My before & after wreckage pics

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Well I've been really excited lately because my car is finally starting to look good again (not compared to other peeps, but compared to what it used to look like). I've been slowly working fixing it up ever since the wreck back on 3/27/00. I've done every bit of work myself, and I do mean everything, when time and money permitted, while still keeping her my everyday driver (which can be a difficult task). It wasn't just replacing the body panels either, the whole radiator support underneath was bent all to hell, as well as a bit of the side on the pass side. I cut the whole piece out and replaced it with another one I cut out from a parts car, so everythings straight now, just not aligned, lol.

Here she sits badly bruised on 3/28/00 and 253k
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/wreck2.txt
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/wreck3.txt
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/wreck4.txt
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/wreck5.txt

And here she is today 1/22/03, 57k trouble free miles later and feeling much better
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/newbumper1.txt
http://www.geocities.com/jdpenttinen/newbumper2.txt

Nothing spectacular I know, but not too bad for a complete ameture either, I don't think. What made it pretty much complete was the new bumper I got at the junkyard the other day (off the SE-i). It was in near perfect shape with just the paint chips you see in the corners, and already painted black to boot! Makes a huge difference over my old crooked sagging one. Now all I have to do is some aligning, as you can see by the pass side headlight, but that won't be hard. Don't mind the bad paintjob -- the hood and pass fender were painted with a quart of gloss black Rustoleum and a small foam roller, lol. Turned out better than expected though!

I'm quite happy with it :D I love my 3g :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Mike89Accordcom]

Nice to see your Accord come back to life Jared. Looks nice man!

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Thanks Mike! :)

[BITESIZE]

I wanted to cry for you when I saw those poor pictures. I'm very impressed with your work (hours and hours of sweat and lost sleep I'm sure). You have a true 3 geez heart. Keep it up.

That's a good reason to own a 3 geez, you can go to the salvage yard and pick from plenty of ones just like your own!

[BITESIZE]

As for the paint chips, put a bra on for now.

[Coke White SE-i]

Its lookin good again. Nice job. And right now, who really cares about the paint chips?!?!? Dont put a bra on it, i hate how those look, and it just kinda makes people think that you have something to hide, and o they will end up seing it anyway. Nice recovery!

[SiR]

Very impressive work!
I'm pretty sure that if that happen to my car, I couldn't put it back to anywhere close to what you have now. I'd just give it up and find another car. Looks like you have a lot of determination.

[johndej]

nice job man, what did you hit in the 1st place? as it was loading i was like "aww shit, he killed it" but by the end it looked great. good luck on getting everything wraped up on it.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Thanks alot guys! :wave: I'm glad ya'll think I did a good job....really makes all my hard work I put into it seem very worthwhile! Oh yea, I actually wasn't even the one that wrecked it. It was my moms car at the time, and she rear ended a '99 Ford Windstar on her way to work (long story....wasn't completely her fault). She was car #5 in a now 5 car pile up on the tollway. Insurance company wrote it off and gave her the check for what it was worth, and she paid off what she still owed and saved the rest. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it, so I asked her if I could take it and try and fix it up, and she said sure! After her 6 month driving suspension she went and bought a '94 Accord EX sedan, and by that time I had the 3g back on the road (actually a couple months before that, in July). Since I didn't have to drive her everywhere anymore and had alot more time, I decided I wanted to completely fix it up. So I sold my '94 Ford Ranger in Feb 2001 for the 3g since I couldn't afford both, and have been working on fixing it up ever since. So there's the story on that, lol.

I didn't think of posting this before, but here's a few more pics of the radiator support under the hood. I don't have any before pics with the hood up (well, I do somewhere, but not on the computer, lol), but I think you can pretty much guess what it looked like under there -- pretty crunched up. Here's what it looks like now with the new piece.

http://members.fortunecity.com/89accordlxi/underhood1.JPG

http://members.fortunecity.com/89accordlxi/underhood2.JPG

http://members.fortunecity.com/89accordlxi/underhood3.JPG

http://members.fortunecity.com/89accordlxi/underhood4.JPG

Now it just needs some fine tuning to get everything aligned right, which shouldn't be all to difficult.

:)

[blazin3gen]

NICE! hey how much did u basically spend for everything u did to it? was it hard? cuz my 88 has the exact same prob except its the drivers side

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by ghst2300
NICE! hey how much did u basically spend for everything u did to it? was it hard? cuz my 88 has the exact same prob except its the drivers side
Hmmm...it was spread out over such a long time it's hard to say exactly, but I'll try :)

Alright....heres the big stuff
-$600 for a parts car off ebay
-$300 for a welder
-$90 for a heavy duty reciprocating saw
-~$20 for a spot weld cutting tool and extra bits
-$50 for a radiator (junkyard)
-new battery (don't remember...probably about $40-50)
-$75 for ANOTHER replacement hood after the 1st replacement from the parts car flew up :mad:
-$50 for replacement moonroof glass (caused by flying hood)
-$20 for pass side sidemarker off ebay
-$30 for the bumper I just got (junkyard)

There's probably a few things I forgot about, and a whole bunch of little things. But that's the bulk of it. This took ALOT of time to complete though. Like I said, I've been working on it for about 2.5 years now, and it's just now getting nearly complete. It would have gone alot faster though if I had more time to work on it, and if I didn't have to drive it everyday. Many nights I was up all night long working on this, and a hell of alot of blood, sweat, and a few tears went into it. So to answer your question, no, it's not easy. But with enough time and patience, it can be done. And the greatest part, is when you do successfully finish it and get compliments like the above, it's a proud feeling like no other! Especially after having people tell you "you'll never be able to get that car looking great again by yourself!". I guess that's probably where my determination came from, lol

:)

[Bobs89LXi]

Congratulations Jared. You have prevented another 3G Accord from ending up in the boneyard. Well done. Now the important question is this: After the alignment is completed, what is next on the agenda?

[Neuspeed87lx]

great job man .... i know fixin stuff like that isnt easy .....

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Thanks Bob! I couldn't bear the thought of my car going to the junkyard. That thought was discussed shortly after it was wrecked, and I nearly started to :crying: :crying: , so I said NO -- I'll fix it!! LOL.

I'm getting the windows tinted in a week or so. After that, it REALLY needs a painjob (after I fix the rust spots, of course, which I will be doing shortly). Then some lowering springs/struts. I'll have to play it by ear after that...not quite sure all I want to do. I'd love to get some rims, but not enough $$$ in the budget right now for that.

Anyways, the very first thing I'm adding is these. SE-i rear discs I have sitting in my parts shed :D Got the cupholder too

[Grant2k]

wow, congradulations on your work. it looks great. i've been fixing my rust for almost a month now doing everything myself (with my dad) and keeping my car as a daily driver. it can be annoying, but it will all be worth it and you give me somthing to look up to and work towards. keep it up dude.

[Zeboy]

Wow. Damn that is one hell of a restorization. I give ya mad props. :super: Very nice job indeed.

[Luis 89LXi]

Man, you do a very good job on your car, congratulations.

[Micah 89LXi]

wish i could have u come fix my fender....glad to see ur accord back in good shape man...i had to do all my work myself too...i dont have pics yet..or any way of posting them..but good work

[Micah 89LXi]

your stuff lines up way better than mine..and i was only goin about 3mph skidding into the back of a jeep

[SiR]

Originally posted by Micah 89LXi
your stuff lines up way better than mine..and i was only goin about 3mph skidding into the back of a jeep

Damn Jeeps...

[87accordlxi]

wow jared, you did a really great job! it looks like nothing ever happened. i knwo that great feeling of satisfation you must feel. i feel the same way everytime both my taillights work at the same time :)

cant wait to see it totally fixed up the way you want it!