Hello all,
my name is Sean and I live in the NorCal Bay area. I was able to find a nice, unmolested 1995 Accord Coupe on Craigslist in February. I've been slowly taking care of things as I go, and spent the last two days doing a rather large bit of work. I knew going in that the car sat for some 2 years, as it had just 99,589 miles on it when I bought it. First things first, I noticed there were water spots along the upper radiator tank around the cap and thought maybe the cap was faulty. Turned out there was a 4" crack in the top tank.

Anyway, I replaced the radiator and at the same time I replaced the brake master cylinder. I was experiencing inconsistent pedal feedback that I initially thought was just a need for new fluid and complete system bleed. After doing all of that, the problem persisted. I bought a '96 Civic for my son and his went from good braking to bad in one shot causing him to rear end another vehicle when he couldn't stop. We ended up replacing the master cylinder on his too, but too late to prevent an accident. Mine was good and then all of a sudden it wasn't. Luckily I wasn't going in hot, and E-braked my way out. After that, the brakes were fine for a little while and then not. So I got the new master.

I rolled over 100K after a month of owning the car so I figured I'd better put a new timing belt in. I don't have any maintenance records for the car as it was a Repo/Lein sale. So this past Friday I spent a total of 14 hours in the shop with it. Timing belt, water pump, balance shaft belt, tensioners, valve cover gaskets, plugs, and new drive belts to top it all off. Saturday I spent another 3 and half hours there replacing the shift shaft seal and replacing the gear oil with some nifty Redline MTL.

The result of all that work is that I can now stop predictably, the car runs smoother and it shifts like it has a new transmission that doesn't leak all over my driveway. Of course there was the small matter of the shift cable ends not having been lubed for who knows how long. A quick clean and lube with some fresh silicone grease makes a huge difference. I replaced the coolant obviously when I did the water pump but honestly, even with the leaky radiator it never overheated. I'm sure I'll need to do some suspension work in the near future but all the MUST Do stuff is now done. It has some really crap tires on it too so I'm thinking there will be some new Nittos in the near future as well. Both of those can wait for a while though, as things are currently functioning.....sean

 

I realized I introduced my car, but not myself really. I'm a retired US Air Force Boom Operator. I did 23 years of active duty, and for my first 15 I was a heavy equipment mechanic. That means aircraft tow tractors, front loaders, snow plows, bull dozers, road scrapers, cranes and aircraft loading equipment for the most part, but also anything the Air Force owns that needs fixing. Consequently I got quite a bit of experience on "M-series" like HuMMWVs and M-1008/1009 CUCVs, Duece and a halfs as well as 5 tons and M988s (new 5 tons) and a few other things.

Then things changed. The Air Force went about contracting out all the Vehicle Maintenance jobs where I was stationed. An assignment team came in and guaranteed me retraining to another career field. I was able to retrain out and got to fly on the KC-10A for my last 8 years. I was pretty happy to be flying and didn't really think too much about my old job.

There isn't much need for old retired boom operators anywhere so I'm back to spinning wrenches again. I'm still proficient at it so I'm not too displeased with my situation. I'm also going to college so I can do something besides spin wrenches for the rest of my life. My body just isn't up to the physical demands of the job anymore though. All those years of doing the job took a toll on me. Now, while I can still do it, I hurt a whole lot more than I used to when the work week finally ends.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, North East of The City. In fact, the town I live in is considered the last town in the North Bay. The next town over is considered Sacramento Valley and they're not even 5 miles away. I can't complain about the place...other than it's expensive and there are too many people here. I ride motorcycles and road bicycles for hobbies so I have plenty of places to do so around here. I ride mountain bikes too but not nearly as often or as intensely as my asphalt addictions.

I got into Hondas almost by accident really. I worked in a shop after I retired where we fixed whatever our customers brought us. It wasn't a specialist shop, more of a general shop. Anyway, I got fairly good with Hondas so whenever one came in, the shop foreman gave it to me to fix unless I was already working one. I left that shop for my current civil service job on really good terms. I go back occasionally to help out (volunteer) so since I'm not on payroll, the shop manager allows me access to work on my own stuff. Nice having a place to work that's fully equipped.....sean

 

That is pretty cool.

Thank you for your service!

The 5th gen Accords are some of the best out there in my opinion.

What are you going to school for?

Thanks for joining HAF.

 

 

Almost there, one more term.....Got plans for after you get out of school?

 

We always like to see a military man or women with us in here.

Thank you for joining the HAF

 

Nah, not really. I still don't know what I wanna be when I grow up!!
With my work experience and educational back ground, I'd like to get into some kind of safety related position. DOT, or FAA or even a similar position with civil service. I was a flight instructor when I retired so if I could get into something like that again, that would be cool too. I just know I don't have any real ambition of commuting in the Bay Area. I've managed to not have to do so for the last 20 years here, and don't really want to start. However, for over $100K a year, sure. I don't see that happening though.

Absolutely. Glad to be here....and thanks for the welcome.....sean

 

Hey, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be if/when I grow up

Just a guess but with the background and that I'm pretty sure you won't have an issue finding something "nice". A plus, if you would be willing to move to a different part of the country.

Me, stick around, I hate cold.....below 70 and I'm like a snake. If my job/skills (same pay) could get me further south....TX, LA, MS, AL, ect. I'd be gone in a second, But we do what we have to.

Good luck in whatever comes your way and what you decide to do.

 

Welcome to the forum. Air Force Vet here too, enlisted in 1965. Congrats and have fun with the Honda

 

I can't begin to tell you how hard it was to find my Accord. I wanted a coupe and I wanted a 5 speed and a 4 cylinder. That's pretty specific and thus, much harder to find. To be quite honest though, I wasn't much bothered whether I found a Civic coupe or hatch, an Accord or a Prelude. Just so as those criteria were met. It took months before I found something on Craigslist that was interesting. I am a mechanic so those "mechanics special" didn't scare me off....but when someone posts a 300,000 mile Prelude that needs an engine...well....that just wasn't really what I was after.

Bay Area Craigslist is highly inflated when it comes to Hondas in general and when it comes to a two door, 5 speed anything, they fetch a premium. If you can find a hatch with those specs add another grand. If you enter Honda Civic or Accord into Craigslist's search, you get about 8 or 10 pages. If you narrow that to coupe it drops to a single, unfilled page. If you enter Civic hatchback, you get about 10 returns. All of them over $3K regardless of mileage or condition if they're manual transmissions. When I found my '95 it was one of about 12 listed and the only standard transmission of the bunch. The clincher for me was that it had already passed SMOG so that was one less thing I needed to do to get it legal. It was listed at $2700 also, and was under 100K on the odometer. To top it off, it was local and I didn't have to drive all over the Bay Area to find it.

I'm not saying deals can't be found, but they really are few and very far between. A buddy of mine at the shop just picked up a '99 Honda Prelude 5 speed for under $1K that needs work. It was one I did the timing belt and water pump on two years ago so he knows it was done right. If I were looking for a '99 I would have jumped on it back then as the owner offered it to me for $1K. I declined as at that time I was kind of looking for a car for my son, but I'm not a fan of the later Prelude body style. That, and the insurance on a prelude for a 16 year old wasn't a positive. I landed him a '96 Civic a few months later for $1K. It too is a coupe with a 5 speed. We (he and I) put a Skunk II short shifter in it, and an Energy shift bushing kit. Something I wish I could do with the Accord. It really makes working the shifter a pleasant and precise operation. With the cable set up though, that eliminates the need for the bushings...and the short shifter products I've seen online are just adapters rather than a whole shift lever......sean