So I just recently bought a eg, pretty clean with no rust. The outside has some dents and dings, and the clear coat is flaking, but nothing too bad. The guy had swapped a D16y7 thats completely stock other than a y8 intake mani.
Now I just would want the opinion of the HT people. What would you guys do exterior first or swap the motor. (I am looking to do a H22)

Any opinions are welcome, I am just stuck between the two.

 

Start with the engine. Most experts who restore cars that are also going to be daily drivers will tell you to do it in this order

1. Engine/Drivetrain

2. Suspension/brakes

3. interior

4. Body

 

^^Same as that guy ^^

 

Exactly

 

Here's a little secret...there is no order!

Do it in the order that YOU want to do it, not based on others opinions. If you want to do engine work/suspension first go ahead. If you want to fix the exterior first, then do it. It's always best to base your build off of your own wants, rather than listening to others. Regardless of what you end up doing, it will take time. Do it right the first time, use quality parts and you should be set.

GL man!

 

you got it right, man. its your car, do what you please with it. people in the EG/EK forum have a hard time thinking for themselves it seems like..

 

They don't sound like "experts" to me.

Couldn't agree more. It's all in what YOU want, not what the next person wants. If the paint looks pretty rough and faded with the clear flaking off and you know its going to bug you to drive it around like that, then get the body taken care of first so you will feel good about your car when your driving it.

If the body doesn't concern you then continue ahead with the Engine, etc. Just sit down and think about it and decide what YOU truly want. In the end its about what you like, other peoples opinions will always be there but there just opinions, nothing more.

GoodLuck.

 

ya exactly i personally get bothered if im driving around in a beat up car.......do whatever you want to do

 

If its a daily driver I would do the interior or body first, then engine last.

Unless of course the engine/suspensions need maintenance, but I assume it runs fine and your just talking about mods.

 

1(2) suspension
2(3) interior
3(4) body
4(1) engine

the suspension is the most noticeable modification you can make appearance wise and performance wise.
if it's a DD you'll be spending a lot of time behind the wheel, might as well like what you see and be comfortable.
if it's a true DD there will always be body work to be done.
engine last because it can't fix bad ride quality, won't make up for torn seats, and an ugly exterior. a swap adds the least value to a car in my opinion.
if you were in an emergency and had to sell quick a clean interior/ exterior would get a higher price than a swapped junk box.

just my .02

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I myself know what I want to do with the car but I just could not pick motor or body. I just ordered myself a motor, so once that gets here I will start building it. My goal would be not to drop it till it is fully built. As for the down time while building the motor, I plan on doing the little body and suspension work it needs. Thanks for the opinions guys!

 

I would do the h22 first, thats if u have all your ducks in a row for it, good luck

 

Personally I would do suspension/brakes first.

But it's up to you man! I did my engine swap first and I was disappointed in everything else. I'm only finally being able to enjoy my car and it's been almost 2 years since the motor swap.

 

i can't drive a bucket! inside and out have to be clean

body
interior
suspension
motor

but i gotta few motors laying around so that might have something to do with it

 

couldnt agree more!

 

I agree too, but I was just suggesting the order I have always seen in restoration how to guides etc...

 

i did interior and exterior first...engine last on my 99 em1 daily driver...now im currently doing the motor

 

I believe it should be this order

1. Security system with GPS tracking (because it's daily driven)

2. Paint and body

3. Suspension/brakes

4. Engine/Drivetrain

5. interior

How old is the car? The bushings in the whole car are spent.

Take it down to the chassis and build it back up.

 

Searching suspension setups, not sure yet.

Any sugestions?

 

whats your budget? i LOVE my pic apex's, but many people also like koni yellows with ground control springs. coilovers are something i didnt want to cheap out on, i didnt want to regret my choice with every bump i hit in the road.

 

If you don't need to corner weight your vehicle I don't see any "real" need for coilovers, perhaps to get that perfect drop. I run on Tokico Illuminas and H&R race springs.

 

I had a bunch of buddies recomend D2 coilovers, and the price at the shop was 750 shipped so I ordered them. They seem like they would be a good system. Have you guys heard any bad on them?

 

^^d2s suck! there have been threads in the past of them blowing, and just breaking.