HCF Project Section - vtecaddict's 4door del sol project

alright, so i finally decided that this is most likely suitable for a new thread in the project section.

Things to accomplish:
Black interior
tint tail lights
del sol front end conversion with home-made body kit
mugen rear lip/ maybe a custom rear bumper.. who knows.
Bixenon HIDs
trunk pop
fiberglass center console
kickpanels/doorpods
GET MOTOR RUNNING!
zex cam
eagle rods
new pistons (not sure which ones yet)
turbo... maybe?
new suspension/ drop it 2 inches
and finally a fresh coat of single stage black

here's what she looks like now

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2095.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2097.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2101.jpg

pics of interior and my freshly tinted tails coming soon

Del sol front end.......that should look sick.

alright.. so she already looks better with the tails out
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2108-1.jpg

i decided to take several pics of the process of tinting the tails
left one is wet sanded, right still needs to be done
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2109-1.jpg

here's how far i am now, and its time to decide how dark i wanna go. im thinking a couple more layers after i use 2000 grit to wet sand down any high points.
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2112-1.jpg

how they look on the car
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2115-1.jpg

should i just black them out?

Dude, those ricer tail lights look 1000000000000x better smoked like that!

black them out!

i also think you should paint the window trim black

yeah, the window trim is next on my list.. i think i might try to do it tonight... or at least tape it off tonight.

is it normal for the vht spray tint to look purple? does it cure black?

got the front end on yet??

omg that muffler!!!!

is it normal for the vht spray tint to look purple? does it cure black?

that's odd. see how it looks once it cures.

no, the front end isnt on yet... im still gathering a bunch of little things like the headlights and the brackets for the fog lights. i like to have all my materials ready, that way i dont have to stop and be interrupted.

what about the muffler?... i know it sticks out... ALOT... but im gonna cut it off and reweld it shorter when i get the rear bumper completely done.. or is it the fact that you dont see that many apexi N1 exhausts with the ATS installed?

^haha i'm not gonna lie, the ATS looks pretty ugly, but i'm sure it makes the exhaust sound 100x better than it does without it.

i've been putting coats on it about every 20 minutes or so.. they are pretty much blacked out now. i think i might have something to do with the fact that they were an ugly chrome tail before and its just light reflecting off the chrome on the inside of the tail light... i ran out of the can though, so im gonna see how they look in the morning when they've had a chance to dry more.

lets just say it makes it more tolerable... especially since i dont have a cat.. its obnoxiously loud w/o the silencer.

i have a silencer on mine too and it looks stupid lol but sounds so much better

I think you ought to keep the trim chrome like that if your painting it black....black cars with black wheels and a polished lip look sick with the trim and wheel lip matching. Cant wait to see how the front end will look.

Got the left hand sol fender today... still trying to find the right... i might just have to go through certifit like i did the front bumper. also waiting on my brother to cut some aluminum spacers for me so i can attach the bumper... hey, does anyone know if the hood latch is at the same location on the civic and the sol? if not i think i might just remove it and get some functional hoodpins...

Next question... Carbon fiber hood? or metal? i cant decide. i can get the metal one tomorrow, or i can wait a week for the CF one to come in.

metal hood
screw the hood pins, they're ugly

who cares bout carbon fiber lol

finally got the car running again. i blew off a coolant hose a while back with the help of a stop leak product. luckily i just shorted out the electrical system and had to replace most of the fuses and relays... and the distributor... its running alright. still knocks on start up though. i'm in the process of clear coating the tails right now pics will be up later tonight... but the good thing is now i can drive the car up to the shop to hopefully start doing the bodywork! :)

TAILS!
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2119-1.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2120-1.jpg

they seem too dark during the day though... havent checked them out at night yet. i need to find a solution to light up the tails more... i already have LED bulbs from Superbrightleds.com and they dont seem to help out too much over stock. im thinkin to just drill and cram more LEDs in... or put in a foglight bulb... i know for sure that'll brighten them up. haha

The front hood, looks just like my civic, so my bet is you'd be safe with a metal hood.

cant wait to see it with the sol front end

alright.. my progress thus far. pretty much nothing. i ordered some 5w luxeon LED bulbs to replace my 3w bulbs that were not bright enough as per MO state troopers. i also test fitted the del sol bumper and well, i've got some work ahead of me. my main problem will be relocating the hood latch. also ive been searching high and low for the fenders and cant seem to find the driver side... so i think im just gonna make them. spring break is coming up and ill have enough time hopefully. also, what do you all think, should i try to go with del sol mirrors? i found a set at the junkyard. and these are the lights im looking at getting with matching black fogs as well.. what do ya think?

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/hdlts-1.jpg

i like the lights, and if you're going for a Del Sol 4D, get the mirrors :D

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/hdlts-1.jpg

haha those are the lights i have, and the foglights too. They're GREAT headlights, I love them.
Get them.

MUFFLER ZOMG! Get that fixed man.....super easy

should be a nice little project, i love del sol front ends.

as for the taillight, you can wire some seperate red LED's in your taillights for some security, but there are lots of people that drive all the time with fully tinted tails. How many coats of tint did you use?

Mo state troopers are anal! they dont care how much tint you have on the tail lights, they are gonna stop you! especially around Columbia!

well, i think i used somewhere around 6 coats total plus a flat clear coat... i did wet sand it though every couple of coats to give it a smooth finish.
Yeah, i know how Mo state troopers are, my neighbor is one of them. he gave me the heads up to buy brighter bulbs.
alright, so im ordering the lights soon.. hopefully tomorrow once i can check my finances. they're only 110 for the headlights and like 60 or 70 for the fogs.

Alright, so i ran into the problem of getting a hood... i found one, didnt have the truck, went home to get the truck and by the time i got back, it was gone... and my certifit doesnt have one readily available... they said 2 to 3 weeks. anyone know where i can get one with out paying a heck of alot for shipping? im willing to take a road trip if i need to so i can get this project rolling ( i live in missouri)... or are there any hoods that are close enough that some fiberglassing would do the trick?

SO.. the build is going to start Monday night around midnight or so. im driving to Certifit in KC to pick up the hood and bumper reinforcement bar monday morning. just one quick question, IF i go through the trouble of making a mold of the front fenders to fit to a 4dr EG, is anyone else interested in doing the swap if i do a write-up? i've also got my antenna re-location "kit" and im going to shave the current antenna location, but thats #3 on my list of things to do this week.

PROGRESS!

i removed all the body and hood. and got the new hood on tonight and test fitted the bumper. here's some pics!

HOOD!
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2122.jpg

fenders off!
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2124.jpg

bumper off
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2125.jpg

Headlights out
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2127.jpg

SOL hood and new bumper support on
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2129.jpg

its all coming together quite nicely. hopefully i'll have some fenders molded up and started glassing tomorrow. the hood is just temporarily mounted... i need to make some brackets for a better mount.

Iv been waiting for some pic's, starting to take shape.

test fit of the bumper so i know how high to make the supporting bracket. i also have to shift the hood latch upward, right now the hood won't latch down completely.
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2132.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2133.jpg

Sideview. you can also see where i've started shaving the antenna.
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2134-2.jpg

also im molding the fenders right now... figured i'd post some progress now while things are curing.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2130.jpg

im getting some help tomorrow. :) so i can hopefully correctly mount the hood so it lines up and possibly knock out the fenders. atleast get them glassed and one or 2 coats of body filler. also, the lights should be in via UPS tomorrow. i feel like i need to wait on the fenders til i get them in.

looking good.

i should have told you... i forgot... there's a guy over at solsociety.com who put a del sol front end on his EG hatch. his user name (and real name) is Raley.

Wow! I'm not a fan of the del sol front end (Sorry guys) but I give you a TON of credit for doing a front end conversion. It's not overnight conversion and it takes skill to get it to look right. Keep it up!!!

p.s. I really really really want to do the opposite of what you're doing, EG front end on a del sol.

p.s. I really really really want to do the opposite of what you're doing, EG front end on a del sol.

good luck. it's hard to make a front end swap look good on a del sol. look at the doors on the del sol. they have an edge running down them, and if you look at the fenders, they continue that edge. look at any del sol front end conversion's fenders and you'll see that they don't look right where they meet the doors.

good luck. it's hard to make a front end swap look good on a del sol. look at the doors on the del sol. they have an edge running down them, and if you look at the fenders, they continue that edge. look at any del sol front end conversion's fenders and you'll see that they don't look right where they meet the doors.

Sorry to thread jack... ...this is the only del civic I've seen done right (they even got the door->fender looking good):
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m272/civic93pearlwhite/delcivic.jpg

Sorry to thread jack... ...this is the only del civic I've seen done right (they even got the door->fender looking good):
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m272/civic93pearlwhite/delcivic.jpg

how the hell did he do it??????

the EG has a cutout for side moldings right there. lol

to do that, you just have to cut the two fenders in half above the wheel well and weld them together. its the only way to really do that conversion right. from all the research i've done

to do that, you just have to cut the two fenders in half above the wheel well and weld them together. its the only way to really do that conversion right. from all the research i've done

is that what you're gonna do? because the conversion will present exactly the same problems, just backwards.

^That's what I was thinkin'

nope, im making fiberglass fenders. the mold is almost set and i can start later tonight/ early tomorrow morning.

that del sol you posted is sick, I want one LOL

I got tired of making brackets to secure everything, so i ordered a del sol front bulkhead. hopefully it will be in soon... so i can get my car back on the road. im also in the process of making hood brackets unless anyone has an extra set of sol hinges lying around for me to cut apart.

oh damn, you should have told me... i know someone who's selling a del sol front right bulkhead brand new and another guy selling a brand new radiator support.

front right bulkhead - $120 shipped
http://delsollounge.freeforums.org/selling-front-right-bulkhead-and-wheelhouse-t259.html

radiator support - $200 + shipping
http://www.solsociety.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30858

i got the whole new bulkhead for 280. 3 day shipped. i think i got a pretty good deal, they are all honda oem parts. one of my co worker's brothers works for the dealership here in saint louis... isnt the radiator support and front bulkhead the same thing?

Do you think it would be a good idea to start selling off my projector headlights and hood bumper and all the aftermarket accessories i took off my car to do the conversion? i have most of the stock parts and im starting to run out of money for the swap.

Well, i got some completed today. i removed the stock radiator support after about 3 hours of labor
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2140.jpg

I also got new hood hinges and cut them apart, you have to use the bottom from the eg and the arms from the del sol.
http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2139.jpg

tomorrow im going to grind everything down and and hopefully tack the new bulkhead on. and get the new hinges on. now all im looking for is the fog light housings.

nice progress
really looks to be moving along nicely

im just glad i decided to not cheap out on it... before i had brackets holding everything together. it looked alright on the outside, but a train wreck inside.

looks like good progress... only thing id suggest is cleaning the engine bay before ya weld the front, and also buy some "weld thru primer" just a spray can i bought some for mine just to help the metal and welds last longer rust freee from behind.

so i have the rad support on. it was definately a pain, i had to compress where the bumper reinforcement bolts onto the frame so it would fit on and bolt up right. oh well, its done. i do have a question. i needed to paint the power steering line that goes infront of the radiator support. so my choice is either to black it out, or paint it red... im thinking of buying some ebay tiebars and painting them red as well, to offset the "murdered out" look i was going for... any opinions?

still gotta clean some of the engine bay... but i got most of everything that was upfront and going to be difficult to reach when the radiator support was put on.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2141.jpg

my shop just started carrying HID kits... so im getting 2 kits, 1 for my normal and im thinking one for my fogs? is doing HID fogs going overboard?

so i have the rad support on. it was definately a pain, i had to compress where the bumper reinforcement bolts onto the frame so it would fit on and bolt up right. oh well, its done. i do have a question. i needed to paint the power steering line that goes infront of the radiator support. so my choice is either to black it out, or paint it red... im thinking of buying some ebay tiebars and painting them red as well, to offset the "murdered out" look i was going for... any opinions?

my shop just started carrying HID kits... so im getting 2 kits, 1 for my normal and im thinking one for my fogs? is doing HID fogs going overboard?
I wouldn't paint the power steering line red... IMO it would look like you just got a little too happy with the spray can and that's the image it would give off.

Megan Racing makes red tie bars... IMO those would look better, because they are anodized and not painted (I am pretty sure).

Front:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Megan-Front-Lower-Tie-bar-Red-for-Honda-Civic-1988-2000_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el124 7QQcategoryZ33591QQihZ022QQitemZ350188452220QQrdZ1 QQsspagenameZWD1V#ht_3079wt_1360

Rear:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Megan-Racing-Rear-Lower-Tie-Bar-Civic-CRX-Integra-Red_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33591QQihZ016QQitem Z260367890932QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW#ht_976wt_1354

You can't put HIDs in USDM del Sol aux lights. They use an 1157 (or 1156, not sure which) bulb. The EDM (european) however use an H3, and you can put HID in those.

Any updates on your progress?

Unfortunately right now there's not a whole lot of progess... Its the time of year where there are a lot of projects with school I have 2 grade... Not to mention I'm moving and I gotta clean up my house 2 put it back up for rent. Maybe I'll get some work done this weekend

comin along nicely! i would save the money on the hid fogs! my friend did that and they were bright enough to drive with just the fog lights. the hid's in the headlights are gonna be bright enough! but its your car!

Well.. i got some fenders for the del sol today, so hopefully ill be able to cut them up and get them on tonight... one ender is pretty shot up and so im gonna have to do some bondo work, but it'll look and fit a lot better then the fiberglass ones i was making... ill try to have some pics up later tonight

Alright so I ordered some koni yellows today and now I'm looking for some lowering springs. I'm thinking ground control with a 1.5 inch drop. I'm not too knowlegeable about spring rates, I guess I could read the posts on it. Any other suggestion for springs? Teins?

if your not going to lower to much then just get standard spring rates. if you plan on maybe lowering it pretty far then stiffer springs.

the tein springs did feel pretty good but if your anal about your ride being perfectly level from side to side then stick with the ground controls so you can adjust them at will.

Its finally streetable! I got the fenders done enough to drive her around... Still need to use some icing before it all goes to get painted... I've also decided to just let a shop fix the back wheel well rust... It'll be easier to cut out and weld on a new piece. I'm looking into getting another bumper so I can cut into it and make the "body kit" and still have a driveable car.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/utf-8BSU1HMDAwNTAuanBn.jpg

Nice!!!!

looks good so far.

That is a clean front end swap. Kudos, can't wait to see it finished.

Sick......just need more, and better pic.

Ill get some better pics this weekend... I don't have my camera or computer... So I've been using my phone 4 everything.

Sick......just need more, and better pic.

I 2nd this motion.

Today I ordered my koni yellows with springs too to drop the car about 1.5 inches. Got it all for about 500. I also ordered a magnaflow cat for 100, so I can take the test pipe off, it'll be for sale on friday. Hopefully ill have pics up by then too.

I have been having some trouble with my car though. The motor seems to be running hotter than normal. The valve cover has been pretty much on fire. After it idles for a minute or 2 and heat has been radiating off the hood... I don't know if its just because it hasn't been run in a while or if there's something wrong. Any ideas? Could I have an exhaust leak making the engine bay hotter? Anyone know the torque specs for the headers? I hope that the headers just came loose.

wow, sick looking swap so far, looks really good. And that del sol/civ front end posted earlier, that thing is beautiful.

Hope you find whats overheating your engine, and its an easy fix :)

Today i got the magnaflow cat on and it sounds so much better then that test pipe. i also took a few pics... the swap isnt as clean as you all thought, but now that its summer, i have alot of time to work on it.
Sorry for the shadow on these two, i guess i should have moved the car back some.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2187.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2188.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/DSCF2189.jpg

shes not to bad.... what i would do IMO for a cleaner setup is buy some new delso fenders and with either a cut off wheel or plasma cutter trim the stock fender and the new delso fender with it about 1/2inch to long so they overlap then install both fenders without the bolts just laying in place and with afew large magnets put them ontop of the hood and fender so they are level and it will hold your fenders straight then keep trimming the slice till it fits close and start tack welding it. with welding it remember SMALL TACK WELDS! give the time metal to cool and not build up to much heat since heat will make the panel warp like a MOFO if you get to much heat from welding OR GRINDING.... and for grinding dont use a grinder wheel use a flap disc grinder... its just like a grinder wheel BUT it has a bunch of sand paper flaps on it that smooth the metal down and wont build up as much heat so it will keep your panels from warping as much.

molding 2 fenders together can take some finesse so take your time and it will turn out good... you got a good start at least! ive seen quite a few that are just all hacked up with plates screwed to the outside of the fenders or just holes and zip ties holding them together...

im suprised someone doesnt make new fenders for the swap.

yeah, i used some used del sol fenders for the front side and my stock ones for the back... im not the best welder and so it didnt really turn out the way i had invisioned it. i think i might look at getting some new fenders from certifit and try again.. or have my boss do it. i didnt overlap the driver side like i was able to on the passenger side... but the passenger side didnt line up as well.. go figure... oh well even with the way it looks im getting double-takes from people driving around town... any suggestions on a better fitment for the headlights? they are sitting back from the bumper a little bit, and ive tried to loosen it and then push and retighten, but it failed.
Im actually really suprised someone doesnt make fenders for the swap too. ive been looking. maybe once im done i need to mold mine at my brother's shop and start selling kevlar/ cf/ fb ones.

headlights look fine to me... but if you want to space them forwards alittle either use a dremel to open up the plastic holes on the headlights OR the metal mounting areas. gotta move them all forwards. not sure how they bolt in so cannt be sure exactly how to.

just remmeber with your next mold job do it with the hood on the car and use some magnets to hold the top of the fenders even with the hood. you need that hood on to ensure your body lines are in the perfect spot.... yours looked like just a hair off to low. and to make it a bit easier to line up use some wood paint stir sticks to set the fender gap with the hood. the thicker ones work better since they are flat. the thinner ones tend to be bent or bend to easily.

just stand back before welding any and those square welding magnets help alot to line everything up and keep it even while doing some spot welding.

just keep at it youll get it... but if your not sure of your welding/.grinding skills just let a friend that knows do it. or take your time and use a bucket of room temp water and towel or sponge to keep cooling the metal after doing a few small spot welds.... i wouldnt use cold water as it might make it warp also. your just speeding up the cooling metal a bit ;) that way you can make another spot weld sooner. just DONT RUSH IT! i did with my trucks old door handles shaving and first door i did i warped the crap outta the sheet metal from spot welding to long. and the other door i warped by grinding the spot welds down to long at one time. :( its definatly a learning experience that shows you to take your time. do a few spot welds and sit back and chill for a minute. and the same with grinding the spot welds down smooth. dont try to grind a spot smooth all at once.

Looks pretty good.

looks good. Put a lil love into the fenders and she'll be a beaute :)

i bought a new z6 si head today that i think im gonna wind up putting on, but i also got offered a jdm d15B head that has been ported and polished for a couple hundred? what would be the better head to put on? the only reason i like the z6 is because it has a Comp Cam 59300 in it at the moment. is it possible to put the the cam from the z6 into the jdm d15b. the main reason i swapping now is because ive been losing alot of coolant and have been trouble shooting everything, so its time for a new head gasket and im checking out the head to see if its warped today too.

updates?

Well not that many things have changed on the civic. I've been getting all the pieces together to do a manual conversion. Just looking for an lsd now and I gotta order a 6 puck clutch. My head was warped from overheating so I swapped it for a d15b that was ported and polished and put the comp cam in it.I think I lowered the compression to much though because now its slow as heck! But oh well it'll work better for the turbo later, hopefully.

BACK FROM THE DEAD!
I ran into some financial probs and not internet for a while, but now all things are good... today im finally going to be putting on the KONI yellows and sk2 race springs and lca's. ill post some pics hopefully tonight to show the drop... and then she's going to the doctor to get the cancer removed from the rear quarters.

so, i got the front dropped on stock struts, and well im thinking of making my car a widebody. does it sound like a good idea, or a failure?

a massive failure. /ofthatquestion

any updated pics?

ill have some up tomorrow of the front slammed. i got sent the wrong koni shocks so i decided to hold off on putting the back lowering springs on... its raked out right now and looks quite comical...

look forward to seeing it :)

heres a couple quick pics i took using my phone. sk2 springs on stock shocks.

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/IMG00145.jpg

http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu21/prmgx6/IMG00146.jpg

i still gotta put some love into the fenders, i havent really done anything to the car since summer began.