Winstans EP3

[Winstan]

Hello everyone!
My name is Will, newbie on here.
Recently purchased a MY 05 EP3 Premier in night hawk black. Mostly OEM, 130k miles.
In need of full restoration, full of rust.
Long term forum user in the past on s2ki, r32oc, keeping the old forums alive !
This is my first Type R, love the 2000's era Hondas.
Hoping to save this one !

Anyway, here are some photos!







Car was sat in a field for approximately 4 years. Corrosion shows this.
Since the car was delivered, in a bid to get the car mobile for ease of positioning.
I have drained the fuel tank, and replaced with 5 litres of fresh V-power unleaded.
- Replaced 4 spark plugs.
- Squirted 5ml of fresh engine oil in each cylinder and left to sit for a couple days.
- Installed new battery.
- Attempted to start.
Car started immediately to my suprise, idle control valve is stuck so car is idling erratic i will post more on this, however the entire engine will be coming out to deal with all the rust And timing chain etc.

Next steps, strip the car, chop out all the major body rust and start fresh.

Loads more updates to come !
Comments welcomed !

 

[Suits]

Lovely stuff mate. Got some big work to be done here, besides the chassis work, whats your bog concern ??

This was my main place of residence but I was on S2Ki aswell.

Recently picked up another EP3 as well after having one in 2006.

A whole load of different problems with them nowadays !!

 

[Winstan]

Lovely stuff mate. Got some big work to be done here, besides the chassis work, whats your bog concern ??

This was my main place of residence but I was on S2Ki aswell.

Recently picked up another EP3 as well after having one in 2006.

A whole load of different problems with them nowadays !!

Thanks for the reply, biggest concern currently is finding the correct front end making it correct for a face lift car. Need bonnet, wings, bumper, lower valence, fog lights as the car has the switch.
Headlights aswell but I will probably buy new.

Luckily the colour of the car is in my favour if I go down salvaged parts route for body parts and it the colour match is close I may be able to save painting the exerior of the car!

OEM parts is key for me, so I'll be hunting around for a few months no doubt !

Was an S2000 owner for 9 years, love them but with a new addition to the family, it stopped being used!

 

[Rapid 17]

Hello and welcome Will
Geoff.

 

[Winstan]

Time for an update!
The type R has been stripped completely on the underside. I have removed the fuel tank and rear running gear. All of the front running gear and decide due to the mileage 130k the engine should be removed aswell, ill be doing the timing chain and guides, oil pump chain and guide and "everything whilst your down there" ! Please let me know of any of the finer details whilst the k20 is on the deck for future proofing! Not sure whether to replace or service the vtech solenoid. Bare in mind i have driven this car 0.2miles to date and am unsure if Vtech works after so many years of standing.
The premier edition interior has been completely removed aswell due to past experience of burning interiors when welding below, plus it requires deep cleaning and a few minor repairs more on this too follow! Comments welcome!
Folloe me let's save another type R!
Motion motorsport sill and repair arches purchased, being installed slowly!
Coming from an S2000 background the metalwork on the EP3 is incredibly thin in comparison, combine that with the fact there was next to no underseal sprayed on at the UK factory and fast forward 20years and it's clear why these cars have such rust issues.

Engine Out !

Motion Motorsport Repair Sills !

Mock up after cut out !

Started Chopping out the right rear arch for repair !
Lots of prep, cleaning and prep required before these panels get welded in place !

Unfortunately this is all too common a situation for these cars in 2025!
20years old now ! Let's keep them Alive !

Loads more to follow ! Thanks for reading !
Will

 

[Suits]

Excellent work mate, some nasty stuff in there for sure. Sitting on that grass in that field must have been the worst condition possible no ??

I'm staggered by the tasks that some people take on, mind that lift you have in your garage is a bit of a dream isn't it !?!

 

[Chris.]

That's some great work.

 

[The engineer]

It looks like you have a lot of work on your hands.
I will be following your progress on this for sure. Its always nice seeing an EP3 being revived and restored.

 

[Winstan]

Sills
Inner sills are now in place and two new end pieces fabbed up, first pic, found some rot in the drivers side outer sill when grinding back the old underseal. Here's a bit of write up of the process involved.


Rusty drivers side outer Seal


Chopping out to clean metal


For anyone considering doing jobs like this get yourself a body saw, helps with the more intricate cuts and keeps things tidy.


All chopped out and metal underneath cleaned off and prepped for repair sill.


New sill piece fabbed up, orginal sill spot weld holes are 50mm apart so replicated that onto the new sill piece.


Couple coats of zinc rich weld thru primer on the backs of the repair pieces and the steel on the car. Helps to prevent corrosion on sandwiches bits of metal.


New sills welded in, the aim when welding them in is to keep tack welding the full length then start again making the gaps closer and closer. Hitting it with an air hose to keep the panel cool and prevent warping. Then carefully grind back and repeat untill smooth !


Repair complete, prepped for corrosion proofing.


Couple coats of a rust preventative, more on this too follow.

Overall happy with the repair, when I underseal the main underside of the car I will underseal both outer seals right up to the bottom side of the side skirt mounting holes.

Honda Swindon were pretty poor at protecting and under sealing these cars from factory. I am led to believe possibly for weight saving reasons.
Thanks for reading, more to follow !

 

[Winstan]

Excellent work mate, some nasty stuff in there for sure. Sitting on that grass in that field must have been the worst condition possible no ??

I'm staggered by the tasks that some people take on, mind that lift you have in your garage is a bit of a dream isn't it !?!

Cheers, yes humid wet ground for five years bit of a breeding ground for rust !
Lift certainly makes life easier !

 

[Winstan]

Update!
Removing flakey rust, seam sealer and old paint.

In an ideal world you could completely strip the car and send the shell out for sand blasting or acid dipping. But I do not want to paint the exterior of the car and do have a budget.

Highly recommend the below wire brush attachments for a 4inch grinder. Particularly the one on the right it gets into the harder to reach areas. Around £7 each.


Underside half cleaned off half not for comparison, the wire brush will strip through old seam sealer with ease, struggles with the old underseal, but luckily enough there was hardly any applied at the Honda factory !
Hole chopped out is for the hand brake cables, common place for the EP3's to rot !


Boot floor and rear of the car all stripped back.


Hand brake cable repair panel fabbed up and welded in.

Time scale I have 12hours in wire brushing alone under the car that is the underside outer seals and rear wheel wells.
I still have to do complete engine bay and front arches.

The whole underside was then degreased, cleaned down and prepped for paint

Bring out the POR15 !
Great product, me and mates have had great long term success killing off rust permanently with it on other cars so the whole underside is getting two coats.
Not the cheapest rust preventative but once on its the only thing I am 100% confident will stop the rust dead, and stop any rust showing through.
This will be followed by new seam sealer applied to all panel gaps.
Then a top coat of stonechip.


Super happy with the results ! No more rust.
The two light coloured areas are some underseal applied from factory that I am happy leaving, no rust underneath.
More to follow !

Thanks for reading !

 

[Shoonk]

Absolutely cracking work bud.