelude chassis cut neatly into 9 equal size pieces
And now the real fun could begin
swapping fresh parts over on the Danish Lude. But first some modifications and repairs were needed
And the time came to take a look at my rear wheel arches, and what a sight that was waiting for me!
The amount of metal needed to be cut away was somewhat staggering
and my welding skills were really put on test. (I had just bought a MIG welder for the occasion and this was my first time welding)
I spent every evening in the garage for around a week where I did the following;
- Welded in new rear wheel arches
- Lots of other bodywork weld repair
- Hood Debadge + rust repair
- Trunk Debadge + keyhole + spoiler holes removal
- Repaired and mounted Motegi skirt set
- Removed fog light front bumper and relocated it inside the rear lights*
And there it was - all the rust removed and fitted with temporally dipped Motegi kit and clean trunk lid
Shortly after the extensive bodywork repair I had it back in my garage ready for a coat of CardipUK matte-black
Now with a fresh paintjob and all the rust sorted my attention turned to the brakes. They were totally shot to say the least, and offered me a good opportunity to go shopping :9
Decided to go for Accord Type-R brake calipers and 28x300mm brake discs – of course I sand blasted the calipers painted them red for a sharper look
and to top it off, the Motegi 17” wheels.This is my progress so far, there are some tweaks and mods not yet included in the profile I’ll add them later on – along with future modifications
Hope you enjoyed the read/pictures – there is more to come
The amount of rust! That's worse than even most 4ths!!! 
)
