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There's not really much for me to do while I'm waiting for the last few quotes to come in.. Today I removed the remaining trim, moldings, door handles, mirrors, door glass, emblems, etc. to get ready for paint. A few pieces of glass need to be pulled and she'll be good to go.
I almost rolled the car back into the garage and called it a day.. but I looked over at that Mugen bumper and decided I might as well see how it looks..
I spent the rest of the afternoon drinking some home brew and staring at my car. Looking forward to paint!
Yesterday I pulled the windshield. I was originally going to pull all of the glass myself, but I decided to leave the rear pieces for a professional. The windshield was already cracked, so I figured it wouldn't really matter if I screwed up. The rear glass is another story.. the thing costs over $800 to replace. I'd feel pretty dumb if I broke it to save a $100 removal fee.
I took care of a few other things while I had the car out. I removed the hardware from the lip/ bumper and ordered replacements. I didn't realize that the stuff was so rusted out.. it literally looked like it came from the bottom of the ocean. I also took another look around the car and realized I still had a lot of stuff to remove to accommodate glass removal and painting. Clips for door moldings, plastic plugs, the headliner, the rear window washer, rear wiper, etc. I ended up with a large box of small parts bagged and tagged for reinstallation.
I received the last of couple quotes I was waiting for, and I think I've decided who I'm going with. The car goes in for paint this week.
This afternoon I finally dropped off the Integra and most of my parts for paint! If you don't have AAA, I would suggest that you get it. I paid for their plus plan, which includes (4) service calls and towing your car up to 100 miles. Towing a shell to a paint shop isn't exactly what it's intended for.. but if you don't say too much you'll probably get away with it.
Service Rep: Hello! Thank you for calling AAA!
Me: Hello. I need my car towed to a repair facility..
Service rep: what's wrong with the vehicle?
Me: It's not running...
Service rep: Is it a motor issue?
Me: Sure..
Service rep: Got it! We'll have a truck to your location within an hour!
Not exactly lying..
I'm waiting for a few last minute items from the dealership, and the Mugen bumper and skirts are in the process of being professionally repaired by Zach at Tailored Garage. He's sent me a few pictures and I'm really blown away by how great they look. The skirts were pretty hammered, and I was worried that they might be a lost cause. A previous owner had attempted fiberglass repair, and the job was lacking to say the least.
Before:
After:
I'll post more pictures of the Mugen parts when he's finished.
I probably won't have the car back for a couple of months, which is going to make it pretty difficult to wrap everything up in time to enjoy it this summer. That said, I'm pretty excited.
Last edited by Built2grind; Apr 17, 2017 at 07:06 PM.
I just picked up my Mugen parts from Tailored Garage. Zach did an awesome job! The skirts and bumper look good as new. I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of my own before shrink wrapping the parts for transport, but Zach sent me a few of his.
I stopped to see my car on the way home from work. She's looking a little sad right now, but it's nice to finally see some progress being made. The glass has been pulled, and the guys are working on the body. It's crazy how people in the industry can point out so many flaws that you've never noticed.
The strut bar stud brackets have been installed.
All of the aftermarket holes in the bay have been filled.
The OEM skirts, OEM optional skirts, and Mugen bumper are already painted and ready to go. I dropped off so many extra parts to get painted that they had to spray a few early to make room in their shop. I'm sure I'll manage to come up with excuses that stop by and take more progress pics. In the meantime I'm remodeling my garage for when she comes home. I figured I would never get around to it if I didn't take advantage of the empty parking spot.
I stopped by the shop again to drop off a spare rear bumper. The guys have already finished priming most of the car's exterior. Right now she kind of looks like a flat version of Jorge's ITR!
It looks like they're also getting started on a few of the smaller pieces. Door handles, mirrors, valences, grill, etc.
Which rear spoiler are you going to put on, the mugen or oem? I might be interested in buying oem if it's for sale.
The Mugen spoiler is going on the car. I'm painting the extra parts to have options. The stuff I don't install right away will be stored in case I ever want to switch it up. None of the parts being painted are for sale, sorry!
I stopped per by the shop today to pick up some more misc. parts that were painted.. and I was pleasantly surprised to find my car painted too! The guys are still in the process of buffing, but she's looking pretty damn good. It's nice to see her all the same color again.