My LX-I

[LucidReality]

It looks like crap.$700. It is an 87' LX-I Hatch. Its got 227k miles on it, and its rusting badly. I bought it off of a guy who wanted to be rice, but didnt want to spend alot, so theres a big resonator on it, that was put on poorly Also, since i bought it, someone decided to open their door into the passenger side rear panel.... how that pissed me off..

Heres the pics, Sorry for the size, but i was a little lazy.

[Busted_Blue]

stop the rust!!!

[frantik]

yeah blue we're lucky to live in sunny cali where cars don't rust

[NotFast]

nice exhaust

[88accordhb]

ugh! idiot!

haha needs alot of work.

[88accordalltheway]

now thats what i call a literal rust bucket. Honestly, i bet that thing wasnt worth the money cause of all the rust. (no offence). You to alot of work to do to get that thing back into shape, but its possible.

[LucidReality]

Well, i plan on fixing as much of the visible rust as i can with fiberglass patches and using touchup paint to cover the new spots, and redo some of the old ones.. Then its on to rewelding the exhaust with new piping so it sits in the right place. Then its on to the big dent, once thats all done, i can start upgrading it.

Only thing is the engine is having problems. Its overheating. Not badly, and if i turn on the heat, it goes down, unless its really warm, and im driving a long distance at 55+, then the heat creeps even with the heater on.

I have been told its a cracked head, but the engine would have blown already i would think, my buddy had it for about 4 months before i got it, and he put 7k miles on it. Ive noticed that the main radiator fan does not turn on at all, not when driving or when the A/C is on, never. ive checked the fuses and the relay, and they are fine. So its either bad wiring, or the motor is bad. I think that would help greatly once i get that fixed.

If anyone has any suggestions for either fixing up the car, or upgrades to it, fire away, i would appreciate them.

[keruhas184]

I would try to get my money back and buy a better car. Seriously dude, for $1000 you can buy a much better 3g. But good luck with it.

[sporkHSP]

I bought one that was in that kinda shape for 300, and even then it wasnt worth it. If the body looks like that, the underbody is probably rusted to hell as well. The frame is probably not very stable because of the rust. you can see pics of my hatch on my cardomain page (click the sig pic). It can be fixed in parts, liek that whole piece under the taillights can be replaced(which I recommend) and if you can find a new hatch door then put that on too, then do some bondo and paint (carefully) around the gas door. After that and the exhaust, I would probably get rid of it, unless the underbody IS in good shape, then you could keep it and work from there.

also looks like some new taillights could be a good investment, or open those up and clean them well.

[BITESIZE]

Im going to cry for that sad car! Poor, poor, poor Hatch!

[Accord90]

If all else fails, do like the person in the background of the first pic. an buy a new one

[snoopyloopy]

if you paid $1000 for that, you were ripped off quite a bit. i found a couple for a good deal cheaper and running too.

[gfrg88]

[LucidReality]

Well, the tailights just have condensation in them from a hard week and a half of rain we had. But yea, The reason i bought this car, was because every other car in a 150 mile area was $1500+, i know this because i searched with a few friends for a while. I had just wrecked my other car in a stupid accident on a gravel road. And i needed a car to get to work, so i made a deal with the guy that had this car, i pay him 165 a month for like 4 months and the car is mine. And since i dont get that much money from work, it was basically all i had to work with. The sad thing, is even now, there isnt anything around here for less than $1400, so on one hand i should have gotten a better car, but on the other hand, i didnt have much choice.


Where can i find a replacement for the metal strip under the tailights? That bothers me the most, its probably the worst part of the car.

I checked under the car, and it doesnt seem that bad, but its a bit rough. The worst part is probably the sand/salt built up in the wheel wells and on the springs. That should go away with a good underbody wash at my local car wash. Otherwise the frame seems fine.


Is it possible to find/replace whole panels? Like the drivers side rear panel? or is that too much work to get off a junked car? If i could get some of those panels off, i could oxy weld a new peice of aluminum on there, after cutting out the rust of course, then grind it down, sand it, then repaint.

[gfrg88]

i think you should save up the money that your going to use fixing all the rust and just buy some other car that isnt as rusty as this one.

[sporkHSP]

the rear side panels are part of the body, you cant take them off another car so-to-speak but you could find a junker and cut most of it off and reweld it to your car. You need to find a junker to get that back piece off of, otherwise, I can keep my eyes out at the Junkyard and see if I can get one for you. it isn't heavy but its long, so keep that in mind for shipping.

EDIT
get the hatch door off a junker too. I thnk you just need to find a dirt cheap parts car. like maybe something to swap your working parts into so that you can have a full working car. I have nothing against you trying to fix that one, I wanted to do it to my hatch, and even though I didn't get to see the project through, I learned a ton about body work and 3rd gens.

[thegreatdane]

Holy crap buddy. I have no choise but to nominate that for the rust bucket of the month

I say drive it around until it falls apart, and then junk it or use it for spare parts for your next 3rd gen.

[carotman]

The rust isn't THAT bad. Here in Canada I saw cars twice as rusted as this one.

If the underbody is fine, it's easily repairable.

Get 2 front aftermarket fenders (altough they seem only to have surface rust). 1 rear trim under the taillights and get a trunklid from the junkyard.

You can then buy rear weld-on fenders and have them welded at any body shop

All you would need then is getting it painted.