'84 Prelude

My neighboor is selling an '84 Prelude. Great Condition but 229,000 miles. Maintained very well, so I was wondering how long these motors typically go? Its got the 1.8 Dual Carb I4. It does have the original clutch at 229k and the original clutch is good so I'm thinking its mostly highway milage. Any input would be great, like problem areas e.c.t. Engine compartment looks pretty tight, so it looks like if I am going to do a clutch I might as well pull the motor and re-build it. Also, this is my first import i've owned 3 domestic cars and not been too happy with them.



Thanks,

Ryan Fields
rfields84@earthlink.net

[ChrisCantSkate]

well, i dont know alot about the 84's but the preludes were always good for their time, what engine does it have in it? if you found that out, we would be able to know a little but more about what your buying, or even if you knew how many miles were on it. 84 is old, check for body rust, frame rust and anything along those lines. glad you desided on a prelude, if thats what you end up getting. secondly are you planning on doing performance upgrades, if so you might want to check the support for that engine, and also if you could perhaps swap a different engine in. 229k miles is alot no matter what way you look at it. i know of quite a few honda (5-7) engines making it to 400-500k without any major repairs.

not to be too negative... but if you are planning on performance mods forget that old engine. even if it only had 100 miles on it you won't be able to find anything to fit it.
i have no idea what engine will fit in there cause im not familiar with the older ludes but a 1.6 or 1.8 theoretically should if you want to do a swap.
my sister has an 82 accord with 200+k no major repairs. check with your local dealership cause my sister gets 20% off any repairs or services at our dealership cause its over 200k (might just be our dealer though)

>>Later>>

i'm not looking to do any performance mods on it, I was hoping that I could squeeze 40-50k more out of it. It says Dual Carb and the manual says its a 1.8 liter. One concern is that it has the original clutch so I would think its mainly highway milage. Its been driven by 1 lady owner. The engine compartment looks very tight, you know if the clutch replacement would involve more than pulling the tranny and halfshafts? Now, the engine now doesn't burn any oil and its been changed every 3,000. So i'm thinking if it does good on a compression test I could get a lot of use out of it before rebuilding the motor.

[ChrisCantSkate]

well, unless you beat a clutch to hell, a stock clutch should last quite some time, and if a lady drive it i doubt 4k rpm drops were part of her daly driving.

[KwikR6]

Can we say.....winterbeater?

"IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT" truth to live your life by.

I'd love to own another Prelude as a 2nd car. I'd say, go for it.

As for what you wanna do with it, I wouldn't plan on making it go faster. I'd maybe consider making it handle better for autocrossing, if you are interested in doing that.