Auto body repair & detailing: My Ruined Prelude, control arm bushings, rear quarter panels

Question
Ernie,

My 95 Prelude...

I lowered my prelude 2 inches about 20K miles ago.She only has 85,000 miles on her and I store her every winter. I used progress coil overs w/5 way adjustable tokico shocks. Recently, it was almost as if the suspension gave out. The upper control arms started to rub on the inner "seams" of the cars body. They, literally, started grinding away! It was as though the car was sinking. I have shelled out over $2700 in the last 2 months to get the car fixed and the problem just keeps persisting. I had the Eibach pro lowering kit put in, which should have actually raised my car. I replaced the 5 way adjsutable shocks w/new ones, but nonadjustables. The aftermarket camber kit (aka-upper control arm bushings) have been squeaking and are still the original from when I first lowered my car. To me, they look pretty torn up. However, no mechanic I have taken the car to has suggested repairing them???

The problem has gotten so bad now that I taped cushioning w/duct tape to the upper control arms to prevent denting the body of the car from the inside-out.The paint job is now getting affected by the ongoing problem. The paint is starting to form a white line where the upper control arms hitting on the rear quarter panels! No one, even these professionals that have robbed me, can figure it out... What could it be? I even had new poly. bushings put in the car too!!! And the one mechanic greased those upper control arm bushings w/lithium grease (but managed to charge me $150 to do that).Also, I ripped the trunk lining out yesterday and discovered weld marking and literally a crack in the metal in the corner of the trunk near the rear driver's side wheel well. The back seats are literally sitting on the rear trailing arm, which is the loud grinding noise i hear when I drive (and it gets louder the faster I go). I paid two different mechanics in Aug. $1400 (1200 and 200 when i brought it back 2 days later) and the second in sept. $1200.I am literally in debt due to all the money I forked out and sure enough, I can't get to work w/a car that I am damaging more and more everytime I drive! I even had to drop 3 of my classes this semester b/c I have TWO cars and they were both in the shop. I rented a car for 2 weeks and that check bounced and now they charged my credit card-which put me way above my max limit. What can I do?

Could the problem be the upper control arm bushings (my camber kit)? I just want some answers! If the frame is bent and the car's shot, could these mechanics just be lying to me or hiding the true problem from me? It's so bad the upper control arms are coming up out of the wheel casings under the hood!!! Please give me some answers... or even opinions on if I should be pressing charges on these mechanics for the stress they have caused me!  

Answer
Lowering kits are OK if you dont drive the car too much.The car was not built to take the harsh pounding of the stiffer susp.Welds will start to give way and the integrity of the body is compromised.Personally I would get rid of the money pit and find something more reliable .There could be any # of components bad or maybe even not for your car.When you get aftermarket parts you dont know what you are getting even if it is a well known co.Find another `lude with a bad drivetrain and swap in yours and dont lower this one.