Marcos Barrios

i know what you mean, i think the crx dash just looks better because of the center peace that points to the driver
make you feel special haha

whell lets start showing the stuff thats getting done shall we ?
this weekend i got around to changing out my radius rod bushings
heres the old vs new

that was the easy part
i also got my new gold lower control arms installed while i was at it



its nice to get this part of the build finished haha
i got junkyard arms then new bushings then made tools to replace and then sprayed
and finely done only took about 2 months ^_-

next thing thats finished
i got one of my ek 4dr side skirts installed
on my passenger side
i installed it backwards because i think it looks better
enjoy


that little mod right there took alot of trimming
3 self tapping screws and double sided tape

now im gonna show you guys something im working on but its not installed yet

crv bracket


none of the hole line up at all
but after some trimmng of the tentioner part i got one bolt on
and got the stock 90 ef compressor bolted on

i did that hole because it was the only way to get it lined up right


the other 3 hols are all about 1/4 inch off
and theres no way the bolts well ever line up


its a good thing im good with metal
so im going to add some and then drill and tap new holes to get all 4 bolts to line up
so ac is coming to the build i cant wait ^_^

all of todays update in total cost $ 90
and the car is just getting closer and closer to my idea of perfect

more updates soon

Marcos Barrios

where to start
this week i had my hands full with work
and on the weekend i was still working on customers cars
but i did do a few simple things to the sedan
first was clear coating a junkyard shift **** to replace my old one




put some t5 led bulbs into my cluster to change the light color


t10 bulbs for the license plate lights


then parked it on sunday under my little home made garage to start some body work





stay tuned

Marcos Barrios

so on that wonderful day it was time to start the body work
but to keep the car on the road
im focusing only on sections at a time and today was hood body work day
enjoy

lets start off by saying that the hood has hail damage
not bad but its got it



not bad?

let me block sand that paint a little to show every dent



now you see every dent that needs to be filled

so i go to get my body filler and cant find my plastic applicater
so i end up useing my knife to apply the filler



after the first sanding the filler looks like so

pretty straight but with imperfections
so gave it the second coat of filler and then resanded and i was happy

so happy that i cleaned it and got my trash bags i mean paint shop paint prep coverings
on



cleaned it and then gave it two coats of primer
and looks like all the dents are gone ^_-






then drove it for the rest of the week like this

more updates soon

Marcos Barrios

and now were on to this weekend 7-21-2018




so on this day it was paint day
but first we had to wet sand the primer




wet sand while running your hand threw your work area feeling for smoothness and sanding out
all roughness
then clean it and whip out our trash bags again




and after the base coat and clear






painted outside with the wind
and with rattle cans

primer = 3 cans $12
base =2 cans $8
clear= 3 cans $30

total paint cost $50 for the hood

it will be wet sanded and buffed but not until the rest of the car is finished
but that might be a while since the car is driven 6 days a week


more updates soon

Marcos Barrios

its update time

this week was a slow week
but still made some preogress
as some of you may have noticed in the last couple of updates
my momo steering wheel isnt there anymore
ive had that thing since 2007-2009 ish
and the leather is gone from me useing it everyday
i plan on getting it reupholstered "one skill i dont have"
so i got this cheap alum one off ebay for 15 bucks shipped

its really just a place holder untill momo gets fixed
i also got it because theres a cell phone mount experiment that i want to try
and it involves drilling into the wheel to mount the cell phone holder

other than that im also down to about 30 percent tire life on two of my tires
so i ordered two new ones

there the champiros
the tires i have now are loosing grip on the corners very easy now and its fun
but im going to need to replace them before winter
the tires i have now are 195 so im gonna go with a little more meat and went with 205 this time around

also i got two more 15 inch civic steelies
and since i have a tire changing station in my back yard
i got them mounted right away

im going to clean and paint those wheels before they go on the car
but they probebly wont get mounted till around December


more updates coming this weekend

Marcos Barrios

another week another update

first of all heres my tire changing station
for those of you that think i was lieing about it ^_-


got to work on the steelies
and got all the rust sanded out and then primed and sprayed them black






waited a day for the black to dry and then sprayed the lip smoke gray




then waited a day for the smoke gray to dry and then
spayed 3 coats of clear




i feel like painting those two wheels took all week haha

i also got to work on my ac bracket yesterday

i now only have one more bolt to add

and also change out the tentioner pully for the ef one
and then see if it will even fit in the car and clear the cross member
and if it fits ooooohhhhh!!! ^_^
gonna have some cold air going threw those vents

more updates soon

NAS_OCSICNARF

It bothers me when things are not symmetrical. This resonator could had been centered a bit more!!

Marcos Barrios

haha oh im sorry if my MUFFLER isnt centered
what was i thinking on christmas when i made that system

tell you what nas in about 4 more years when that muffler starts to rust
ill center it for you ^_-

Marcos Barrios

update time
since no one wanted these parts its off to the trash




got the body work done on my trunk lid this weekend






and after about a month of waiting
my sofu sent me a 19mm rachet wrench from back home in osaka
i needed this thing like two weeks ago but ol well
all the kits here only go up to 17mm on the ratchet wrenches
in japan that wrench cost about $1 here in the states about $15
so i waited ^_-



stay tuned

Marcos Barrios

i needed that wrench for the lower control arms on my honda element
it has nothing to do with the sedan build haha im just excited about it i guess

my trunk lid as with the rest of the car has hail damage everywhere
thats why theres so many spots on the lid that were repaired
about 18 is what i counted but peace by peace it will all smooth out
from here on out as far as the paint job goes since i already showed the process on the hood
all the updates are just going to be before and after so there isnt too much of the same thing
going on over and over

so on to the wheels
i got the other two painted but i didnt care too much about leaving them perfect since they only have about 20 percent life only
so they will be painted properly once i get new tires installed

and i must say i am liking the 205 55 r15 its meaty and since theres enough tire on there its comfy also
next to come is going to be tie rods and trunk lid painting
my passenger side needs a outer tie rod and the driver side needs a inner

stay tuned

Marcos Barrios

more progress ^_^



got the car in my little work space
and after hitting it with 400 then 800 grit
i cleaned it and got it masked




and two coats of base and three coats of clear later








base coat was one can =4
clear coat was two cans=20
24 dollars to get the trunk painted
and during the week i replaced the outer tie rod ends on the car and gave it a alignment at home as well
so this was a good week ^_-

now i might not be doing anything to the car next week because im just overloaded with work
but updates are still coming
stay tuned

2x0

mynameisjustin

agreed kudos on the painting. im with 2x0. i did some prep then said eh **** it and took it to a shop :/

Marcos Barrios

aww come on guys im no pro either haha
im doing this paint job with rattle cans and a steady hand thats all
im sure you guys could do this also with a little practice

this is my eg hatch right after i painted it with rattle cans
back in 2011-2012 ish with a flat clear


ive noticed thats its only when you stop giving a damn... that your paint jobs come out better ^_-

Marcos Barrios

on the rainy days

i think the rattle can paint looks better than the factory paint thats on my 08 civic

to get that good finish its just all about being smooth with your prep work

Marcos Barrios

this weekend took my interior out but only have pictures of my seat




but the main reason the seat came out was because the carpet was coming out

with everything put back together you can bearly tell the carpet it even missing

the reason the carpet came out was 4
1 need to drill maybe weld in bracket for e brake handle relocation
2 need to tack weld seat rails for the bench seat
3 need to modify the seat belts so they become normal seatbelts
4 need to install sound deadener

its all to come stay tuned

Marcos Barrios

now that the carpets gone this weekend i got a little more progress done
starting with the "warm your feet vent for the rear passenger" vent haha


it was also the start of installing the sound deadener on the floor day also


here you can see that i cut the vent so it works for the front passengers instead of the back ones
why?
easy theres more often than not just me and a guest in the car
so this winter it would be nice to have not one but two vents warming the cold feet ^_-




i got about 3/4 th of the floor done before i called it quits for the day
my knees were killing me by this point

but i still had some daylight left so i tried to work a little on my ac bracket and i finshed it ^_^


then it was time to see if it would even fit in the car
and it DID but its resting on the cross member
i tried to get the compressor to bolt on and nope not happening

i need to bring it down about 1/8 th of an inch before it can bolt up
so i have two options
1= i cut the crossmember and doo this type of deal to it ----____----- so i can have the clearance i need, that would need cutting and welding witch i can do no problem

or option 2= i can go and get steal spacers for the crossmember and lower it about 1/2 inch
that way all i would need is the spacers and longer bolts
my downpipe sits lower than my crossmember anyway so if i lower the crossmember i wont be hitting anything
because im never hitting anything anyway

yep you guys talked me into it option 2 it is ^_^


more updates soon

Marcos Barrios

christmas in Maryland back in 2015 i remember it was hoodie whether

and then when i got back home to lincoln haha -10


why am i showing you pictures of my old eg hatch?
im going to use pictures of my old build to show you how i make my air filters cages
because i have reuse able air filters in all my cars
enjoy


start by getting rid of the old paper filters and keeping the cage


drill the holes and use your zipties








cut to size and make it snug


see the scratch marks it left on the cage?
yea snug


secure it just incase it ever becomes not snug


then you get the best air filter on earth !!




see how thick it is
3/8


moving on you cut the filter to size


i put it in the cage nowadays
but back then i would make it bigger and smush it when i would get the cover on

it makes no differance witch way you pick



each air filter set up is differant and hay you can see a very blurry picture of me wife and my usmc tags ^_-

moving on








looks factory and you never have to buy a air filter ever again

been doing it like this since 98 when gramps told me how

Marcos Barrios

im going to let the pictures tell the story
enjoy



thats about 1/2 inch






and now shes fits



almost a finger gap


what im worried about is the bolts for the crossmember coming loose
so ill keep an eye on them for the next few days

more to come
stay tuned

~sp33~

How come you're spacing the crossmember?

Marcos Barrios

because the stock ac bracket was touching and the ac compressor wouldnt even bolt up because it was hitting
honestly sp33 arnt you looking at the pictures haha
the ones before the home made air filter

~sp33~

Haha, sorry man did miss that post. The way Honda-tech loads these days is a disaster. I'll be trying to read something and nek minnit it bumps the page up or down and i can't find where i'm at anymore.

Also sometimes i keep scrolling and end up in some other thread.

Marcos Barrios

i know its horrible
i dont know why they changed it to begin with
the old way was perfect

try getting on honda tech and not logging in
you get all the pop up windows and cant even read anything because the pop ups for you to join the site just stay on the screen

mctrader07

Marco is the man! Always on road adventures and doing car projects and luckly for us we get to experience it with him through his threads and his tips. Amazing! 😃

Marcos Barrios

after a post like that i feel like i have to give you guys something now haha
these are 4 videos of driving in that good weather

video 1
View My Video

video 2

View My Video

video 3

View My Video

video 4

View My Video


and while im sharing videos
i dont think anyone ever saw this one
so enjoy
View My Video

now thats a shell