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View Full Version : Australian 86's - Red '86 Hatchback GTi - Project



Australian 86
06-24-2011, 08:34 PM
Here is my project page for my '86 hatch that i was recently was bought as a first car for my 20th (Feb 2011).

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2276/picture005qg.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/155/picture005qg.jpg/)


-1986 2L carb red hatch bought for $1,200 with 3 moths rego. (cheap in Oz)

The car was by no means in perfect condition, but it did have some very good aspects going for it. It came with a genuine 220,000 km's on the clock,
but by the sounds of it, it could these cars can go for many more...


The issues the car had but i have fixed is;

suspension was shot- got OEM replacement struts for $500 a set and replaced them myself (yes i realise now that you can get Koni's for that,
but thats Australian picing for you!)

Paintwork was as mottled as hell- took some cut polish and wax to it.

Black trim around doors flaking and rusting- i have stripped it all off (to where it needs to remain) and have primed all the chrome surfaces with
black etch primer (soon to have satin black enamel.)

Buggered muffler- got it replaced by a professional as the front half of the exhaust was custom. -$150

Shot speakers- (absolutely rooted as they were the original) 4x 6" clarion replacement speakers which i have mounted in the original spot, but taken
the ugly cloth off the speaker mesh and now looks amazing with the black mesh while discretely showing the speakers. -$120


Some of the other things needing to be done to the car is most of the rubber bushings and components which i can do all myself.

Faded paint on the roof- there is a considerable amount of red missing on the roof, and im also not a big fan of the black bumpers, so my plan is to spray
the entire exterior of the car with the original red.



The inspiration for this car is from one of the other members cars on here (Naf's 2.0i-16 | Neverending project and DD (http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=70871))
which has a beautifully painted red body (inc. bumpers) with white highlights (decals and rims). If possible i am going to attempt to replicate this as closely as possible as it looks BEAUTIFUL!


Now... performance modifications...
I am a little unsure how to go about all this as in Victoria (the state i live in) driving with ANY modifications the increase power is illegal on you P plates, which i'll have for the next 4 years ....
But, i know that most of the time its pretty had for police to tell the difference between a carb and an airfilter, so i think I may be willing to take the risk and if i incur too many issues ill simply
revert to stock...



So all up i want the performance without the visuals under the bonnet, and a classic sporty look on the outside...


Thanks for your time guys!

Australian 86
06-24-2011, 11:01 PM
well here are the long awaited pictures!
Ok i just realised i have no idea how to upload pictures for this site, but ill give it a go....
In the mean while ill point out a few things...

1. 16" Proton Satrina GTi rims (hence the title), with some really grippy semi sports tires. I think somewhere down the track ill get
them done in White to match my colour scheme.

http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/1381/picture004fd.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/847/picture004fd.jpg/)
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2276/picture005qg.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/155/picture005qg.jpg/)

2. why the hell do 3g accords have massive wheel arches!?!??! it makes my beautiful 16's look like 14's!

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6042/picture007k.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/picture007k.jpg/)

3. notice the sun damage on the roof, over here in Australia the damage we get is more to the top of the vehicle due to the sun, rather than the bottom from snow.
I know which one i prefer tho... (i think because of this and the bumpers that i want to spray, i might just give the whole car a once over)

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3544/picture012ic.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/96/picture012ic.jpg/)

4. New Clarion 6" 2way speakers, VERY NICE :D!!! i took the ugly and modest cloth off the speaker covers and left the black mesh that came with the car and imo it
looks SWEET! It still protects the speakers and hides them a little, but you can still spy them when you need.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5589/picture011u.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/855/picture011u.jpg/)
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4821/picture010ao.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/picture010ao.jpg/)
http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1787/picture014wn.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/190/picture014wn.jpg/)

5. look at all the black trim around the windows, i had to do it ALL! it was flaked to hell, so i stripped it all back to a logical point to where it would still seal the windows,
gave it two coats of black etch primer, masked it up, and two coats of satin black (all painted by hand).

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/3605/picture008sw.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/638/picture008sw.jpg/)

Australian 86
06-24-2011, 11:06 PM
6. UGLY BUMPERS!!!! wow i am getting rid of these as soon as i can, i plan to get a bumper from a 88-89 model prelude or something and spray it all red,
get rid of the dated two tone bumper/ paint combination! (and yes.... i am still an L plater (SOON TO BE DEALT WITH!) :(

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6738/picture016zv.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/3/picture016zv.jpg/)

7. Interior shot... (RHD :O)

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/475/picture015id.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/picture015id.jpg/)
Tell me what you think!

Australian 86
06-24-2011, 11:09 PM
Here is my latest "investment" in the car;
New number plates!!! (yes they are edited to 666-666, i dont want the cops rocking up to my house just because i have pissed someone off and put an "illegal" air filter on...)

I have had some issues with their placement, but i have a way of fixing it and should get around to it soon.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/8086/picture019x2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/577/picture019x2.jpg/)

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9482/picture018x2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/picture018x2.jpg/)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2020/picture021x2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/picture021x2.jpg/)

Australian 86
06-24-2011, 11:12 PM
To keep with my original design plan (attempt to steal Naf's 2.0i-16. :D)
I went ahead and ordered some decals, and start to rock the red/ white paint scheme.
I ordered these (in white) for US$29 posted (which works out even better here because our dollar is so strong atm (i got them for under $28!))
I'm sure i will use less than half of them, even with my badges shaved, but its good to be able to have the flexibility to choose many different sizes...
here's the link;
http://www.extreemedecals.com/default.tpl?action=full&cart=130664540488034734&--eqskudatarq=63

http://www.extreemedecals.com/productgraphics/honda15setl.gif

Thanks!

Australian 86
06-24-2011, 11:19 PM
Now the stage im up to!

-Order Engine mounts, air filter, timing belt, more rubber bushings etc. from
rock auto (should come to about $300, but still much cheaper than in Australia!)

-Spray the whole car :( (then get decals on) :thumbup:

- Get a muffler tip (is white to ricey???):rice:

-Vaguely looking for an Aerodeck JDM B20a engine... extremely enthusiastic, but not very hopeful... (but it puts out 160 BHP STOCK!!!) :devil:

- Remount number plates


Thanks for reading guys!

Australian 86
07-11-2011, 12:48 AM
Got my P's!!!
The restrictions down here in Vic are so crazy that it has taken me 5 years of L plate driving to get my P's! Not that im a bad driver or anything, i passed on the first go, and my tester said it was a really great drive.
The issue was logging all 120 hours i needed to log. I'm sure by now i have done around 300 hours, but that just goes to show how annoying it is to log it all...

Anyway!

So now i am really able to test the car out and get to know it. I have found that it really can take a decent revving and likes the 3-4k rmp range, only problem being its extremely extroverted in this range...

I have also found that when im on the highway traveling at 100 (60 for you guys) that in 5th gear the car revs up to somewhere high like 3,000 rpm... which im thinking is a little high... I believe the issue is an extremely old air filter that may have even been the original...
Could anyone confirm if this is a normal rev range for a stock standard carb'd accord doing 100kph (60mph).

Thanks!

Honda Man
07-28-2011, 03:07 AM
im so jelous of you and your right side drive! i want one impoted to the u.s.

Dr_Snooz
07-28-2011, 06:38 AM
Your car looks really good! The windows look exceptional. Much better than when I did mine. If memory serves, my car in 5th doesn't pull 3k until about 75 mph. Are you sure the clutch isn't slipping? What's the difference between L and P plates? Your rims look awesome. I wouldn't paint them myself, but do what makes you happy. Thanks for all the pics.

Australian 86
07-29-2011, 08:13 PM
well thanks guys!
If you're willing to pay the shipping price, by all means ill sell the car! :p (im not sure why you guys are so into the whole rhd thing...)

Clutch, yes the more i think about it, the more i think it is something loose in the clutch... I have 3 negatives about how the car drives at the moment and they all seem to lead to the clutch;

1. The ever annoying juddering when i use the gear to pull up the car whilst the clutch remains engaged.
2. Lack of power at higher speeds.
3. a whiney pinging sound when i rev high and then let out the clutch.

The only other thing i can think of is that the air filter looks like the original one from 1985 (very dirty :D). Keep in mind my car is the carb'd version, completely unmodified, so im not sure how it would compare to your ride...

Australian 86
07-29-2011, 08:19 PM
Oh, and the difference between L's and P's is the world...
I dont have to drive with one of my parents in the car
(which is now why im after some more performance :D)

Cody
09-11-2011, 09:18 AM
haha, im in nsw and have a red si hatch. you must know my pain for getting red panels lol.

Australian 86
09-12-2011, 10:48 PM
nah i haven't had the need for new panels yet, even if i had had a bingle, im planning on respraying soon, so its all good :D.

Hey if you ever manage to find rear louvers for this car i'd be happy to cover the cost of it plus courier! I haven't seen any down here yet...

Btw guys, i have the money for a b20a now, and i think it should be ready to be shipped from NZ within a couple of months! wow this is going to be a colossal job...

Cody
09-13-2011, 04:58 AM
I was thinking the same thing, my old man is a long time honda employee and always ends up with random accord parts, trouble is is usually something i dont need, like last time got a set of unused blue seat covers, (mine are grey lol)

Dude its gonna be hard to get a b20a. I had a b16a in an integra i used to have bored out to 1.8 litre with all the crx bits on it believe it or not and it was punchy but not as quick as you'd think. But if you're gonna go down that path im pretty sure any serious jap wrecker holds on to em for just such an occasion.

So whats the business with the rear window respray? i need to do mine, been lazy, did you pull them off the car? I keep looking at em going 'if i peel back all that rubber it'll look good but probably wont seal!'



nah i haven't had the need for new panels yet, even if i had had a bingle, im planning on respraying soon, so its all good :D.

Hey if you ever manage to find rear louvers for this car i'd be happy to cover the cost of it plus courier! I haven't seen any down here yet...

Btw guys, i have the money for a b20a now, and i think it should be ready to be shipped from NZ within a couple of months! wow this is going to be a colossal job...

Australian 86
09-20-2011, 05:21 PM
I'm assuming you are talking about the black trim AROUND the window... spraying a window sorta defeats the purpose of having one :D.

No, i didn't spray it. i simply stripped back most of the plastic back to metal (dont go all the way to the edge because as you said it is necessary for waterproofing...).

I used a very sharp chisel and carefully sliced it back to the metal just on the top surface so then the corners were still black plastic.

PLEASE aim for cutting a straight line. This is very important to having a legit look. Because we cant cut back all the plastic because we need it for waterproofing, it is necessary for us to make an additional line where we are cutting back to, and if its not straight it looks SHIT!

Then i sanded it all back a fair bit so the paint would stick... then you SHOULD (i didn't :D) soap it all up/ metho it so there is no grease on the surface.

Next i applied 2 coats of etch primer quite roughly (I dont know how necessary this is...)

Give the etch primer a bit of a sand to get off the high points.
Lastly i painted 2 coats of satin black paint, i think i made the right choice with satin as it basically looks like the stock finish.

I actually painted this by hand with a very nice quality but cheap brush, (about $3, but beautiful hair on it) that was very flat but about 20mm wide.

I used some turps to thin it down a bit because it dries REALLY quick for some reason (may have something to do with the etch primer...)

I believe the entire job painting all the black trim over the car (including windscreen wipers.) took about 8 hours total.

So there you go! i think i did a fairly good job for it being done by hand. Just remember to mask off the black strips fairly well as you don't want any black on your beautiful duco. This means there is no reason to take any of the trim off!

Dr_Snooz
09-20-2011, 06:26 PM
Wow. Two points for perfectionism. I cut wavy lines and sprayed some can black I had in the shed. I can't even remember if I prepped the surface. Of course it looked ghetto, so I found some undamaged trim at the junkyard and swapped it over. The new stuff is looking like it might start cracking any day now, so I'll have to step up my game this next time.

Australian 86
09-20-2011, 06:54 PM
Lol ok. Yeah I screwed it up a bit on the drivers side bottom window trim (passenger side for you guys) and I think I need a new one.. Whats the process for getting one of these off one car and back onto another?

Cody
09-23-2011, 11:38 PM
lol I did it last weekend. what a bastard of a job. I took the passenger side one off and managed to bend it in the process. so i left the drivers side on the car whilst painting it and managed to cut through the important sealing part of the strip haha. Also did the black strips around the rear window in a similar manner...

never again!!!

oh well, looks slighly less awful at least.

Australian 86
09-24-2011, 09:46 PM
Haha oh well, at least you had a go! yeah... now i have to get a new strip for my drivers side window, its worn out over the months... :banghead:

Australian 86
09-24-2011, 10:00 PM
I think...
my clutch has died :ugh:
i have posted a thread over in technical if anyone thinks they can help!

Dr_Snooz
09-25-2011, 01:38 PM
For the trim, remove the mirror and take out the screw that's underneath it. Then just pull up firmly and forcefully on the trim and it should pop right off. My advice is to try that trick on a few junkyard cars before doing it on your own. ;)

Australian 86
01-07-2012, 06:34 PM
There you go, over 4 months off the road, finally i have gotten around to replacing that damn clutch!

I got an exedy clutch kit from flebay for $180, which is extremely cheap considering it was posted to Australia for $80!!!
The problem with my old clutch was very apparent when we cracked open the gearbox. I'm not sure why, but where the torque springs were supposed to be, there were instead a rubber like damper... 1 of which had shattered to bits.
On closer inspection my dad noticed that there was ware on some of the metal on the pad plate... We finally figured out that it was because it was installed the wrong way around!

This finally explains the really doughy feeling of the clutch grabbing, and the occasional squeaking when the clutch was lightly slipped.

While i had the front end of the car hanging out, i replaced nearly all of the front bushings including the radius rod bushes, with the improved design blue MOOG bushes. Obviously 25 years of wear on a rubber component is a bitch, but the crappy rubbers i pulled out could easily be pressed flat by hand! The new MOOG ones on the other hand, felt like they were bordering on the density of plastic! The reason for wanting to replace these was to attempt to eliminate the shuddering/ throwing i got from the car when i let my foot off the accelerator, but even though i have still replaced both the clutch and front radius bushings, I'm still getting it! The only thing left i can thing of is a drive shaft bearing...

While i was at it i thought i may as well buy a clutch cable to soften that heavy clutch, but without thinking about the repercussions i ordered it from rockauto... So now i have a cable in my car that it twice the length that it should be! :D silly LHD people!

All in all, i think what i have done to the car has made a huge difference, most noticeably the clutch. While being on the heavy side, I would recommended to anyone the exedy clutch kit to anyone. It grabs very quickly, but never feels rough, and has easily given me back 10hp that i was loosing from my old oem clutch, especially on the performance side/ higher speeds.

I would like to send a special thanks out to those who were involved with the write up of the clutch replacement thread, i frequently used your advice and knowledge, and would not have been able to complete this monster of a task without you!

-Au86

Australian 86
08-20-2013, 02:57 PM
Hey guys. Due to the 260z and getting a job that requires a huge amount of driving per day (the reason I got the mr2)
I really dont have room for my super accord :p

I sadly say check out the sales thread so the car stays in the 3geez family. :(

Tdurr
08-20-2013, 07:05 PM
awwwww