Got this super-cheap and sunk a little money into it but mostly time. it's almost ready for paint. The previous owner painted these nice wheels with flat-black rattle-can! that crap goes on fast but comes off slow. I had to use a chemical stripper and go over them thrice to get that crap OFF. So if y'all are thinking about buying a can of flat black and "customizing" your car, DON'T. thanks in advance....

 

The more I've worked on Hondas over the years, and especially my own Si, the more I just curse everyone that half-*** builds these cars, and all the idiotic things I see people do to them.

I literally can't think of any other platform that is as plagued as these old Hondas in terms of total moron & cheap owners. I've seen some dumb crap with Mustangs, but with Hondas it's like if you take 5 of them, 4 will be ragged out shitboxes.

 

AMEN BROTHER !!!

You are being a bit generous on the stats I believe: Out of every 100, 98 will be ragged out **** boxes.

 

Stock95delsol, it sure does bring joy to my heart when someone spends the time and money to bring one of those **** boxes back from the brink... restoring them to their original glory... or even better. Keep it up.

 

LOL.... YES.. The rattle-can black was just one thing I had to deal with on this car and it was a warning sign of $h†-rigs to be discovered.

He broke the targa top handles off and never replaced them so water leaked in and almost rusted through the floorboards. I caught it just in time...
instead of replacing the radiator fan switch in the thermostat housing he $h†-rigged the fan with a toggle switch which was a lot more trouble than fixing it correctly.
He "painted" the body too but with krap paint that shrunk and cracked making the body-work much harder. I had to chemical strip the front and rear bumper covers.
There are a bunch of tiny dents throughout and in places where you wouldn't expect a dent like on the A-pillers and roof alongside the removable top.
Of course, no spark, low on oil, badly rusted coolant pipe from refilling with tap-water because he didn't fix the fan... bad fuel pump et....

One $h†-rig after another.....

 

Yeah, those lists tend to get bigger and bigger as you examine closer and closer. Most just don't have the mindset to fix things right... and it certainly doesn't help if you don't have the financial means at the time. This results in one time crunch/cash crunch mess after another... and the car shows it. I see them every day. The saving grace in that is I do get to see some really nice examples on occasion, and better yet, see some that began as heaping piles of **** and turn into clean, effective examples of the Honda brand... and all of the bad ones help me appreciate the rare, really nice cars that much more.

 

Been on this path for years with my own, lord I wish there were some decent shops in my area but sincerely there aren't. It's been a challenge finding the time/money/knowledge to do everything myself, especially electrical gremlins. Highschooler is in the same area as me and has had similar struggles. Previous owner literally RIPPED the bezel out of the dash that houses the climate control (broke all mounting tabs), cut holes into the dash, cut and spliced into random wires behind the dash and the engine bay, RTV'd the broken sunroof closed, etc. That alone took several months to sort out.

At the time I wish I had the forethought and more cash to have simply saved up and waited for a better starting point. Though I suppose in a way, considering the current market, I should be glad I jumped on my Si when I did.

 

I got it super-cheap so I can't complain but I do anyway.... for some odd reason, people want to personalize their del sol's and end up destroying them but they can't see it which is why I started this thread. Here's my first del sol that I bought circa 2011. it's a 93-S.. It hailed on the poor car so I did the body work and painted it. later I painted the wheel covers the same White and added mud-flaps. It's really really hard to improve on the original design. Just make your car clean with a good paint-job and all is well. can't upload the image. gotta refresh...

 

Nice work! I wish I knew body work but I don't, that's what is going to kill me financially on my two hatches. The mechanicals I can and do work slowly over time but watching the cancer grow just crushes my heart.

I hope to one day have the cash to have the body work and a solid paint job done. I envy you and your ability.

 

I didn't know how to do it either but I got tired of body-shops ripping me off and doing crappy work so I learned the old fashioned way. But that was back in the late 70's and early 80's. It's a lot easier to learn now with youtube videos. DON'T PAY SOMEONE TO DO BODY PAINT. As far as the rust goes, get an industrial spray bottle and fill it with phosphoric acid (available at Home Depot in the paint department but they won't know what it is. It's a green liquid in a gallon jug). then fill your sprayer and soak the rust areas and anywhere you THINK there might be rust starting. This turns iron oxide into iron phosphate and it stops the rust. It's an acid so don't get it in your eyes or let your dog lick it et.... rinse off the pavement afterwards. Then just get some bondo, some body putty, sand paper, primer, a cheap spray-gun at harbor freight, a compressor et... and DO IT YOURSELF. no one taught me anything...

 

I had a 72 Formula firebird and I wasted a lot of money on body-shops until I bought a compressor and a paint gun and just went for it. I even made a stencil for the flames on the scoops. This was a lacquer paint job and i did it in TexAss when it was 107º. The paint was drying before it hit the car! but I finally got it done. that's my dog, Shimi that I rescued from a Mexican dog fighting ring.

 

Here's my truck that I bought from the widow of the original owner in TexAss circa 1982. It was a mess and had dents everywhere. I still have it...