1996 Acura Integra GSR Sedan Restoration (Rookie Work!)

Show off your work! Anything from final results to full start-to-finish project journals.



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:04 pm
A little background with my project, some not autobody related. I purchased this car back in 2003 and then sold it in 2010. I then found it again, and bought it back in May of 2014. To say the least, it was not in the same condition it was when i sold it. I have been slowly restoring all aspects of the car since I purchased it back. Probably way more money and time than should be put into this kind of car, but I'm doing it.

To start off, here is a pic or 2 when I last owned it.

Image

Image


And how I bought it back....

Image


Image


Image


Not pretty..

Non Auto-Body wise, i've basically replaced everything except for transmission and motor internals at this point. Might sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. The parts people at Acura know me very well now lol.

Just a couple pics of that process:

Image

Image

Image


So my plans are 2-phase for the body. Phase 1 would be repair the rust, shave the mouldings off the door, and paint match a new hood, front bumper, and where i repair the rust. I'm not going to be very picky if it matches perfectly.

Phase 2 will be a complete re-spray of the same OEM color (which is why I'm not picky if it doesn't match in the meantime).

Phase 1 will be between now and June hopefully and Phase 2 will start over the winter into 2017 with hopefully painting next Spring.

I started some of the shaving of the mouldings. I cut small squares of 18 or 20 gauge metal, i can't recall off the top of my head, and i used 3M panel adhesive to glue them in place on the backside of the doors. This upcoming weekend hopefully I can finish the work on the outside of the doors.

Hard to tell in the pics, but the holes are plugged.

Image

Image


also plugged the antenna hole. Don't worry, the front will be addressed.

Image


This was my first time messing with panel adhesive, I like how it works. On to the engine bay, it looked like hell after 5 years of neglect. I did not want to pull the motor, so this was a simple aerosol job, but it made a hell of a difference.

Image

Image

Image


As for the rear quarters, here is the issue I am dealing with.
Image


After some grinding.
Image


it looks like my cutting area should be minimal. I have 2 donor panels to replace the bad metal on both sides. They are near complete rear quarter panels, not just arch replacements. I'm not sold on exactly how I want to do this task. If I can 3M adhesive in a patch panel, or if I should use my flux welder with better wire and a lower heat range. All I have is my flux welder, I don't have access to anything with gas and my garage is wired for it either. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will really start digging into the body work.

I decided to start this thread for 2 reasons. 1. To keep track of my work and my methods, whether they work or not lol. And 2. To get feedback, help, and advice from the more knowledgeable members on here. I have never completed this level of body work myself yet, but this is my DIY project. I'm no stranger to prepping for paint, pulling dents, and other minor body work, but this will be my first plunge into serious work.

Looking forward to making my car presentable again and looking forward to any advice or tips from the members more knowledgeable than myself!



Settled In
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2016 9:50 pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:27 am
Glad to see another Integra. Looks like another labor of love! Too bad the bodies don't keep up with the mechanicals...



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:33 am
MrStop wrote:Glad to see another Integra. Looks like another labor of love! Too bad the bodies don't keep up with the mechanicals...


not up in our neck of the woods they sure dont!

User avatar

Fully Engaged
Posts: 374
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:09 pm
Location: Oak hills, CA.
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:51 am
Nice car, think I have seen it before... :wink:
Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee.



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 7:09 am
Serf27 wrote:Nice car, think I have seen it before... :wink:


oh yeah? On my other thread here or on Honda-tech or Team-integra?

User avatar

Fully Engaged
Posts: 374
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:09 pm
Location: Oak hills, CA.
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:37 pm
I saw it on HT a while ago.
Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee.



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 12:15 pm
so i'm looking or a little input/advice/insight on how to start my rear quarters. i'm obviously cutting out as little as possible, but i definitely see me cutting into the wheel arch as it travels under the rear doors on both sides. i'm thinking an inch or less. so this would make using the body panel adhesive for the entire repair pretty difficult, correct? here is my latest thinking on how to tackle this and i would appreciate any help anyone can throw at me.

1. cut the bad metal out, match up on the donor panels and cut those out. 2. obviously then check for fitment and make any adjustments necessary. 3. then, in the wheel lip area, use panel adhesive for that lip only. 4. let that dry, then weld the remainder of the panel in place.

obviously for a rookie like myself, gluing the whole thing in would be easiest but i dont think that is going to be possible. i'm concerned with welding around that glued area....is that stuff flammable after it dries? i was thinking of welding first, but if i do that i do not think i will have the movement necessary to glue the wheel lip. and i definitely like the idea of gluing the lip as it will act like a sealer as well.

thoughts?



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:01 pm
so...i finally dug into these rear quarter panels this weekend. it was terrifying cutting into the car for fear of cutting too much or cutting through something i should not be cutting through. i started in on the driver's side today. so here is the work so far:

i cut this off
Image


exposed this portion of the wheel arch and inner panel.
Image


you can see how trashed the inner panel is in the lip area
Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


so far, i actually do not anticipate needing to cut off any additional outer panel for rust repair, maybe to get better access to the inner panel for repair.

luckily, i have one of these for both sides
Image


Image


and the inner panels they came with are in decent shape, so i;ll probably end up cutting material off these ones and welding them to the car

Image


Image


so, this is definitely more than the body work i'm used to and have previous experience with. it probably shows lol. if i take my time, and keep reaching out for advice and insight on here, hopefully it will turn out ok. i kept my initial cut small in case i terribly screwed something up, and also because i see no reason to cut off good metal.

so how am i doing so far? any tips as i continue the metal work?



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2016 12:44 pm
so i won't be able to work on this again until this weekend, but i think my game plan for the weekend will be to remove the rest of this panel, you can see i left a little bit in this picture here:
Image


i think i was afraid of cutting into something structural, but from the donor panel i have it looks like it is still part of the outer panel.

then i think i will grind down the coating on this inner panel in the lip area and see where the bad metal stops, get that cut out and get my replacement piece ready to go.
Image


i'm aslo going to grind this area down further to see if i need to go back into the outer panel any further. i'll pull away that rubberized strip to see if rust is forming back there. if not, i think i'm good with cutting material away, what do you guys think?
Image


and i have a question regarding fixing this...someone (me..) got a little too enthusiastic separating the outer panel from the inner panel on the donor pieces, what is the easiest way to get this arch lips back into the correct shape?
Image


Image


thanks!



Settled In
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:49 pm
Location: Vandergrift, PA
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 8:05 am
ok, i think i'm done cutting for the prep work. i did some more exploratory cutting and found the last bit of visible rust on the inner panel.

Image


i'm going to cut the inner panel along this line (or at least somewhat near this line) and weld new material for the inner panel and wheel arch.

Image


i'm going to get my welder dialed in and set up this week so this weekend i can weld this inner panel pieces. here is my question. my plan is to use panel adhesive for the entire wheel arch to make sure i get a good water tight seal between the 2 surfaces so i dont get anything working its way in there. with me welding the rest of the patch panel, are there any precautions i need to take after the panel adhesive is dry and with welding within a close proximity to the panel adhesive?

also, i plan on using weld thru primer, but is there anything else i can do before or after to help prevent rust from working its way back in these areas?

thanks!

Return to Completed & In Progress Member Projects

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], xF100x and 74 guests