I need advice for my 93 Integra.

Heidi Werner

New Member
I bought a 1993 Acura Integra and the poor thing needs a lot of TLC. I'll get some pics up soon, but main thing is it needs ball joints and bushings? It has rust in quite a few places and my boyfriend told me that it has an exhaust leak. I don't know too much about cars, but i'm making this car my project to learn more about cars. I plan to fix her up and make her look good again. Does anyone have any ideas? Also any websites where I can find quality parts for it. I've looked on ebay and a few other sites, but would really love to check out others to compare prices and quality. My car runs great, just wanting to fix it up and make it look like new. Like I said i'll try to get pics of it really soon. Thank you : )
 

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
Rust in some places can be bad and while some can be fixed easily, it depends on where and how much. It could mean the investment in repairs may not be worth it. That aside, congratulations on having a project car! And i hope your ready for it cuz sometimes you want a nice project car and it ends up being more project then you meant to handle. LoL Most things can be replaced using oem parts for quality. Do that for your bushings and ball joint unless you plan to use a camber kit.

You'll always want to compare prices and quality as well as question both. Theres too much advice to be given at one time to a beginner so take your time, familiarize yourself with your car from the ground up and bumper to bumper, learn what things do and how they do them, take the time to learn basic maintenance and tune up yourself and try to do things properly the first time or do it twice.

Feel free to ask questions as you come across them here but some of the best advice given time and time again is learn to search whether its on this site, the next or gewgle itself. You are likely not to be asking a unique question and its been discussed many times across the web. Ill throw in a bunch of links to get you started and you can always reference back to them.

I also highly recommend reading through the members build threads. You will see all the same and different things people do, parts they buy and how they look. Will give you ideas of your own.

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2306055 - general information, specs + links
http://www.team-integra.net/forum/blogs/ - Team-integra.net articles section has a ton of great info, diy, and guides in the articles section alone

Oh and if you truely want to work on your car yourself, pick up a service manual and it'll come in handy lots.
 
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Heidi Werner

New Member
Rust in some places can be bad and while some can be fixed easily, it depends on where and how much. It could mean the investment in repairs may not be worth it. That aside, congratulations on having a project car! And i hope your ready for it cuz sometimes you want a nice project car and it ends up being more project then you meant to handle. LoL Most things can be replaced using oem parts for quality. Do that for your bushings and ball joint unless you plan to use a camber kit.

You'll always want to compare prices and quality as well as question both. Theres too much advice to be given at one time to a beginner so take your time, familiarize yourself with your car from the ground up and bumper to bumper, learn what things do and how they do them, take the time to learn basic maintenance and tune up yourself and try to do things properly the first time or do it twice.

Feel free to ask questions as you come across them here but some of the best advice given time and time again is learn to search whether its on this site, the next or gewgle itself. You are likely not to be asking a unique question and its been discussed many times across the web. Ill throw in a bunch of links to get you started and you can always reference back to them.

I also highly recommend reading through the members build threads. You will see all the same and different things people do, parts they buy and how they look. Will give you ideas of your own.

http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2306055 - general information, specs + links
http://www.team-integra.net/forum/blogs/ - Team-integra.net articles section has a ton of great info, diy, and guides in the articles section alone

Oh and if you truely want to work on your car yourself, pick up a service manual and it'll come in handy lots.
Thanks for the info. The car looks good just needs some parts replaced, cleaned up and I would love to customize it. I learned a lot about trucks from my boyfriend who owns an 07 F-150 and I even learned how to clean them up with expensive cleaners. I know it's extremely different, but I used to help my dad with his Porsche. I just hope I learn enough to make the car look as good as it used to. I don't think I'm getting myself in too deep, because the car does run great and the body with work can look great again. I can't wait to finish it. :D
 

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
Ah yes, nothing better than a nice detailing job to make it shine. Read through the build threads when youre bored. You can aks questions about their upgrads and theyd love to help out.
 


NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
My car always idles very low. It concerns us, but since I just bought it we are still trying to diagnose a few problems. It seemed to do better when we gave it an oil change but a few days later, it was back to low idling. We are hoping that its not burning off the oil, but boyfriend said when i was driving it in front of his truck that blue smoke came out of my tail pipe? Could this have anything to do with it? Also the car takes a couple seconds to start up in the morning. The car does this when it's parked, when i stop for a red light or stop sign. I've tried revving it a bit to see if that would help but after I stop revving it, it goes back to the extremely low idling? I am new to the car scene and am really confused. Any ideas would be wonderful. Thanks.
In response to your comment on the other thread. I think blue smoke is burning oil. Burning some oil can be normal especially in older cars but you need to determine how much oil its burning. Since you just did an oil change, check the level regularly. Also check for leaks and get them fixed. When your car has been parked, look at the ground when u move to see if its left any oil. Trace the leak. Also since you just bought it, have the compression checked to make sure its good in all cylinders. Bad compression could tell u why the oil is burning.

There could be multiple reasons your car takes several seconds to start up. It could also be completely normal but just an indicator that something is or has worn down, usually the starter. As long as it always starts and you dont notice it get worse it may not be a problem.

Theres also many reasons that could be causing your low idle. Ill assume it idles low ALL the time since u said it does it at lights or stop signs implying youve driven it long enough for the engine to warm up. A simple idle adjustment could resolve this but there could be other reasons its idling low. You have to define low for a more accurate answer also. Tyipcal idle once warm should be between 600-900 on various hondas. But usually 700-800 is more ideal. Timing could be off. Not sure if i mentioned this earlier but you should do tune up excluding the oil change u just did. Unless you know certain things were done already. At least start with spark plugs and take note or pictures of the current ones for diagnosis. Cap and rotor, maybe fuel filter. O2 sensors but id wait and see how you do on gas mileage for this. Water temp sensor, thermostat and valve cover gasket + spark plug gaskets can be done too.
 

Heidi Werner

New Member
I need to replace the lower ball joints, and the lower control arm bushings. Can I get this affordable in a one unit piece? Or do I need to have the stock stuff replaced from the factory control arms?

Any advice as what brand parts to stick with for durability and economy friendly costs? I don't want to put race worthy parts in just factory style replacement parts.
 

98gsrDc2

stolen....
Looks like u got some welding to do on those quarters...you can find a new hatch for cheap...good luck with it though
 

NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
Yea that trunk looks pretty bad. Take care of the rust or it'll get worse. The rest of it looks good and ive always like the 93 bumper.

You really don't new anything other then oem parts for your repair. While you might find use parts it's sometimes simpler to buy new. Compare prices and decide. Bushings usually don't cost too much.

Acuraoemparts.com some online oem sites have discount pricing almost always cheaper then walking into a dealer.
 
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