98-0148 (From Rice to Nice)

[coolhandluke]

Fresh paint, I dig it. You took the same approach I hope to one day. Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing. I hope the assembly can start now, that's when the real rebuild run starts.

[JDMJNKY]

That car has came so far, in such a short time. I'm excited for you. The color looks nice, reflective and glossy. Capturing the beauty of that hue w/ a camera is hard. Can't wait to see it all back together and the panels aligned, it should look factory new.

Were you able to purchase new moldings/trim?

[coolhandluke]

...Were you able to purchase new moldings/trim?

You are reminding me, I need to finalize my molding list and place an order. My CC may set on fire.

[JDMJNKY]

...Were you able to purchase new moldings/trim?

You are reminding me, I need to finalize my molding list and place an order. My CC may set on fire.

haha as do i.

[Vtecwreck]

Wow. Looks like they did a great job! What a save man. Going to be an amazing feeling when its all done and being able to take that original picture from back in the day, to the day you received it, to the day it was finished. <---- THAT needs to be in a picture frame.

went from Fast & Furious

To not so fast, owner now furious

to breaking necks fast and leaving haters furious

Keep up the good work and cant wait to see more updates. GET WRENCHING!

Haha I like that, thanks for checking back in and the words of encouragement! I will most definitely have that in a frame. Looking forward to seeing your caR back from paint.

Fresh paint, I dig it. You took the same approach I hope to one day. Keep up the good work and thank you for sharing. I hope the assembly can start now, that's when the real rebuild run starts.

Thanks man! The paint and bodywork has been the most stressful part of this car. The fun part starts now!

That car has came so far, in such a short time. I'm excited for you. The color looks nice, reflective and glossy. Capturing the beauty of that hue w/ a camera is hard. Can't wait to see it all back together and the panels aligned, it should look factory new.

Were you able to purchase new moldings/trim?

Not far enough haha. I was very pleased with the paint in person but when i tried taking pictures it didn’t look half as good. I’ve been putting off aligning the panels because I still have to drop the motor/trans in. As for the moldings and trims I haven’t even began that trek. There are only a few that I need with the most obvious one being the one on the window sill. Thank you for the keeping up with the tread!

[JDMJNKY]

It's my pleasure man. I truly enjoy the "builds" as much as it's a labor of "love," I miss days and threads like this. It's all about the journey.

Updates please hehe

[Vtecwreck]

It's my pleasure man. I truly enjoy the "builds" as much as it's a labor of "love," I miss days and threads like this. It's all about the journey.

Updates please hehe

Yeah man, it’s hard to believe what this car looked like just a few months ago vs now.

UPDATE:

I am not sure how many of you are from the east coast but lately in the Tri-state area we’ve been getting the crappiest weather. For the last few weeks the forecast has atleast 2-3 days of rain . On the nicer days I have slowly been working at it and making small strides to the somewhat finish line.

Although it’s not pictured, my brother finally dropped off the Crossmember. My car came with one from a 96-00 civic as well as the steering column. My uncle who works at Acura took my spindles and trailing arms to take care of the lower ball joints and rear trailing arms. After researching and comparing prices/reviews/quality, I decided to go with Hardrace oem replacement from Raul at Checkerdsports. Once I got them back, my brother and cousin came over to help install them. The PO was nice enough to leave the abs sensors and not cut them out, the person I bought the 5Lug from decided to cut them which sort of made the job easier..

I cleaned up the trailing arms with a wire-wheel and recoated to a oem-ish finish. The brake shields were in terrible shape, so they were removed. Initially I had a 36mm setup but I then traded for a 32mm. So I now have to clean up the fronts and redo them.

I scored on these 16x7 +48 Wedssport SA90. I got these at a steal from eBay. I was VERY happy with the fitment and color combo. I have been looking into refinishing them but it requires more than just powder coating as it seems the blue stripe is painted on. I haven’t spoken to the powder coater about the possibility to replicate the original finish. Any insight on this would gladly be appreciated!

Onto the pictures:
(Front end is not aligned at all)

IMG-3753.jpg (1.93 MiB) Viewed 1838 times

There was still snow on the ground when I initially refinished the rear.

IMG-2612.jpg (1.98 MiB) Viewed 1838 times

IMG-4319.jpg (3.57 MiB) Viewed 1838 times

I also recently picked a WS2 exhaust, so it had to be installed!

IMG-4104.jpg (2.08 MiB) Viewed 1838 times

And one of the mis-aligned front end

IMG-3751.jpg (2.6 MiB) Viewed 1838 times

If the weather is nice on Saturday, there will be another update

[JDMJNKY]

Sweet updates. Can't go wrong with the 32mm trade. I think it ties in nicely with the resto. The SA90 is a very nice wheel too. I remember Jorge (insidious) owned a 16x8 set at one point in time. In regards to the bushing choice you made the right one. That's what I'd recommend 110% of the time Megan Racing / Hardrace. I've been using them for almost a decade now on every car I own. I also recommend it to customers, especially if you're not looking to go all spherical.

[Stin1]

It's my pleasure man. I truly enjoy the "builds" as much as it's a labor of "love," I miss days and threads like this. It's all about the journey.

Updates please hehe

Yeah man, it’s hard to believe what this car looked like just a few months ago vs now.

UPDATE:

I am not sure how many of you are from the east coast but lately in the Tri-state area we’ve been getting the crappiest weather. For the last few weeks the forecast has atleast 2-3 days of rain . On the nicer days I have slowly been working at it and making small strides to the somewhat finish line.

Although it’s not pictured, my brother finally dropped off the Crossmember. My car came with one from a 6th gen civic as well as the steering column. My uncle who works at Acura took my spindles and trailing arms to take care of the lower ball joints and rear trailing arms. After researching and comparing prices/reviews/quality, I decided to go with Hardrace oem replacement from Raul at Checkerdsports. Once I got them back, my brother and cousin came over to help install them. The PO was nice enough to leave the abs sensors and not cut them out, the person I bought the 5Lug from decided to cut them which sort of made the job easier? I’m not sure how to even look at it, some people just don’t care anymore.

I cleaned up the trailing arms with a wire-wheel and recoated to a oemish finish. The brake shields were in terrible shape, so they were removed. Initially I had a 36mm setup but I then traded for a 32mm. So I now have to clean up the fronts and redo them.

At this point I had to test fit my wheels. 16x7 +48 Wedssport SA90. I got these at a steal from eBay and I had been contemplating selling them but after the test fit I decided otherwise. I was VERY happy with the fitment and color combo. I have been looking into refinishing them but it requires more than just powder coating as it seems the blue stripe is painted on. I haven’t spoken to the powder coater about the possibility to replicate the original finish. Any insight on this would gladly be appreciated!

Onto the pictures:
(Front end is not aligned at all)





There was still snow on the ground when I initially refinished the rear.



I also recently picked a WS2 exhaust, so it had to be test fitted!





And one of the mis-aligned front end

If the weather is nice on Saturday, there will be another update .

Looks great. Has to feel good getting to look at her and how far you have taken her. Awesome work!

[Vtecwreck]

Sweet updates. Can't go wrong with the 32mm trade. I think it ties in nicely with the resto. The SA90 is a very nice wheel too. I remember Jorge (insidious) owned a 16x8 set at one point in time. In regards to the bushing choice you made the right one. That's what I'd recommend 110% of the time Megan Racing / Hardrace. I've been using them for almost a decade now on every car I own. I also recommend it to customers, especially if you're not looking to go all spherical.

I would love a more aggressive setup. My two favorite wheels are Enkei nt03 (in that very desirable size you have) and work rsz-r. I’ve found many SA90 in my same sizing, nothing bigger. As for the bushings I’ve only heard good things. Thanks for the reassurance!

Looks great. Has to feel good getting to look at her and how far you have taken her. Awesome work!

Thanks man, it feels great! I can hardly take it all in, I can only imagine once it’s all done.