I guess I will have to get you guys updated pics of the damage in the back area. Not something I can just sand and spray, I'll say that much.

I might try it out around the damaged area just to see how I think it would look. Scott, that's good point, never thought about peeling. I would expect rock ships and such down the road.

 

thanks for linking those photo bomb sheets on ebay, I might use those later on down the road... But I like the colored ones.

Pretty much the only reason I get on HCF anymore is to check on your build thread, along with Scott's and Splat's. I'm on Dseries.org alot these days because I'm seriously considering of building a z6 for boost.

 

No problem! haha

So I am thinking the individual sticker idea for bombing the whole car probably won't happen. I am sure they would fade, peel, and look like crap within 6 months. Still looking into things which would "fix" my paint issue, and not force me to pay a shop to fix the body damage and pay for paint. Maaco around my area has a terrible track record of getting paint in the car. My buddy even had a footprint of paint on his driver seat after Maaco! Also, I am avoiding taking my car to shops. I have had a negative experience everytime I have work done (except inspection/alignments).

Newest thought would be to spray the whole car with plastic dip. If I don't like it, I can use a pressure washer to take it off, or I should be able to simply peel it all off if sprayed on thick enough. It takes little to no prep work, reversible, and comes in a few colors I can choose from. I figure I could buy everything needed for ~$150 and have a nice weekend project once it gets a little warmer. The car would have a "matte" color look to it. Thoughts?

 

No on the plastidip... Just spray paint it I you want it painted that bad. If you take your time and prep and wet sand, spray paint can look really good. Or be like a hick I knew who painted his ranger that was lifted a solid foot a mixture of black paint and rhinoliner lol.

I saw spray paint or vinyl wrap. Vinyl wrap can turn out pretty awesome.

And thanks shandles, I'm on DSO all day long lol, lots of good people there.

 

I've been interested in vinyl wrapping my civic ever since I bought it. But I've heard that shops charge about a grand to do a whole car... which is too much for my taste.

I'm super curious about plastidip... I really wanna spray my wheels green after I get my car painted.

I say check your local vinyl shops and see what they would charge you, and if its too much, then just spray paint it. Like Scott said, if you take your time and wetsand inbetween coats, rattle can jobs can look great!

 

I am not going to vinyl wrap it. I already know it will look like **** due to the body damage in the back. And you are right, it would be about $1k-$1200 for a good install. Plus, my luck would be that a shopping cart or something hits it, tearing the vinyl or F-ing it up some how.

EDIT - better picture posted




You can see by the reflections on the car that the metal before the wheel well is all "wavy-like". Ugh.. I hate looking at it. These pics were taken 12/2010. Trust me, it doesn't look any better now than it did years ago. :/

As for the plastic dip, I am going to buy a can of it and play around with painting my grill I think. It is a cheap $20 eBay part so I am not worried if I mess it up. Also, I should be able to just peel it off if I don't like it and if I did it right.

If that doesn't work, looks like I am sanding the bitch down and spray bombing it a flat gunmetal, or black this summer. Even though I REALLY do not want to do that.

Shandles, I have seen many people plasti-dip their wheels with success. I think you should go for it!

Thanks guys. I really thought I would be still putting out flames from the previous posts.

 

I have similar dents right above the wheel well, but not the ones on the sides of it >_> i brake checked some ******* last xmas and he rammed the side of my car like %$%ing roman chariot style haha, and since i have liability insurance and no spare time i wasnt able to go to court to make him pay...

anyway for the vinyl wrap cost you pretty much could have gotten damage repaired and painted, and then a shopping cart would still hit it!

I didnt see if on the first page, so ill just ask what kind of rims those are?

 

Those are GSR blades or also called "swirlies". I gave them to my g/f (at the time) last year and only two of are still around being using as one tire blew when it was backed into a fence, and another blew a day after a really bad storm last summer (hurricane or w/e that went up the entire east coast).

I kinda miss them, but I think I would rather got something different next time I buy wheels. We'll see if anything pops up on a local CL ad.

 

Left work early today since it was so nice out and worked on the car for a good 4 hours. Ended up replacing the iPod cable for the headunit, installed a new coolant reservoir (kind of), oil change, cleaned out my catch can, and finally figured out how to get wiring through the doors for the power fold mirrors. PITA, but I finally got it. Driver's side wiring is in the cabin at this time.

Pics!

Catch Can - Just thrown in for testing. I need to find a permanent spot in the bay for it.



Over flow - Here's the story, I wasn't paying attention last week when I was working on the car and moved the overflow off to the side for room where I was working. Ended up placing it on the exhaust manifold. In a rush to leave and pick up my son, i forgot to move it. Arrived 14 miles down the road smelling like burnt plastic I pop my hood and realized my mistake. This is a Mishimoto power steering reservoir, I just blocked one of the opening until I can confirm the thread pitch and buy a bolt. The top has holes for mounting, but I am leaving them as is since the holes can act as a vent. I plan on making a steel bracket and relocating it on the bottom of the rad support where the A/C used to be.





Power fold wiring - Found a spot on the connector where 4 spots were not used by wires. Instead of getting my hands messy by actually pinning the connector etc, I drilled a hole through both sides and ran the wires through.



The passenger side wires should be in the cabin this weekend. Hopefully, I can get this install 100% done soon!

Updated Engine Bay shots:





To end on a bad note, my car stopped going into reverse for some reason. Many people on forums are saying something about a fairly common bent fifth gear fork locking the owner out of reverse, but not the other forward gears. Makes sense since the transmission would always grind into fifth when cold. Lovely. I am looking at a possible transmission replacement.

 

aw, transmission problems suck teh ballz. I'm hoping I get mine worked out without having to buy a new transmission all together, luckily they're dirt cheap for d series.

never heard about h22 bent shift fork problems. always hear about them with d16z6 trannies tho, because they are aluminum. The H22 ones aluminum too?