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Philadelphia Honda Prelude SH Rebuild

1K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  mykizism 
#1 ·
Hello,

I'm rebuilding my 1999 Honda Prelude Type SH and live outside Philadelphia. I will be starting with the transmission and clutch and will then focus on the engine and finally the bodywork.

I was wondering if anyone is from the tri-state area and had any good recommendations for where to get the work done? I'm okay taking the car to different places to get the work done, i.e. the transmission and engine work do not have to be at the same place.

Also any advice on which aftermarket parts or additional aspects of the engine build I should focus on to make the Prelude as fast as possible are appreciated! I would like to keep the car naturally aspirated, but make it as fast as possible!

Thanks in advance, I appreciate your input!
 
#2 ·
Welcome! And clean ride man i have SH as well and I'm going for similar goals keeping the engine na and making it as fast to, if your going for performance you can start with either bolt ons or internals. Then base it of a good ecu, I'm looking into Hondata right now. Don't forget to get catch cans and maybe upgrade radiator cooling systems to keep your car running cool.
 
#3 ·
HondaPrelude1999

Thanks man! I look forward to hearing about your rebuild! The 5th generation Prelude is absolutely amazing and it will be great to see what we can do!

I wish Mugen would start production again on their exhaust specifically for the prelude, it would be incredible to get my hands on a brand new Mugen exhaust!
 
#5 ·
Bump for anyone know of a good shop around the Philadelphia area to help do my engine swap and rebuild my car.

After some serious research I think I'm going to buy the Euro-R engine and want to find a great shop to do the swap and additional work to the car. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!
 
#6 ·
Fast of West Chester is a reputable shop in SEPA.

I do all of my own work besides tire install/balance and final alignment, so not familiar with many shops in the area.
 
#8 ·
So after extensive research I believe I will go with RPM in NYC to perform my engine swap. I spoke with them on the phone and they seem to be an excellent shop with a phenomenal reputation.

In the meantime I have purchased a 2001 Euro-R Engine and transmission.

I'm now starting to collect parts! From looking over all the threads, I really like the Mugen headers and Mugen twin-loop exhaust.

Any thoughts on good sellers with excellent reputations? I realize the parts will be expensive and difficult to find with little wear, but I am willing to take my time and slowly do my build!
 
#9 ·
Update: So I have contacted Hytech due to their impressive reputation and they are still able to fabricate headers for my set-up (2001 Euro-R engine in a 1999 Honda Prelude Type SH). I greatly appreciated their advice and Hytech seems to be like an exceptional company. So overall I am sold on going with their headers.

My next question for the group would be the remainder of the exhaust.

It seems like a great deal of people on the forum like Kteller 3 inch stainless steel piping and then a variety of different mufflers. My overall priorities for my naturally aspirated build are 1) As much horsepower as possible, 2) an exhaust with a low tone (nothing too loud). As a sidenote, since my Prelude is now considered a classic I have a bit more freedom with emissions.

With those two priorities it seems like Mugen muffler or Vibrant 3 inch muffler in conjunction with the Kteller 3 inch stainless steel piping would do the trick.

Does anyone have experience with the Kteller 3 inch piping going into Mugen muffler or Vibrant muffler? Would this be an optimal set-up to decrease airflow resistance and see a slight gain in horsepower?

Thank you for all your help!
 
#12 ·
I ran the KTeller piping about 20 years ago, its a slip fit with clamps.. Not fun to install and not custom.. Portions of the L bends will touch the ground if you are lowered and possible the lower control arm as well. And you still have to weld on hangers etc.

Due to the complex curvature of the Prelude's Chassis.. If you want to run a 3 inch system its best to have it custom fabricated so that the bends flow properly with the car.


Mugen vs Vibrant:

Mugen: will be lower in sound as it will muffle more than the Vibrant. It is resonated twice.

Vibrant: will be louder but will flow better than the Mugen. Vibrant is a straight-thru design with a perforated core.


There is more to exhaust design that will determine cabin noise and exterior sound than just the muffler alone. Examples will be resonator placement, length of resonator, length of piping and piping wall thickness. Thinner wall will be louder and resonate more sound vs thicker walled, but will have significant weight differences as well. Along with the type of material.. Titanium vs Stainless vs Mild Steel.
 
#11 ·
I run a 3" system, it is very difficult to control noise with a 3" exhaust vs a 2.75" or 2.5".


Invidia makes a very nice Q300 model exhaust for our cars that gives a good low tone and is larger than any other off the shelf aftermarket exhaust. It's also a 2.75" if I recall correctly. A 2.5" exhaust is typically good for up to 240whp, so a 2.75" should be fine without causing the sound control issues of a 3".


If you were looking to use a Mugen twin loop muffler, 3" is not the proper exhaust size for you as it would bottleneck at the inlet for the muffler.
 
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