1987 RT-AWD WAGOVAN build!!
- Thread starter EastCoastEK
- Start date
Almost had the "new" OEM radio and Equalizer in today, but had to go off to work before I could finish tidying up everything. Hoping to finish early tomorrow morning.
Dude, that EQ is INCREDIBLE, even today. Not to mention it was installed in the cars of the 80's. A true testament to Honda's innovation. I'll try to get a video posted of the little LED audio signal bars in action. SO COOL!!!!
Sorry, don't wont to post pics of completed interior restore until it is up to my standards. This will happen soon. HOPEFULLY by Sunday evening.
Dude, that EQ is INCREDIBLE, even today. Not to mention it was installed in the cars of the 80's. A true testament to Honda's innovation. I'll try to get a video posted of the little LED audio signal bars in action. SO COOL!!!!
Sorry, don't wont to post pics of completed interior restore until it is up to my standards. This will happen soon. HOPEFULLY by Sunday evening.
Hey,
Sorry for the delay in pics. I've jumped in to body work here at the last minute this summer. We start teacher workdays next week. So, I'll get the exterior done and post pics inside and out soon.
New exterior plan. No cream paint (for now). Going to try this for now:
Paint front and rear bumpers to match body, except for the trim line that matches the side moldings. Moldings and bumper trim-lines will be painted satin black.
I've order 3/4" Fire Red pinstriping to go alont the middle of the moldings and bumpers.
I'm prepping and re-painting the rear doors, only from the trim molding downwards. I just couldn't get off that sticky residure from the "RT-4WD" logos. Plus, I scuffed the paint up pretty good in the process.
Same goes for the Rear hatch, thanks to that stupid Texas metal decal. 20 years of Bill McDavids Honda really ate through that paint! So, hatch gets new paint.
Lastly, I'm painting the front left fender, and the header panel. The rest of the paint is just fine.
When finished, it should look just like my illustration, except all brown and black, not cream and black.
Hopefully I can get the paint to match up well. Either way, it will look a lot better than it does now.
Waiting on them pics...pretty exciting...
Update: Bodywork done. Off to Paint today!!
Prepped for paint. Pics...
I was just going to spot paint the car, as I posted a few days ago. However, I quickly realized how expensive paint is nowadays! Plus, I would have not been able to match the panels to the color of the rest of the car very well. The sensible option, especially for my current budget, was to take it down to Maaco and have the whole exterior repainted.
Maaco had a special on their "Supreme" paint service. It's a single stage Dupont Urethane paint, with integrated clear. It's usually 600. They were offering it for 400, and I was able to talk them down to 320, WITH the color change, which is usually an additional 50 bucks. They were VERY COOL about working with me. They said they were pretty happy with the prep work I did, so well see what difference it will make on the final product.
Since I have the oppurtunity to START on my color change for this car, thats what I'm doing. The exterior will be painted along with my original plan: Chrysler Cool Vanilla; with black moldings/accents, and a red pinstripe all the way around.
I will paint the jams at the same time as my engine swap, which may even be as soon as this Fall. It looks as if this car will become my daily. We are planning to sell our '97 Accord to pay off all of our debt. We will also use about a grand off the profit from the sale to swap a DOHC D16a1 into the wagon, and totally fix all mechanical problems (if possible!) Then, I'll drive the wagon, and wife and baby will ride in the '03 Xterra. We don't need 3 cars right now, and I like the wagon much more than I do the Accord. The wagon has...originality and character. While nice cars, everybody and there momma drives a 94-97 Accord!
I did a lot of research as to why Maaco jobs were a success for some, and a failure for others. I tried to prep the car in the same ways as those who found success with Maaco jobs. My process is below.
I basically sanded down all my high spots, filled and sanded and primed all of my low spots/dents/dings/scratches, filled and fixed the deep dents in my header panel and front passenger fender, and the lower part of the rear door panels . All trouble spots got 60-100-150-220 grit sanding, then primer.
I then sanded the whole car from 400 to 800 grit.
The rear doors took ALOT of work. The "RT-AWD" logos had burned DEEP into the paint. It was more effective to just fill over the whole panel on both sides and then smooth them down. However, it took A LONG TIME.
This was my first experience with body work, bondo, primer, etc... So, its not perfect, but I learned a lot. This is what matters most to me. I put about 12 hours into the prep total. I feel that I could do the same amount of work again in about 8 hours, which I'm happy about.
I took off as many of the panels/molding as I could. I also removed all of the lights (tail lights and roof antenna mount removed when I got there).
I taped all the areas I didn't want painted, as seen in the pictures.
I will be painting all of the accessory pieces, as well as the bumper trim, myself. The bumper trim, moldings, mud flaps, front air dam, lower part of front bumper, and all other black plastic pieces will be painted with this SEM satin-black bumper paint featured below. My front and rear bumpers, as well as the mirrors were given treatment with the pictured high-grade Dupont Adhesive Promoter prior to taking it down to the body shop. I'll treat all the other black rubber and plastic pieces with this stuff prior to paint as well.
My 3/4" red pin-striping should arrive tomorrow at the local paint supply store. This will be going 360-degrees around the car at the middle of the trim molding. It was hella-expensive, since it only came in a 150-ft role
However, I feel that it is worth it, and I know that the pinstripe is what is going to set the car off and give it the old-gansta vibe I'm going for.
Lastly, after much careful thought, I opted to have them paint the mirrors as well. The base of the mirror will be left OEM black rubber, while the body of the mirror will get the Cool Vanilla treatment with the rest of the car.
Close-Up pic to give you the idea:
Once again, here's color choice. The shade is called "Cool Vanilla", and its from the current Chrysler line.
I hope it will all come out hot. I'll post pics when the car comes back from Maaco early next week, and then I'll post more pics as I get the molding/trim pieces and the pinstripes on.
Thanks for looking!
Prepped for paint. Pics...
I was just going to spot paint the car, as I posted a few days ago. However, I quickly realized how expensive paint is nowadays! Plus, I would have not been able to match the panels to the color of the rest of the car very well. The sensible option, especially for my current budget, was to take it down to Maaco and have the whole exterior repainted.
Maaco had a special on their "Supreme" paint service. It's a single stage Dupont Urethane paint, with integrated clear. It's usually 600. They were offering it for 400, and I was able to talk them down to 320, WITH the color change, which is usually an additional 50 bucks. They were VERY COOL about working with me. They said they were pretty happy with the prep work I did, so well see what difference it will make on the final product.
Since I have the oppurtunity to START on my color change for this car, thats what I'm doing. The exterior will be painted along with my original plan: Chrysler Cool Vanilla; with black moldings/accents, and a red pinstripe all the way around.
I will paint the jams at the same time as my engine swap, which may even be as soon as this Fall. It looks as if this car will become my daily. We are planning to sell our '97 Accord to pay off all of our debt. We will also use about a grand off the profit from the sale to swap a DOHC D16a1 into the wagon, and totally fix all mechanical problems (if possible!) Then, I'll drive the wagon, and wife and baby will ride in the '03 Xterra. We don't need 3 cars right now, and I like the wagon much more than I do the Accord. The wagon has...originality and character. While nice cars, everybody and there momma drives a 94-97 Accord!
I did a lot of research as to why Maaco jobs were a success for some, and a failure for others. I tried to prep the car in the same ways as those who found success with Maaco jobs. My process is below.
I basically sanded down all my high spots, filled and sanded and primed all of my low spots/dents/dings/scratches, filled and fixed the deep dents in my header panel and front passenger fender, and the lower part of the rear door panels . All trouble spots got 60-100-150-220 grit sanding, then primer.
I then sanded the whole car from 400 to 800 grit.
The rear doors took ALOT of work. The "RT-AWD" logos had burned DEEP into the paint. It was more effective to just fill over the whole panel on both sides and then smooth them down. However, it took A LONG TIME.
This was my first experience with body work, bondo, primer, etc... So, its not perfect, but I learned a lot. This is what matters most to me. I put about 12 hours into the prep total. I feel that I could do the same amount of work again in about 8 hours, which I'm happy about.
I took off as many of the panels/molding as I could. I also removed all of the lights (tail lights and roof antenna mount removed when I got there).
I taped all the areas I didn't want painted, as seen in the pictures.
I will be painting all of the accessory pieces, as well as the bumper trim, myself. The bumper trim, moldings, mud flaps, front air dam, lower part of front bumper, and all other black plastic pieces will be painted with this SEM satin-black bumper paint featured below. My front and rear bumpers, as well as the mirrors were given treatment with the pictured high-grade Dupont Adhesive Promoter prior to taking it down to the body shop. I'll treat all the other black rubber and plastic pieces with this stuff prior to paint as well.
My 3/4" red pin-striping should arrive tomorrow at the local paint supply store. This will be going 360-degrees around the car at the middle of the trim molding. It was hella-expensive, since it only came in a 150-ft role
However, I feel that it is worth it, and I know that the pinstripe is what is going to set the car off and give it the old-gansta vibe I'm going for.
Lastly, after much careful thought, I opted to have them paint the mirrors as well. The base of the mirror will be left OEM black rubber, while the body of the mirror will get the Cool Vanilla treatment with the rest of the car.
Close-Up pic to give you the idea:
Once again, here's color choice. The shade is called "Cool Vanilla", and its from the current Chrysler line.
I hope it will all come out hot. I'll post pics when the car comes back from Maaco early next week, and then I'll post more pics as I get the molding/trim pieces and the pinstripes on.
Thanks for looking!
Nice update...how long is the painting supposed to take...
Maaco said the car will be ready for pick-up on Tuesday, possibly Monday.
woo can't wait to see it painted! 
Thanks man! I hope to get those on within a couple of weeks.
This thing is going to need a drop to make them look good.
This is presenting a prob., as apparently the 4WD wagons are much trickier to lower.
Unlike their 2WD counterparts, their rear suspension is set up totally different from the other
3rd gen civics. Thus, finding after-market support is TOUGH!
Back from paint!
"until next time we meet...."
Sorry for the delay in pics! Car actually came back yesterday.
I've just been so busy with teacher work-days, and baby-Eleanor.
I'm very happy with the outcome. My body work was decent.
I still have a LOT to learn though.
Everything will be back on the car soon, with the hood latch properly aligned as well.
I've had some problems reassembling the latch after I installed the radiator last weekend.
I'll get it fixed, just haven't had the time.
I'll post more pics once all the black pieces get paint, and are back on the car.
The trim molding in the center of the bumpers will get paint too.
What your seeing is kind of the "rough draft". There is still painter's tape on some parts of the car.
Maaco in Matthews, NC gets my stamp of approval. For $320, and 5 days turnaround time, they can't be beat.
Try them out!
Thanks for looking!
- Dan T.
"until next time we meet...."
Sorry for the delay in pics! Car actually came back yesterday.
I've just been so busy with teacher work-days, and baby-Eleanor.
I'm very happy with the outcome. My body work was decent.
I still have a LOT to learn though.
Everything will be back on the car soon, with the hood latch properly aligned as well.
I've had some problems reassembling the latch after I installed the radiator last weekend.
I'll get it fixed, just haven't had the time.
I'll post more pics once all the black pieces get paint, and are back on the car.
The trim molding in the center of the bumpers will get paint too.
What your seeing is kind of the "rough draft". There is still painter's tape on some parts of the car.
Maaco in Matthews, NC gets my stamp of approval. For $320, and 5 days turnaround time, they can't be beat.
Try them out!
Thanks for looking!
- Dan T.
Nice update...where about is Mathews in N.C.
Thanks guys,
Glad to hear that you like it so far!
Matthews, NC is just a few miles south of Charlotte, NC, in the Charlotte-Metro area.
There are 3 Maacos in our area, and they just seemed the most professional and down-to-earh
on the phone. I'm glad that I went there. They are very cool people.
Wheels/Lower: Coming ASAP. Def. will help on the appearance!
Glad to hear that you like it so far!
Matthews, NC is just a few miles south of Charlotte, NC, in the Charlotte-Metro area.
There are 3 Maacos in our area, and they just seemed the most professional and down-to-earh
on the phone. I'm glad that I went there. They are very cool people.
Wheels/Lower: Coming ASAP. Def. will help on the appearance!
it's commin along, the suspense is building!!!