1989 Acura Legend Coupe LS Questions

89legend_coupe · 01-05-09, 10:43 AM

HI,

I am new here so hello to all the Legend fan out there. I am from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I have an 1989 Acura Legend Couple LS, the rear-end, which includes the trunk area and the quarter panels the car is all rusted up pretty bad but the front end part is still in good condition. The interior of the car is in good condition except for the non-working radio head and cracked leather on the driver side.

My questions are:
1) How hard is it to do body work on the car?
2)he car has been sitting in the garage for exactly 5 years, 6 months and 1 week, How do I go to start up the car? I put in a new battery, new engine oil.

thank you,
Christopher

1stgen5spd · 01-05-09, 10:58 AM

hello and welcome! my 87 sedan sat for about 6 years or so when i git it, it had a bad fuel pump, i put in a new one, and it just started right on up! it was a little iffy at first, but after i found out i had a set of bad aftermarket spark plug wires, i replaced them with some OEM 86 red wires, and it runs like new!! so why was the car sitting for so long??

get some pics when you can!

Knoxlegend · 01-05-09, 11:03 AM

My quarter panels are all rusted up too. Just happens to be that all older Japanese cars can't handle salty Northern roads or most other cars for that matter. As for me the age of the car and the rust just isnt worth putting alot of money into body work.

Get it running well mechanically and drive it till the body falls off around you. Unless you want to put alot of money into the body work.

Good luck!

89legend_coupe · 01-05-09, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1stgen5spd

hello and welcome! my 87 sedan sat for about 6 years or so when i git it, it had a bad fuel pump, i put in a new one, and it just started right on up! it was a little iffy at first, but after i found out i had a set of bad aftermarket spark plug wires, i replaced them with some OEM 86 red wires, and it runs like new!! so why was the car sitting for so long??

get some pics when you can!

I'll get the pics as soon as I can After I push the car out of the garage haha.

The car has been sitting so long because when I got it 5 years ago I was still 15 years old without a license where I wanted to make it my project car and fix up all the rust before I was able to drive. When I turned 16 and got my drivers license, I was busy with high school and then college. So after the 5 years I finally finished my college program and went through my Christmas Holiday, I am free for 2 months doing little hours part time job and in between my job I want to do what I planed with the car.

My legend, it has all the possible options avaliable at the time my dad bought the car. What made me decide to keep the car and rebuild it is because in Canada, it is rare to find an Acura Legend in general on the road and also in excellent or good condition.

When I was a little kid and rode in the car with my dad, I started to like it as i got older and older.

The car has currently 137,998 km on the odometer. I know the car can do double or triple of what has put on the car.

Sorry about my long story and my English, first time on a forum and getting involved with my car so I am just going on and on.

Thanks,
Christopher

1stgen5spd · 01-05-09, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 89legend_coupe

it has all the possible options avaliable at the time

so you have power folding mirrors? half mast antenna? rear a/c? power fold rear seat? traction control? bumper poles? window visors? air refiner? chrome door handles? chrome mirrors? wood door trim? headlight wipers? clear corners?

lol jp.. those are ALL legit options on the 1st gens... just none available in the us/canada

tinton · 01-05-09, 04:51 PM

Welcome Eh?
Just my opinion, but after growing up in Minneapolis area and dealing with rust, trying to keep it under control with body work, resprays, oxidant conversion sprays...blah blah blah.... and then moving to other parts of the country where there are cars in beautiful condition...Dallas, Seattle, Phoenix... I say body work is a waste of money. Use Craigslist for these cities or others of your choice and buy a nice car and drive it home. Over all it will be less hassle than you are facing now. Seattle was rich with G1 Legends still running and for sale. Beauty, Eh?

Squirrel · 01-07-09, 09:53 PM

I am doing some rust repair on my G1 coupe this very week... just both rear wheel wells and a small section of the quarter panel under the fuel door. Let me just say... IT'S NOT WORTH IT. I will be glad when I am done, and it will look good, but my car doesn't have rust all that bad. If the rust was any worse, I would not have bothered with it. It's also frustrating if you spend hours/weeks on body repairs and then they don'e look quite right when you are finished.

Just so you don't think i am a total downer, it would be fun to learn how to do body work on an old car, if you insist on teaching yourself. That way if it doesn't come out perfect, you haven't really lost anything.

Keep an eye on the forum, I hope to post pictures within a week. I will show pics in stages, showing the metal patches that we welded, the body filler stages, and finally primer/paint.

ND1980LS · 01-08-09, 01:46 AM

I have an '89LS and a '90LS. I've totally rebuilt both and have upgraded the
'89LS to '90LS standards. I've had rust repaired on the '90LS at the rear wheel wells and the top of the front windshield and at the gas cap. If you find a reputable body shop they can fix the car properly. Check out my pics especially on the '89LS. It didn't have rust....but having the car painted and a new leather interior made the car look brand new. 4 years later and people think it's brand new ! Good luck ! John

NuclearSymphony · 01-08-09, 10:05 AM

John!! Good to see you back . . . please tell me you're bringing one or both of your cars to Branson in May

.

ND1980LS · 01-08-09, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuclearSymphony

John!! Good to see you back . . . please tell me you're bringing one or both of your cars to Branson in May

.

Update me.........what's up then ??

And my 73 year old Mother will have something to say about me taking her car ! ...... which made the annual winter trip back to Florida......sitting 2 minutes from the beach ! My father said the car... the '89LS is unbelievable to drive on the highway !..... and he drives a Town Car !

Ophidian · 01-08-09, 07:36 PM

Welcome to the site. Post pics when ya can.

NuclearSymphony · 01-08-09, 08:31 PM

Here you go John: NALM 09

Sorry to threadjack!

irving216 · 01-08-09, 09:56 PM

quarter panels are some of the most popular things to rust on acuras n hondas, its not really that hard to bondo that all up or notin. trunks arent all that expensive to replace if you even wanna do that and i was told not that hard to put on n wat not.

ND1980LS · 01-09-09, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuclearSymphony

Here you go John: NALM 09

Sorry to threadjack!

thanks.......