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SK-R's NHB EP3 Journal

Messages
1,093
Hello everyone and welcome to my EP3 Type R journal/restoration thread.

So before we get into it here is a bit of background on the cars I used to own. My first car was a 2001 Golf MK4 1.6i SE 5dr, I got it when I was 19 for around £1800 with 60k on the clock. The insurance for it at the time was £2500 :D . Was a great car but it had it's reliability issues which made me want to switch to Jap. At the age of 20 I bought my first Type R which was a 1999 Integra Type R DC2 in Milano Red. The car had just done 145,000 miles when I got it and was running like a champ! It was the UKDM version so not as fast or good looking as the JDM but I loved every bit of it, especially coming from a Golf! Halfway through owning it I decided to give it a proper rust treatment and a full respray, and then maintain it to a high standard using OEM parts. Here is a pic a few months before I sold it:

57u1HWul.jpg


I then decided to sell the car and try something with RWD, so I bought a Eunos Roadster 1.8 (JDM MX5 basically) which had an LSD, decent coilovers and a nice catback. It was great fun, probably the most fun I've had in a car and it was so cheap to repair and replace parts it was unreal! I loved going out in the evenings with the roof down and heating blasting in my face for some spirited driving! :p

Pic below (excuse the primer lol)
z8a9pf2l.jpg


The MX5 had it's downsides though, mainly age related as it was a 1992 car, so seeing the amount of cash I needed for the rust repair udnerneath was more than the car was worth, I sold it on (regrettably) and decided to make the stupid mistake of buying a newer car on Finance....

This is where my 2011 370Z GT Pack came along. It was a decent car to drive, much newer to anything I've driven before and had a lot fo tech, but it was boring. Maybe it was the lack of mods or the fact that the exhaust had 6 silencers! Yes 6! It was quieter than my neighbours 1.2 Corsa on startup ffs... Not only that but it drank petrol like crazy, a set of Michelins for it were £800, and insurance was not ideal either. Then again driving a 3.7l V6 at age of 21 around my area was not normal so yeah, even had an old lady ask if the car was even mine :lol:

Pic:
fKLhovyl.jpg


So after that I took a break from performance cars and drove a 1 litre Micra about as my daily mile muncher as I only commuted 5 miles a day to work. I decided to try out the german market again and bought an E46 M3 which was pretty mint and basically OEM. I kept with the scheme bar a few things such as a bit of carbon bits, exhaust and black grilles. The rest was all maintenance (brakes, tires, filters, oil and detailing).

Pics:
QvyHF5Al.jpg

OnIG64ll.jpg


After that car, I had to be sensible as I started commuting to work properly (80 miles a day) so I bought a 2007 E60 535d M sport and spent a fortune on stuff I shouldn't have, it ended up being a Stage 2 368bhp motorway beast! Also it was one of the most optioned out 5 series I have seen for the year, it pretty much had everything bar a HUD.

Pics:
8f4rQP9l.jpg

3MHGPQwl.jpg


And then I sold that about 2 months ago and have continued to drive the trusty Micra! (I swear that car will not die.)

This was until last weekend, when I travelled up to Glasgow to pick up a well sorted 2004 EP3 in Nighthawk Black. Well I say well sorted, compared to the standard I like my cars in, it was sh*te. Paint swirls galore (sort of expected on a black car though), quite a bit of surface rust underneath, arches need doing as they are starting to bubble, front bumper was misaligned, gap under the headlights too, cloudy headlights with 1 bulb out.... and it goes on and on. BUT! it drove well. It had decent mods which complimented the handling nicely and after going through all the receipts it turns out that it was maintained well by a well known Motorsports garage called Automek. I knew that this will not be a "buy and drive" car and really it would need a bit of TLC, but what I didn't expect was a full on project haha.

Here is a picture from the advert:
HL54niql.jpg


Car specification:
2004 Honda Civic Type R EP3 - Facelift in Nighthawk Black
100,950 miles
Full Honda + Honda specialist service history
Has air conditioning that actually works! :lol:

It came with the following modifications:


Engine:
Tegiwa Carbon M intake + Tegiwa silicone hose
NGK Iridium Laser IX plugs
Powdercoated rocker cover
Carbon plug cover
Tegiwa battery holder

Brakes:
OEM Discs all around (1k old)
OEM Rear Pads (1k old)
Stoptech front pads (1k old)
HEL Braided Lines
Motul RBF600 Fluid

Wheels:
OEM 17 inch wheels in Anthracite (mainly in good condition with the odd paint chip)
Brand new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires

Suspension:
Eibach Camber arms and bolts
Hardrace droplinks
Tein Advanced Z coilovers
Progress 24mm polybushed ARB
FSRU by Automek

Exhaust:
Cobra Silenced B pipe
Toda Ti Backbox

Interior:
Some unbranded heavy weight gear knob, but it feels pretty good.
JDM style Broadway rectangular mirror (this went in the bin the minute I got home lol)

Exterior:
8000K HID kit (which looks far too blue for me and is going)
JDM wind deflectors
Rear side window tints

There might be other small bits I've missed but that's the majority of it. So upon getting it home, the first thing I couldn't wait to do is figure out why the hell the exhaust was droning around 70mph, as the Toda is meant to be super quiet compared to some of the others and sounded different from the videos I've seen. I took it to a local garage and inspected the underside to find out that the Cobra b pipe's silencer seems to have gone (or at least feels like it) as it make a tinny sound when I hit it, as if it has bits inside rattling about. If that is the case then an unsilenced b pipe explains the extra noise and will be going soon.

The next thing I noticed was the amount of rust underneath. Thankfully it is mostly surface rust but jesus there is some on pretty much every component I can see, so rust prevention and treatment is on the cards pretty soon as well (once I can book a ramp for an entire weekend :p). Then I had a look at the brakes and all calipers bar the rear passenger one have been changed for new so that was nice, but the pads do not reflect 1k miles to me, so they will need changing. Discs are fine though and do reflect what it said on the ad.

From this point onwards it was clear that the car will need some loving to get up to scratch, but I was just happy that it drove so well, no crunches in gearbox while cold or hot in any gear, engine is very smooth and no oil consumption what so ever for the 600 miles I drove that day getting the car back, also the oil is very clear which is a good indication too. The guy has used HAMP filters with Fuschs Titan Race Pro S 5-40 so it's all good in that department.

This is it for now, more to follow as I write up the next paragraph :D

Thanks for reading this far!

Stoycho
 
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Seeing as it wasn't going to be my daily unless I had it spot on, it was time for a little engine bay clean as it was filthy and had random stickers that needed removing (including an Elmo on the Intake box lol)

The old man helping out with the pressure washer here after some heavy degreasing and braker cleaner action (don't worry all electrics were covered foil and bin bags :D )

kT5zRQyl.jpg


Then my phone died and I took no pictures till the evening, when the car was actually in the garage with half it's front end taken apart haha!

kD08kEJh.jpg


This is where we spot another problem and the reason for the bumper sag. As you can see on the crash bar there has been a slight bump in the middle of it and also another on the left hand side the "handle" in front looks to be bent. Thankfully the impact the car has had at some point has been pretty light but still something that needs sorting out as the only other way to fix the bumper would be cable ties and "yolo" attitude which I don't have :lol: . I also hate rust so it all needs to go!

Getting to work on some of the rusty areas around the slam panel, quick sand down and tear down to reveal as much as possible. A lot of bolts and clips were missing from there so will be sourcing new ones for the rebuild.

r838qQHh.jpg



Here you can see the indent, again not too big of a deal for most people as it doesn't affect anything but now that I know it's there I can't let it go un-attended. Also those rusty horns....

Pk8QRUah.jpg


k0q6yI0h.jpg



Now that the bar is off, we get a better view of what else needs painting.

u6e27HHh.jpg


EJptNtCh.jpg


nHEDl7Mh.jpg



Thankfully nothing else is bent so that made the night a little easier. Off to halfords for some more sand paper and wire brushes and we were underway.

B3BqvHOh.jpg



Quick mask up and then 1 coat of primer was applied.

MgG1wnoh.jpg



While that was drying I hammered out the bent handle on the bar and sorted the centre section out

5QedKk4h.jpg


GTfv2vqh.jpg


Ndk0ZGxh.jpg



Then it was ready for paint

2GX8Px6h.jpg


c01X2heh.jpg



While that dries I put on some Honda wheel badges and added some Forum sponsored horsepower.

uPZPmpFh.jpg


jStQKXRh.jpg



Back to the front of the car it looks like the primer has dried off so another coat goes on and i start taping off the rest of the bay

bcF94r3h.jpg


leh6I9Vh.jpg


IRNODo5h.jpg



Quite proud of this precise taping right here :D

v7gv5n5h.jpg



Primer done:

n24J8iFh.jpg


hCkkRg2h.jpg



Can't forget the bonnet strut!

X7zppcCh.jpg


lRRjGj1h.jpg



And that's all done for the night. Letting that dry and will tend to doing the Horns tomorrow while going for paint coats on the bar and front end.

HRXS3uNh.jpg


Also have to polish the headlights and replace bulbs inside.

For low beam I have ordered some 6k 55W HIDs from HIDS4U and for high beam I have Osram CBI HB3's coming. Indicators are going to be LED T20 bulbs from Ebay and side lights T10 LEDs from Ebay too.

More to come later tonight.
 
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Few bits to go at the to tidy it up then!

I'm sure after some TLC it'll be up to scratch.
 
Few bits to go at the to tidy it up then!

I'm sure after some TLC it'll be up to scratch.

Yeah it will be ready in a week or so, I am even talking to a paint shop about some plans...

This "cheap fast daily" malarkey didn't really go as planned lol Well at least the cheap part didn't haha.
 
Yeah it will be ready in a week or so, I am even talking to a paint shop about some plans...

This "cheap fast daily" malarkey didn't really go as planned lol Well at least the cheap part didn't haha.
It rarely does haha! I priced up a bunch of stuff for Bob, the daily. Let's just say its 70/30 of wants and needs haha!
 
Various parts were still drying from their base coats/clear coats so I used that moment to polish the yellowy/muddy headlights.

To do this I used various grades of sandpaper (wet and dry mostly) and then machine polished at the end.

BrDahtDh.jpg


BKE2nrZh.jpg


Not too bad for 13 year old units! I have also ordered a new set of bulbs for every slot, as follows:

HIDS4U 55W 6000K Dipped Beam set
Osram CBI HB3 High Beam set
T20 Amber Samsung LED Indicator set
White Xenon 6000K LED Sidelight set

Next up, the primer around the slam panel had dried so it was time for paint.

bjYWA0bh.jpg


6mSk0juh.jpg



A few other bits got a lick of paint/primer too

CiWCLPNh.jpg


90PnEySh.jpg


EXwywkBh.jpg


LM6zs3mh.jpg



Then I left that to dry and got started on the wheel well section. First up, we have a quick overview and asses what needs doing.

ZcF0l9Hh.jpg


5g0gCCoh.jpg


AkdUs7yh.jpg



So after a bit of poking about with the wire brush there was some good news and I've put a to-do list together:

1. Rust around the arch is thankfully only surface based and quickly scrubbed off, however will still be treated to a deep scrub and respray and will then be protected.
2. The disc looks pretty meaty, maybe a couple of hundred miles done on it however it has definitely seen better days so it needs a clean up and a refurb.
3. Pad looks almost new but it's a garbage brand and will be going in the skip (Delphi)
4. All of the visible components will need a clean (HEL lines, coilovers, eibach arms ect.) to get them shining again and all surface rust around the area will be rubbed down and treated.

So with that in mind it was time to get to work, first off the disk had to come out.

eXxAhMDh.jpg


6jhz6zjh.jpg



Starting off with a little bit of wire brushing to reveal it's former shine, here is a 50/50 shot

M2UStb9h.jpg


And that's one side done

u84aKKCh.jpg


And then the other

pDIXguYh.jpg



While doing that, the caliper bracket was sanded down and primered

YXrsj7bh.jpg



Next we had to preserve the disk's shiny state, so it was time to get painting. First off, we mask the areas we don't want to treat

Q8UoErRh.jpg


ysYyb7zh.jpg


bO1vFmQh.jpg



Then it was painted as usual with Base coat, 2x Paint, 2x Clear coat. Paint used was BMW Silver Grey Metallic.

Uo8dWjyh.jpg


LeeqrByh.jpg



That was then left to dry so I got to cleaning and protecting a few other bits

oni9EDih.jpg



At this point there wasn't much to do at the back and it was getting late so I went over to the front of the car to do some engine bay dressing.

Quick wipe down first.
BRiyop0h.jpg


Got this on fleabay for £20 posted, was dirty as f*ck but some APC and 10 mins of work got it shining well again.
NQmhYn8h.jpg


Then it was time for the old oil cap to go as it was looking past it's best days, and I no longer have anything gold in the engine bay for it to suit. Some Mugen goodness was purchased and went on in it's place.
NMmhE1Ch.jpg


Finished painting the Horns too, they are still not perfect but wayyyy better than what they used to look like.
D2VIFBOh.jpg


Decided to remove the carbon plug cover that came with the car for an OEM unit as it suited it more in this state
mHnvMgAh.jpg


The HONDA lettering had seen better days too as it was starting to go green, so taped it off and gave it a good old polish and clear coat to preserve its finish.
fWPzHJVh.jpg


And that was it for the night, it was 1am again so it was time for bed.
40ThQhTh.jpg



Next steps are to clean and paint the caliper, fit my new pads and the refurbed disc, clean up the braided lines, control arms and coilovers and treat the arch.

I will probably move from back to front to side as I find things to do while waiting for paint to dry.
 
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Looking much better in the bay now!

Thank you mate.

Bit of silver paint on the inlet mani wouldn't go a miss while you're going all out on the bay

Yeah it's in the works, I was actually thinking of trying the BMW Metallic paint on it though, the same one I used on the horns and disc? Not sure how that'd look but I don't think it will be too bad, just more of a grey than silver. I do have some silver paint left if that fails so might give it 1 coat of grey and see if I like it.

I also need to paint the TEGIWA Battery Tie kit, as Gold is out of place and I'm not paying £20 for a new one just in different colour.

It's going to be one busy weekend...
 
Top work on the Decaduro mate, looks like some good progress being made, and a cracking list of previous cars particularly the M3 and the DC2.

Great progress, brother. I agree, the grey paint shouldn't look bad at all. I'm interested to find out how this goes. Looking forward to the next week's update.
 
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Top work on the ep3 mate, looks like some good progress being made, and a cracking list of previous cars particularly the M3 and the DC2.
 
Great progress, brother. I agree, the grey paint shouldn't look bad at all. I'm interested to find out how this goes. Looking forward to the next week's update.

Top work on the ep3 mate, looks like some good progress being made, and a cracking list of previous cars particularly the M3 and the DC2.

Thank you guys, she is slowly but surely coming together and unlike my previous few cars I don't have to spend a fortune to get it there :)

With that said, this weekend was a busy (and a cold) one. So busy in fact that I forgot to take pictures every step of the way so excuse me there :p

I managed to get a good deal on doing the entire underside of the car at a good local bodyshop so that means I can concentrate on small bits such as arches/rusty bolts/patches and stuff like that and leave the bigger components underneath and the shell itself to be done by professionals. Although most likely I might end up renting a ramp to scrub it myself as i don't trust people haha.

First off we have some arch sanding:
5fbtEMjh.jpg


Masking the entire area and going at the small patches of surface rust:
dOi4h8qh.jpg


Arch is now happy :)
bLyKC4sh.jpg



The painted components are now going on with some fresh Brembo pads.
dnUEhW5h.jpg


And the assembly all together:
2zNswBqh.jpg


2UiVUZMh.jpg



Next up the wheel had some markings, so it was time to sand, tape off and address those:
C01qJxPh.jpg


Gave the centre cap a Honda sticker and clear coated over it for protection and a bit of extra shine:
E5TfGmTh.jpg



Then we move on to the front of the car again, where after removing the battery I saw some of what I didn't want to see lol. Never the less, time to treat that as well:
0bvgx4dh.jpg


Primer:
ri93Yyhh.jpg


While that dries, gave the plastics a lick of paint too:
WudsOz5h.jpg


And coated the tie bar:
2AZF2iTh.jpg



Oh and yeah I did paint the intake manifold. Ended up going with silver in the end lol.
keznGm2h.jpg



I have a habit of taping every bolt and nut to make sure the fitment is spot on and effortless after (and of course a bit of copper grease). I believe this is a very important step that a lot of people neglect and then when it comes to removing bits later on, they end up snapping bolts or even worse grinding bits off to drill bolts out.

yU1VYYHh.jpg



Then the intake had to come out as the carbon had seen better days and was in need of some lovin'.
I9Ys9Wsh.jpg


There goes that out:
focb16gh.jpg


As you can see it has some rust spots on the metal sections and rusty bolts sticking out?! (Are there no nuts for these?)
CKoYM3Mh.jpg


Here it is all apart, air filter looking pretty good so gave it a quick dust off only and will re-oil before putting back.
ZHiXIKMh.jpg


Metal bits all apart and ready for sanding:
QlIYv1jh.jpg


The stainless steel brackets have been cleaned and polished so all the rust that was stuck to them was now off and the bolts are a bit shinier:
zt7Wi5oh.jpg


And here is the box after 10 minutes of machine polishing with Farecla G3 Advanced. All the scratches were removed and it's shiny once again.
tovvJeIh.jpg


Here we have the metal bits painted in gloss black along with the now grey Tegiwa tie bar:
k5e00umh.jpg


The bolts that came on the kit looked like they were mix and match and also very rusty on the heads, so even tapping them didn't fix the situation. So some new golden bolts in place, and I think they go quite nicely with the black anyway. I have also reversed them and used a nut inside so that way only the bolt heads stick out and makes for a cleaner presentation (minor detail I know, but while at it might as well :lol: ).

GmOtorSh.jpg


fNPmiI8h.jpg


LpyAMAHh.jpg



Haven't got a picture of the intake assembled back up but that is because I found something else that needed addressing so the intake won't be going on just yet.

In the mean time here are some front brake disc/bracket painting:

tXsCUYBh.jpg


gdgwxrxh.jpg


Btw since it was freezing this is pretty much what I had to do for roughly 30 mins per part, in order to get the paint coats to not be runny.

IZESTGEh.jpg


Heatgun is life lol. I mean the weather outside speaks for itself:

uVSDuoah.jpg



Front hub cleaned and greased, disc shield painted, key surface rust areas scrubbed and painted and now it was time for the brake caliper to hang :p

oZDn7Lth.jpg


nIHSU5fh.jpg


This is where battery died, but I did manage to get a final shot of it all assembled (bar the centre cap). The lighting doesn't do it justice but it's so fresh now!

mqIru8qh.jpg


Also the anthracite paint I have is far brighter than the original one the wheels came in, so I really it was to seal up the chipped spots so the paint doesn't start flaking. I will be getting them powder coated come summer time.

That's it for now, there is a bit more progress I haven't photographed but I will explain it all in the next update and some more fault finding too. (bloody car..) Thanks for reading this far!

Stoycho
 
Thank you guys, she is slowly but surely coming together and unlike my previous few cars I don't have to spend a fortune to get it there :)

With that said, this weekend was a busy (and a cold) one. So busy in fact that I forgot to take pictures every step of the way so excuse me there :p

I managed to get a good deal on doing the entire underside of the car at a good local bodyshop so that means I can concentrate on small bits such as arches/rusty bolts/patches and stuff like that and leave the bigger components underneath and the shell itself to be done by professionals. Although most likely I might end up renting a ramp to scrub it myself as i don't trust people haha.

First off we have some arch sanding:
5fbtEMjh.jpg


Masking the entire area and going at the small patches of surface rust:
dOi4h8qh.jpg


Arch is now happy :)
bLyKC4sh.jpg



The painted components are now going on with some fresh Brembo pads.
dnUEhW5h.jpg


And the assembly all together:
2zNswBqh.jpg


2UiVUZMh.jpg



Next up the wheel had some markings, so it was time to sand, tape off and address those:
C01qJxPh.jpg


Gave the centre cap a Honda sticker and clear coated over it for protection and a bit of extra shine:
E5TfGmTh.jpg



Then we move on to the front of the car again, where after removing the battery I saw some of what I didn't want to see lol. Never the less, time to treat that as well:
0bvgx4dh.jpg


Primer:
ri93Yyhh.jpg


While that dries, gave the plastics a lick of paint too:
WudsOz5h.jpg


And coated the tie bar:
2AZF2iTh.jpg



Oh and yeah I did paint the intake manifold. Ended up going with silver in the end lol.
keznGm2h.jpg



I have a habit of taping every bolt and nut to make sure the fitment is spot on and effortless after (and of course a bit of copper grease). I believe this is a very important step that a lot of people neglect and then when it comes to removing bits later on, they end up snapping bolts or even worse grinding bits off to drill bolts out.

yU1VYYHh.jpg



Then the intake had to come out as the carbon had seen better days and was in need of some lovin'.
I9Ys9Wsh.jpg


There goes that out:
focb16gh.jpg


As you can see it has some rust spots on the metal sections and rusty bolts sticking out?! (Are there no nuts for these?)
CKoYM3Mh.jpg


Here it is all apart, air filter looking pretty good so gave it a quick dust off only and will re-oil before putting back.
ZHiXIKMh.jpg


Metal bits all apart and ready for sanding:
QlIYv1jh.jpg


The stainless steel brackets have been cleaned and polished so all the rust that was stuck to them was now off and the bolts are a bit shinier:
zt7Wi5oh.jpg


And here is the box after 10 minutes of machine polishing with Farecla G3 Advanced. All the scratches were removed and it's shiny once again.
tovvJeIh.jpg


Here we have the metal bits painted in gloss black along with the now grey Tegiwa tie bar:
k5e00umh.jpg


The bolts that came on the kit looked like they were mix and match and also very rusty on the heads, so even tapping them didn't fix the situation. So some new golden bolts in place, and I think they go quite nicely with the black anyway. I have also reversed them and used a nut inside so that way only the bolt heads stick out and makes for a cleaner presentation (minor detail I know, but while at it might as well :lol: ).

GmOtorSh.jpg


fNPmiI8h.jpg


LpyAMAHh.jpg



Haven't got a picture of the intake assembled back up but that is because I found something else that needed addressing so the intake won't be going on just yet.

In the mean time here are some front brake disc/bracket painting:

tXsCUYBh.jpg


gdgwxrxh.jpg


Btw since it was freezing this is pretty much what I had to do for roughly 30 mins per part, in order to get the paint coats to not be runny.

IZESTGEh.jpg


Heatgun is life lol. I mean the weather outside speaks for itself:

uVSDuoah.jpg



Front hub cleaned and greased, disc shield painted, key surface rust areas scrubbed and painted and now it was time for the brake caliper to hang :p

oZDn7Lth.jpg


nIHSU5fh.jpg


This is where battery died, but I did manage to get a final shot of it all assembled (bar the centre cap). The lighting doesn't do it justice but it's so fresh now!

mqIru8qh.jpg


Also the anthracite paint I have is far brighter than the original one the wheels came in, so I really it was to seal up the chipped spots so the paint doesn't start flaking. I will be getting them powder coated come summer time.

That's it for now, there is a bit more progress I haven't photographed but I will explain it all in the next update and some more fault finding too. (bloody car..) Thanks for reading this far!

Stoycho

That is highly impressive. I wish I was as mechanically minded as yourself! Any work on mine I have to pay for lol
You in Farnborough by any chance?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thank you for the kind words guys, believe it or not this is actually my first proper build thread, so excuse the poor quality and order of pictures but I forget to take them sometimes :lol:

That is highly impressive. I wish I was as mechanically minded as yourself! Any work on mine I have to pay for lol
You in Farnborough by any chance?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you mate, and I am not as mechanically savvy as you might think. I just buy a lot of tools as they make life easier and the rest is figuring stuff out as I go and DIY skills. I do have to google a lot and check on other build threads for knowledge. Give it a go on some of the simpler jobs, especially if you have a garage and a jack.

And yes although technically I live in Mytchett, it is basically next to Farnborough.

I have another big load of pictures and progress to post but I just came out the garage and it's almost 1am so that will have to wait till tomorrow (assuming I get a quiet day in the office).
 
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Right here we go, another update and good amount of progress made over the last few days.

Starting off here is a picture of the last disk that I had the pleasure (not) of doing... This one was by far the worst, as the pad was pretty much glued to it. Caliper doesn't seem to have been sticking as it was replaced 6 months ago with a genuine unit (in fact all 4 of them have). The wheel would literally not spin freely when the car was lifted in the air... Had to apply quite a bit of force and there were grinding noises (pad contact). The cause of this was most likely an incorrect install of discs and pads. When discs are new, manufacturers would apply a coating to them and then package them up so they go on the shelves. This coating prevents the disc from rusting, but it is something you should wash off with brake cleaner once the disc is installed, before it makes contact with a new pad. Otherwise this is what happens:

iOYwShPh.jpg


t0GU9vPh.jpg



As you can see even the wire brush could not get it off, so it was a mix of different grades of sand paper and a lot of wire brushing and swearing that eventually removed it. It felt like hard glue if that makes sense...

Back to the engine bay I managed to eventually remove the wiper blade arms, took a good amount of WD40 and pulling before I gave up and got a wiper remover tool.

1mNOhRbh.jpg


Kmw78yIh.jpg



And then they were painted along with the scuttle panel.

QLYqxgdh.jpg



Then it was time to address the carbon intake scuttle panel thing (not sure what you'd call it) as it was in dire need of a refurb. It was literally peeling lacquer and green/mouldy... This was done by sanding it down with 3M Wet&Dry 800, 1200, 2000 and then re-lacquering it with a glossy clear coat.

0WpDy51h.jpg


Jeptgjkh.jpg



Then it was left to dry. Next up we have the Tegiwa Brake Stopper to install. Here are all the tools you need:

oE0oSvth.jpg


And done. This was quite an annoying job, not difficult but just time consuming due to the location and my hands are not the smallest lol.

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Next up was lighting. The headlamps were polished real quick to see how deep the scratches were before I took the wet and dry sandpaper to them, and while doing that i noticed that one of them was leaking (drivers side). It was time to take that apart, clean the lenses inside and re-seal the unit. I have also got new bulbs for all slots inside since it's a pita to get to, I'd rather not them burn out on me within the next week or so haha.

So here we have a 55W 6000k HID Kit from HIDS4U, T20 Amber Samsung LED bulbs for indicators, T10 White LED ebay bulbs for sidelights and Osram CIB HB3 bulbs for the full beams.

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Then took the offending headlight inside and heated up the oven ready for baking :lol: . Needs to go inside for 6-8 minutes at 220C.

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Unfortunately that didn't work for me because my oven is too small :( So a heatgun jobbie it was.

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Now that it's all split you can see the leakage inside.

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Something worth noting when taking these apart, there are 2 pretty solid pins that come out of the lenses, so once the silicone has melted and you are starting to lift the lenses, do it at an angle away from those otherwise you will snap them. They go into 2 holes near the indicator side of the headlamp.

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Before putting it back together remember to flatten the existing silicone with a screw driver or something similar in order to make a "bed" for the new one and for the lense to comfortably slide into. The silicone on the lenses has to be cleaned off though.

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Then I left that to cure since it was 24h for the new silicone to be at full strength.


Back at the engine bay I noticed some more rusty components under the intake so gave those a clean with the wire brush and a few grades of sand paper, masked up and primer'd the area:

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And painted.
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There is a bit of overspray on a few areas but I am waiting for it to dry before I take a thinner to it so it all looks nice and OEM-like :)


Going back to the plastics, the first coat is done and it's starting to look a lot fresher already:
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Time for a second coat and matt lacquer.
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By this point the carbon snorkel had dried off so gave it a quick polish with G3 compound and it was like new again. It was then time to tape the freshly re-lacquered area and spray the inside as it had gone all grey and peeling inside. Quick sanding later and it was ready for spray paint.

Quick test fit first to see how much the colour has improved.
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Lick of paint goes a long way on bringing back parts from the dead!

Then I had to address the front bumper sag I was getting, especially below the drivers side headlamp area. Turn out it was because the plastic strip the bumper uses to attach to the chassis was half ripped off... No worries though, it won't be going anywhere after what's about to go down! :D

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So what you need for this is some aluminium mesh from Halfords and a soldering iron. You mould the mesh by pressing it against the section you want to cover and then once all in place, start to clamp down it's edges with the iron.

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Even got a bit artistic there :lol: After that the next step was to apply JB Weld Industrial Adhesive around the area to further strengthen it and prevent kinking and left it to dry overnight. It's literally solid now!

If you are wondering how the bumper was held in place in various angles in order to do this... well zip tie galore really. :D

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Then I attached the horns at the front. Used brass bolts and sanded the area underneath to make sure there was good contact so they function well.

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She is starting to look a bit more complete now :)

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Few other extra plastic bits were painted, including the slam panel. The matt black paint with matt lacquer combo is awesome on engine bay plastics!

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New wipers while at it

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Scuttle panel, wipers and carbon snorkel all fitted back on:

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Took off the plug cover nuts and gave them a sand down and a coat of black paint as they were looking tired. I will most likely replace these later on with some shiny coloured ones, but for now these will do.

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Battery and battery tie bar fitted back up. I am liking the combo and how well it suits the battery as well. Really wan't fan of the washed out gold colour it was before.

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The polished intake was put back together and is installed. No more rusty brackets :)

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Going round the back i removed the rear wiper assembly and taped off the section in order to spray the plastic ring. The wiper was then thrown in the bin and a new Bosch one fitted to the wiper assembly which was also given a lick of paint.

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Headlights are now back on. The left still needs more polishing, well to be honest they both do but it's easier to press on when they are on the car rather than in my hands.

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Few different angles of the bay now

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Oh and I decided to put the carbon plug cover back on, now that it shines like new after a polish I prefer it to the silver OEM one. I need to do something about the inlet cover though, maybe black or a carbon one to replace it?

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HID Kit fitted on the right and all cabling neatly hidden under the headlamp with only the ballast exposed. It is tied up with cable ties but I ran out of black ones so white had to do, will replace those later on.

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And the left side

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The she was started up! After 10 days of being idle, and god damn was it loud as the exhaust is right by the garage door. Don't think the neighbours appreciate cold starts but then again, I ran out of f@cks to give that day so whatever :lol:

Picture of the bay outside, in better light. Well I say better, it was still grey and miserable as f@ck outside...

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Taking a closer view of the plastics with brand new clips on the sides of the bay

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And the lights actually on. Bare in mind they are a lot whiter than they seem in that pic, literally a perfect match to the side lamps, it is more apparent in photos later on.

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Scuttle panel section in the light

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Grill-less front end shot ( I like how agresive it is like this tbh, shame I can't daily without a grill, there won't be a radiator left after a few weeks :D )

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Oh yeah almost forgot, it's cold out there, gotta get your socks on! :lol:

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After being inside for so long after all the work done around the arches, the dust had really settled on it, quite a thick layer!

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Time for a wash (can someone put the brazzers logo here? :D )

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A few drying towels later it was back in the garage.

In the meantime I had my dad replace the grill badge:

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And then got him started on the 2 stage polishing process.

We are using Farecla G3 for the first stage and then 3M Ultrafina SE for the second, buffing with MF towels in between stages.

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As he was doing that I went ahead with the headlight restoration process. (again, but this time properly)

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And here is a shot of the rear wing after just the 1st stage (pictures again don't do it justice as iphone cameras are rubbish in low lighting)

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She is buffing up alright for an old girl. It only has to last till july when she ll get a full respray and powdercoated wheels.

That's pretty much me up to date, got to continue with 2nd stage polish tonight and open up the door cards for some ICE install preparation, more details on that later though. Hope you enjoy my picture spam!

Stoycho
 
Great work. Goes to show what some basic TLC, hard work & elbow grease can get you. Keep it up.
 
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