3Geezer! - '88 Accord Coupe

3Geezer! - '88 Accord Coupe

Part 1 of ??? Love at first sight

This was the first car I could remember. An autumn red, 1989 Accord EX-i Canadian Spec sedan. 5-speed, fully
loaded. That was then, this is now. I had a $12,000 "inheritance," and decided to do some racing. First things
first, I had to get a car. I was wandering around some used showrooms, stopping first at a late 90's dealership.
A Civic or two, or eight, and an SHO Taurus. Nothing caught my eye. Second stop was the 80's showroom, which
initially didn't look promising. An old Volvo wagon, another 20 Civics, and then there it was.

It was midnight blue, tucked away in the back of the lot, and mint beyond belief. I hurried over to look it over. I immediately identified it as a 1989 Accord EX-i sedan, just from the amber turn signals. The leather was in pristine condition, CD player with steering audio and cruise controls, nothing had this back then! I turned to see a salesman approaching me, and asked him if I could get the keys. He quickly turned back and ran inside the showroom, emerging a short time later with the keyring. He tossed them to me and told me to start it up. Halfway through that sentence, I had gained access and was having the time of my life with the pop-up lights. Some time later, I popped the hood and looked over the engine. It was coded A20A4 on the plate, and semi-obnoxiously said PGM-FI on the intake. I started the car and listened. The salesman (I think his name was 'Dan'), told me to to go for a test drive, be back in thirty. I drove around town, simply amazed at how easy the steering was at low speed, and how surprisingly eager the aging engine was. An hour and a half later, I returned to the showroom and handed the panicking Dan a cheque for $900, signed the papers, and drove home.

It was when I was changing the tires that it became apparant, I'd bought a lemon. When I took an impact wrench to replace the balding front tires, the lower control arms rattled and the wheel well shook apart. And it got worse. At the back, the rear quarters had been patched with Bondo, but the remainder of the wheel well was crumbling like the front. There was nothing I could do, I salvaged the interior and engine and sent the shell for scrap.

Part 2...
 
Stop this, you're bringing back memories of my mom's old 1989 Accord LX. 5-speed with the carb'd A20. A guy from the neighborhood bought it, it ate the radiator on the trip home (after having sat for 4 or 5 years), yet it would still do 8000rpm and light the tires.

And yes, I said 8000rpm. Not wound out in gear that high but it made it in neutral/with the clutch in dammit. :lol:
 
Yea, this is awesome! Especially the 'bald front tires" and 'rattling control arms' part. :dopey:

Long ago I bought the '88 for one of my games as a first car, and have memories driving it around Autumn Ring on N1 tires and no rigidity refresh to try and simulate the car as a crappy 2nd-hand POS. :lol: Of course, the fun is in the tuning...making it not so crappy! I'm not psychic, but I have a feeling that's what Chapter 2 will be about.
 
Part 2 Swing and a Miss

So I found this the other day...

...went to the lot and decided to check it out. It was beige, mostly rust free (save for the gas tank, again), and didn't really get me the same way the sedan did. Learning from the last time, I interrogated the salesman more thoroughly, and did a full visual inspection. Rockers and quarters, to the subframe. Everything looked promising again. As far as I could tell, everything was fine. There was, however, quite a bit of smoke, but I was told up front the carburetor was garbage. Hence the as-is portion of the ad. I handed over another $500 and went on my way.

This time around, the problem didn't make itself obvious until two days of driving after swapping the sedan engine in. I was on the 401, eastbound to Kingston for the weekend. It wasn't much at first, but gradually, the veering got worse. The car kept pulling right, and the pull was stronger with each passing mile. I pulled into the first rest area with about 12 seconds to spare. In the middle of finding a parking spot, I heard a loud snap or bang, and the rear right corner of the car collapsed. The abrupt halt brought a tailgating Silverado flying straight into the back end. Much arguing and frustration later, I hired a tow truck and bought a train pass for the remainder of my trip.

The first thing I did (that I realized I should have done earlier) was do a background check. This hatch was accident damaged. Moderate impact at the rear right corner from an Explorer in '94, and was repaired by the lowest bidder. New quarters, new wheel pell panels, thus concluding the shoddy repair job. What happened was the alignment in the back was off, and eventually stressed the rear shock into breaking from its mounts and collapsing. I've kept tabs on expenses, $1400 in cars + $7000 in damages to the parked 3-Series I was pushed into and the idiot in the Silverado = $8400. And I STILL haven't been to a single race. Why am I still doing this?
 
Nice beginnings. Keep it up!

Only one thing though, if you're paying for damage to someone else's (3-series) car caused by an accident that's not your fault (Silverado driver) then you're a complete sucker. :dopey:
The Silverado's insurance should cover damage to all 3 vehicles in this case as he caused the accident by tailgating and being unable to stop in a reasonable fashion when required. If he has no insurance, sue the crap out of him, take the Silverado as collateral and ensure that an uninsured driver isn't allowed the chance of causing more damage to innocent law-abiding drivers. :sly:
 
I would prefer to see some pictures in this story, and an actual race.
 
I would prefer to see some pictures in this story, and an actual race.

It's called "build-up". He's not yet found the right car to race and is providing a realistic introduction to finding a suitable means of acquiring one. ;)

Not every story here has to have a Japanese kid who keeps getting given cars despite his abilty to mysteriously write them off whilst swearing profusely before, during & after every race he runs. Oh wait, that's your story isn't it, driftking18594? :lol:
 
Is this a true story? Is it quite amazing. You can never go wrong with VTEC power. :sly:

Even if you have to go over 8000 RPM to actually USE it....
All joking aside, a solid beginning, with good spelling and grammar. Here's to hoping the pictures live up to that quality.
 
Parts 3 + 3.5 The auction, and testing at Midfield

Third time lucky! I could go on about how I got it, but here it is condensed as much as I could possibly want to. I saw an ad for an auction that was being held on behalf of/by the Toronto Police Services when I got off the train. I had decided to be rid of the mangled hatchie, got $300 for the scrap metal (sans engine), and took a bus home while I scanned the ad for something interesting. I saw an ex-OPP Monte Carlo, an SVT F-150 Lightning, and a suspiciously familiar 3-Series with rear-end damage and a salvage title. I thought the Lightning looked promising, and decided to check it out on the auction day. I got there nice and early at 9 am, and looked around the lot. Not much convincing, but better than nothing. At noon, the auction began. First car in was the Lightning, starting bid $15,000. Too much. A Mk. IV Jetta rolled in next. Horrible memories of shoddy quality and service (of the month before, on an Uncle's Mk. V Jetta) came back, so I passed. Third one in was it. 1988, Accord SE-i Coupe, graphite grey metallic, absolutely no rust, not even on the brakes! I listened to the auctioneer, who went on to explain that the car belonged to a travelling salesman (quite a bad one, if he's driving an import coupe like this one), and did 53,000km before it was stolen in 1989, and hidden in a hanger for twenty years of its life. The thief (who was at time of arrest, higher than a kite and drunk out of his mind) had simply forgotten about the Accord, and the accompanying lot of Buicks, Chevys, Datsuns, and Dodges. Seems like this guy had a penchant for cheap, family cars, but like I said. Higher than a kite. All in all, I took it home for exactly $999, and it began (flawlessly, this time).

The pamphlet from the auction...


3.5 Maiden Voyage

The yet-again salvaged engine from the first sedan went in. But because I burned the clutch doing some...erm...testing, I had to use the stock auto transmission. I was so excited when I showed up at Midfield. There was a weekend event being held, and I entered one race in the front-drive category, just for kicks. And the starting lot went like this:

1) Nissan...something
2) Civic Del Sol
3) Diahatsu of unknown type
4) Alfa something, might have been a 164
5) Renault Megane
6) Me, in the Accord

It was a rolling start, 80 km/h, and across the line. Immediately, Honda syndrome kicked in. Acceleration was very lethargic. I was barely keeping the Diahatsu off my tail as we approached the s-turn and hairpin. What happened next, though, was astonishing. I eased off the gas and slid past the Del Sol and the Nissan Nondescript in the s-turn, and took the Alfa on the outside of the hairpin (so I wouldn't have to accelerate nearly as much again). I was staggered! It felt so planted, as I took the corners almost at speed. Second hairpin was ok in keeping the pack off my tail, which let me focus on the Megane. Two turns, and I lost ground. The Alfa had slipped ahead on the straight, and the remainder were slowly gaining. Another s-turn, however, gave me a good lead, when the Alfa driver was caught by surprise, and braked far too hard and early. The last turn into the finishing straight brought me closer to the Megane. At the end of the first lap, I had passed the Renault by 0.435 seconds. The rest would be easy, I thought, but it wasn't. On the 5th corner, I swung wide. I hit the brakes, and lost the lead I had worked for. I floored it, and made it back past the Alfa in the same final s-turn, and closed in on the Renault. Final turn, and I was close. Down the final straight and I was gaining, but to no avail. I took second place by three quarters of a second. Not the outcome I was hoping for, obviously, but better than what I expected. Far better. For now, it's sitting in the garage, taking a well-deserved nap next to my work bench, with 14 of the 17 or so pieces left of my camera in a little plastic bag in the trunk (I don't want to talk about it).
 
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Is this a true story? Is it quite amazing. You can never go wrong with VTEC power. :sly:

VTAC POWER!!! :)
(I wish) :lol:

Thanks, the first bit about the autumn red EX-i is true, the rest is just based off of cars I (almost) bought. More to come, with pics if my thumb drive decides to work.
 
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