Nadia... what to do with her
 

No need to look too closely, you've probably seen about a billion of these from your chair to the corner store. That's the problem. I need some good suggestions on what to do to my baby.

http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/h7.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/h6.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/h8.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/h9.jpg

I'm not a ricer, so I'm not gonna put a body kit or an obnoxious spoiler on her, but I would like to get some nice, classy (read: not shiny) 18" wheels.

I'd also like to do something with the tail light bar. I've seen only a couple of examples, so I don't know what is out there. My best idea right now is to replace it with a black panel.

As far as performance goes, I'm open to suggestions if you'd be willing to go into *detail* about your idea. Brands, prices, processes...

Also, please dont post links to other forums, because that would be defeating the purpose of *this* forum.

after owning 2 honda's... i say push it off a cliff... but i dont think your open to that...

all i can suggest for the wheels is go to les schwab (if you have those down yonder) and use their wheel machine, it has pics of your car on it allready and just sticks pics of wheels on it... pretty lame but it works.

and maybe tint the windows more, if you can, so people will think your really rich...

I'll start with rims. I love the Racing Hart C5's. I'll get a set of 17's for my ride some day. They also Have 18's in the same rim. Here's a page with all of Racing Harts rims with tire packages. The C5 is down kinda far. The C2, C3, and S15's are all great looking wheels. A set of 18's will cost you around $1200 with tires. Here's some pics of each of the rims I mentioned.

<center>
C5
http://www.wheelmax.com/Wheels/RacingHart/c5.gif

C2
http://www.wheelmax.com/Wheels/RacingHart/c2.gif

C3
http://www.wheelmax.com/Wheels/RacingHart/c3.gif

S15
http://www.wheelmax.com/Wheels/RacingHart/s15.gif</center>

Also, after you get some dope rims you should lower the ride to make it look better and handle even better too. Just don't go too low cause I think it looks like crap. Adustable coil overs are the way to go. You can pick up a set for $150 or so. These will allow you to choose just how much you want to drop the car. Most sets can be adjusted from 0" to 3" drop. Honestly, I doubt you'd want to go more than 1.75"s.

Performance for imports costs a ton of cash. Since you aren't dumb and won't rice your ride all you really need is to upgrade the air intake and exhaust A new exhaust sytem will cost you because you have a V6 with dual exhaust already. These are all pretty simple upgrades too. If you start adding performance shit to the engine it get's really fucking expensive and not really woth it unless you wanna race the car.

Not sure what kind of rear light you're looking for, but I found these I like the smoked rear lights that I've seen better than this.

http://www.wholesalewheelstore.com/SPINTEK_ICE882-2.gif


just don't get these things...

Sure you want 18's? They're gonna be heavy, and even if you find relatively light ones they're gonna have a good deal of rotational mass to overcome. it comes with 15's so even going to 16 or 17 would look a lot better without so much drop in performance.

Performance upgrades I'd recommend:

1) TIRES! Yokohama AVS ES100's are sticky as hell and they have decent tread life (not as good as a michelin, but then michelins won't glue you to the road either). Should be around $60/tire or so but that varies widely depending on what wheel you go with and where you buy.

2) BRAKES! (notice how we're upgrading the turn and the stop stuff before the gofast stuff? Good formula to follow.). Keep your stock rotors, but change the front pads to Porterfield R4S, available from porterfield.com. These are carbon-kevlar pads that have amazing stopping power. Price varies by model.

3) Suspension. This all depends on what your final goal is. Do you want a stoplight drag car or do you want to carve up the twisties. My personal preference is a car with excellent cornering capability. I like bilstein shocks with performance springs. Brand of spring I can't help you too much with 'cause I haven't modded an Accord (yet) but I can say that bilsteins are some of the best performance shocks around.

5) I/H/E. Intake, Header, Exhaust. Don't buy the intake. There's no point in spending $150 on a metal pipe. Go to the hardware store, get some CPVC plumbing pipe that matches or is SLIGHTLY larger in diameter to the throttle body opening and get a rubber hose coupling (also from the hardware store) to attach it. Then get a K&N cone filter and couple it to the other end of the pipe. You will probably want to get an elbow so you can direct the pipe toward the front and side of the engine bay. Now get some plexiglass, also from the hardware store, and cut a piece that will fit vertically between the filter and the rest of the engine bay. Attach that. You've just made yourself a cold air intake for about $10 plus the cost of the K&N.

Header: Not as important until you start getting whacko with the performance (and you very well may. Mods are addictive once you start doing them), but once you do you want to talk to other accord owners who are into non-rice mods and see what they use.

Exhaust. Thermal R&D makes some *awesome* performance stainless exhausts. They're pricey but they're well worth it. You need to decide at this point whether you will be putting a turbo or a supercharger in your car or not. If you do, you want the turbo system. Get the whole thing, cat back.

Catalytic Converter. Catco.com. Get a high-flow cat. $100. Nuff said.

That's the cheap stuff. Here's what to do if you want to really go apeshit.


Jackson Racing Supercharger. I like superchargers better than turbos because when I build a car I'm not going for raw speed, I'm going for fun-to-drive. Turbos have lag and build up slowly. Superchargers are instant-on and deliver a huge kick right away. They're a LOT of fun. When you do this you'll need (PROBABLY - - it varies with each car - consult your local tuner shop):

Larger fuel injectors
Higher capacity fuel pump
GAUGES! I've known a few crazy fools that run boost with no gauges and they always regret it. You need at minimum an air/fuel gauge. I prefer EGT - exhaust gas temperature gauge because it gives you a more accurate reading on what the engine is doing. You probably also want an oil temp and a water temp gauge. A boost gauge is pretty much a must.
ECU - you'll want a programmable ECU so you can control the fuel management curve yourself. Otherwise you'll never reach the full potential of your supercharged engine.

Generally a standard Honda engine can take 9lbs of boost without any building. If you go higher you'll want to build the bottom end so it doesn't blow up on you when you're at high boost.


And of course if you wanna go really insane you can swap an engine (I know of a few that have small block Chevy's in their civics. FAST but the handling is shot) or even put a jet engine on it (hey, it's been done!)

^^ WOW.

I was making some spectacular riced up car in photoshop, that annoying gradient tint in the windows, horrifying spoiler, underglow... but I got bored and frustrated with the rims

Great suggestions! Thanks! Definately something to think on. As it is now, I am NOT a car guts person. I don't even know someone who is. I will have to look for a mechanic who can help me with all this once I put it into motion.

those are 16" rims (it's an EX, not an LX), so 17" wouldn't be too spectacular of a change. Gotta go with the 18"

well, need to keep thinking

id recommend a set of OZ Superleggera III or some OZ F1 Cup's
www.ozwheels.com

Always thought they look oustanding on most cars.
Little bit pricey though

In that case, try to find wheels that have as much weight near the hub as possible. The farther out you go on the wheel with weight, the more rotational mass the car has to overcome to turn the wheel, which makes you go slower ;)
FWIW you could probably find a set of magnesium wheels in 18", but they're very expensive and if you ever hit a curb you'll bend the wheel. The advantage is that they're LIGHT.

i'm thinking you want mods that are somewhat cosmetic, but not ricey...hmmm.....

how about shaving the car...remove all the badges and emblems from the car, and filling in the holes. its a nice subtle mod.

I never understood why people do that. I mean, it's not like they're not going to know that it's a civic. Or in this case, an accord.


I'd say if you've got the money then supercharge that engine. Expensive and fast, what more can you want? :) As far as cosmetics go, thats my favourite gen of the Accord, so I'm inclined to say leave it as it is heh... maybe a SMALL spoiler

http://www.texasdar.com/photos/092.jpg

Like that. For rims, I'd not go any bigger than 17", but thats just me.

get some nice wheels and lower it. Not to the point where it touches the ground, but to get rid of the wheel gap in between the fender.

im with ya on tinting the back lights so they are completely black like their not even there... i always liked that look...

i think i first saw it in Knight Rider...

Whatever you do don't do that. I'm pretty sure you don't want your engine bay to look like some 15 year old kid put together an air intake for you. Spend $120 on a nice polished aluminum one. It won't look like crap.

if you're hung up about cosmetics, get high-temp paint and paint the PVC black. I just have an objection to spending more than $100 on a pipe that cost about 75 cents to make. And cheap performance is actually pretty cool. I have a lot more respect for the guy that makes his own parts than I do for the guy that runs out and plunks down a boatload of cash on something just 'cause it looks pretty, but that's just me.

Hey Hal here is a serious performance site, for hondas,
they make great performance mods, I install alot of the companys stuff for the customers at the import garage that I work at.

jackson

Although the only import I've ever played around with is my RX7, I can tell you that intakes which are coated/made of a non-metal material, i.e the iceman intakes, will give you better performance in that they block out heat much better. Another route would be to buy one of the inexpensive intakes and have it jet hot coated. Looks good, and can reduce intake temperatures by quite a good bit.

On one of our drag cars (79 Malibu) we made a dual ram-air setup for it with mandrel bends. Picked up a full tenth when we had the pipes jet hot coated.

Well I slept on it and after careful consideration, if I had a V6 Accord (which I would love), I would:

1. Put nicer rims on it, like OZ, or BBS. Note that BBS might not make them for your car.

2. Lower it slightly, just to set it apart from the rest, not to look like one of those stupid cars that scrape the ground. But for god's sake, get a professional to do this! What a lot of kids do is literally "clip" their springs, even with bolt cutters, and put em back on. While this does lower your car, it will change the wheels' camber. This means that they will point inward like this: / \ if you're looking at the car from the front. Everything in your car is researched by one of the finest car manufacturers in the world, and they know what they're doing. Don't just go willy nilly and do whatever, every part is the way it is for a reason.

3. A cheap modification is the a racing chip. Get a good one! This will adjust your fuel / air mixture for different speeds, optimizing performance.

4. New cat-back dual tip exhausts. This would look really cool, imho.

5. Tint the windows. Again, professionally.

I think at this point, you would have a really really nice black Accord, and this is precisely what I'd do to my car if I had one.

This is what it COULD look like (except real).

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SQDTArsUxunQLMwvcoGUkJaCMZfo1dXSrnlfjzPXw60HpIOVQNCK4saIpNPOgGstX*iR5ZnwT7NA1fYvi8TMDgxXAJ7CdMldlhAMXfCzDGTE0zRSztuXSw/h9.jpg?dc=4675429031603652019[/img]

I want that car

Looks like it could turn out pretty nice looking.

As for the argument for the "cheap intake", as long as there are no nasty kinks in the flow, it will probally outperform a store-bought polished Al intake. My buddy has a polished Al cold air intake on his jeep and I laugh at him as it runs down the edge of his engine compartment getting heated up like a champ.

Here's the nerd-tech behind the abs or pvs intake: If you use clear abs, like you can buy at any hardware place, it has a thermal conductivity of 1.74 BTU-in/hr-ft²-°F. Not bad, though by itself that probally doesnt mean a heap of shit to anyone. 6061-T6 Al on the other hand has a thermal conductivity of 1160 BTU-in/hr-ft²-°F. Thats quite a bit more conductive than the plastic. If your set on getting an intake, follow WarWagon's suggestion of getting a non metallic or highly coated intake.

edit: the only downside is the plastic could melt with high temps.

/nerd mode off now.

Halx, this is my buddies 2K Accord



http://www.spot-digital.com/pic/zoom.jpg

His car has
20% tint
Dual Flowmaster exhuast
1.5" drop
18" ADR Sukado rims
Prada low pro rubber
Angel Eye/HID headlamps
Shaved trunk (no reflector between brake lights)

Enjoy ;)

More pics of the shaved back for you
http://www.spot-digital.com/pic/aa3.jpg

:)

wow.. what a job he did on that! I congratulate him. As soon as I saw the back, I thought, "I LIKE THAT!"

What's that called along the bottom of the body? It's not obnoxious at all.

That is a Honda OEM skirt package, its what Honda puts on their cars...factory spec. The only downfall to the shaved back look is the brake light at the bottom of the speedo is on all the time, its just a tiny red light that can be disabled...not a huge deal. If you are interested I can get your furthur information. Ie email to the owner of the car, or links to the car club that he is on. I read your first post, you didn't want any links...but if you want, I can give...lol

Here is a better idea of how a few bucks spent on the headlamps can totally change the front end of your Accord.

http://www.spot-digital.com/pic/aa8.jpg

I got to drive the car for the first time today...almost 75 km or 45 miles or so. I love my Bonneville to much to think about an Accord, but I can really respect what he has done with his car. Minus the audio system all that work is about $4000 CDN, I'm sure you might be able to get a better deal. Since your car is a V6 you will benefit from the extra power, but once you are done with the "show" work on the "go" an upper strut bar helps tie in the chassis, a turbo...helps. If you want to do an intake, AEM is a nice way to go. Please don't wreak it with NoS or anything stupid. The V6 has lots of power bone stock ;)

Hopefully you can consider some of his ideas. Its defintely a show stopper

amazing fuckin accord. love that chin and those headlamps. hell i love everything about that car except I don't get the whole shaved thing, it looks too plain.

"3. A cheap modification is the a racing chip. Get a good one! This will adjust your fuel / air mixture for different speeds, optimizing performance."

This doesn't usually do a whole lot until you have other mods for the chip to work with.

Regarding the PVC intake melting, that's one reason you specify CPVC. That's the stuff that's meant for hot water delivery. Gives you several advantages. First, it won't melt. Second, it won't leech chlorates like regular PVC will - chlorate fumes aren't great for your engine, and they take up space that could be filled with oxygen and fuel!. Third, since it's meant for water flow, the interior will be perfectly smooth. Get a 45 degree radius curve (the guy in the plumbing department will know what that is) and you basically have a REALLY cheap mandrel bent intake. And as I said, if you paint it black - especially gloss black - it's very doubtful anyone will even know it's PVC.


I'll second the Jackson Racing recommendation. Those guys are excellent.

another good one is kingmotorsports.com. They have a lot of Accord stuff and they're one of the best Honda tuners on the planet. They're the only dealer authorized to sell Mugen's stuff. Mugen is THE manufacturer of go-fast goodies for Hondas/Acuras. Anyone authorized to sell their stuff is required to be VERY good. They're a great bunch of guys at that shop - strike up an email conversation with them and they'll give you ideas for whatever you want to do with the car. If you want, you can have the quickest Accord on the planet through them (hope you have a lot of money if you go that route though!).

nice ride... the shaved look is great.. and that front mod is clean too

I would get some gutter guard and make some grill inserts....cheap to make and they look nice....
a nice aluminum dash kit would look nice....
Get a aftermarket spoiler with a led 3rd brake light in it....they look nice and don't look ricey.
Chrome edging on the doors would help it look nice...plus it helps against dinging other people's doors...
Projector headlights do look nice....
Stainless steel side body paneling....looks great and yet not ricey...about $115 a set but makes your car stand out.
Rims are a must..
Some basic clamp on stainless tailpipe ends....and no they don't look foreign cause they are only as big as your previous exhaust tips.
Paint your brake calipers...cheap to do yourself and looks great!
Stainless steel wiper blades...www.crutchfield.com sells some and they are about $15 a piece and comes with 3 refills. They are made out of silicone and work very nice.
Engine mod wise....
Cold air intake.....you can find them cheap on ebay....gives you better gas mileage...around $50
Get a AEM bypass valve for the intake so if you hit a puddle it doesn't cause hydrolock...yikes!
High performance ignition would be nice..gives you a little more hp and gas mileage.

sell it and get something different like a 1983 AMC Spirit GT

Why the heck would I want a 20 year old car? Damn, dude. Think or get out of the thread.

The accord.
 

Does Honda make a kit to replace that chrome beading around the windows? I am anti-chrome except on wheels.

That Accord with the drop and the 18s looks good. Depending on how good the roads are where you live, I wouldn't reccommend any lower than a 40 profile tire. 35 is a compromise and 30 looks awesome, but is well known to cause serious neck and lower back injury (and bent wheels.)

As well, I put 8.5" width wheels on my car (not sure if Hondas can handle that width) and I wouldn't do it again. The car sticks like sh*t to a blanket in the curves, but on day-to-day roads it's a real chore fighting with the steering wheel. The tires follow every damned rut and groove in the asphalt. I'd recommend sticking to 7.5" width maximum.

The big fat tires DO look sweet from the back, however :D

Don't get altezzas. That fad jumped the shark when they started making them for full-sized pickups. That modded rear end in the picture looks very clean.

I don't think Honda does have a kit to replace the chrome, but I bet a body shop could do it easilly. They'd probably leave it in place and put a black applique over it. I'm not sure that'd look so good though - the chrome makes a nice color contrast - an ALL black Accord might not look as good as a 99% black Accord.

BONNE, thart is the nicest accord coupe i have ever seen. makes me want one.

I assume you want it to make it look better rather than make it quicker ?

1st RIMS !
2nd Exhausts
3rd Lower suspension
4th modified grill + modified lights
5th...
I'd go in that order :]
+ The front spoiler on bonnefans' picture is v-nice :]]]

If you don't want to put homemade stuff under your hood, although I would, Auto Zone sells K&N cold air intake kits that are easy to install. You need a pair of pliers and a few screwdrivers. They're in the $100-200+ range, but K&N's really do help performance.

Lower the car a bit, not much more than 1.5" and it will help your handling, and not look goofy. Either JC Whitney or Jegs has adjustable air springs which can be used to raise and lower the car at the flip of a switch, and also make the ride a lot smoother. Both of those companies have free catalogs available from their websites. They are primarily American car stuff, but they now have sport compact sections.

All right, I got the ball rolling on my car. I have a price quote from the guy who is gonna be doing it all.

After running over a few different options, I finally decided to try out what BonneFan's friend did with his Accord.

Prices include labor. The differences being, the nose grill will be silver billet instead of black mesh, and I am gonna try some two-color wheels. Gun metal on the rims and spokes, satin silver for the hub. Also, I am gonna get a glass-like finish that's a lot classier than it comes out of the showroom.

Let's see the rims you're getting. I think I know the ones you're talking about, but I want to be sure.

If you want to get more poke, look into customised chips for the engine management system, preferably in tandem with intakes and exhausts; you can get good gains out of this route, since manufacturers typically run fairly conservative settings on the ECU.

Word of warning, though; find out what trade-offs a vendor has made. ECU changes can screw your emissions if you live somewhere with strict rules, for example, or may require beefed up cooling (and will almost certainly want better breathing, hence the recommendation to look at exhausts and intakes).

ECU reprogramming or chips will probably cost you a few hundred dollars, minimum; one cheap route might be to look into whether the US ECU is detuned compared to Japanese or Euro releases and see if you can swap a stock one in from another market for a win (by way of example, there's about a 20 HP difference in Aussie and Japanese Nissan 200ZXs purely due to the programming for different markets).

I'll second the advice on making sure you spec the brakes for any power increases you get.

Oh, another thing: if you're going to get serious about performance, it's a good idea to look into getting the car run on a dyno to measure actual power/torque figures before and after modifications, so you know whether changes are actually working as advertised.

Good choice on picking the shaved black trunk rather than replacing the panel. I'm curious as to which body kit, tires, and rims you are choosing. Please share!

I am a firm believer in professional window tinting. Nothing would look worse than your nice new modified Accord... with bubbles in the tint just to save a few bucks.

Well here are my suggestions..........

1)Definitely get a mild drop first. I'd go with either Comptech or H&R Sports.

2)A good set of 18" rims.........I would go Volk Racing. Great quality and light weight rims that are designed for your car.

3)Exhaust, Ice Box Intake, and Headers..........all from Comptech and NO, none of these parts will make your car look rice whatsoever.

yeah that would be a great start. :) But who knows.............maybe you'll get addicted to moddin' the car and you'll go out and get the Comptech Super Charger! :D :cool:


BTW heres a pic of my car that I sold earlier this year.........I sure miss her. :(

http://images.fotki.com/v13/photos/4...sc00767-vi.jpg

About the wheels.. I dont have any examples yet. I'll have examples by Friday, and if I dont, then we'll have them made. :)
I got the first round of orders done.

headlights, grill, coils and wheels will get done on the first round. That should be over with by the end of next week. Then, the next week+ after that will go towards the body work with the kit, trunk and finish.

There is a description of the wheels I am looking for:

7+ flat spokes
black/gunmetal rim and spokes
silver hub disc .. something 3in. or wider diameter

some wheels I've seen that come close:
1. This would actually be great if it wasn't $320 for each
2. Spokes are a little thin, and the center silver disc needs to be about twice as wide
3. Needs wider disc as well

So, if you have any suggestions on wheels, I'd be appreciative.

if you're going to lower the ride and add bigger tires you must get a camber adjustment. you'll be eating tires quicker than you think.

i like the headlight improvement though.

http://www.konigwheels.com/images/124_b.jpg
Absolute Graphite 18 x 7.5 Graphite 20.72 lbs. $307.92

http://www.konigwheels.com/images/213_s.jpg
no price given, and i know they aren't 6 spokes..but they look fucking nice. "DTD Spec"


http://www.1010tires.com/images/whee...7gun_large.jpg
Ro-ja formula 7.(gun metal) this wheel actually came to mind first, looks nicer in person.



http://www.1010tires.com/images/whee...lack_large.jpg
Motegi FF6 hyper black. you can get this in gunmetal as well.
quote at $216.99 apiece. not bad.

http://www.trixracing.com/Images/Whe...n6gunmetal.jpg
Tenzo R "mean 6" about 200 as well.


all i can think up at the moment. you could possibly find the wheel you want, if you ask what i'd think that would look good once you got the other shit in line..

i'd set my ass on some Work Wheels. simply fabulous.


http://www.work-wheels.co.jp/wheels/...kcx/photo1.jpg

shit, i hope no red x's come up.






cheers

Wow, I've forgotten how much cheaper mods are for Japanese cars. I'm jealous.

While you're at it, I think it would be worth getting some detailing supplies. Especially with the dark paint, some elbow grease about three or four times a year will really keep the finish looking great.

For "wax," I'd recommend the product at http://klassedirect.com/noname.html . It is a very long-lasting, easy to apply product, and is perfect for dark colors.

Swirl marks and such will inevitably show up on black cars. You can find a product called 3M swirl mark remover (suited for dark finishes) at Pep Boys, and it helps restore that mirror-like finish.

That's about the minimum you'd want to get if you're serious about detailing your car, and will definitely make your car stand out from mediocre finishes.

Wow, I can't imagine spending $4K on mods for a car with none of it going towards making the car any quicker. No offense intended, it's clear from all the cars on the road that lots of people really like doing this, but I'm WAY more a fan of the sleeper. You could spend $4K on performance upgrades, keep the car looking exactly the same (it *is* a nice looking car already) and then shock the shit out of some people when you hit the gas.

But whatever. I'm sure you've budgeted for it and it is going to make you happy, and that's what is really important.

Ramega, my car is fast. That's all there is to it. I don't race it, and I really cant see myself going any faster than I all ready go, which is very fast. I may add a couple gadgets to make up for the extra weight I am attaching to my car, but spending money on making it go fast is like buying 466MHz RAM when your motherboard only supports 400MHz RAM... if you understand the geek reference.

What my car lacks is unique appeal. It was part of the best selling line of cars in it's model year and so that's just a special way of saying, "Everybody has one." So, screw all that sleeper crap. I want my car to be stylish and classy.

amen to that hal!

Fast, stylish, and classy are all very relative and subjective terms. That said: enjoy modding your car! But if you ever get the chance, drive a really fast car. Better yet, learn *how* to drive a fast car. You may just catch the fever...

Halx, dude, be prepared for some pretty stupid shit like that when you're talking about your baby.

Anyway, the first thing you should do is get some new wheels. I know you already plan on that, but it should be the first mod you do because the car will have a whole new look and the grip will be awesome compared what it is now. Also, upgrade your shocks soon after that. With the increased grip, the body is going to lean really far when you corner hard. Get some Koni, KYB or Tokiko (best!) adjustable struts and some coilover springs. The coilover springs come on a threaded perch that slides over the shocks and allows the car to be raised and lowered until you find a ride-height you like. A shop will charge you way too much to install shocks, so do your best to find someone who could help you do it first. I did mine for free, and a friend had to pay over $250 just in labor to have a shop do it for him.

That grille in BonneFan's post on the front of that black Accord looks awesome! You should do something like that, too. It gives the car a nice, understated look.

Another point about wheels: if you want 18s that look like 18s, get something without a huge lip. A lot of wheels have a big polished lip, so the spokes are made shorter and curved inwards. This actually makes them look smaller than they are. Check my wheels out: the spokes go all the way to the edge, making 17s look like 17s instead of 15s or 16s. LINK Of course, you should ignore all of my advice and everyone else's and go with whatever you think looks best.

Guys, I am not much of a car guy, I just care about quality, safety, and good value. Thus, I do not understand why people spend so much money on accessorizing their car. But then, I will spend money on any book aviation related. Anyway, I enjoyed reading everyone's posts and their suggestions to Halx on helping him make his car the way he wants it. In short, if you like it, then it is money well spent. Halx, please post some photos of the cars progress.

Ouch!

When looking for wheels, realize that open designs show off your brakes. I think it looks really goofy seeing huge wheels with the now puny-looking stock rotors. Also, check that your rotors and calipers actually look good enough to be shown off. I think a lot of cars that come stock with closed wheel designs have rather unattractive calipers (bare iron). I've never looked at an Accord that closely though.

Mille Miglia EVO 5's look very nice

http://www.millemiglia.co.uk/images/wheels/evo.jpg

They are available in your bolt pattern in 17, 18, and 19 inches. So you should be set. I think they look aggressive, yet tasteful.


And if I did some exhaust upgrades, I would go with CompTech... good stuff.

You must have a good friend doing the work for you, because thats an awesome price if the work is done right.

WarWagon - sister's good friend's boyfriend :p

I'm going with these wheels
http://www.performancestyleattitude....tal_side_l.jpg

The grille I was gonna get is not avail, so I guess I'm holding off on that.

So phase 1 is gonna be: wheels + lower + headlights
Phase 1 will be done either this week or next week.
Phase 2 is: body kit + trunk shave + glass finish + intake + security
that will hopefully be done by the end of the month.
Phase 3 may include: brakes, muffler, engine work

Keep us updated Halx

Damn, Halx, nice list of upgrades! Don't forget some tasteful pedal covers and maybe some white gauge faces.

BoCo, I aint touching my interior. It's just fine as it is.

First thing that should be done...suspension. Period.

Drop that puppy down, and you won't be able to thank yourself enough. I like the idea of the black strip on the lights in the rear...
And as far as wheels...I'd go black wheels with a polished lip...

Can't praise good JDM styling enough...just can't go wrong with it.

I'm curious...you obviously priced this stuff, but what exactly is it?

Are you going with a full adjustable coilover setup,
http://www.carreview.com/Channels/Ca...duct_54531.jpg

or just replacing the springs,
http://www.prolightstar.com/images/hr150x100.gif

or replacing the springs with coilovers?
http://www.cartunerz.com/groundcontrol/coilcolor.jpg

A quality set of Eibach, H&R or Intraxx springs should be about $200-$250 and would lower your ride up to 2.5"...I'd reccomend that instead of the coilover, if you don't want to mess up the feel of your ride.

In any of these cases, why is 'Lower' listed seperately? Is that just the labor for installing the lowering springs/coilovers or...what? If you have a jack and a socket wrench, you should be able to install them yourself, or (at least) with a car-oriented buddy holding your hand.

Also, unless you're doing the full adjustable coilover shock(about $1000-$1500), have you considered replacing the shocks as well? If you just lower it, without putting aftermarket shocks/dampers in, you may make your ride extremely harsh.

I really like the cosmetic mods, I think you're on the right track there...but don't fall into the trap of thinking that 'lowering' is strictly cosmetic.

the coilovers I am getting are honda-specific and will let me lower 1" - 4" ... adjustable. I'm gonna just go with 1.5" at first. The price for 'lower' is actually the labor involved for everything (headlights, tires too). As you can see, I'm doing this in phases, so if I notice anything I need to change about my ride between phase 1 and 2, I'll make sure to get it covered in phase 3.

18" rims is a must, also coil overs, new head lamps, maybe some customs fog lights, altezza tail light replacements possibly, body kit, grill, low pro tires, exhaust, maybe throw some neon under it, cold air intake will give it a lil bit better performance and maybe a spoiler if u can find one that looks decent.

Remy, are you trying to make my car look like a clown?

Ok, i just dropped it off to get wheels and headlights...

if you thought THAT took a long time to get started, you don't know the half of it.

The bottom line is, never pay a mechanic in advance, even if all it is is to purchase parts.

lmao

like a clown

Man you're always good for a laugh :)

I remember when you first bought her, showing EVERYONE pictures :)

Can't wait to seen Phase X, the fretting and the wondering if there is anything else you need to put on.


Remy - Nadia is not "Hi, i need to look JUST like ANOTHER car in a MOVIE"

She has class, she has character, she is one of the FEW accords that I like.

Here is phase 1

http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p1-1.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p1-2.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p1-3.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p1-4.jpg

Phase 2 will get started next week

She looks very nice now, Halx. It's nice to see someone actually doing exterior mods on a car without ricing it out.

I look forward to seeing what else you've got planned.

I totally agree. I'm a truck guy and tend to side on the 4X4 mods, but in your case that is one of the nicer cars i've seen in a while. Good job:D

Thanks guys :)

It rides as smooth as a caddy, and hugs curves like a long lost aunt. I'm very pleased with it so far, but I am gonna have them raise it at least .75" because the 2.5" drop is a little too close to the ground and my neighborhood is not flat at all. (See the mountains in the background?) I've scraped the bottom of my nose more times in the last few hours than I have in the entire year+ I've had it.

Looking sweet!
Now get started on that trunk! :D

Yea, I know what you mean about the height being too low. My Acura is at factory height and even a few times it's scraped the nose coming out of a friend's driveway.

cars as art get me going a hundred miles an hour!
excellent thread progression...
very cool, Hal!

I agree..... Tint the windows, put a gold superman logo on the front grill and corner of rear bumper, add some rims, and you can pose as Shaq...:-)

If all you need is les than an inch, you're lucky. My car is almost 8 inches off the ground and I have to crawl on some roads around here.

Looking good so far, good choices for parts, and it looks very professional, unlike much of what I see around here.

I love new Accords, souped, tuned or not.

Not a huge fan of the wheels, but the headlights made all the difference on that car.

Personally I really like those wheels. Those just give the car a little something.. make sure to keep us updated on the next phases=P

Get a huge wing and cool hubcaps, then you can too be a ricer! Not to mention, that wing has to add at least 50hp.

I was a little scared as far as the wheel choice went, but it came out great, Hal. Keep the dough rolling to your mechanic, as it looks grand.

Phase 2 update
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p2-1.jpg
http://www.tba-ownz.org/img/nadia/p2-2.jpg

Looking very nice so far, Halx. I love what you've done with her.

I can't wait to see the finished product.

just like I like it... shaved ;)

wow, i haven't checked in here in quite a while... looks like you are on your way Halx!! some nice work so far, definately feeling the new shaved ass....very smooth. I'm also definately feeling the choice of black wheels with the polsihed lip, but the wheels themselves ain't my cup of tea. But that's ok. :)

Oh just curious..whats the hp, tq and curb weight specs on this thing...curious to how it'd match up against my VR ;)

The ride's lookin sweet!
What else do you plan on doing?

If I recall correctly, it's a 2003 Accord, with 240 horses, 212 torque, and a curb weight of 3300. I may be wrong though.

can you take some pics of her around half hour before sunset so we can get that look!!!

so far the work looks clean. nice going. what size are those wheels?

I love those headlights, make sure you keep them from getting yellowed. I don't really like the big drop, but its still cool. The rims arent my favorite, but they look good on the car. Phase 2 is looking sweet too.

I really like it except for the wheels...they still look like 16's! You sure they are 18's?? :(

Other than that it looks very tasteful. :D

I know you're looking for serious answers here, but I've always wanted to do the Tom Green Lesbian hood to one of my cars. I don't know if you want that sort of attention. Nice ride, though.

I'd get rid of the factory rims and change out the stock tail lights. I like the spoiler idea; definitely adds something to this particular Accord model.

Are you committed to the color? I saw a really cool two-tone Accord not too long ago. A racing stripe would look cool, too.

dylanmarsh: I believe that the effect that Halx is going for is really subtle but effective, so the lesbian hood is definitely out.

Halx you gotta drop this more than 1.5"...that ain't even a drop!!!!!! :P

its definetly looking sharp

How's Phase 3 coming Halx?