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seems like almost every R has some sort of story behind it...good luck with the rebuild. the original motor recovery is icing on the cake.
I'm pretty sure every single R has a story behind them, they are special cars and any person that has bought one or is looking for one has a reason why they want one, it's not just a whatever A to B car, that reason alone makes every itr have a story.
Mine went from a good first owner to a progressively worse owner each time it sold until finally the last owner didn't even really know what he had and beat it to death and sold it to me for next to nothing 4 months later.
I hope this itr comes back to life better than ever!!
UPDATE:
It's been a long time since my last update, and I still have a long way to go. With the 2 year anniversary of the theft closing in this September, I'm putting some pressure on myself to get the R back on the road. I'm going to be putting in some serious work and making some major strides forward in the immediate future.
As of right now, the shell still has the same shortcomings as the day it was recovered. The dents in the passenger rear quarter are still an issue, and the frame rails are still cut.
This last picture shows my new radiator support (Thanks Edderson!) with my finger marking approximately where the frame rails were cut on my car.
Even though the major work hasn't been started, I have made some progress in the form of part collecting. There is a good chance that I'll be upgrading some of these parts as time goes on, but here is where I'm at so far:
I've managed to put most of the interior back together. My original dash and carpet were left in the back of the Integra when the police found the car, and both cleaned up very well.
I Picked up some JDM door panels that were on eBay until I can find a clean pair with tweeters. I'm in the market if anyone has a pair that they would be willing to part with.
Found a cheap set of USDM seats on Craigslist in great shape with no tears or burns. Who knows, maybe I bought my original seats back. Thanks to "CW-ITR" for the checkered floor mats.
Same story with the rears, another craigslist find. I originally bought a set of JDM rears not realizing that the mounting tabs were not compatible with the chassis reinforcement bar found on the 98+ USDM models. I posted an ad offering to trade for a set of USDM seats and a couple weeks later I found a taker with the opposite problem. The seats are in excellent condition with no fading or damage.
Thanks to "B18C5 power" for the arm rest. I'll be rocking his loaner badge (99-0059) until I miraculously find my stolen badge (98-0914) or buy a new one. I'm also planning on replacing the armrest itself with a new one from Acura.
Thanks to "John M." for the center console and faux cf parts. My new plan is to switch everything out to the black trim that came stock with 98 ITR's, but nice stuff to have tucked away for a rainy day. Still need to track down a 97/98 spec climate control. I would probably also pick up a faux cf climate control to complete my set if the opportunity presented itself.
Another pickup from "B18C5 power," front and rear OEM strut bars. If anyone has a set of cut panels or a template I'm interested. Thanks to "Dumaguetecity" for the trunk mat. Almost perfect shape, just the one flaw. I'm still looking for a new set of rear side linings. It might not be visible in the picture, but the panels shown have sloppy semi circles cut out of the bottom edges of the panels at the wheel wells. The left side has been discontinued by Acura so buying new is not an option, unfortunately. This is another one I'd like to check off my list if someone has a very clean set.
Thanks to Kevin at Kansai Motorsports in Seattle (now Burien) for the trophy panel and wing. Don't ask me why I paid a premium for a Type R trophy panel with a sticker on it.. Especially when the car needs to be painted anyway and I have a GSR trophy panel with no sticker in my garage already.. Just felt right. The tail lights are courtesy of eBay, and the rear bumper is yet another pickup from "B18C5 power." Thanks bro! Awesome seller.
Don't know which shoes I want to wear yet.. Thanks to Derek in Bellevue for the deal on the JDM 16's, and to nameless Craigslist dude for the deal on the USDM 15's.
I've also collected everything for my JDM front end conversion besides the bumper support bar. I'm looking for one if anyone has a spare that they can part with. No great pics of the front end yet, coming soon.
This is one of my latest scores. 32mm 5 lug with new NTN bearings and extended studs. Bare bones right now, but I'm on the hunt for calipers, rotors, brake lines, abs sensors, and new bushings. I want everything fresh and new before I bolt anything up. Thanks to Mike/ "allmotaR" for hooking me up.
New OEM Honda H badges, and excellent condition JDM titanium shift ****.
Last but not least, a huge shout out to Brandon/ "Brandeezy1" for the deal of a lifetime on the cleanest set of optional side skirts and rear valences that I've seen in years. I already had a set of rear valences but there was no way to pass up this deal. Drove straight to Oregon and back to Seattle just to pick these fellas up. Barely missed out on a clean set of red Recaros from the same guy.
Next on my agenda is repairing the frame damage. More coming soon!
Last edited by Built2grind; 01-31-2015 at 06:10 AM.
UPDATE:
A few weeks ago another Type R enthusiast named Kyle responded to one of my wanted ads on Craigslist. After going back and forth about parts for a while, the conversation shifted towards our cars. Turns out he is a frame and unibody repair specialist, and actually repaired his milano red JDM R from a state almost identical to my own. He is also currently repairing the frame of another ITR and doing a RHD and JDM front end conversion on one of his friends' rides. Long story short I found the right guy to repair my frame.
Well it was fun mocking up the parts I've collected on the R, but it's time to get to work. Yesterday I rolled the Integra out of the garage to see the light of day for the first time since September of 2013.
I took advantage of the daylight to get more detailed "before" pictures of the damage to the front of the vehicle.
I started by taking my donor radiator support and stripping it down completely. Then it was time to strip the Integra. This was exceptionally easy as minimum screws/ bolts were used to mock everything up. Pretty obvious from the picture of me removing the bumper. I had pretty much just been storing parts where they would eventually be installed due to a lack of extra room in a one car garage. It was a weird feeling taking it all apart again. By the time I was finished it looked exactly like it did the day it was recovered, only not covered from bumper to bumper (or more realistically where-bumper-was to where-bumper-was) in 10w30 (the thieves poured oil all over the car to hide any fingerprints.) It brought me back to that day it was recovered for a split second, but my mood shifted to positive knowing that things were finally moving in the right direction.
After loading the Type R onto the trailer we headed north to Kyle's shop. We had a nice drive with no traffic, and even saw a few fanboys on the way up that threw us some thumbs up as they passed us in another Integra.
My Type R made it to the shop and is now in the very capable hands of Kyle and Brian at RnR Enterprises. Also at the shop was their AE86 drag car, a classic Porsche, and the two Integras mentioned earlier just to name a few of their projects. I remember seeing one of the R's at Kansai motorsports in Seattle years ago completely destroyed, and while it was cool to see I never imagined that it would be on the road again. These guys are able to see potential where few could and breathe new life into some really amazing cars. I'm feeling lucky to have made this connection and it just goes to show you what a small world it is randomly bumping into this car again. It's also another great example of how awesome this community is. I'm looking forward to this coming weekend when I pick up my car!
Last edited by Built2grind; 02-03-2015 at 04:01 AM.
Kyle sounds familiar, ask him if he owned ITR 00-0249 if so tell him thanks again for the spare key to my caR. lol. and good luck with your build bud, its going to pay off in the future. I hope the thieves get what they deserve, some serious butt poundin' behind bars.
Kyle sounds familiar, ask him if he owned ITR 00-0249 if so tell him thanks again for the spare key to my caR. lol. and good luck with your build bud, its going to pay off in the future. I hope the thieves get what they deserve, some serious butt poundin' behind bars.
Yes sir, that was Kyle's car. Small world. He said he was happy to help you out.
They're located north of Seattle. I'm pretty sure that they do not have a website. Brian and Kyle are owner/operators and their business is referral based only. It's not a shop with regular business hours or doors open to the public.
UPDATE:
I picked up my car from the shop this weekend and I couldn't be happier. The repairs to my frame are absolutely flawless! Kyle and Brian at RnR Enterprises did some top notch work at an unbelievable price, and were even kind enough to photograph the process from start to finish.
Now I have to admit that part of me was a little nervous about leaving my car in the hands of a couple guys that I met on Craigslist. A few horrifying worst case scenarios ran through my head as the week went by, but fortunately Kyle and Brian didn't let me down. Everything turned out even better than I imagined. The best part is that now my wife can stop calling the R my "half car!"
The Integra up on the rack ready for some precision measurements.
The guys marked out where they would be trimming back material to seam the aprons and frame rails back together. Kyle pointed out that an extra hole had been cut into my aprons by a previous owner to route aftermarket HID wiring to remote ballasts. We decided to close these holes back up.
After some test fitting the pieces were trimmed up as necessary until everything lined up perfectly. The two sections were tack welded together to align and secure the parts until the final welding would be completed. Next the front end was mocked up to ensure that all gaps were perfect and that everything bolted up the way it did off of the factory floor in 98.
With proper fitment achieved, it was time to don the welding hoods. Everything was filled in and then ground back down to a clean smooth surface completely indistinguishable from the rest of the frame. Other than the lack of paint, you would never be able to tell that there was any work done at all. Stevie Wonder himself could run his hand along these frame rails and not feel the slightest flaw.
Definitely some amazing work by two very talented frame and unibody repair specialists. A huge shout out to Kyle and Brian for all of their help and hard work! This was probably the most crucial part of this build and who knows what would have happened if I had been unfortunate enough to go another direction. Thanks again guys!
Next on the agenda is taking care of the two large dents on the passenger side rear quarter panel left by some friendly thieves.. Thanks a lot to you guys too.
Last edited by Built2grind; 01-23-2017 at 08:54 PM.
Wow, excellent job so far. I love seeing cars that are built the correct way, with time being spent to make it factory perfect. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress - keep us updated!
You mentioned that Brian and Kyle at RNR Enterprises gave you a good deal to measure up and weld on the front end. If you don't mind my asking, how much did they charge? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to post on the thread.
Also, If you ever take the R on a trip down to Oregon, I would absolutely love to see it!
My latest pickup. Finally found a 98 spec USDM cluster. Its odometer is even within 8k miles of the car's original cluster when it was stolen. Thanks to Deny in New York!
I've got some USDM GSR door panels that I practiced skinning the insert in black tweed. If you want them and can throw me$25 to cover shipping and I can send them your way. I did the passenger side to make sure I was confident and it came out perfectly. I can easily do the driver's side just the same.
09-10-2014, 08:35 AM
Re: 98-0914 Resurrection
Barely missed out on a clean set of red Recaros from the same guy.
