Darren's 91 Si - Project Thread.

[Darren]

Howdy folks,

Figured it was time to start up a thread for anyone interested in what I'm up to with my car.

Here is the car the week I bought it, picked it up for E1950 in Dublin.



It was in pretty good nick. The picture above doesn't really show it but the bodywork was a bit ropey, the usual dents and scrapes associated with a 20 year old car including a fairly bit dent on the passenger side door. Engine was fine, it was fairly heavy on oil but nothing to worry about. Passed it's tests with only minor changes needed.

Since I've owned it, I've put in a new clutch, timing belt, rear light cluster, front indicator, brakes all round and a few other minor bits and pieces. I've been fairly lucky with it. It was off the road for about 6 weeks while I searched for a rear brake caliper at one point but other than that, trouble free driving for about 50,000 km - so far.

The first real major change has been a paintjob. I had moved over to England in January of this year but headed back on the ferry to Wexford to get it done about a month and a half ago. The following is how it went down. Enjoy!


First step was taking out the dents and dings - There were alot more than I had realised once the lad started looking for them to take out.






It's worth pointing out that I didn't do this work myself. Credit goes to a great lad called Mick who lives down in Wexford. For my car to go in, this classic job was put on hold.



As we got into the dent removal, I had a thought to remove the rear wiper. Now, that goes against my original plan to make it look like a brand new, off the production line, car. However, I love symmetry in a car and I'm very happy with it removed and smoothed over. Within about two mintues of asking would it be a hassle to remove it, it was gone and a plate welded under the hole.



Back to business:



This is the outside shed where Mick does his work. It's surrounded by all sorts of interesting works in progress. You could never be bored in a place like this!



The only problem with having so much cool stuff around is that you find yourself distracted from the important work very easily!





Still, regardless of us doing out best to avoid work, Mick kept his effort levels up and after smoothing, priming, sanding, filling and everything else that goes into a paintjob, we had something that started to look amazing.





I was back up in Dublin when I got those pictures mailed to me and couldn't wait to go down and see the car. I was delighted when I saw it. The finish is really deep, just like a brand new car. In terms of paint runs or anything like that, very, very minimal. The tiniest run on the back bumper which I only noticed when rubbing the car down a couple of weeks later. It really looks great and I'm deighted with it.

Here it is outside my house over here in England, the day I rubbed it down, polished and waxed it.











While all this was going on, my mate got this from a local breaking yard. I love it!




[u]WHAT'S NEXT:</u>

Next up is a wheel refurbishment. They are in really bad nick. They are definitely showing their age and bringing down the overall look of the car by quite a bit. I'm on the road with my job for the next 7 weeks but after that I'll be getting stuck into the wheels.

After that, a full engine bay clean out and paint. It's pretty messy looking in there and I want it looking new again.


[u]HELP NEEDED:</u>

I have a mate over here who is a printer. He can print me out stuff on vinyl for dirt cheap. I want to get the original decals back on the car. To my knowledge, the JDM Si came with DOHC either side and CRX on the back. My one has neither of these. First off, could someone more knowledgeable than me confirm what it might have come with originally? Secondly, could someone who still has theirs on take a decent quality picture and measure the height and width of the full thing? It would be really appreciated.