1988 K24 Prelude Straight Outta Thailand
The 3rd gen. Prelude has often been overlooked, but Satit Suwantong has shown they should not have been.
The overlooked
The third-gen prelude was one of those cars that most people, myself included, ignored for a very long time. For me, it wasn’t until learning of the completely mechanical 4 wheel steering system they came with that I showed any interest at all. But not all people are like me, or the rest of the world for that matter. Satit Suwantong has always loved the third gen. Prelude, so when a rare example popped up for sale in his home of Bangkok Thailand he knew he had to snatch it up.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
Keep it simple
From the outside, it would be easy to dismiss this car as just a clean example of a stock third gen, if you ignore what's going on with the hood anyway, but that hasn’t always been the case. The car started life in Satit’s hands beat down with red paint and a couple of black replacement panels. The exterior was given a full once over and a new coat of black paint. The exterior was them topped off with a set of wheels from Satit’s own company, Gaia Wheels.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
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Switching it up
The third gen. Prelude never really got the love of the aftermarket back in the day. Combine that fact with its age, and the fact that parts are rarer in Thailand and that meant Satit was going to have to think outside the box. H22 swaps and even B-series swaps have been done into Preludes, but as far as I can tell this is the first K24 swap.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
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It almost fits
Custom mounts were made to fit the K-series into the Preludes engine bay. Even then, the K24 is a tall engine and sacrifices needed to be made to make it fit, and the hood had to be cut to make room. The engine remains naturally aspirated but is far from stock.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
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Big N/A Power
The lower end was built with Wiseco pistons and Manley rods, all held together with ARP hardware. The real trick stuff in the breathing department. Air enters the engine through a set of Kinsler 64mm throttle bodies and past the valves that are operated by a set of Brian Crower cams. After the engine turns the air and fuel into power, it also turns it into noise and expels it through a custom header built by Bangmod. I can imagine Satit’s neighbors love him in the morning. All told the K24 now produces north of 300hp, plenty for the lightweight Prelude.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
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Simplify, the add lightness
Lightness was the name of the game with Satit’s Prelude, keeping with the old Colin Chapman saying, “Simplify, then add lightness.”. The complete interior of the Prelude has been stripped clean leaving only the essentials in. The passenger seat area is now filled with a small fuel cell and the battery, keeping as much weight forward as possible and revealing the Preludes drag racing intent. Satit helms the controls while sitting in a ridiculously awesome Technocraft carbon Fiber seat.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
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Ahead of the trend?
The third generation Prelude never got the love it deserved. But as clean old Honda chassis start to dry up they may start becoming more viable build options. Now that Satit has proven that a K swap can be done I imagine they will start popping up more often.
Images Courtesy of Super Street
>>Join the conversation about this 1988 Prelude right here in the Honda-Tech Forum!
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