Accepted bent hot rod needs steer (8)
I believe the answer is:
orthodox
'accepted' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'bent hot rod needs steer' is the wordplay.
'bent' indicates anagramming the letters.
'needs' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'steer' becomes 'ox' (a steer is a castrated ox).
'hot'+'rod'='hotrod'
'hotrod' is an anagram of 'orthod'.
'orthod'+'ox'='ORTHODOX'
(Other definitions for orthodox that I've seen before include "Conforming with established doctrine" , "Sound in doctrine" , "Adhering to doctrine" , "By the book" , "Holding conventional beliefs as in religion" .)