[quikjake]

Hi guys, I've been on these forums for a little while now and been mostly lurking and researching/learning a lot about my car and everyone else's car on here too lol. It's about time I start my own thread for my car, and the additions or modifications I've done to it. I also want to post all my maintenance and repairs in here as well. I've been putting off repairs for too long now, and I've finally bought the new parts to get the job done, now it's just a matter of getting it done lol.

Anyways, I got this car almost a year ago with nearly 73k miles on it, and a like new leather interior :thmsup:! that was the selling point for me. It had some pretty bad scratches and dents on the front bumper passenger side also holes all over the rear bumper from what looks like someone's bolts from license plates that the previous owner backed into SEVERAL TIMES :thumbsdow so I knew I was going to do bodywork/paint sometime down the rode after I've scratched it up enough lol because this is my FIRST car :biggrin: so i know it's gonna happen, although I do know how to park unlike the previous owner ugh, I got a backup cam asap lol because why wouldn't you?

Other than that everything was running great and smoothly when I first got it, then a couple months of aggressive driving and a few joy rides it started to make a couple subtle yet noticeable engine/suspension noises :dunno: it took me awhile to figure it out but after a lot of searching and reading I read it could be my compliance bushings in my lower control arm or maybe my sway bar end-links. Sure enough on BOTH SIDES the rubber is cracked on each one of those parts :grumpy: well I was glad I found the problem finally.

Before I do anymore mods/additions to my car I want to make sure it's running in tip top shape and as healthy as can be.
Here is a list of the maintenance/repairs I want to do:
ATF Drain and fill 3x
Rotors (rust, screeching)
ALL Motor Mounts
Transmission Mounts
Drive Belt/Serpentine Belt
Timing Belt and Water Pump

Future mods not in any particular order:
30% tint all around
HID or LED reverse light
05' font lip
Inspire fogs
Quad HID retrofit
Bluetooth/aux/ipod input
Cold Air Intake
In-dash tablet/carpc

Things I've done or added so far (in order):
Plastidip grill matte black
Plastidip wheels gloss black
Paint break calipers "Ford blue"
Foot well 5050 LED music reactive strips
HID Mini H1 Projector Retrofit
2 10" Kicker Comps ported box
600w Kicker KX600.1 Amp
Stealthy backup cam & 3.5" temporary screen in cubby

Here are some shitty phone pics just to give you guys an idea of what my daily looks like.

The parts I bought a couple days ago

 

[Aviography]

My one advice is to not "contact parking" with the front tires, keep doing this and you will eventually find a curb high enough to scrape and rip the front air dam off.......

 

[atrax]

looks like your accord's grazing on the grass.

 

[cintocrunch]

Looks good and finally a youngin with maintenance on the list! Welcome aboard, mate!

 

[accord42792]

Does it have a sedan front bumper case this is the first ive seen a coupe with inspire fog lights hole instead of the regular
Looks good though

 

[bobbo]

Does it have a sedan front bumper case this is the first ive seen a coupe with inspire fog lights hole instead of the regular
Looks good though

Nope - those fog holes are different from sedans... Looks normal coupe.

OP - welcome to DA mate, looks like your on a good path, and I also echo the sentiment about your parking technique

 

[Lowandslow]

Your grille looks out of place. Like it's not snapped into the slits on the bottom portion onto the bumper.

and good luck fitting inspire fogs on a coupe.

last but not least, good luck finding a 03-05 front lip. lol Well, OEM that is.

 

[quikjake]

looks like your accord's grazing on the grass.

lol it totally does! haha that pic was mainly to show the damage left behind from the previous owner :thumbsdow

Looks good and finally a youngin with maintenance on the list! Welcome aboard, mate!

Thanks for the warm welcome! and yes I will admit I wanted to do all these cosmetics before maintenance, but I know that's not the RIGHT way to do it lol, so as soon as I heard some weird noises, I knew that would be the first on my list to fix before anything else. I do have some really bad oxidation on my roof though, I want to take care of that ASAP;however the DIY route is the way I chose to go as I already have a gun and compressor I just need the 2k clear and catalyst.

Your grille looks out of place. Like it's not snapped into the slits on the bottom portion onto the bumper.

and good luck fitting inspire fogs on a coupe.

last but not least, good luck finding a 03-05 front lip. lol Well, OEM that is.

Lol the parking was for the picture I almost never park like that for that very reason, but thanks for the advice! Also you are spot on about those clips, the passenger side of the front bumper clip is broken also ALL of the bottom clips for the grill were gone when I got the car....no bueno :/ I should probably order a set of 25 off eBay soon lol I saw they're super cheap. I've read that its a lot more bumper cutting for the coupe but I didn't think it should be that much tougher than a sedan bumper? Am I wrong??

 

[accord42792]

Nope - those fog holes are different from sedans... Looks normal coupe.

OP - welcome to DA mate, looks like your on a good path, and I also echo the sentiment about your parking technique

O
I see it now. Different fog cover than what mine had, guess 06's have differnt covers



And welcome OP, forgot to mention that earlier:wave:

 

[quikjake]

O
I see it now. Different fog cover that the normal (atleast the ones i see and the ones that were on mine). Guess i didnt look good enough the first time



And welcome OP, forgot to mention that earlier:wave:

thank you! I think my fogs covers, and bumper style is the 06-07 or 7.5 gen, and it looks like yours is 03-05 coupe bumper? either way...I can't wait to get my fogs I plan to retrofit projectors in my inspire fogs

 

[Lowandslow]

Lol the parking was for the picture I almost never park like that for that very reason, but thanks for the advice! Also you are spot on about those clips, the passenger side of the front bumper clip is broken also ALL of the bottom clips for the grill were gone when I got the car....no bueno :/ I should probably order a set of 25 off eBay soon lol I saw they're super cheap. I've read that its a lot more bumper cutting for the coupe but I didn't think it should be that much tougher than a sedan bumper? Am I wrong??

Well, you don't have to use the clips. There's a little slit on the bumper where it meets the grille, and you can just "snap/push" it in there. Mines held in with no clips on the bottom just by the little slits.

Well, the sedan and coupe bumper are completely different. Different shape, different grill, different fog lights. The holes make look the same, but I believe no ones done it because it takes work.

thank you! I think my fogs covers, and bumper style is the 06-07 or 7.5 gen, and it looks like yours is 03-05 coupe bumper? either way...I can't wait to get my fogs I plan to retrofit projectors in my inspire fogs

you have a 06 accord, thus you have a 7.5 gen. If you want the 03-05 lip, you have to cut a little of the middle of the lip because the lower grille opening on the 03-05 bumper is larger.

And I don't think it'll be possible to retrofit those because of how small they are. My buddy did ls430 retros' on his fogs but were the oem ones. there was barely any room left.

 

[NightFire]

Be careful rolling forward on those parking spots, I had the bad experience of finding one that was a little to high on an ex's car (uhh..) Now I never park near curbs or parking blocks. Other than that, looks great!

 

[accord42792]

thank you! I think my fogs covers, and bumper style is the 06-07 or 7.5 gen, and it looks like yours is 03-05 coupe bumper? either way...I can't wait to get my fogs I plan to retrofit projectors in my inspire fogs

Yup. I got an 03. And i though about retroing fogs too but like Lowandslow said the lights are to small but never know. Not sure how good at modding you are to get something to fit in them

 

[BLCKFLSH]

I do have some really bad oxidation on my roof though, I want to take care of that ASAP;however the DIY route is the way I chose to go as I already have a gun and compressor I just need the 2k clear and catalyst.

Take a few close-up pictures of that roof. If you have peeling clear coat, you need to get all the clear off before re-painting. It will just peel the new stuff off with it if you don't. Ask me how I know.

I made the mistake of pulling my old Accord over one of those parking lot bumpers, without noticing it had a bolt sticking out the top of it. It almost pulled my entire front bumper cover off. It was fun trying to get that thing back in place, with no tools, so I could make it back home without destroying it.

 

[Lowandslow]

Yup. I got an 03. And i though about retroing fogs too but like Lowandslow said the lights are to small but never know. Not sure how good at modding you are to get something to fit in them

From the front it looks fine. But the back looks terrible. There's glue/hondabonda type material all over the back and looks bad. But that's just me. you can't see it obviously since it's in the back, but dam. so much glue.

 

[accord42792]

From the front it looks fine. But the back looks terrible. There's glue/hondabonda type material all over the back and looks bad. But that's just me. you can't see it obviously since it's in the back, but dam. so much glue.

On your friends fogs he retroed?

 

[quikjake]

Well, you don't have to use the clips. There's a little slit on the bumper where it meets the grille, and you can just "snap/push" it in there. Mines held in with no clips on the bottom just by the little slits.

Well, the sedan and coupe bumper are completely different. Different shape, different grill, different fog lights. The holes make look the same, but I believe no ones done it because it takes work.





you have a 06 accord, thus you have a 7.5 gen. If you want the 03-05 lip, you have to cut a little of the middle of the lip because the lower grille opening on the 03-05 bumper is larger.

And I don't think it'll be possible to retrofit those because of how small they are. My buddy did ls430 retros' on his fogs but were the oem ones. there was barely any room left.

Be careful rolling forward on those parking spots, I had the bad experience of finding one that was a little to high on an ex's car (uhh..) Now I never park near curbs or parking blocks. Other than that, looks great!

Yup. I got an 03. And i though about retroing fogs too but like Lowandslow said the lights are to small but never know. Not sure how good at modding you are to get something to fit in them

From the front it looks fine. But the back looks terrible. There's glue/hondabonda type material all over the back and looks bad. But that's just me. you can't see it obviously since it's in the back, but dam. so much glue.

I've been anticipating that retrofit for awhile now, and I decided I really wanted to try it mainly because I wanted the extra output. I know right now I'm running one of the crappiest setups for output available as far as a retro goes (mini H1 and 35w) lol but I plan to upgrade to FX-Rs or TL when I actually do the quad, and use the minis as the secondary. I also want a nice sharp cutoff for the fogs, I don't really need bi-xenon for the fogs but it would be nice. I also thought it would be a good idea, because I can get a pair of aftermarket inspires on ebay or amazon for around $50-60 and a set of mini h1's for $45. Anyways I don't want to think about any of that right now as I'm still trying to work out all the mechanical kinks, mainly suspension problems.

So today I took off both lower control arms. My dad helped me so we got it done fairly quickly. Unfortunately me being and idiot didn't check with napa beforehand to check if they can do it on a sunday....so I called them AFTER we took them off only to find out that they don't press anything on the weekends :grumpy: FML so I had to leave my car at my dad's house on jack stands over night, and I'm going to go get my bushings pressed during my lunch break tomorrow at work.

But wait! there's more GREAT NEWS! so upon removing the lower control arm on the passengers side, I noticed on that control arm that another bushing was also cracked, the middle one I believe that goes between the knuckle. Also, my lower ball joint has a big long crack on the side of the boot. Not only that but both of my outer tie rod ends are very loose and have a lot of wiggle/play without me using much strength at all.


Control Arms

Compliance bushing

middle control arm bushing

end-link

Torn lower ball joint :thumbsdow

 

[cintocrunch]

None of the images are working but welcome to suspension work...you've got to always assume every bushing/, ball joint, end link, etc. needs to be replaced as a good rule of thumb. I'd rather have the parts and return them unused (or just install all new and be done) than make 5 trips for parts as I find new things that need replacing.

 

[Lowandslow]

On your friends fogs he retroed?

Yeah. Some guy locally did it for him. Guess the housing was a little too small for the actual projector and maybe it got extended. He was gonna give them to me for $5 lol

 

[accord42792]

Pictures ddnt work for me either

Yeah. Some guy locally did it for him. Guess the housing was a little too small for the actual projector and maybe it got extended. He was gonna give them to me for $5 lol

Only $5? Guess they looked that bad not to take for 5 bucks