Often times in life, we take on projects with certain expectations, but all too quickly are these initial ideals swept away in lieu for a much more grand take on things. Such a project took hold of my life a year ago; my name is Joshua, and this is the ongoing journey of my BA5 Prelude, “lucky”.
Two years ago, I was involved in a car accident on the freeway that left my poor little car crippled with a busted bumper, fenders, hood and radiator. Being 16 years old, I didn't really have the means with which to fix it, so I began to take interest in cars so that I could make the repairs myself. My father never raised me to have things done for me, so I took on this newfound love of cars with a simple ideal, "BUILT not BOUGHT". I had seen the slogan while surfing through a few forums, and it really struck a chord with me. Needless to say, a few junkyard trips and a couple hundred dollars later, I had her back in running condition.
Soon after getting her all in one piece, I began to learn to do various aspects of body work. Losing pretty much any free time I had, and making more mistakes than I would like to admit, this was the product of all of those long nights.
Everything was going great in my life; I had a semi-hot girlfriend, a freshly painted car that I could claim as truly my own. Then murphy's law decided to kick in, as one morning driving down the freeway home, I threw a rod. Befuddled by frustration, I made a hasty decision to do an h22 swap with the car. After months of hard work, saving for parts and slowly piecing the car together, I had a bit of a run in with Johnny law pertaining to the legality of my swap. To shorten that piece of the story, I eventually had to part out the h22 swap this past November to avoid a large fine from the wonderful state of California.
After another crushing setback, pressure from my parents to get the car from behind the house, I had a choice to make. I could either scrap the project, wipe my hands clean and be done with it all for good. After a month of moping I decided I just couldn't let it end like that, so I decided to rebuild and install the original b21a1 motor that the car came with. This final phase of the project brought about a newfound focus that I had never really found with the car, that being centered around a tucked engine bay, perfect wheel stance and a comfortable interior.
With the project finally coming to a close in the next month or so, its interesting to take a look back on everything that has happened. This car has become a part of me; you may call is stubborn pride, a waste of money and time or anything of that vernacular, but to me, this car is a symbol of everything that I stand for, my pride and joy. This car has been crushed, blown up and outlawed, but friends, lucky never dies.
For the exciting conclusion to this chapter in the saga, stay tuned as Daniel and myself will be installing the motor and finishing up all loose ends in the upcoming weeks.
Keep it real
Joshua
