apalileo : 1993 Accord DX

[apalileo]

June 2017 - Visors!

I've had a set of Honda Access visors waiting for installation for a while now. I never put them on because I wanted to swap out some of the weather stripping so that would have required removing and reinstalling some of them. I also wanted to deal with the old window tint first.



All clips accounted for (with two that broke off in transit)


Sanded down and JB Clear Welded


3M double sided with makeshift "tabs" for pulling back the backing during installation


Done


The hardest part was installing the rears. The little slide in clips for the rear glass (not the sliding rear windows) would not make their way into the track without possibly breaking them off the visors. Instead I peeled up the door rubber, removed the two Phillips screws holding the rear track in place and slid the rear glass forward just enough to insert the clip. Once all of the clips were holding I nudged the track back in place and reinstalled the screws. They're super secure with the 3M and clips all working together.

Additionally, I ended up having the windows re-tinted. I couldn't bare the California sun beating down on me. I went with SunTek Carbon 55 which is actually 60% visible light transmission. I know it's super light, but the 99% UV and 32% solar energy rejection definitely helps. I already get enough looks from LAPD, Sheriffs and HP so I kept it as incognito as possible. My old tint was probably 35% dyed tint that faded to 40-50%. This plus the fact that I can keep my windows open slightly under the visors is a Godsend for the summer.

I've ordered modern beam style Accord wipers and have removed the arms from the car for the summer. Finally going to clean up and respray the arms back to black!

[apalileo]

I had a Thermal R&D muffler back in the day... I remember it wasn't much in the way of noise reduction but it flowed really well.

[Corweena]

Nice find Corweena! I don't know which one I'd use if I had both. Stromung usually sounds great and I'm happy with my Sebring. Maybe have your muffler shop make it into an axle back so you can swap between the two and decide!

That's what I'm thinking. So I can swap between the two. I also have a Thermal R&D exhaust laying around too LOL

[apalileo]

Nice find Corweena! I don't know which one I'd use if I had both. Stromung usually sounds great and I'm happy with my Sebring. Maybe have your muffler shop make it into an axle back so you can swap between the two and decide!

[Corweena]

So we can be Sebring buddies now lol.....copped a Prelude axleback like you have for $30 today. I just have to decide if I want to replace my Stromung or not....

[apalileo]

Thanks Mike! It's the obsessive enthusiast in me.

[Mike1357]

The car is looking really good. I like how you're focusing on the details.

[apalileo]

Henry: I'd say wagons are about as rare as DX's now. I just looked through the Pick Your Part inventories from the 5 or 6 locations within 50 miles of me and there were only 2 wagons out of 150 listings in the past month (they don't specify coupe/sedan/wagon on the site so you have to just look at the photos).

The LX Sedan is the most common model in the yards, which makes sense if you think about the market back then (even now).

[HenRoc]

Looks great! You guys out on the West coast luck out on CBs, here on the East coast especially where I reside, I'm beginning to find out quickly how hard it is to locate parts for a wagon.

Wanting to get rid of the tan interior since it's a bit on the filthy side.

Sorry to thread jack but do you come across a lot of wagons on your trips to the yard? Looking for a set of lower arms to finish off my Prothane kit for the wagon.

[apalileo]

Thanks oneoff! Doing my best!

This morning I visited Pick Your Part in Wilmington (about 50 min. away from me with light traffic) and picked a replacement right rear manual regulator. Got home from work, cleaned it up, coated it thoroughly with synthetic grease and installed it. Also made sure to run it up and down a few times to get the grease spread through the full range of motion.



The Honda Gods favored me this morning. I'm fortunate to have an abundance of CB Accords scattered throughout the yards in SoCal, but the DX's are becoming far more scarce. The car I pulled this regulator from was the only DX sedan on this lot and had been out for almost two weeks now but was still mostly in tact.

I also swapped in my DA brake button.


It's a tiny little detail, but it looks much better to me than the chrome one that stood out against everything else. The old button completely broke apart as I unscrewed it so this was a point of no return type of swap.

[oneoffaccord]

car looks good. keep it up

[apalileo]

@Rilas, I should have guessed the seam would be an issue. I even thought about it when I received them, how nasty the seam was. Just like you said, a few minutes with the trusted Dremel and they fit. The only other issue is that the screw doesn't quite line up with the threaded tab so it takes a bit of fiddling to get it to catch.





I must say, having clear headlight lenses makes the car look much better, even when it's dirty. I feel like more light is cast on the road, but I may just be fooling myself to believe that.

This weekend I finally removed the faded old tint. All of Saturday was spent with a bottle of 409 and some black trash bags. It was over 80° and sunny so it made the removal much easier. The old adhesive smelled terrible, but the fresh lemon scent and ammonia helped to fight it. I managed to take most of the tint off in single passes.

Yesterday I went to the yard and picked up a full set of rubber window tracks and front door seals (the ones that wrap around the top of the door itself) and installed those to replace my brittle disintegrating pieces. My passenger rear regulator failed. Another trip is due now.

Also while there I found this little guy


It's the parking brake button from a DA Integra (2nd gen). I had wanted a black button for mine, because the chrome is starting to chip away on the newer one I had installed.

More to come...

[Rilas]

The headlights are back in and they look awesome! I installed JDM ASTAR amber LED bulbs in the corner lights and they are super bright! Unfortunately, after putting the bumper back on, my Si-T style bumper lights didn't fit. It's because of the seam between the clear lens and housing. There's just far too much protrusion for them to fit in the bumper. After work I'm going to grind down that seam as much as possible. Hopefully that solves it.

I had to sand down my clear lenses as well. Just took a dremel with a sanding bit and had them fitting in probably 5 minutes per side. Really not a big deal, but your not the only one to experience this.

[apalileo]

Beautiful. I won't lie. This inspired me to re-think my sedan. I recently picked up a wagon to daily drive while the sedan goes down for some much needed love. I've read all 6 pages and really really like how you thought out everything on this car.

It's stuff like this that makes me really appreciate the forums and the hardwork that people like you put in. - Henry

Henry, my build has been inspired by other members so I'm glad I could pay it forward. It's a labor of love and a culmination of over 20 years having modified several cars. I guess as I've grown up, my modification process has matured as well!

Those bumper lights are so cool! What a cool idea!

I can't take all of the credit: EXT: Si-T Bumper lights

Legit retofit work and excellent polishing. I remember working on my lights and it was a labor of love. You will really enjoy these im sure.

Nice work.

I chose the X-Lenses specifically for their rectangle shape. I feel they compliment the CB7 headlight perfectly. The cutoff on these is interesting though. The center is your typical straight line with the step up on the passenger side, but on the far right and left, it arcs downward. It's got something to do with the way the lens is cut. I guess flattening out the sides to create the square has that effect on the way light passes through. With 55W 5000K D2S bulbs, they're fantastic!

Those bumper lights look flawless! That was a fantastic idea!

I can't take all the credit (see above). However, I went with the "drop in" method rather than the usual housing disassembly simply because of the way the housing and lens are joined. I'm glad I did it this way. This is actually the reason why I haven't posted a pic yet.



The headlights are back in and they look awesome! I installed JDM ASTAR amber LED bulbs in the corner lights and they are super bright! Unfortunately, after putting the bumper back on, my Si-T style bumper lights didn't fit. It's because of the seam between the clear lens and housing. There's just far too much protrusion for them to fit in the bumper. After work I'm going to grind down that seam as much as possible. Hopefully that solves it.

[Jarrett]

Those bumper lights look flawless! That was a fantastic idea!