General Information
Year
1998
Make
Honda
Model
Accord EX V6 4 door
Packages
Black Pearl exterior. Gray leather interior. Bought new in July, 1998.
Over about eighteen years of learning what was available, & mostly not available, how to work on a car with a computer & absolutely no extra space anywhere, I'm finally able to do most of the work myself. Most of my experience & racing was with big block Mopars so had a lot to learn. The guys at Lithia Honda Parts & Service were a huge help. Russ & Devin at Specialized Auto have been very helpful & patient. Discovering V6 Performance was a real breakthrough in getting information & ideas. Honda Tuning has also been helpful, but sadly, it's no longer in publication. Nate, my grandson helps me whenever they come to visit, wish he could be here more often. My wife has been a good sport for enduring over (50) years of my car projects, not all guys are so lucky.
Modifications
Drivetrain
In 2015,at about 154,000 miles the J30 broke #4 piston & all cylinders measured just a little too large to accept stock bore pistons. Did a lot of research & finally bought a 2002 Odyssey engine with 57,00 miles on it. Took it apart, checked it out & had the heads freshened before I put it in the car. Since my '98 computer uses a distributor, I had to put the distributor back in to keep everything on track. Had already confirmed that sensors, etc. were mostly the same so used a combination of J35 & J30. Back in 2006, I bought a Comptech supercharger but never put it on the J30, so installed the new unit on this engine. Also had 270cc RC Engineering injectors & used them in place of the Odyssey units. The fuel rails, the elbow from the supercharger to the manifold & several other things required some fab work but nothing too difficult. Installed the Snow Performance water methanol injection system that I'd also had since 2006. Bought all these parts when I younger & had good income. Got it running in September 2015,it runs like it's supposed to & goes a lot better than the J30. About ten years ago, around 75,000 miles I had a local shop rebuild the trans using good parts, including new solenoids. Sent the converter to Redding, CA, had it strengthened & modified with about 600 RPM additional stall. Also installed a Phantom Grip limited slip unit during assembly. That was about 80,000 miles ago & the trans & Phantom Grip are both working well. It'll leave two black marks for a lot farther than I want to push it, so generally drive it fairly easy. During the install, I replaced all the motor & trans mounts with Honda units & filled them with urethane. No more wheel hop, no serious torque steer & only a little vibration at some low load points, which I stop by manually downshifting. Also finished putting the battery in the trunk using #0 hot & ground cables, #4 charging cable & installed a V6 Performance grounding kit.
Interior
Adapted aluminun shift & e-brake handle. Tinted windows. Installed RAC guage pod to instrument panel for oil pressure & trans temperature guages. Bonded (2) guage pod to A-pillar for boost & fuel pressure gauges & repainted it all factory color. Installed brushed aluminum trim, V6 Performance lock knobs & chrome door handle surrounds. Put Dyna Mat sound deadener in trunk. Fabricated bracket to make hands free phone easy to use.
Exterior
Seibon carbon fiber hood. Bonded scrap Gen 6 Accord front bumper pieces to accentuate stock lines. Made air inlets on outer edge of bumper to direct air to Comptech CAI, brakes & engine compartment. Adapted a '99 Toyota Avalon grill which required extending the CF hood with part of original steel hood & a lot of fabrication. Extended front fenders to line up with hood which I widened 1/4" inch on each side to reduce fender/hood gap.
Audio
Genuine Honda.
Suspension
Eibach Sport Springs, Tokiko shocks, SPC camber adjusters & Comptech sway bars. Neuspeed shock tower brace & DIY braces to tie front bumper to frame. Rotora 13.3" dia. slotted front rotors with (4) piston calipers. Stop Tech 12.2" dia slotted rear rotors with stock calipers & Hawk pads. Wheels are 17"x 7" Kazera V that weigh 16.5 lbs. each. Tires are 215-50 Bridgestone Potenza RE970. My wife & I are 74, she wants a softer ride & I should really slow down a little in the corners so generally run about 28PSI.
