HayyItsRay's 2002 Accord Coupe EX V6

HayyItsRay

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I used to drive a 2002 Accord Sedan EX V6 AT in Firepepper Red Pearl. Bought it in 2009 at 30K miles and drove it to 193K. I found this gem on Craigslist at 47K miles at a great price! So I decided I had to jump on it and keep the 6GA life alive.

The original owner kept it in good shape with regular oil changes, but never performed other maintenance or exterior/interior care. It's going to take some TLC to get it into presentation condition, but excited to see where it takes me.

Engine / Performance:
Stock

Suspension: Stock
  • 2006 RSX Wheels
  • 205/55/16 Riken RAPTOR ZR A/S

Interior / ICE
  • Auto gated shifter
  • Sony XAV-W650BT head unit

Cosmetic
  • Smoked side markers

Future plans
  • Custom floor mats
  • Weathertech trunk liner
  • Weathertech side deflectors
  • Sunroof visor
  • Smoked headlight assembly
  • LED interior light swap
  • Flashing 3rd tail light
  • Window tints

Here are some photos shortly after purchase.

IMG_20201018_1019246.jpg IMG_20201018_1019522.jpg IMG_20201018_1020289.jpg IMG_20201018_1023407.jpg
 

HayyItsRay

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Last Sunday met with some buddies and did some of the standard fluid changes (brake, power steering, transmission), changed the brake pads, and installed RSX wheels. Car runs like new now!

IMG_20201023_1338547.jpg
 

RedRyder

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Congrats, hopefully this auto serves you as well as the last one did. Gold emblems, muffler tips?...don't see that anymore. Any plans for fog lights?

I'd address any rust now if you got it.
 

HayyItsRay

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Thanks, I'm hoping so too. I'm glad for the convenience of the AT (my wife doesn't like driving stick), but if this were MT this would have been the dream car.

Yes, the gold accents are part of the OEM gold trim upgrade the original owner opted for. Friends are saying it's a bit of a tacky style nowadays. I'm still thinking through how to honor the car's heritage from the original owner by keeping the gold trim while still keeping the car looking classy so if you have ideas, feel free to suggest. :birgits_tiredcoffee

I spent a long time looking for a set of fog lights with an OEM-look/fitment but can't seem to find too many online. Again if you have any references I'd love to do more research!
 

RedRyder

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I get what your friends are saying, I mean gold emblems was a 90's thing and you never see them anymore. But that doesn't mean they have to be a bad thing. If you are one of those people who appreciate classic genuine OEM accessories and rare options a car was ordered with from the factory, then they are actually pretty cool. But yeah, anything you can do to make them look more at home on the car might help, some stuff like this can be a challenge. Either way as long as you keep the car clean and sharp looking, with any mods you do all tied together, it will look good imo.

There used to be a website called HandA-accessories.com, it was awesome for genuine Honda interior, exterior, etc stuff...sadly the site went down a few months ago. But I believe whatever dealership they were affiliated with is still selling whatever accessories they had left over, so that might be worth a look. Otherwise people retrofit CF4 or Inspire fogs since they're all over Ebay, or they used to also use 01-03 Civic fogs - link in Exterior Lighting Section of DIY Master List - https://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/threads/official-6ga-diy-master-list.15894/

Agree about the MT, that's why I converted mine. Before I got married of course, haha. The only mod I never got around to that I wanted to do with my car was the CL-S dash/console. Don't know that I ever will though at this point.
 

HayyItsRay

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I put in a Weathertech trunk liner the other day. Something I always thought made the trunk look a little more put together.

Trunk2.jpg
Trunk1.jpg

I realized all the glass on this car is covered with etched water marks, so the past few days I've taken ~45 minutes every morning to experiment with cleaning techniques, going from gentle to more aggressive. First I just tried spraying and wiping with Windex like a mad man, thinking it would just come right off. I tried claying it, and also no good. So now I'm up to using some #0000 steel wool with some glass cleaner, and that seems to make a little bit of progress on it. I'm thinking that's the just the right amount of abrasion I need, so when I have some time, I'm planning to spend some time on all the windows slowly working through getting these water marks off, then rinsing/washing the car off to avoid any steel wool particles from wreaking havoc on the paint.

Will post some before/after photos if I remember.

The only mod I never got around to that I wanted to do with my car was the CL-S dash/console. Don't know that I ever will though at this point.

I love that mod and have thought about that one for so long even with my sedan! At this point I don't think I'll be able to find a viable donor car in my area, but now that you mention it again maybe that's something I can add to my personal wishlist...it never hurts to lurk the junkyards.
 

HayyItsRay

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Detailing update: My first pass of all the glass has cleaned up quite a bit of the etching, but will have to return to them to clean up heavier etched areas and corners.

Before
IMG_20201107_1035298.jpg


After
IMG_20201107_1131378.jpg


Replaced headlight assembly with something a little sleeker a couple nights ago. I also found these original 9006 halogen fitment LED bulbs, which I haven't seen in the market before at a great price. Light distribution is great!
IMG_20201109_1759224.jpg IMG_20201109_2004127.jpg
 

HayyItsRay

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Another detailing update. I spent somewhere around 10 hours on a paint detailing job (wash, decontaminant spray, clay bar, compounding, polishing) to bring this car's paint up to a decent viewable condition.

Definitely a lot of micro-scratches, and some bigger scratches that I didn't have the guts to try to chase because I don't have a paint gauge to see how much clearcoat I had left to work with. Compounding got rid of the water marks on the paint pretty easily though. Afterwards, I applied a ceramic coating from a very promising, low-cost brand, and I have to say I'm extremely satisfied with the results given the cost. I gave my car a double coat, and still have nearly half a bottle left, so let's see how long that ceramic coating lasts.

A couple before and after photos just so you have an idea. Sorry, I'm not a great photographer and I always forget to take photos that really showcase what I've been up to. The after photos are taken just before I went in to the local Red Cross center to donate some platelets.

BEFORE:
PreDetailing1.jpg
PreDetailing2.jpg

AFTER:
PostDetailing1.jpg
PostDetailing2.jpg


At this point, since I live in Silicon Valley area, I feel like I could flip this car and make a good chunk of money on it but I think I've grown too attached! :licklips:
 
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