'86 Prelude dual carbs... -NEED QUICK REPLY-

I'm going to look at an '86 Honda Prelude with dual carbs in about an hour
or two. I was told by someone that the dual carbs did not come from the
factory on these cars. Is that true? Also, what kind of mileage should I
expect with this car? I'm buying it as a econo-box so I don't keep spending
a fortune on gas driving my '67 and '68 Ford Galaxies. I figure it ought to
be reasonably fun to drive with a 5 speed. I'm guessing it should get at
least 30 MPG on the highway.

The as said $450/obo but when I called the woman said $300. Supposedly all
the work it needs is a new power steering pump. That is about $100. How hard
is it to replace the power steering pump and what is involved? Also, can you
drive the car without damaging the rack if I were to just drive it without
the power steering pump? That would be nice to get better road feel and
better mileage... That's what I am doing with my '67 but that has a normal
recirculating ball steering gearbox.

Is there anything in particular I should be looking for on this car?
Anything prone to wear or failure? Any work I should expect to need to do to
it? Does it sound like a good deal? Thanks for any information and thoughts.

Cory

 

My friend has an 86 or 87 and it has dual carbs. Maintenance wise,
expect *lots* of vacuum hoses. His also has a power steering leak, but
he just adds fluid as the leak is slow enough.

 

I had an '84 with the dual carbs. Yes, that's how it comes from
the factory. Though in '86 ('87?) they added an Si model that had
fuel injection and 10 extra horses (as well as power windows and a
few other goodies).

If in original running order, expect about 30-32 mpg. Less if all
city driving.

Don't know anything about the PS pump, sorry.

Well, $300 is a good deal for anything, if it is in good running
order. It was a great car that I still miss. But there's plenty
that could be wrong. Rust is an obvious one. Expect to replace
the timing belt unless you know its history (I think 60k mi was
specified, but maybe 90k). After 100k, things started going wrong
with mine. First was the starter motor, which I think I
recall being told was a weak design. Not too expensive.
Alternator went at 115k or so. Expect the A/C (a dealer installed
option) to have died a long time ago. At about 130k, the
electrical system went bonkers. A new connector kit can be
expensive. Soon after it beat me with cold running issues.
Basically, if the dual carbs (actually, it was probably a choke
issue) go bad, then it becomes a nightmare to diagnose and fix and
can cost you far more than you might want to deal with. As
someone mentioned, it is vacuum hose city under the hood.

When running as it should, it is fun, refined, economical. To me,
it was one of Honda's seminal designs.

 

I had an '84 with the dual carbs. Yes, that's how it comes from
the factory. Though in '86 ('87?) they added an Si model that had
fuel injection and 10 extra horses (as well as power windows and a
few other goodies).

If in original running order, expect about 30-32 mpg. Less if all
city driving.

Don't know anything about the PS pump, sorry.

Well, $300 is a good deal for anything, if it is in good running
order. It was a great car that I still miss. But there's plenty
that could be wrong. Rust is an obvious one. Expect to replace
the timing belt unless you know its history (I think 60k mi was
specified, but maybe 90k). After 100k, things started going wrong
with mine. First was the starter motor, which I think I
recall being told was a weak design. Not too expensive.
Alternator went at 115k or so. Expect the A/C (a dealer installed
option) to have died a long time ago. At about 130k, the
electrical system went bonkers. A new connector kit can be
expensive. Soon after it beat me with cold running issues.
Basically, if the dual carbs (actually, it was probably a choke
issue) go bad, then it becomes a nightmare to diagnose and fix and
can cost you far more than you might want to deal with. As
someone mentioned, it is vacuum hose city under the hood.

When running as it should, it is fun, refined, economical. To me,
it was one of Honda's seminal designs.