Lude Generation

I posted a Wanted thread a couple of weeks ago for a 5G Prelude. Nothing cropped up that exactly matched my spec (here or elsewhere), but I did spot this eBay Ad for a 2.0i nearby with less than 47k on the clock. It wasn't the 2.2 that I was after but it had promise as a tidy, original car. So I decided to take a look last Saturday.

When I arrived, the bodywork looked rather tired and neglected (faded, scratched), and it needed a valet. I wasn't blown away. But I had a closer look and the interior was immaculate. The mileage stacked up with the MOT history and full service history. The engine bay was clean and honest. The original toolkit was present and had never been used. It had nearly new tyres all around. I took it for a drive, it started on the button from cold, and everything felt tight and in good order. So after a bit of haggling, I decided to take a punt on it at £1k, and drove it away. I thought that if nothing else, it should be a reliable banger whilst I wait for a nice 2.2 to crop up.

So far, I have:

- Changed the oil, oil filter, air filter and spark plugs. That took all of half an hour - what a pleasure to work on!
- Bought the bits for a cam belt and water pump change, as I couldn't see from the history when it had last been done. Not sure whether to attempt this myself or have a mechanic do it.
- Given it a good valet, and spent a full day on the exterior with T-cut, which really brought the colour back to life.
- Fitted a new CD/USB/BT head unit (It had a cassette player!)
- Driven about 700 miles without an issue. Everything works, including the A/C, heated seats and sunroof.

This is the car now:














There are a few minor surface rust issues:

The front chassis crossmember:



The top suspension mounts:



The rear drivers side wheel arch:



The bonnet has a couple of rust spots on the top when stone chips haven't been addressed, plus rust showing on the catch:







The front bumper, spoiler and wing mirrors are also quite faded, and could possibly do with a respray.

I'd appreciate input from forum members as to which of these issues is worth addressing, and how best to go about it. I'm considering asking a bodywork shop to re-paint the bumpers and bonnet and sort the wheel arch out.

Apart from that, the brakes work fine, but could do with a disc/pad refresh. I speculatively picked up a set of tidy front calipers and pads from a SIR yesterday. Is it faesible to upgrade the front brakes? Does it require a new hub assembly/larger wheels?

Finally, is there a way to remove the misting from the headlights?

Very clean and tidy.


As for the SIR brakes. Were they off a 4th Gen of a 5th Gen Prelude SIR.
2.0i 5th Gens were 4 stud as opposed to 2.2 vtec 5th Gens being 5stud. All 4th Gens are 4stud. So only 4 stud VTEC brakes will be an upgrade. All VTEC brakes use bigger discs. Calipers are the same. So you just need bigger discs and caliper carriers.

The front headlights. It it moisture inside the light or faded yellow lacquer. Moisture then open the back of the lights and get some head onto the front and it will evapourate.
Faded lacquer then you will need to sand it back getting finer and finer and finally polish out.

Thanks for the quick response.

The calipers are from a 5G VTEC. So I should be able to use them with 4G 4stud discs and caliper carriers?

The lights have faded lacquer. Is the sanding process effective?

Furyous wrote:Thanks for the quick response.

The calipers are from a 5G VTEC. So I should be able to use them with 4G 4stud discs and caliper carriers?

The lights have faded lacquer. Is the sanding process effective?

The calipers are the same so they won't make a difference. But the vtec carriers along with 4th gen vtec discs will fit. So all you need is new vtec discs off a 4stud 4th gen. Pads are all the same Inc ek9s and dc2s.


Sanding the headlights us the only solution. There are many guide around. With the correct equipment its easy. 3m do an all in one solution Restoration.

looks a great base to start with pity all 5g's didnt come with the motegi kit

Yep, looks basically a pretty good car - 5g's in Milano Red are rare, too.

If you like it, it's easy enough to drop a 2.2 into that shell.

RattyMcClelland wrote:The calipers are the same so they won't make a difference. But the vtec carriers along with 4th gen vtec discs will fit. So all you need is new vtec discs off a 4stud 4th gen. Pads are all the same Inc ek9s and dc2s.

This is what I picked up:



Are the carriers you're referring to on the left in that photo, or is there an additional bracket required?

If the former, then all I should need is 4stud 4G VTEC discs?

the carriers are on the left yes buddy

That's basically the red version of my car looks good aswell, I got new front calipers for mine but standard I didn't upgrade them, I went for grooved discs from Mtec and then I got better stiffer lower springs, if your holding out for a 2.2 it might be better to keep those SIR brakes for that instead and keep the red 2.0 standard so it's easier to sell should you find a nice 2.2 that you want.
As for them little rust issues in the engine bay and on the top of suspension, just get a nylon brush or brash brush and brush it off using wd40 then use a metal polish on it, that's what I do keeps it fairly right, well it hasn't gotten any worse

Thanks again for all the input. I might do as suggested and give the brake upgrade a miss and just refresh the discs/pads. The car is nice and original and I might keep it that way, but address the few bodywork issues (at a modest cost).

Does anyone know whether those are the original wheels for the car? The tyres are 205/60/R16.