Hey guys, I'm a regular on G2IC and Clubintegra, and tend to lurk a bit around here as well.

So, its been a while since I really posted on here. As some of you may remember, my DA almost met the end of it's life about a year ago. So, here's a little "timeline" of my rebuild...

So, lets start at the beginning, shall we.
Last year, Feb 18th, I finished the paint and bodywork on my DA, which led to this result:

Well, I couldn't enjoy the fruits of my labor, so to speak, as my wife left me and took our daughter with her and took her back to her old home of Kansas. SO, being 1200 miles away from my wife and daughter led ME to move there (if you ever have a chance to visit KS, pass on that. its pretty gay.)
Plus, **** like \/\/\/...THIS...\/\/\/ happens to really nice cars there:


severely damaging the C-pillar. So, it sat for the better part of a year until about a month ago when I FINALLY took the car out of storage.

So, what I've done in the last few weeks...
Removed PS (looped lines, removed appropriate valves etc from the rack)
Removed AC and all associated lines, and the AC fan.


(yes, the bay is getting degreased and pressure washed on monday)
Installed a Deka battery to replace the ridiculously sized stock battery.


Installed JDM Side Markers


The original plan was to pull the motor, do a MAJOR wire tuck and bay shave, but I would have never gotten the car done in time for the mega meet in Richmond on the 29th. SO, instead, I just got rid of **** I don't use anymore (PS/AC), replaced a dead battery with a smaller, better looking, and overall BETTER battery anyway, and just put it back together as is, for now.

 

Now, onto what I've been getting myself REALLY dirty with...
picked this up:

for the structural repair, same person I got this from set me up with 2 new rear quarter windows.
Picked up a new hatch (with window) *no pics of it from when I got it*

I let the pros handle the structural stuff since I'm not that good with welding. I can weld, but I don't trust welding something that's critical to the car's STRUCTURE, so I figured, why not let someone who has been doing it for years do it for me.

Well, while the car was at the shop, I was out picking up materials for the other item on my checklist to get done for the meet. I picked up some paint, primer, etc. as I intended to paint the car TODAY and TOMORROW. but as you'll find out in a bit, those plans changed yesterday. Anyway, I went to work on removing the tires from my 5Zigen FN01R-C wheels to do a little "magic" on them, as well.

As a lot of you might remember, a few years ago, mother nature got the best of me and caused me to slide into a fence post, resulting in this:

Now, all of THAT was fixed inside of 2 weeks, except the rim which suffered a bit of cosmetic damage:

*note the triangular chunk of metal that was chipped out of it
So, my dad's friend, who is an AMAZING aluminum welder decided he'd do me a solid and fix it for me (FOR FREE, ftw)

This is what the rims will look like when its all said and done (3 wheels are 100% done, the only one not finished is the one that got welded, that one is about half done)

about the same as before, but instead of the wheel faces having the original "brushed" aluminum look, they have been painted to look like a raw cast aluminum look with blue anodized lip.

more in next post...

 

So, on to the GOOOOOOOOOOOD stuff...

I dropped the car off at a local body shop that a friend of mine runs, he told me it would be about 3 weeks before it would be done. So, while I waited, I was doing all that rim work, etc. So, I dropped the car off last Monday (April 26th), and on Thursday he called me up saying, "If you can bring me that new hatch, I can probably have the whole thing done inside of the next 3-4 DAYS" (!!!!!!! <-- was the first thing I thought of) So, 45 minutes later, the hatch was at the shop, lol. He then told me it would be done this Thursday (May 6th) (!!!! again). I called him up Thursday and asked him when I could pick it up, and he told me "We had a little hangup with something, but it will definitely be done around lunch tomorrow." (Friday, May 7th) I figured, no problem. He got this thing done a LOT sooner than originally estimated, so I wasn't bitching about an extra day. When I went to pick the car up, I walked into his office and he said, "I have a surprise for you."

When we walked back around the shop, he opened the bay door and here was THIS:

ALREADY PAINTED FOR ME FOR NO CHARGE!!!!

Only pic I have at the moment, I can't find my regular camera, so I snapped a shot of the *** end with my phone.
The CF hood has been color matched to the rest of the car since the CF hood had some pretty shitty cracks in it, and I had already recleared it once before. I wasn't gonna do it again, so I told him that when I got it back, I was gonna do the hood to match the car.

He set me up with a $2000 paint job for FREE. Only charged me for the structural repair. He runs the shop, and he said "Since I owe you a few favors from a while back, I figured I'd throw you a bone. Especially, after all you've been through with this thing in the last 2 years."

So, it took a little of the fun away from me painting it, but I have to admit, he did a much better job that I could've done. He bumped me in front of approximately 10 other projects to get mine done with PLENTY of time to spare, AND gave me a $2000 paint job for NOTHING. I wrote him a check for about $1700 for the structural repair, roof aligning, etc. and he threw in the rest

Okay, didn't get the side markers done because there is no way I can get the inner fender liner out without taking the wheels off, and my jack is being repaired (hydraulic piston leaking) so I can't do that until I get out to my dad's and use his jack.

got this much done yesterday:

deleted rear wiper

in this pic, the following updates:
*brand new distributor
*heat shield painted in flat black
*heat shield bolts polished up (hit them with a wire wheel to shine those bitches up)


also, yesterday, I painted my OEM front lip in a "low gloss" black. It had been looking a little "iffy" the last few years, and with this nice, fresh paint, it just wasn't up to standard anymore, so I had to make it look good and sexy. I don't have pics of it at the moment.

Sorry the pics aren't very clear, they were taken with my phone's camera. I STILL can't find my damn Nikon to snap some quality pics.

On the agenda for Monday...
Wire Side-Markers (FINALLY)
Wire up 3rd Brake Light
Detail Interior
Finish my 5Zigen wheels (or at least get more progress made on them) *picked up a can of B62-P (Captiva Blue Pearl) to do a PERFECT color match of the lips to my car. Figured I'd do it RIGHT this time around.
Detail the Engine Bay a bit. MASSIVE degreasing coming, as well as taking time with hoses, etc. to make them look brand new (Hell, most ARE new, they are just dirty from sitting and dust getting under the hood.)

I have a lot to do Monday. Hopefully, it will be 100% meet ready by next weekend, then, all I'll have to do is actually put the wheels on and drive it down to Richmond for the East Coast Mega Meet.

Thoughts, opinions, etc. PLEASE give feedback.

 

up

 

Wow I'm speechless...That's dedication right there

 

Too much blue everywhere, blend it in with purple or yellow.

Good job on getting it repaired.

 

nice job.....F*ck that tree!!!

 

definitely a negative on the purple and yellow. nothing wrong with blue. That's why "I'm Seein' Blue" lol

and yeah, Effa-muthafuggin-tree.

Rims will be pretty much finished tomorrow.

 

Wired up the side-markers today. IN THE POURING RAIN! No bueno. Oh well, it needed to be done.

 

glad to see this car is still alive. BTW did you still want those tips? I can pull them off, but I need to know ASAP.

 

Looking good!

 

Good job. That's love for you car there.

 

Looks good. Glad to see you didn't give up.

 

nice work. try and find someone with a nice camera to take pics. these stink

 

yeah, i definitely still want them. i just won't have the money for a couple weeks. you said $20 shipped, right?

cut them out and hang onto them for me, I'd love to take them off your hands.

 

goodluck with the rebuild

 

Great read! Can't wait for more updates!

 

damn that sux nice to see you rebuild it... honestly i would of just junked it cuz i hate body work lol...

 

Fresh Captiva Blue Pearl.

ALMOST DONE!!!

 

great job! falling trees can suck it!

 

yeah, phyuck treez.

Took all the tape off the face of the wheels. Gonna clear them tomorrow or Friday. Installing on car next Friday (Day before the mega meet in Richmond)

 

fno1rc's?

 

yup.

here they are when I first got them:


The center caps are getting a custom treatment, as well

 

what are the tire specs?

 

Tires are BF Goodrich G-Force Sports, sized 205/45-16.

The first tires I had on there were Toyo Proxes FZ4's and, while they were decent "all condition" tires, they weren't very grippy when I needed them to be. The BFG's, however, seem to be a BIIIIIIG improvement over the Toyo's. Wet weather driving seems the same, maybe only SLIGHTLY less grip when wet, however in dry weather, they are great. I feel more confident in my cornering with the BFG's than I did with the Toyo tires. If I pushed it to the limit with the Toyo's, I'd be a little uneasy. With the BFG's, I don't have those feelings anymore.