New member with 1999 2.3 Accord sedan

Enne

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Hi,

I just found this forum and figured I'd join, share my car, meet other enthusiasts and maybe learn a little more about 6th gens.

I have a 1999 2.3 L Accord sedan named Selene. I got her in November 2015 from my boyfriend. He's not into cars and he wanted to get rid of his, so he gave her to me for free. She was in pretty sad shape back then, but I've tried to make her nice and pretty since.

I'll make a thread all about her later when I have time. I really love this car, and I plan on driving her until the wheels fall off, haha. Thanks for reading!

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WHEEELMAN

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Welcome. :)
Good info and good people are here.




....I really love this car, and I plan on driving her until the wheels fall off, haha.

Same here. Bought my 01 Coupe V6 in December of 2003. Currently has a J35A3 swap with 30k miles. Gonna drive her till the wheels fall off.
 

Enne

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Okay, so here's the story of how I got Selene. I'm at my computer so I can actually type all this out...I figured I'd keep this long, drawn-out story here and then just post a nice, simple thread in the Member's Rides board with the proper formatting and such.

So back in August of 2015 I started training for a new job. At that time, I was driving my parents' 2001 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. It was red like just about every other T&C, haha. It had a 3.3 L V6 with the FlexFuel option, though I would never put E85 in any car! I promise. Long story short with the van, it blew both head gaskets after about 203k miles. My parents got it repaired and they just recently traded it in. So, with the van seeming to be on its last legs back then, I was looking to make my first car purchase.

I had moved in with my boyfriend of [currently] 8 years in June 2015. I will preface the following story with the fact that my BF isn't a "car guy".

He owned a flamenco black pearl 1999 Honda Accord LX sedan. Though at the time I thought it was dark green because it was so dirty, you couldn't tell what color it was anyway. The car was mostly used to go yard-sailing and to the convenience store to get energy drinks, and thus the car was a rolling trash bin of empty cans and fast food wrappers. It was also taken on very long trips up and down the east coast. This originally New Jerseyan car has seen as far as Maine and South Carolina.

During my search for a "new" car, one day when BF and I were at the Dollar Tree getting some snacks, he mentioned that he was going to give the Accord "back" to his mother to sell for him. The car's previous owner was BF's stepfather and he had sold the car to him. BF didn't really want a car anymore since we live in a city and most things are within walking distance. On top of that, the car's left front brake caliper had rusted and seized, and he had tried to "fix" it but broke a few tools in the effort and he kind of gave up on the car. To add to this, I don't think he ever washed it once. I think he got the oil changed in it maybe once a year (so maybe like 3 times in the time he owned it), and only replaced tires if they blew, which they did. Never cleaned the inside, that's for sure.

I offered to buy the Accord from him in place of giving it back to his mother, to which he turned and said "If you want it, you can just have it". So, on my birthday, we went down to the local notary and had the car transferred into my name. This dirty, banged-up, worn-out, neglected old car was now mine!

I immediately took it to my parents' house, where my dad has his own little garage. He builds/repairs engines and sprint cars there but he's been in the automotive industry for many, many years. He and I planned on doing some much-needed maintenance and cleaning the car up that weekend. We have done a lot of work on the car since.

Here's a quick rundown of what was wrong with the car, that we replaced or fixed the first few months I had her:

Coolant reservoir was empty
Oil was black and came out like molasses
Spark plugs and wires hadn't been changed in probably years
Distributor was worn out
Plastic hub caps were cracked/chipped/generally destroyed
Inside of the car was covered in dirt, stains, hair, food, drink, trash, old parking tickets, etc.
Both front calipers were rusted and partially seized up, brake pads were down to nothing
Air filter box was full of sand and leaves, as was the filter
Air hose had a crack in it
Big rust hole in the right rear wheel well
Painted the steel wheels black again
The "Accord" emblem on the back had been broken off into two pieces and the "LX" emblem was missing
The hood had been backed into and was dented pretty badly, was also rusted and the clear coat was peeling off
The entire car had sun damage and peeling clear coat
Huge dent in the right rear quarter panel
Crowbar dents in the left rear door from someone trying to break into the car and failing
The OEM radio/tape deck was eating tapes
Front speakers were crackling and sounded terrible
Exhaust manifold was cracked and leaking
Headlights were oxidized
Cabin air filters had probably never been changed
Driver's side mirror glass had been knocked out
Timing belt service needed
Transmission fluid hadn't been replaced in about 40,000 miles

I will post photos of the carnage once I can upload pics to the forum.

After that came the first Plasti-Dip job that my dad and I did ourselves. We sprayed it gunmetal gray with an HVLP gun. It didn't turn out great, but it looked better than the ruined paint the car had. Later, we peeled that and re-sprayed the car in jet black Raail AirWrap. Then just this past January I had it re-dipped in jet black AirWrap with diamond gold pearl on top, after my car was hit by an old lady. I'm on the sales team for Raail so the company owner had a shop dip the car for free that time.

Since then, I've put a set of '92 Accord alloy wheels on that I bought off Craigslist for $100, new front and rear bumper covers, had the huge quarter panel dent removed, put new struts and coils on the front, and a few other things. I'll detail all of that in the official thread.

Overall, I've had a lot of fun with this car, and even though she needed a bit of work the repairs weren't a nightmare, and it hasn't really cost me that much in the long run (considering I got the car for free of course).

TL;DR:

:everything:
 

pete c

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Good job bringing it back to life. Sound like you need to trade in the BF! :)


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DarkSideAccord

nadeshiko fobz ftw..
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glad to see things are moving along nicely... post up pix when u get the chance
 
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