Bagged B18 '88 DX Coupe Build!

[Dr_Snooz]

Wide body kit yo.

[B0CKS]

Wide body kit yo.

why didn't I think of that??

[B0CKS]

Sorry the lull in updates, there's been some work around the car, but nothing spectacular worth noting. Mostly just loading the engine bay back up with objects and slowly installing steel brake lines whenever I'm free. I'm still waiting to hear back from innovative mounts about the updated trans mount, so the engine swap is kinda stuck in place, along with the Cheddas radius rods also being AWOL, the Accord hasn't moved much.

The other coupe has been rolling around the driveway a bit under its own power- it starts, holds idle for a little bit, and can stay on with some gas, and I'm not positive if that's a timing issue or tuning, but that project is also on hold, as I just sold my Civic and bought my first Non-Honda DD, the RWD Turbo Widebody edition of a 3gee, a 5-speed '87 Chrysler Conquest;


So now there's that to get in the way of my finishing my Accord lmao.

Be patient! I'll get there!

[Fixedit]

Happy to hear it's still going!! Hey man, what exactly is it that you do for a living? I see that you've designed graphics and rims for AEV? (which I'm not familiar with, just saw a post about it on your blog) That sounds really awesome and I'm interested in how one gets a job like that..it may be a route that I take a look at!

[B0CKS]

Happy to hear it's still going!! Hey man, what exactly is it that you do for a living? I see that you've designed graphics and rims for AEV? (which I'm not familiar with, just saw a post about it on your blog) That sounds really awesome and I'm interested in how one gets a job like that..it may be a route that I take a look at!

Well, the official term is "Industrial Design", which is basically the first step of a product! I spend my days at work sketching and modeling stuff out in CAD, so basically- imagine engineering if it was all fun and games haha, I was fortunate to land this job with a Transportation Design degree from College for Creative Studies (I drew cars for a major! Pretty rad!), and have to say upfront, it's a TON of work, each of our studio classes were 6 hours long, because art is never "done" right? There's only a few colleges to look into if you want to major in car design, Art Center in Cali, Lawrence Tech and CCS are both in Detroit- but you may also consider Product Design, which is much broader scoped, and more employable, it's designing everything from wheels to microwaves and a more common option at schools all over the country. So as for advice for getting into the field? Sketch. Just doodle stuff, it doesn't have to be cars- I was into flying ships when I got accepted to CCS- but start constructing a portfolio of sorts and send it off to a few colleges (or me! Any one else interested in the same major is an instant friend) and see what they think!

You can get familiar with CCS here: https://www.collegeforcreativestudies.edu
And you can get a small glance at what I do at work (NDA doesn't let me post much from AEV ) along with all the stuff I've made while at CCS here: https://www.artstation.com/pixel-pencil

Let me know if I can do anything!

[Fixedit]

Wow thank you so much for all the great info and advice, much appreciated! I’ll check out those two links.

I’ve kind of forgotten how much I’ve always wanted to design cars, and designing anything in CAD would honestly keep me content. I’m on sort of a music-path right now teaching myself Music production skills but it’s never too late. Cars are super important to me and I can’t forget about that, so I’ll start thinking hard about this.

[B0CKS]

Alrriiiight! Time to blow some dust off this thread with an update! It's been a month or two, and I actually have been doing stuff, just not to the right car!

The aforementioned Conquest is on it's way out, it's already getting colder here and I'm realizing that eighties RWD turbo is not the exact best of winter of vehicle, so it's for sale! And in the meantime, I've been patching together the wrecked Accord, and these next few posts will focus primarily on that car (since the main one hasn't moved an inch! )

So what's happened? I drove the spare Accord a bit, and found out that the racecar engine I had purchased and thrown together had pretty darn bad compression! So... engine swap!

...and done! This is the engine that originally came out of this body/VIN and was regasketed all that time ago, so it's back to numbers matching! (...after four engine pulls )

And so, after sorting out a whole bunch of odds and ends, next up was paint! The car had four different colors of paint and crumpled fenders, after purchasing eighty bucks of rattle cans, the car was sanded down;

And then painted the next day, no primer, nothing, total cheapo job.

So, it may not look like much, but a weekend spent a week later with four coats of polish says otherwise;


And so, it needs a tuneup, a few bolts, then a photoshoot! And in the meantime, I've also gotten some pretty good deals on some rad wheelies, so now the choice is between VW 14's, OEM painted Steelies, or Rad era 13's????

[B0CKS]

Wow thank you so much for all the great info and advice, much appreciated! I’ll check out those two links.

I’ve kind of forgotten how much I’ve always wanted to design cars, and designing anything in CAD would honestly keep me content. I’m on sort of a music-path right now teaching myself Music production skills but it’s never too late. Cars are super important to me and I can’t forget about that, so I’ll start thinking hard about this.

Heyo! Sorry I never got around to replying to this, but how's it going man? Any updates on the front??

[Tread]

Amazing work! Very impressed by your spray can skills.

[B0CKS]

Heyo! It’s been a minute, so it’s time for an update!

My spare Accord is once again my daily driver! It has been running great since visiting the shop, and there’s just a few more odds and ends to wrap up then its done! I’ve put it under the lens once or twice now, so here’s some images of it going places instead of mulling around the driveway!

[B0CKS]

This weekend allowed me to get a lot done! I was able to throw in new rotors, pads, upper control arms, tie rod ends (as well as fake an alignment in a car wash stall) and repaint my spare steelies for these new hubaps! I was lucky to find the wrong 3gee in a junkyard, so I'm geeked to make my car more bland with these turbofan inspired discs! The finishing touch (shipping as we speak) will be a 2G prelude steering wheel and this one will be done! Check it out!

[schaff70]

car looks great! Nice to see an update and you out driving it.

[B0CKS]

car looks great! Nice to see an update and you out driving it.

Thank you- me too!! this weekend should have some updates on the actual project, I can't wait!! Thanks for staying tuned!

[Dr_Snooz]

I like the hubcaps. Usually I'm not too keen on people putting wheels on the wrong cars, but that works. Nice! Good to see another 3g out and about.

[B0CKS]

I like the hubcaps. Usually I'm not too keen on people putting wheels on the wrong cars, but that works. Nice! Good to see another 3g out and about.

I agree! Normally hubcaps are a no thanks but I've really come to love the simplicity of these wheels, and I think with the anonymous white paint car to complement them they work rather well!

[B0CKS]

Updaaaaate!

Well, with no other sincere projects on the docket at the moment, the main Accord is back in the spotlight! I spent the weekend starting to wrap my head around what all needs to be done (once again), and checked off a lot of boring stuff from the list, I.E. torque the suspension, install new rear upper ball joints in the CORRECT direction (if you see my pictures of my rear disc swap, the ball joints in the rear adjustable control arms are BACKWARDS. WHOOPS), undercoat some more of the floorpans, you know, boring stuff. But there were a few cool things! I've finally gotten around to installing the Cheddas front traction bar, and it is one SOLID install. I'm still sorting the radius rod (they're just acting up a little :I ), I stripped down the excess wiring harness from the B18 (there's so little left! It's great!) and started working on my splice from the A20! Oh yeah! And I also installing space tape on the rear firewall! The engine bay paint has a fair amount of tooth to it, so it will absorb grease and oil in the future (sorry future self!) and I'll have to figure that out once it really bothers me. So basically I'm using the tape to act as a shield where I believe much of the oil will be going! We'll see how it does. It's a little Hotboi Stance for the rest of the build, but I like how it kinda' modernizes the whole look of the engine bay!

So, halfway through with that and bored, I decided to lower the car around the B18 (on the stand) and get a sneak preview of what's to come! And needless to say- I'M EXCITED.





And this is a secret- but I'm hoping to take a week off of work these next few weeks and just hammer out this car! Can't wait!

[B0CKS]

Tiny update! Mostly just spare Accord stuff, but I like these pictures and wanted to share them! The alternator on the daily driver blew out over the weekend, and so I pulled one off one of the spare engines I have, was able to chuck it in there with... a reasonable amount of ease, and the car is MUCH happier! Sweet! And, as promised, the Prelude wheel is in! It took like a 2mm thick washer to push it off the column enough so it doesn't rub, and it looks, works and feels great! Yay!




And, I got some matte rolls for my vinyl cutter from amazon, so I "restored" most of my center cap collection- anytime I see one at a junkyard I pull it! And don't mind the orange one- it was a test cut!

[B0CKS]

Got a couple of big boxes checked off this week, so check it out! The Daily driver Accord is now all winterized up with a fresh alignment, CV, tie rod end, new tires on 14" 1987 VW GTI 16 valve alloys, fluid checkup, LED headlights to be installed, some rubber floormats, a new shift boot/knob aaaand ( ) I found an arm rest at the junkyard today! It's broke in half as most of them are, but I think I've got a plan to restore this one pretty well figured! Nicer by the day!!


But onto the main reason for this thread, the main Accord is making good headway, I "fabbed" (kinda' an insult to the word fab there, but oh well) a custom radiator mount for the half radiator, and it seems plenty functional! I'm using EK Civic radiator buskings for the time being, I'll see if I can optimize them or something!

And the trans made some serious headway! From finding it in the mud and bringing it home:

To primer:

To paint and detail work:

TO FINALLY BOLTING IT TO THE ENGINE:


And I also finally got all of the firewall heat taped as well as modified the engine mounts just enough to fit! Along with a few other things to, but that's all the big stuff!


So, fingers crossed that the rear engine mount T bracket I got from the junkyard lines up correctly with my split gen Integra drivetrain, but we'll find out!

[B0CKS]

Oh and one more thing! I caught up with one of my photography friends and learned about a few awesome tricks! Check out the DD looking way better than it has any right to!:


Rad! Stay tuned!

[Dr_Snooz]

Sweet!!

[B0CKS]

Sweet!!

One step at a time! Thanks again!

[B0CKS]

Alright, time show off a little accessory I've been keeping under wraps since June! I'm sure many of you are familiar with this vehicle (and vehicle), the Honda City and Motocompo;

Well I think you know where this is going (not IN the trunk, obviously.)

At the time, I had just been able to hop onto a friend's Honda Elite and realized how much fun that was, so I really wanted to pick up my own moped- which is where I found my bizarre adoration for the Honda Spree. It turns out, 1984 was the only year these bikes came in white (it has to be white! C'mon!) and those were hard to find, but I always carry a rattlecan, so here we go!

So here's what I found, a black 1985 Spree, non-running, but clean and complete!

So the first thing I got to was tearing it down to the frame:

No, THE FRAME.

And replacing the low compression head as well as starting in on the necessary respray:

I also sourced a few more new parts (turn signal housings, "radder" tread front and back, and a few other misc things)

And here's where the fun starts, the color scheme and graphics of the black Spree didn't quite match my "White, Black, Dark Red" color scheme (see: Turbinas), so that's when I got started on my custom tailored Vinyl Cut Graphics and Gauge cluster:


And with that, the Spree was mostly complete- but there's still more to go! See the next post! VVV

[B0CKS]

So what was next? Reassembly and restickering, here we go!


Here's the old Gauge Cluster, notice all the blues and greens?

Versus the graphics custom made to match up with the more angular eighties look and color scheme of a very special Accord:

And of course, a fully necessary GumBall helmet was found for cheap (and customized!)

And that wraps up where this project is currently at! All I gotta' do is rebuild the carb, and finally bolt it all together, and of course, I've got plans drafted for the rack that will hold it sideways on the back of the Accord! Lot's of fun to come!
Also, I have plenty more in the way of updates, so onto the next thing!

P.S:
Full Build list:
Exterior
-Full Body Respray
-Wheels Repainted Silver
-Custom Designed Gauge Cluster
-Custom cut Black/Red Vinyl OEM 1984 Side & cowl Decals
-Helmet Purchased (I don't know if this counts haha) w/ Custom "Scoot or DIE" designed and cut
-New Rear View Mirrors
-Repop OEM warning lables
-New Turn Signal housings
-Embossed H O N D A text over chain drive cover filled with OneShot paint
Mechinal
-New Head, Piston, Rings
-Rebuilt Carb
-New Oil Pump
-New Tubes and tires (both wheels)
-New Bystarter
-New bulbs

That's all I can think of!

[B0CKS]

I mentioned that I scored an armrest snapped in half a few posts back, so here's what I did to fix it up and get it installed! The repair was pretty easy, I made a very simple U shape and flipped that into the bottom of the rest, the U shape locks it in place, and four holes will make room for bolts to come through, and a simple metal plate to hold the bolts steady in the upper!

And then dropped them in place:

And booyah! Done! Invisible and Invincible!

The final layering went:
-Bolt
-Washer
-Metal Reinforcement
-Plastic upper
-Nuts (as spacers)
-Plastic lower
-Metal reinforcement
-Nuts!

Easy!
And so let's install it! (It'll be going on the DD for now!)

It doesn't perfectly match the interior, so I'll be taking one of my worn out seats and reupholstering the pad with an OEM color match once I have the time!


Another thing off the list!

[Dr_Snooz]

Very cool! I snagged an OE armrest from the junkyard a few years ago. I didn't intend to use it, but grabbed it knowing that they're only getting harder to find. Now that I'm daily driving the car again, I want it!! I just need to get the cushion recovered because it's nasty right now. I have a set of cupholders too, but the place they would go is currently occupied by my gauge cluster. They'll just stay safe and sound in my storage.