Steve in Ireland

Nice post. This is exactly why I am contemplating spending £2000 for a gearbox rebuild on a car that only cost me 1200 quid.

Not very pretty without the bumper fitted! That is useful as need to have a go at refitting mine as it doesn't fit quite right at the moment. Think it has taken a knock at some time.

Lovely, looks amazing.

We have different plates here (as on my Coupe), usually three letters ending in a "Z" and three or four numbers. If you bring a car over from GB it used to be optional to keep the English plate or get a new NI one. Recently they moved all of the vehicle registration stuff for over here to Swansea so now I believe the option of getting a new NI reg when you bring a car over from GB has gone but you still get a new NI plate for cars that are first registered here. NI dealers bring a lot of used cars over from the "mainland" as some call it because cars are usually cheaper in England and there is more choice.

Just spotted on Gumtree not too far from me over here in Northern Ireland https://www.gumtree.com/p/rover/rover-827-800-coupe-auto-/1159307826

Well I may be keeping the Honda for a while after all. Had a nosy at a Subaru Outback today just to see if he would do a deal against the Honda. The dealer initially reckoned the trade in price was £300! Eventually upped it to £700 but still wanted £2300 from me plus the Honda for the Subaru (2005 2.5 SE with 112k miles - worth £2800 best I reckon and asking £2995). Would rather spend the £2300 getting the gearbox sorted on the Honda I think. First time I had driven a Subaru. Was rather underwhelmed to be honest. Felt pretty gutless and a bit cheap compared to the Honda. Guess only the 3 litre or turbo charged ones have any go.

Sounds like you got a great deal. Congratulations!

I believe that Honda recommend replacing the fluid every 60,000 under normal conditions or 30,000 under "severe" conditions so the dealer should have replaced the ATF at 60k.

Well to update how I am getting on, just done my second oil transmission oil change using the Carlube ATF-U (after three changes using Millers ATF and around 200 miles after my first change on ATF-U) and sadly not a lot of improvement. Gear changes between first and second are still very harsh at times, giving a real kick sometimes, and sometimes can feel slipping when changing from second to third. It seems worse when the engine is cold. I left the battery disconnected for two days to try and reset the transmission PCM but seemed to make no difference. On the latest change the oil came out fairly black again, which noticeable black particles in it, presumably from the clutch plates in the torque converter or the clutch packs? Will do another 100 miles or so and a final oil change to see if things improve, but not too optimistic. Other than the transmission issues the engine is really strong and smooth and rides lovely once up to speed and the gear changes between third and fourth seem fine. It is just around town when the transmission issues make for a less than relaxing drive. Starting to consider parting with her before the gearbox dies altogether, but will do one more change before making my mind up.

Looks nice and sounds like a good deal at that price. Check that it changes gear smoothly, particularly from first to second and check that the gearbox oil has been changed in the service history. That seems to be the only real weak point on these cars. If the gear change is snatchy or hard or feels like it slips between changes the gearbox could be on the way out. Around 100k does seem to be the mileage that the gearbox can die if oil changes have been neglected. However, if it has been maintained well it should have plenty of life left in it. I recently bought one with 114k on it and it does appear that it has a worn gearbox sadly. If you google these cars and transmission problems you will find lots of sad stories from the US of transmission failures.

Not long. Autoglym Super Resin Polish followed by Extra Gloss Protection. Didn't stay looking like that for long though with all the salt on our roads at the moment.

Did some polishing on Sunday

The seller is a poet as well :- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-LEGEND-3-5-V6-AUTO-RReg-1998-90K-MoT-Sep-2016-Lovely-Jap-Cruiser-Avalook-/252300972524?hash=item3abe4f51ec:g:HpUAAOSwWTRW0Lv6

This is another good site for wheel size info http://www.wheel-size.com/size/honda/accord/

Spigot rings are not much help when the wheel centre hole is smaller than the hub spigot though

From this :- To this :- From

Bought my Coupe with snazzy looking Suzuki Grand Vitara wheels fitted. Same offset and PCD as the standard Honda wheels so appeared to fit OK. However, when I took a wheel off yesterday discovered that they don't fit as the centre spigot hole in the Suzuki wheel is 60.1mm while the Honda spigot is 64.1mm. The previous owner had fitted spacers to make the wheels fit, but that meant that the only thing locating the wheels on the hubs was the wheel studs and nuts - not great! Also meant that the edges of the rear tyres were occasionally catching the wheel arches on bumps as they were spaced out too far. Have picked up a set of 2008 Honda Accord 16 inch wheels which do fit properly, even if they don't look as snazzy at the 17 inch Suzuki wheels. Had new tyres fitted to the Suzuki wheels as soon as I got the car and would have thought the tyre fitter would have picked up on that. At least the new tyres I bought will fit my Rover 75.

Thank for the help. Using Millers Millermatic ATF SPIII-WS which is supposed to be equivalent to Honda ATF Z1. Coolant level seems fine so don't think the transmission cooler is leaking. Haven't tried resetting the transmission control unit - will do that. Just read so many stories from the US on the web describing the symptoms of worn clutch packs that had resigned myself to it being that problem. Will do another change and leave the battery disconnected overnight and see how she goes.

Sadly starting to think I have bought a problem. Despite two transmission oil changes so far the gear change is still very lurchy between first and second so think the clutch pack for first and second at least is worn. The oil that came out on the first change was pretty dirty as well, so seems to have suffered a bit of neglect. Will do another partial change but think a gearbox rebuild will be needed. A local well recommended auto specialist is quoting about 2 grand for a full rebuild, which sadly doesn't really make financial sense on a car that cost me 1200 and is worth 1500 at best. Tempted to try and get the parts and rebuild the gearbox myself, but will see. I guess running it with worn clutch packs will only do more damage as there is likely metal on metal contact going on in the clutch packs if the friction plates are badly worn as I expect.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, the wheels (put on by the previous owner) are off a Suzuki Vitara of all things.

Thanks Rich

Just acquired this beauty from Portadown - 117k, slightly ropey service history and needs a bit of fettling, but everything works and seems to go well. First job is going to be changing the gearbox oil.