Hey All - 96 Accord VTi 20th from Adelaide!!

**onlinewarrior40** · 23-09-2008 11:56 PM

Hey All - My name's John, I am 24, and I've been around on OZHONDA for a few months now but have only just started posting - I can't believe it took this long! I'm a network/systems admin, I'm married, I enjoy cars, technology, taking snaps (one of these days I'll get serious and take a photography course) and the mountains (and driving through them!).

So, about my baby: I've had my 96 Accord VTi, 20th Anniversary Special Edition for about a year now - these things are hard to find on the market! You see them being driven around, but not many people are selling. I reckon I've got it good - Got VTEC (although the F22B1's only SOHC), got ABS, got *an* airbag, got the sunroof, got it in manual and got it cheaper than the VTi-S which only has an additional airbag, climate control and leather (?).

I bought it with headers and a catback with a Magnaflow exhaust. The catback (and the cat) then rusted and was replaced with 2" stainless steel catback and new cat, keeping the Magnaflow of course.

There's plenty of things that need to be changed/fixed, like the paint on my rear bumper, the clutch (I bought it that way, I didn't thrash it, honest

) the ABS system, the intake (I'm thinking AEM SRI) and maybe some new tires (which I'll need soon...). All these little things change it from just a car to something you enjoy and care about (real deep hey?) The Honda seems to have a certain character, you know what I mean?

!

Planned mods/other things to do when I get the time/money:
- AEM SRI, not CAI due to being scared about hydrolock, not convinced about the AEM air bypass valve. The V2 is just *so* much more costly and may be CAI anyways but *without* the air bypass valve!
- stronger clutch (probably not OEM, depends on the costs)
- new lightened flywheel (I wish some of the clutch/flywheel packages were easily obtainable, and I had the cash

)
- little things inside the cabin, like fixing the drivers side inside door light, maybe cleaning the uphostery on the doors and roof...
- little things outside the car, such as rewiring the brake light on the (factory?) spoiler to light up instead of the brake light on the shelf above the back seats, maybe fog lights/driving lights for the mountain/night time driving. Considered HID's but the lights I have now are pretty strong and I don't personally know anyone who's retrofitted HIDs on an Accord (yeah, I know there are threads on this), or many people with HID's at all so I've nothing to really compare them to...

Most of this will be DIY unless I need a shop, eg. I'm not sure if the flywheel/clutch needs to be roughened first? I'll guess I post thread for help as things progress.

Oh yeah, my Accord has also got a small plate attached to both sides just forward of the doors where an indicator light might normally go, which says "PLATINUM VIP MOTORSPORT. CLUB MEMBER 016" - Maybe that gives some explanation as to state of the clutch... You guys wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?

I'll be heading out to the dyno day at Graham West Workshop on 27/09/2008 to see what dyno's are all about. I won't be dynoing my car due to the clutch, but hopefully I'll meet a stack of great people who share the passion for

!

Wow, I think I almost wrote a book.

Nice to meet you all!

**Toe_knee** · 24-09-2008 12:20 AM

dat was quite a read man u have any pics? lol

**onlinewarrior40** · 24-09-2008 02:21 PM

Pics coming -

**me5t1za** · 24-09-2008 03:34 PM

Heya, welcome to OH!! Nice to see another fellow adelaidian here.

**onlinewarrior40** · 24-09-2008 07:19 PM

! Pictures !

**eG_YoDa** · 25-09-2008 12:08 AM

welcome and enjoy your stay
hope to meet u at the dyno day

=)

**onlinewarrior40** · 25-09-2008 09:31 AM

Hey me5t1za & eG_YoDa, cheers for the welcome! Yeah, I don't think that there are *that* many adelaidians around on this forum (compared to the eastern states) so it's good to add another to the list.

Dyno day sounds interesting, hopefully the weather will hold up; it might be a little cloudy...

**Dreams** · 25-09-2008 09:37 AM

your pics taken in waterfall gully. welcome mate. retrofit is fun

**me5t1za** · 25-09-2008 09:55 AM

yes the weather should be ok, but its spring and anything could happen. I was going to say that place where u took ur pics looked familar. Nice ride

**onlinewarrior40** · 25-09-2008 10:28 AM

Yep, they're in waterfall gully - I was hoping that someone from Adelaide would recognise them

I kinda aim to be going there more often for walks (up to the summit) - It's a good walk for a Sunday morning. Morialta (sp?) is good as well, but I haven't been for a fair while now. When I get some time I want to get more into the hills walks again - Good exercise and good fun, and normally a good drive to get there

Anyone got some good ideas as to places?

Also, Adelaide has got lots of places in the hills to *see* also - I guess two of the most popular/common would be Hahndorf and Lobethal. Mannum is pretty nice along the river. Again, can people suggest some good places to see as the weather gets better?

One day, I'll drive the great ocean road - *that* will be fun.

**me5t1za** · 25-09-2008 12:15 PM

yes the hills are great, used to live up there in Montacute, up gorge rd. It's very scenic and it's good to drive through there plus the road are windy which make it fun

I live down south now and occasionally would go down the beach e.g start at Seacliff n work my way up to semaphore beach. If you want to go further for a scenic view then theres McLaren Vale and Victor Harbor.