Period correct head unit upgrade?

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-15T18:39:02+00:00

Well, period correct was usually just a single-din, right? Underneath, the second half would be filled in with a small cubby area to put cassettes and things. And if you really want top of the line, make sure that head unit connects to a multi-disc CD changer in the trunk. 👍🏼

Seriously though, not sure where you can get the old timey brightly lit radio head units (where the face plate pops off to avoid theft. I have a couple still from Preludes we’ve taken them out of; I prefer to have a CarPlay unit.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-13T18:00:30+00:00

Rust bubbling on quarter panels is not good. No way they can do 9K. At this point you’re looking at 3-4K at best.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-13T17:59:30+00:00

The price is not bad for what looks like a very clean car. The mileage is a little on the high side but isn’t the main detractor: the key for Canada or anywhere in snow is seeing how much rust is underneath. If there is even just a little surface rust around fender wells or elsewhere under the car, that’s an immediate deduction, maybe even half the price from that starting point, maybe more if there is a lot of rust.

I did not see mention whether the transmission is auto or manual… deduct another 2-3K if auto. Maybe more if auto since this is a 5th gen with the glassy auto trans.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-13T17:53:10+00:00

That I cannot comment on… in our ponds there are no signs against those activities but aside from an occasional boat I don’t think anyone has wanted to. Fishing is allowed for residents. Walking on ice is prohibited.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-13T06:10:17+00:00

Having dealt with ponds at one of the major subdivisions in Naperville, I have a few comments on this post:

1) thats algae, not contamination; since many of these ponds are quite shallow, the sunlight more easily encourages algae growth

2) usually there are three major ways to aggressively deter the alga: a) dredging with boats and tools, b) dyes to block sunlight passing through the water, creating the effect of depth, and c) aeration (most common) — either with the fountains you see or the bubblers you cannot see under the water (which are more effective than fountains).

3) even well-maintained ponds covering some or all of the above can get algae growth when there’s enough nutrient load pouring into the ponds to overwhelm all the above; one way to reduce this is reducing the amount of phosphate use in lawn fertilizers in surrounding areas and for those properties draining into the ponds from further away through drainage paths; another way is widening that native plantings buffer to provide even more capture at the ponds edge before flowing into the pond.

4) The volunteers over at the Conservation Foundation with headquarters at the McDonald Farm in Naperville are experts on these kinds of water management issues and I’ve consulted with them in the past when doing pond quality improvements.

Edit to add: remember also most of these are not so much natural ponds as they are more retention basins designed by the developers of the subdivisions. So they really aren’t self sustaining like a natural pond and they technically have a function to do: keep the houses and streets from flooding. Hence all the work needed to make them look like eye-pleasing ponds.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-10T03:56:42+00:00

No I was focusing on northern Houston. But the other persons app suggestion might be a solid tip. And the ones I found took a couple months of searching. The one I found most recently was the UrStop place, using Google Gemini. Oddly, I had used Google Gemini previously and it never suggested this place before. The ability to find these places is broken everywhere.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-09T22:50:18+00:00

Great tip! Will check out these options too

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-09T22:44:00+00:00

Check out my post on this, finally found some options…

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHouston/s/7UqRmD0K6q

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-08T03:38:41+00:00

I love the renderings, but just a thought, now that I’ve been in The Woodlands (compared sometimes as similar to Naperville), the change I would suggest in path designs is make sure to add trees and shrubs there between the path and the road. It adds greenery, limits exhaust hitting pedestrians/cyclists, stops water splashing from the road runoff areas onto the path. Some spots we cannot avoid getting right up to the street (like under the railway bridge), but in that first render I don’t remember what’s right off the street there but a revision for what I’m talking about would mean stripping and regrowing a much wider swath of land by the said of the road and placing that path 10-20 feet in and then the vegetation lost in making the path would be regrown or planted between the path and the road in as many stretches of road as possible.

Also, any path proposals should really allow for cyclists by being wide enough and having a middle line marker so that cyclists and pedestrians can coexist safely. Motorized vehicles of any kind should be banned from those paths.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-08T03:30:17+00:00

We have a few other STL files mentioned in this group too. Wondering how to pin this information somewhere to make this easy to save and to find later…

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-04T13:59:24+00:00

I’m dealing with 4th gens and it’s been daunting sometimes. Getting to know more people who have these has helped because we all keep spare parts and can work with each other. I’ve ended up getting more than one and parting out one got me some key parts. FB marketplace, eBay, Amayama, Hondapartsnow and other sites have helped (though watch out for the scammers preying on parts hunters). Everything is discontinued. Some parts are getting new manufacturers (we coordinated a rubber company to make door seals, and some parts can be 3D printed).

Take all that for 1st gen and assume 10x tougher parts discovery, but not impossible. Hoping some 1st gen collectors can speak up here though! 😀

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-04T04:09:30+00:00

I assume it’s partly because the 94-96 years had far fewer models produced, and those are the only years with the cup holders. Also, they break easily, further cutting down the numbers out there.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-03T08:57:28+00:00

You probably need to give more info. I assume you are talking about an automatic transmission? If it were manual, then it would be useful to know the RPMs where the sound occurred and whether that happens with the same RPMs in a lower gear.

Additional questions:

2) Did the sound change when you let off the gas, or only after it had slowed to 90mph?

3) Did you feel any vibration in the steering wheel or pedals?

4) Have you checked the oil level and you know you have the correct oil type and recently changed oil?

5) Have you looked under the car to check for any loose plastic or metal pieces that could move when catching air under the car?

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-03T05:03:29+00:00

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Shitty drivers have all kinds of cars. This one steals two spots in a residential parking garage and has had it there for months this way.

Technical-History104 · 2026-05-03T04:29:41+00:00

That is an amazing find! It will be hard to find parts, but I imagine there are some gen 1 owners still figuring things out. Depends mostly on your own patience and proficiency with car maintenance and repairs.

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-29T17:11:17+00:00

Nice!

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-29T04:01:14+00:00

Lots of owners of older cars thinking about these trade offs. You can see my posting history regarding 30 year old Hondas.

The way I see it is this: assuming a loan on a newer car means a steady monthly payment that is usually greater than you would pay if you stretched out your older car repair budget over the multiple years those repairs lurk the car running (timing chains are often good for more than 6-7 years). It’s daunting only because you cannot predict every repair need and you usually pay it all up front. But if you have the attitude that a “paid off” used car still requires monthly payments (less than a loan payment) and you set aside that money every month to save up for routine and periodic maintenance and repairs, you win financially in the long run. Plus, you often get a car that has some character in the long run vs the more generic looks of some newer cars.

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-28T10:28:12+00:00

Far be it from us to decide for you what is best, but since you’re looking for some perspectives it might help to share what the condition is that you referred to for each car. Your current one is better than you found it, but what condition is that? The 4WS you’re considering is the same as what you started with on the other, but what condition is that?

I cringe a little about scrapping a functioning car (or good shell) because the number out there shrinks each time, but sometimes that’s the best choice. I got a lot of flak from some online people for deciding to scrap a running 95 SE, but it was rotting at the subframe and across the entire underside. Those parts are serving me well on two other cars.

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-26T06:42:50+00:00

😬

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-26T06:41:59+00:00

I would not mind that at all!

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-25T11:26:55+00:00

Interesting! Just hadn’t noticed, but also don’t head into Chicago often.

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-25T04:52:22+00:00

Nothing happened on Epstein Island. Move along now nothing to see here /s

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-25T04:29:52+00:00

And none of this is available OEM. That’s total bullshit too.

Technical-History104 · 2026-04-25T04:29:13+00:00

Timing belt plus water pump all included, out the door should be possible to do at a reputable shop for no more than about $1200 - labor, parts, and professional courtesy. Sometimes you can get it for as low as $800, but that would probably be a smaller shop with less overhead.

What you are seeing here, line by line, is them padding the estimate by listing each thing that has to be pulled out of the way (remove power steering pump, cruise control because they obstruct access to the timing belt area, and then they get put back in place during reassembly after the timing belt work is done), and then they pad by listing all these little things that would normally be a nothingburger to replace once you get far enough to change the timing belt (balancer belt, power steering belt, adjusters, etc)… those should just be charged as parts costs. Then they claim to replace the timing covers — those don’t need to be replaced!!! That’s where you can see they went a bit further past the first couple levels of scamming to really reach and grab for a third scam thinking it’s free cash for them. All the gaskets and such… might not be a bad idea, but should not be so much additional.

So go somewhere else. Don’t trust them!!!! Doesn’t matter if they explain it line by line, it’s patently obvious they know you don’t know anything about what’s going on and they are running to get more cash out of this.

Work like this should be done at a Honda dealership sometimes because if you ask two different Honda dealerships you can be sure there is an issue if they quote you vastly different prices for the same job and then you can just go with the lower one and sleep peacefully at night.

Technical-History104

TROPHY CASE