New Accord from NYC

[Metalp3n]

So I never thought I would end up here - alas here I am. Made the smart, cheap, and reliable choice (hopefully) and picked up a 2000 Honda Accord EX V6 Coupe as my new daily driver. Hey you have to grow up eventually right?

For those of you wondering, my previous daily was a 2003 Infiniti G35. Sold it a few months ago with 330k miles on it. Bought it brand new in November of 2002.

(I'll get pictures here once I'm allowed to post them)

Now onto the Honda. It's silver, with black leather interior. Sunroof, auto AC. It's not perfect. It has it's dents and scratches - but it's a 14 year old car with 170k miles on it for $2k - I expect nothing less. The radio needs to be unlocked, and the lights changed for the mileage display, and the AC display as neither are visible at night.

I'm going to try my best to keep this as stock as possible but I said that with the Infiniti also. And then it ended with a suede interior, numerous sets of rims, and every bolt on possible.

As for the mods that are planned for it already - I plan to put my Rockford Fosgate P3 in as it's been sitting in my house since the G35 anyway. Matched to a P600.2 amp. I'll end up upgrading the battery as-well for this - and assumingly in-time have to go to the Odyssey alternator.

I haven't heard the stock radio yet - so I can't tell you right now if the sound system will end up being swapped out or not. Nothing overly crazy. I'm much more of a SQL fan than SPL - so if it gets done no additional subwoofers past the 1 P3 will be added. Just a change of speakers, amp and a double din.

My domo headrest pillows are going in - because well .. Domo!

And then the headlights. It's been a while since I had halogen - and I'm wondering whether I should upgrade to HID's or just pick up an eBay set with "projectors" and throw an HID kit into that - as I assume the factory housings will just disperse light all over the road and I'll end up with no increase in visibility - and a ton of blinded drivers. Any recommendations here would be awesome guys.

The car did come with a Neuspeed front swaybar - because I guess someone at some point thought this was a sports car ...

 

[SSMNVCG3]

Welcome to the family. For pictures you can just upload them to photobucket and copy and paste the img code and that works better then uploading them to the forum. Seems like you've already done some research so keep it up and enjoy the car. Oh and don't go for ebay projectors, they suck. I suggest doing a retrofit instead.

 

[Metalp3n]

Alas I have not yet been a member long enough to post images. Have to be a member for at least 7-days ...

As for a retrofit - I'd have to see what it entails really to see if I'm willing to waste the time as opposed to making due with some eBay projectors for a year.

 

[RedRyder]

Welcome to the site. Biggest thing you’ll want to keep your eye on is your auto transmission. The odometer and HVAC display lights are easy to replace, while you’re at it you may want to consider an LED conversion. As for your headlights, stay away from Ebay projector headlights. The best solution is a retrofit, you can do it yourself (search Morimoto H1 – there is even a DIY), or there are a couple members who may still be doing them for people.

And actually these cars can be somewhat sporty depending on what you do with it. There are several cars pushing close to or over 300whp. And a couple around 400.

Lots of miles on that G...nice.

 

[Metalp3n]

I grew up with the guys that own ONEighty. Worked with them for a bit helping them get their website online, their CRM system, and their accounting. Watching retrofits get done on G35 headlights - this isn't something I'd want to spend my afternoon attempting haha.

My thing with the sporty aspect of it - what exactly do you do with a 300whp FWD car - keeping in mind it's totally unbalanced weight distribution. Then you get it's torque steer, the fact that the center of gravity of FWD cars is in front of you - and somewhere around that point I write off any aspect of sporty which the concept of it being a Coupe has mistakenly given me.

As for the AT - I've read they tend to go on them. This one doesn't feel bad - and the goal is to get anything over a year out of it before I move on. If it gets past that - it would've paid for itself a few times.

 

[RedRyder]

The 6GA is an older car, and thus a simpler car haha. The Morimoto H1 retrofit is pretty straightforward when it comes to retrofitting (and the cheapest). You will not run into the complexity you would with a higher end car when it comes to electronics. There are more complex retrofits like TSX projectors or similar that people do, and actually one of our members just posted about retrofitting Acura LED projectors headlights. But for a basic projector that does a great job, the H1 is what most choose. If you plan to only keep the car for a year though, maybe just getting some decent bulbs is all you’ll want to do. You can use an HID kit, as long as you aim the headlights down a little to reduce the glare.

What do you do with a 300hp FWD car? Have a blast tracking/autocrossing, or driving it spiritedly on a good road. I certainly do not imply that any FWD car is really a sports car, that’s not what the Accord was built for obviously. But to me, if a car is fun to drive and has any decent performance, then it’s sporty as long as it looks the part. And these cars can be pretty fun depending on what you do with them. Several V6 owners have swapped to a 6spd manual, bigger motor, lowered on firmer suspension with larger diameter RSB’s or full underbody brace, etc. Plenty of people have built motors and S/C’d or turbo’d. Makes for a lot of fun if you ask me. But everyone has their threshold on what’s sporty and what isn’t, and it depends on what you do with the car and/or how serious you are about it. So I understand where you’re coming from. Hell, a requirement for my next car is RWD or AWD.

 

[Metalp3n]

The 6GA is an older car, and thus a simpler car haha. The Morimoto H1 retrofit is pretty straightforward when it comes to retrofitting (and the cheapest). You will not run into the complexity you would with a higher end car when it comes to electronics. There are more complex retrofits like TSX projectors or similar that people do, and actually one of our members just posted about retrofitting Acura LED projectors headlights. But for a basic projector that does a great job, the H1 is what most choose. If you plan to only keep the car for a year though, maybe just getting some decent bulbs is all you’ll want to do. You can use an HID kit, as long as you aim the headlights down a little to reduce the glare.

Found the DIY, and you know what it does seem relatively simple. It's worth a go on a rainy day.

What do you do with a 300hp FWD car? ... Plenty of people have built motors and S/C’d or turbo’d. Makes for a lot of fun if you ask me. But everyone has their threshold on what’s sporty and what isn’t, and it depends on what you do with the car and/or how serious you are about it. So I understand where you’re coming from. Hell, a requirement for my next car is RWD or AWD.

I think a large portion of it also stems from what you're used to. Coming from RWD cars always doesn't help my bias.

--

So - I changed the battery, pulled out the radio, found the code written on it - so saved a trip to Honda there.

Having given it a proper drive now I've realized a few things. First off - either this alternator is shot, or the car has horrible grounding. Doing anything that puts any additional electrical load apart from just driving, ie opening/closing windows, turning on the blinkers, etc - causes the interior lights to dim slightly.

Secondly the stock front speakers are blown - and the rear ones are barely holding in there - so that will have to be changed out. Since the car doesn't seem to be able to comfortably handle it's stock electrical load this isn't looking wonderfully simple.

Oh, the interior lights - they have to go. I saw the DIY articles and I'll have to make the swap there also. What I never saw anyone touch base upon however was the auto climate control display. Mine doesn't light up - is there a bulb for it also? I looked on the back of the board when I had taken the radio out - and I assume it's the one marked BLACK - but I am not sure. Any LED recommendations by the way - please feel free.

There's a distinct vibration over 60mph, and the front brakes do feel a bit warped. I'll take it to get the wheels balanced tomorrow and start there. I don't feel any wobble in the wheels to indicate tie-rods; but I'll put it up on a lift and check it out anyway.

Oh the tie-down for the battery broke, because rust for the win. Dealer or eBay or ?

There's a fair share of loose things throughout the interior. The center console. The driver seat slightly. There's a fair share of missing screws also - so this just seems like an hour and a bucket of screws will do the job.

The transmission holds the gear a bit longer than I expect it to during street driving. It's angry when I don't want it to be. Actually I'd probably be a bit pissed at 170+k miles also ...

Oh - it's growing on me. This little Honda.

 

[RedRyder]

For lights dimming, first check your grounds. If those are not the problem, some have claimed that “big 3” wiring upgrade has fixed this load problem for them. My car did the same thing, but for whatever reason when I swapped to LED’s throughout the interior, it went away.

There is a bulb for all LCD’s in the car, and a DIY for converting the auto CC to LED if you search it up, which will also show you were the display bulb is. As for which LED’s to choose, most go with SuperBrightLEDs.com or VLEDS.com. If you go with LED’s from Amazon or Ebay, just be weary and look for specs. Whatever you do, stay away from LEDAutomotive.

To find out if your front rotors are warped, drive on a road somewhere away from traffic, get up to speed, then slowly engage the handbrake. If you feel a vibration, it’s the rear rotors. Otherwise if you feel a vibration when braking it’s the fronts. If you feel vibration just when driving warped rotors could be part of it, but it could also be unbalanced wheels or that the car needs an alignment. Giving the suspension a once over like you mentioned is a good idea given the age/mileage.

Battery tie down isn’t essential, but if you want one they’re all over Ebay. Unfortunately they’re hard to find at junkyards since they remove the battery and throw parts on the ground which end up who knows where. It is a 13 year old car, so rattles and squeaks are not uncommon, especially if the previous owner didn’t take good care of the car. Most are easy enough to troubleshoot though.

Gears being held too long and slight jerks when shifting between P, N, R, and D are normal. Back when my car was auto if I was driving 45mph or under I kept it in D3 because it would gear hunt on hills or if traffic was slowing down/speeding up, etc if it was in D4. Driving in D3 in that scenario just kept the trans from needlessly shifting. 45mph or over and freeway driving I always used D4. Here is a thread with some suggestions on how to cause as little transmission wear as possible, if interested.

 

[Metalp3n]

Ah, perfect. I was JUST about to order the kit from LEDAutomotive as it seemed the simplest for plug and play uses. Thanks for the heads up.

So, the handbrake doesn't work. Discovered that.

Thank you so much for all the info!

I'll be checking the grounds today, along with the alternator an let you know.

 

[RedRyder]

They do make it simple which is nice, but their LED’s are crap. I made the mistake of going with them first time around. Went with SBL bulbs after they all died or lost their brightness. There are several good LED threads on the site to help you pick the right bulb type, style, and color for each application.

Hmm handbrake could be loose or disconnected cable. Or it could be a problem at the caliper end, seized, etc.

Good luck with the wiring.