Lude Generation

Haven't got a Prelude yet but want to buy one.

What is everyones opinion as to the best type to buy? I have been told 2.2 VTEC as opposed to 2.0 and, from what I can see... the prices asked swing wildly from a few hundred quid to a couple of thousand ( some are even 4 K! What are people thinking ? )

Also, when looking what do I look for to ensure I won't be ripped off ( common faults/problems )

Anyway... any suggestions would be appreciated.

Oh.. by the way I am looking for an unmolested unmodified example

Because these cars are old now I think the key is patience and be prepared to travel for the right car.

Whether you go for a 3rd, 4th or 5th gen I think your main issue will be rust. In most cases it is repairable and you can buy replacement arches and sills on here if needed.

The 2.2 engines are definitely the ones to go for although not available in the 3rd gens. Which generation of prelude are you after?

5th gen type S was the Zenith. If you want everything that the lude chassis should be then get one of those. They will be the 4-5k examples and worth every penny. It has trick everything (brakes, dif, suspension arms etc) compared to every other lude, though it gets shtique because of this.

4th gen zenith would be maybe 2.2 si lsd? not so sure.

The differences between the 4th and 5th are minor and massive. It mostly comes down to style.

the 2.0 is good for turboing but not so good for actual balls to the wall fun like the VTEC. Open dif FWD is a bit wan-k in my personal opinion so search out an LSD equipped one or get a type S with ATTS.

Unless you are buying a garage queen that needs to be sold they will all have some general maintenance issues to spend on when you buy nowadays. People dont sell many 15-23 year old cars without a few jobs needing doing.

Wanting an ''unmodified'' example is basically letting yourself in for many and more of these jobs that will need spending on. You will find, if you look properly, that some of the modified examples are exactly what you should be buying. Someone has spent over a grand on new shocks so you dont have to etc... when cars get this old its worth considering you will be riding around on ancient rubber bushes etc. A car that has been fully poly bushes will feel better than stock new and like day to night against an ''unmodified'' (read old and knackered) example with its ancient bushes wobbling all over the place. If you want to actually enjoy the car as honda intended then modified is almost by definition something you need to look into. There are different ways to modify a car though obviously. We are not talking about driving through halfrauds at60mph and keeping everything that sticks....

All I'm saying is dont end up buying a car that will need a load of pattern parts within two years to stay road worthy when you could buy a well thought out enthusiasts car that has all of this work done with good branded aftermarket parts..... Soon as you buy it you'll start to want to get stuff tighter. Whats the point of a saggy old sports car on wobbly rubber and played out springs?

Many thanks for the replies.

In answer to one question... I think it is a Gen 4 I will be looking for. 2.2 vetch. Sounds like the Gen5 zeniths would be outside what I want to pay. Although I am sure they would ideal, it would be a mess around with and play type of car in the event. That said rust does bother me as I do not have any experience of welding or the tools so, Ideally, I would want to try to find a rust free example.

Any thoughts on the best web site to look for a 1/2 decent Prelude ( or mags for that matter )?

bmwnunkie wrote:Any thoughts on the best web site to look for a 1/2 decent Prelude

You're probably on it.

If you want a rust free 4th gen you will be looking at buying an import probably. They always mave much less rust and wear and tear for the year.

By now they have probably all had rust so try and find one that has already had it repaired

Welcome.

Ludes turn up everywhere for sale and as you say, price range is quite big.
There are still a lot of 4g's about and a good choice of unmolested/unmodified ones. There are also a mix of well and badly modified ones around, including some that are tacky as you could ever imagine. On here, ebay, gumtree are probably the main places to look for ones already in the UK, but they also turn up on pistonheads, autotrader, carsandclassic.co.uk and classiccarsforsale.co.uk

If you want a rust free 4th gen, you'll either have to import one yourself (yep, still a good few in Japan ready for export) or if you want one already in the country, you'll have to be patient as they don't turn up very often. Rear arches and outside of the sills at the rear are where they rust. You can get replacement arches and sills on here for not too much money, so another option is to buy a good one with rusty arches cheap and then get them replaced - that way you know you have a tip-top car that will last.

Aside from rust in those places, the other common fault you'll find is rear brakes seizing up. It's an easy job, just the carriers usually, not the calipers themselves. Strip the pads out, clean up the carriers and pads properly, check the slider pins aren't seized (strip/replace them if needed), grease everything up and re-assemble and adjust the handbrake.

If you buy a JDM car with an LSD gerarbox, 5th gear crunch is common. Most people report good results from just changing the gearbox fluid for Amsoil MTF or (I forget what now, but there's another one) with no need for a re-build.

Oil leaks from the distributor seal and inlet cam seal (same side of the head) are common and from the oil cooler seal, all of which are easy fixes. Aside from that, check when the cambelt was last done and whether the auto tensioner was last changed at the time.

Main difference between UKDM 4th gen vtec's and JDM is that UKDM's had 185bhp as standard, JDM had 197bhp.
Aside from that, there are trim and toy differences. JDM's had things like electronic controlled heater/a/c controls (UKDM's had manual sliders) and you could get things like electric folding mirrors on JDM's (UKDM were just electric adjusting, not folding) so it depends if those things are important to you.

So a few more questions I'm afraid so we can help you out a bit more - what's your budget?
Do you want 4 Wheel Steer or 2 Wheel Steer?

bmwnunkie wrote:the prices asked swing wildly ( some are even 4 K! What are people thinking ? )

A note on this:

I saw a 51 plate Corsa C up for 3k yesterday so... IMO your pennies go far in terms of bang for your buck.

Start by asking yourself why you want one. As an interesting daily or as something to love and cherish? Both options are available and the price range reflects this.
You could knock about in what are essentially disposable items, one after the other, for a few years at a few hundred at a time; or you could get a real keeper. This is more relevant to 4G and 5G than earlier versions.
If it really is just "a mess around with and play type of car" that you're after, you could consider a cheapo to start with. Cars at £70-80 per month's MoT come up depressingly frequently.

Then you have to choose between the looks and character of the different generations. Try them out. Why not keep an eye out on this forum for the occasional gatherings, turn up make yourself known?

Where are you?