Valve cover gasket. Very common. Distributor o-ring is second common
(usually causes no smoke.) The level of ease to replace seals are
below:
1. Valve cover and grommets -easiest
2. Oil filter seal
3. Distrib o-ring
4. Oil pan

The seal comes in two forms. OEM and aftermarket. Make sure you get
OEM.
Ricky

> Distributor o-rings and oil pan gaskets are fairly common oil leaks on all
> older Hondas. I'd start at the top and work my way down...
>
>
> "russell chung" <rchung@myronl.com> wrote in message
> news:bbf5b623.0308290929.6b6806c4@posting.google.c om...
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Want to get some advice on my 86 prelude. It has 230K on it, still
> > running very strong. I sometimes cannot resist the temptation to rev
> > it between 4k-5K to switch gear. Lately, I found a little bit smoke
> > coming underneath the car and it turned out some oil was dripping onto
> > the exhaust. I climbed underneath the car and found a oil collecting
> > around the bolts of the oil pan. My thought was the gasket needs
> > replacing but some the dealer and some local mechanics suggested that
> > the prelude seal seldom went bad. It might be the distributor seal.

ch gear. Lately, I found a little bit smoke
> > coming underneath the car and it turned out some oil was dripping onto
> > the exhaust. I climbed underneath the car and found a oil collecting
> > around the bolts of the oil pan. My thought was the gasket needs
> > replacing but some the dealer and some local mechanics suggested that
> > the prelude seal seldom went bad. It might be the distributor seal.