The Integra Project

[The Rooster]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

Since gasoline is roughly 7.5 lbs/gallon, he'd have to have a pretty large tank to shed 76 lbs! I'd basically be empty in my CRX (mechanically pretty close to the 'Teg) if I left 10 gallons out of it.


BTW, I recommend against removing the ABS. Going lighter is good and all, but ABS is a Very Good Thing Indeed (TM). It could save your life someday, or at least your front bumper/hood/radiator support.

-soD

The ABS in broken. It was diagnosed as the Pump Motor Accumulator Thing ™ which is a very expensive part. With labor, it's over $1000 to fix it. And I'll bet the whole thing weighs 50 pounds, between the computer, that big ole pump, the sensors, wiring harness and all the extra lines and extra fluid. I'm planning to jack the non-abs parts out of a junk yard 92-95 Civic or Integra RS to "fix" the ABS on the cheap. From what I understand, that early ABS system is crap when it works anyway.

[The Rooster]

I just got off the phone with Geico, who FINALLY settled my insurance claim, I'm getting $2700 to fix the damage (and NOT salvage title the car) which is way more than it'll actually cost me. I need just $500 in parts and I do all the labor for free, another roughly $150 in materials and I'm all fixed. That leaves me with 2 g's for further improvements.

I guess that makes 2 months kinda worth the wait.

[The Rooster]

First Paid for Mod: $26

Plastic Grill Block

Weight Added: 501g/1.1lbs

Time Invested: 1 hour with air tools

So the cardboard prototype finally had enough, it was falling off the car by the time I got to this mod, so the timing was great. Lets get to it!

The custom ABS plastic covers from Tap Plastics in Stockton, they did a really nice job cutting it to the correct size and shape, based on my template of course;



Some of the attaching hardware, L brackets from Ace hardware, some automotive screw clips, and self tapping screws for the bumper;







It was pretty straight forward, I just mounted the L brackets at 4 corners of the bumpers and used self tapping screws to hold them in like so;



Then, drill holes in the plastic, screw them in and paint the screws black...done!;



I'm not entirely satisfied with how they look, so I may do something more recessed in the future, just to make it less obvious.

[The Rooster]

This isn't an eco mod, but if you've ever had the paint wear off your wipers, this is the a fast, and very long lasting way of doing it, I did this same repair to the wipers on my old Accord about 4 years ago, and they're still a nice flat black. I'm an automotive painter by trade, so I sorta know what I'm doing. I'll be chronicling the body work and paint work over the next few weeks as I paint the whole car.

First, you need the right paint, you can use any brand you want so long as it's a quality product and it's for the intended purpose. These are both specific automotive products.

The first is called Etch Primer, if you don't apply this, or epoxy primer (a 2 part component that must be sprayed from a gun), then whatever you put on is going to peel off. Paint dosen't like to stick to metal, and etch primer is the answer to the problem, it uses Zinc to create a bond between the metal and the paint.

The second product is simply called "Trim Black" and is offered by many different vendors. If you want to use this on plastic, I recommend applying some 3M adhesion promoter first. Don't use it on rubber.



You can take the wipers off the car if you like but it's just wasted time, and the nuts (if they are external like mine) will just chip when you bolt them back on, so masking and spraying is faster and in my case, a better repair.

It's not hard, clean, spray the etch primer until the metal is fully covered...meaning you can't see the metal through the paint. Let dry for 10 minutes at room temperature (longer if it's very cold), then, 2 coats of Trim Black, about 5 minutes appart and you're done. Put the wipers back on the next day after the paint has had plenty of time to cure. Remember, dry and cured are two different concepts. Dry can mean you can touch it, but it may still be very fragile. Cured means it's as durable as it will get.

Here's the bare metal wipers, masked and ready to go;



2 good coats of etch primer, to full coverage;



Then 2 coats of trim black and that's it. It looks shiny because I took the picture while it was still wet. When it dries it'll be more of a semi-gloss closer to flat;

[CigaR007]

+1 on the etch primer. It provides a very good surface prior to painting. Used it on my bare aluminum wheels last summer.

[Odin]

is your engine getting hot with those air dams?

[The Rooster]

Originally Posted by Odin

is your engine getting hot with those air dams?

Nope, even up to 70F ambient, the temp needle hasn't moved. Of course if it does heat up, I can just pull over, grab my phillips and unscrew one or both of them.

[The Rooster]

Originally Posted by CigaR007

+1 on the etch primer. It provides a very good surface prior to painting. Used it on my bare aluminum wheels last summer.

I wouldn't paint over something as large as a wheel with just etch primer, unless you're using a durable rattle can product like the trim black, or some equivalent. Ideally, you would apply etch primer, then either a regular 2 part primer, or a 2 part sealer, then paint and clear.

You'll see me doing all these steps, including some minor body work (bondo) and I'll give some tips and tricks on how to make straight body work...just in case anyone's interested.

In the end I'll also covering how to sand and polish the clear coat to a show car "piano" finish. Well, I won't be going totally show car (I'm not clear coating the car twice), but very close.

[The Rooster]

OK, I have another mod, really a continuation of the mudflap mod.

I was taking a look at the rear wheel well after removing the rear mudflaps and I became a bit concerned about the gaping hole left behind, I'm concerned about it turning the rear bumper into a parachute and negating the effect of removing the mudflaps in the first place. So, I came up with a solution.

The mudflaps are rubber, so what I did was I trimmed the mud flap part of the mud flap off, and left behind the part that should be the fender liner. The mod looks like this;

One of the mudflaps, you can see the part that flaps the mud, and a rather large area that sits inside the wheel house;



If they look clean, it's because they are, I just washed and scrubbed them out in the sink before getting started. Here's me making a cut using a simple, and very sharp box knife. No rusty old blades here;



And the finished product, I'll get some pictures of the car in daylight, I'll get a before and after so you all can see the hole I was talking about;

[The Rooster]

2nd non-free mod, expense apx $50 in materials

Body Work and Primer

Time Invested: 3.5 hours

So today I got the body work done. There was no major damage, just a lot of door dings and stuff. This was the worst of it;




The only thing atypical about this body work is I didn't dissasemble the car first, reason being is I need to keep driving it. I'm going to let this primer/bondo sit for about a month so it can fully cure and shrink before I sand it.

Bodywork like this is pretty straightforward. Just block sand around your dents, make sure you sand in the dents, kinda like this;





Then, slap on some body filler (bondo) as needed;





And block it out with some 180 grit sandpaper on a hard block;




Then, tape it up, bag it, throw it in the booth and toss 3 coats of two part primer on it;