My DA9 build & why I am a DA lover

GENERAL General G2/G2IC Discussion
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well it seems everyone has a build thread… seeing as I am completely hooked on this car and already into it for more than it will be worth… may as well go all the way right!!!

In a nutshell last may I finally got my license back afetr losing it for hot rodding a 1st generation 300ZX into a light pole at warp speed, I collected a nice check and started looking for a new car. I have owned a few different flavors of japanese cars including a 1st gen prelude, 2nd gen accord, 1st gen civic (yes the little booger box ones from the 80s) and the 300ZX I totaled.

One car I had never owned but had several friend absolutely have a blast with was the Acura Integra. I had always wanted one, but was more particular to the Gen 2 as I did not care for those 2 round headlights, and the gen 1’s were not quite as sharp as later models IMHO. I thus hit craigslist in search of something and came across a guy selling a DA with clean title for 2650. upon seeing it I immediately picked him apart on the numerous screw holes and mis matched fenders and drove off with it for 2k flat. At the time it had under 150k on the odometer, had a 90 LS b18A1 motor, LS A1 transmission as in it’s previous life it was a LS/Vtec swap with full race skirts etc etc… the last owner pretty much parted it our and put it back to stock. The upside was aftermarket sway bars and tokico shocks… so suspension wise it rode solid. Another plus was that the engine was nice and smooth running and the car had 0 alignment or drivetrain issues whatsoever. Combine that with a clean title I guess I did alright.

here’s the pics from when I bought it.





ROll the clock forward I soon after driving around realized I had slightly been duped on how well the car ran. new water pump,timing belt,all kinds of maintenance done… yea guy was full of it once I got around to tearing stuff down I saw the work done was that of an amature. I felt almost defeated and that I was stuck with a lemon… At that point I decided since money was tight at that time I was going to start a budget build.

Shortly after that I picked up an extra contract and had extra cash, but decided to stick with a slightly budget build that incorporated returning the exterior to an almost stock look while lightly modifying other areas… First things first was to diagnose and resolve my over heating issues I was having.

As it turned out I realized the guy before me had a OEM radiator that has so much stop leak run thru it the top was completely crusted. at that point I decided I was going to just replace the entire cooling system. Found a deal on a 2 core Aluminum radiator with 3 ply silicone hoses (In red cause my engine bay is red and that is the theme in there) ordered a aftermarket cooling fan & Gates thermostat de and took a weekend to slap it all together.


I had also attempted to purchase and subsequently got burned on a purchase of an AEM intake by a guy I met here :(… but as good fortune would have it I found a guy just north of the bay area selling the intake arm for 40 buck… I then contacted AEM and had the install kit shipped, ordered a new AEM dry flow filter and hydroscopic filter cover bag from Amazon and also happened to fins a new set of Matrix 9.3MM plug wires. I had also through the help of Welfare diagnosed that I was having issues with my coil unit & possibly my distributor… this led to discovery that I also had a bad o2 sensor. so thus began the next phase which led to installation of the AEM Intake, new ingnition coil , plug wires and some fancy new Red Silicone vacuum hose to tie everything together :slight_smile:


project stopped at this point while I worked on saving up more cash under the impression I may have had a bad head gasket. After I got enough together to pay my mechanic to deal with it & had ordered the master gasket kit, I had it sputter to a halt down the street from my place… thinking I had a fuel ssue after seeing spark (but not turing it over long enough to see my new coil was shot) I waited till the following monday to have it towed to the shop… that trip resulted in it passing all tests & ruling out a head gasket, and replacing the entire distributor. I was quite thrilled as this freed up money for something else… like… new… SHOES!!! (Akita Racing AK77 16x7 +40 rims with Forceum Hexa 205/45 R16 tires)

I also had ordered and installed a 2nd cooling fan with a shroud to attach to my fancy aftermarket radiator. I finally found it in red and swooped on it quick. did the install myself… I also over the course of the last couple weeks found a DC sports street header (CA Legal) DC rear Strut bar, OBX/Forza Front Strut bar, custom ordered a Powder Coated GLoss red B18a1 Valve cover, and managed to have the driver axle start clicking.

That all said Teggy is in the shop today getting the new goodies installed and her Driver axle repplaced. Once I pick her back up, I’ll post more pictures as the mechanical work is done on this build (For Now) in the next 2 weeks she is going to Marty’s Chop SHop in Campbell, CA to get the body work started in preparation for a new paint job next spring in time to start showing her off at locl meets and shows. at this point I can equate her to being a pretty girl in an ugly dress haha… soon tho very very soon that shall all change for the better…

If anyone has ideas for paint, I want to do something that says Classic G2, but also have custom flavor. I really am diggin the red/black/minimal white idea, but my head is full of ideas. either way when I’m done I’m quite sure she will turn a few heads :slight_smile:

More Pics coming soon!

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OEM STanley side markers arrived today also :slight_smile:

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As I am not a fan of the red hoses and what not but to each his/her own, I would go with the original paint color which should be red…Not a bad write up either…Keep up the good work!

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wish you woulda kept the fives and polished them…but i wanna see full fitment of the fans and radiator w/ the a/c cuz i want to get a aluminum radiator as well.

5

I would also go red, but not oem look for one that caches your attention.

6

yea I am leaning towards a red myself. cannot figure “why someone would paint a beautiful red car black” as my mother said… Red hoses cam about as someone had already started it and I kinda liked it

Personally not a fan of fat 5s myself. That’s just me tho. If I go for an oem looking rim I’ll get some GS-R blades somewhere down the road. I personally wanted something larger and slightly wider than oem for my weekend mountain drives :slight_smile:

This car isn’t going anywhere anytime soon so I am sure it will have a few different looks to it. I know long term when I get to where the engine/tranny need a rebuild I’ll go all out and boost it. then look for a granny car G2 to restore to OG.

I’ll snap more pics of fans and A/C for you later when I pick her up. was pretty much straight forward. If you do the Yonaka/ DNA Motoring type aluminum radiator ( alot of em are the exact same & cheaper on ebay than out on the web) order the aluminum shroud fan and 1 universal. You can use the OEM fan on the fan side but the condenser fan has to be replaced with a universal and those zip ties. you will also have to put blade connectors on the fan wires or splice some OEM pigtails. 1 thing I’ll point out with any of the 2 core aluminum radiators is that you should change out the plastic drain plug and put in a brass petcock valve as soon as you unbox it.

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What year was your first gen prelude? My first car was a first gen prelude. I was a year older than my car. My second car was my 92 integra gs. Now I’m on my 3rd integra. A 92 gsr. I’ll be sending it to the body shop soon. I was the victim of a hit and run last month.

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had an 82 lude… also forgot to mention my 86 lude as well… so first and second gen preludes LOL… I just remember they were fun cause you could tinker all day and not give to shits if you effed something up cause they were throwaway cars back then :slight_smile:

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regarding the Radiator fitment I was asked about… The aftermarket slides in right where the OEM fits and has no fitment issues. As far as fans go I can tell you that it is far easier to install the cooling side shroud BEFORE you put the radiator in. Condenser side is a no brainer as you have to use the universal zip tie kit for it. for the shroud tho… the bolt at the bottom is an absolute bitch to get threaded in and tightened down unless you drain the radiator and pop it loose from where it sits, so I highly recommend installing the fans before the radiator. all that said there are 0 clearance issues and as far as I know AC should be ok. I still have to get a retrofit / recharge done on my car to see if it works.

In my case I had no choice my teg had no fan installed when I bought it, and as I said in the start this was a budget build so I had to wait a couple months to get enough together to get the fan.

To add another point of importance… after installing the OBX/Forza bar, it fits well but had some issues interfereing with the OEM intake. I actually had to bend a tube on one of the valves sideways to prevent it from rubbing on the strut bar and tearing up the hoses… see the following sets of pics to see what I am referring to. The valve in question was the one with the word “UP” stamped on top. (forget what it is called). Also note that when twisting the tube you have to be super careful not to loosen it or alow it to fold in half as it draws air from the top of the intake under acceleration.

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so now on to the pics to show what I was just explaining.

here is a pic of the aftermarket shroud.

And the valve I was referencing. also should not that the cruise control valve doesn’t have much clearance from the back of the bar… on occasion you may get a clunk if it taps the bar on a rough start… otherwise the clearance seems to not be an issue with that one.

used a 17mm wrench to carefully tweak it to the side… stock it points straight up and runs right into the strut bar.

all put back together and tightened down and you can see there are no more clearance issues

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And to highlight the rest of todays project work…

DC Sports header :slight_smile:

DC Sports rear strut bar :slight_smile:

engine bay shot with the new valve cover & STrut bar etc…

Probably going to go grab a jug of simple green and give it a good rinse down sunday to try and clean up some of the dirt in there and make it look super clean. then to start setting aside to start the body work and get her ready for paint :slight_smile:

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I myself had an 82 prelude. It was blue with tan interior, automatic, power sunroof, and about 80k mi on it at that time. It was a decent first car. Nothing special to speak of. I was killed on the cost of insurance though back then. It was deemed a sports car because it was a “prelude”. Nevermind that it was a old school model that maybe topped out at 85 mph going down hill with the wind blowing at your back. I only had it for about a year then I got my first DA, a 92 Integra GS in white and a 5 spd. I loved it. I wish I never had sold it. I picked up a 92 GSR recently and have the intentions of restoring it. I will be putting in the body shop as I was just a victim of a hit and run last month.

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HAHAHA I raced a turtle in mine… AND LOST

yea I was junior in high school when the G2’s hit the market… it was the first non american car I really really liked outside of the datsun/nissan 280 & 300 Z cars. Unfortunately back then I was limited to older hondas or VW’s lol.

I’ll tell ya tho back in the day of the 2nd gen Integra launch… noone, and I mean NOONE would have ever predicted how wildly popular these cars would be come 15-20 years later…

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so just as an update to all the engine work etc… adding the DC street header… along with the AEM intake… I’m in love… hahaha… this DA has all the pop it was missing when I started and pulls great from a dead stop :slight_smile:

DC 4-2-1 Ceramic street header definitely give great performance gains in the low to mid RPM ranges just as advertised…

I am definitely loving this little car more and more as I keep building her up.

:inlove:

15

Teggy got some thump added…

Alpine SD series 12 powered by a Rockford/Phosgate amp bridged to 550 watts @ 4 ohm

sound system sounds really great… considering I got it all set for under 400 bucks… the sound is pretty damn good & I am normally picky about sound…

16

well my teg is not as water proof as I had initially hoped… after a night of solid rain my trunk is all kinds of wet especially in the corners :frowning:

looks like I need to look at the tail lights and replace them and the seals… what a PITA…

Then I have my Oil pressure warning light acting up again… some days it is on, others it is dim… and even others it is off… I swear this car’s little personality disorder is damn right frustrating sometimes…

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Water in the trunk may also be coming from the roof drains which are under the plastic panels on either side of the trunk, and drain down behind and below the sides of the rear bumper.

More than likely, if the tail lights are leaking, so are the roof drains. Fortunately in places like CA, all you usually have to do is clean the lower tips of the drain hoses (sometimes the top). In the Midwest, it usually means rust on any older car. The roof drains can leak on the top where the hoses attach to the rear corners of the sunroof assembly, and/or on the bottom where the hoses have a nipple-like end attached to the hose, and fed through the side of the car.

You can diagnose roof drain leaks by pouring a little water into the drain channels on either side of an open sunroof, and seeing where it comes out, inside or outside of the car. (you have to take up the carpet and the plastic cover for the spare tire to get a good idea of where the water is coming from, sometimes you have to use some food dye in the water… :frowning:

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it isn’t too bad… mostly gathered in the back corners below the tail lights & not puddling (yet)… I just do not have much free time right now to deal with it, but have to figure it out quick as we are expected to get a bunch of rain over the next week.

I’m gonna pull my sub out in the morning before work an dget all the other crap cleared out along with the spare and see how bad it really is.

19

good to know… wonder how rough it is to pull off the trunk panels… maybe I’ll just call my mechanic and have him do it as soon as the gaskets I ordered get here and the OEM tail lights I am getting locally are in hand. fukabunchaegaytaillights

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[QUOTE=djzachtyler;2279176]wonder how rough it is to pull off the trunk panels… [/QUOTE]easy in terms of mechanical skills,(otherwise I would not have done it), I would rate it about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10, but a bit time consuming, b/c the rear seat has to come out first.

edit:

You don’t have to take it all out to check for leaks, you can just find the end of the drain under the bumper end on the side, then have someone pour a cup of water into the gutter with the open sunroof, and make sure it is coming out where it should.