thegreatdanes Aerodeck restoration project

[epic1400cs]

dont understand why you're doin the bondo in the engine bay eh dude
i like to think that we should do up our cars in a way that old man honda would approve of
we all know he was a mad keen racer
and with exception of the exterior appearance, the cars shoud tend toward the race car side of things.
dont get me wrong, i like a car to look good
i just dont see the point of doin show cars which it seems to me, you are doin.
but i spose we are entitled to our own interpretations eh

yeah, actually I was thinking of my aerodeck stripping out all the paint and undercoat in chemical bath, seam weld the mono coque(?), put roll cage in, replace all the wishbone with aluminium pipe, install MF204 formula engine plus safety tank to please Mr Soichiro Honda.


But I am still in doubt if that is really good idea cos I need to carry my son to kinder garden everyday

[thegreatdane]

Baah, you'll like it when it's done, trust me But you may not see the big picture yet. Lot's of race cars have a clean enginebay. But it's always a question of compromises.

Epic1400cs, you'll have to give me a ride in that! And also sell me an extra copy of that aluminium suspension.

[Hauntd ca3]

yeah, actually I was thinking of my aerodeck stripping out all the paint and undercoat in chemical bath, seam weld the mono coque(?), put roll cage in, replace all the wishbone with aluminium pipe, install MF204 formula engine plus safety tank to please Mr Soichiro Honda.


But I am still in doubt if that is really good idea cos I need to carry my son to kinder garden everyday

call me traditional but sochiro was a mad petrol head and racer far years.
the only company to be in f1 longer is ferrari.
i like to follow the same "race car" type of mods.
everything has a purpose and if it dont make the car work better, biff it.
but thats just my way of thinking.
and yes sem weld the monocoque
they only spotweld these bad boys together in the factory
you dont have to go nuts and weld every seam in the car.
the first one i did was just round the door frames.
my 3g is getting the full treatment
door frames, suspension towers, chassis rails etc
if i can get the mig at it, it'll ge welded
all in the never endeing quest of chassis stiffness.
toyig with the idea of a bolt in six point roll cage for doin sprints and hill climbs as well.
my 3g is my toy car tho
have the 5g h22a powered sir for my everyday car so it dont matter if its a bit of an arse to drive.

[epic1400cs]

Baah, you'll like it when it's done, trust me But you may not see the big picture yet. Lot's of race cars have a clean enginebay. But it's always a question of compromises.

Epic1400cs, you'll have to give me a ride in that! And also sell me an extra copy of that aluminium suspension.

Haha, yes if I decided to go full on!

It is really the preference of the owner and there is nothing wrong with finishing the engine bay with skim of filler I think. If I make hardcore racing car then it doesn't matter if the bay looks full of patch but thegreatdane is making something custom for his preference.

Haunted, that is quite straight way of being motor sports man. I don't have any problem with that. I am looking forward to see your fully reinforced body with roll cage in. By the way, are you going to strip the entire undercoat or paint on the body in the chemical bath? Or your seam weld may not be good due to lots of sealant in between the seam of the panels. I have learned thats how they prepare competition cars.

By the way, Soichiro Honda was genius engineer who loved speed and motor sports but I haven't heard that he was a racer (correct me if I am wrong - which race was he in? cos before he started Suzuka, there was no racing circuit in Japan) He was very enthusiastic to pursue how far the motor bikes or cars he design and produced can cope with well established competitors.

[Hauntd ca3]

rumour has it that old man honda was a bike racer first.
think he actually started in the bussiness baby sitting for the toyota family at the factory.
after ww2 he started a business making piston rings for toyota funnily enuff.
then started making motor bikes and like most manufacturers saw racing as the best advertising.
wasnt till the sixties that they got into f1 with i think was an air cooled v12 engine.
not terribly succesful that one.
like many maqnufacturers the only racing worth worrying about was in europe
suzuka was built as a test track same as the nurburgring was.
to most japanese manufacturers, the european market was the most important so thats where the company spent the time and money.
you willprob find that the states were one of the last markets to be entered into.
but back to the subject.
i'm only expresing my own opinion, i'm a bit of a purist .
if you are going to build a show car ,cool, make it look smooth as a babies arse if thats what you want
if you are going to build a car you can race, dont waste time,money and weight on smoothing out the engine bay,
spend it onmaking the car go as wel as it can.
i like what the great dane has done, it looks real good
dont get me wrong.
am sure it'll look good.
am not going to strip the car right back, dont have the cash for all that.
most comp teams will buy a shell from the factory and have no probs with all sealers that we have to put up with.
the only place you would run into sealers is round the roof and fire wall seams
not going o worry bout getting stupid bout welding round the rear guards etc.
just round the dor and window frames,chassis rails and susp pick up points.

the cage wont be a weld in job, just bolt in six pointwilth diagonal and side intrusion.

[kubior]

Hello. Whole world is waiting

[A18A]

^^sure is

[thegreatdane]

I'm not dead yet Might snap a couple of new pics next week. Hopefully next week some perhaps more interesting progress will happen too.

I'm having a big issue finding a solution for my bumpers. It's impossible to get anything shipped over from the US it seems.

[carotman]

It's impossible to get anything shipped over from the US it seems.

Why?

High Costs or just an hidden embargo?

I can ship you some stuff you need.

[thegreatdane]

Thanks carotman. I suspect the hidden embargo lol.
I've emailed a couple of places about a certain bodykit but no respond.
I need an 88-89 front bumper as well, but I've only found one place willing to ship it and the shipping was ridiculous.
I also need a lot of small honda parts like bolts and clips, but none of the online honda parts dealers ships internationally. Parts from Honda are usually 50% cheaper in the US than here, so I could save a few bucks, but it looks like I*ll just have to pay up.

I would imagine that bumpers and a load of oem honda parts would be too much for you to handle carotman?
Tomorrow I'll talk to my local Honda dealer to see how many banks I would have to rob to order bumpers home from japan.

[forrest89sei]

Thanks carotman. I suspect the hidden embargo lol.
I've emailed a couple of places about a certain bodykit but no respond.
I need an 88-89 front bumper as well, but I've only found one place willing to ship it and the shipping was ridiculous.
I also need a lot of small honda parts like bolts and clips, but none of the online honda parts dealers ships internationally. Parts from Honda are usually 50% cheaper in the US than here, so I could save a few bucks, but it looks like I*ll just have to pay up.

I would imagine that bumpers and a load of oem honda parts would be too much for you to handle carotman?
Tomorrow I'll talk to my local Honda dealer to see how many banks I would have to rob to order bumpers home from japan.

If you make a part list and pay in advance, I'd be willing help with shipping some new small oem parts if you want?

[carotman]

I would imagine that bumpers and a load of oem honda parts would be too much for you to handle carotman?
Tomorrow I'll talk to my local Honda dealer to see how many banks I would have to rob to order bumpers home from japan.

No, not at all. I'm always willing to help someone as dedicated to the 3rd gen community as you.

Like forrest89sei, with parts list and money, we can do everything.

The only thing we won't be able to get the the facelift rear bumper for the Aerodeck

[kubior]

http://moto.allegro.pl/18181_iii_198...r=t&view=gtext You can search something here. If you decide to buy something I can help you.
[email protected]

[thegreatdane]

If you make a part list and pay in advance, I'd be willing help with shipping some new small oem parts if you want?

Thank you for your offer. I'll keep it in mind. First off I'll try to work something out with carotman, so far I've only done great business with him.

http://moto.allegro.pl/18181_iii_198...r=t&view=gtext You can search something here. If you decide to buy something I can help you.
[email protected]

Thanks! So far I mainly need new spareparts though, but I'll keep an eye on it if I come in need of something specific.

No, not at all. I'm always willing to help someone as dedicated to the 3rd gen community as you.

Like forrest89sei, with parts list and money, we can do everything.

The only thing we won't be able to get the the facelift rear bumper for the Aerodeck

Well, all I can say is thanks a lot Jean and likewise! I'll try to compile a list of the parts I need when I get time and I'll send you a PM once I've done that. I'm currently waiting for my Honda dealer to find out whether it's possible or not to order bumpers home from Japan. That would be the only possible way to get the rear bumper (new).

[-Rotu-]

That's some awesome work you're doing. I own a Black '89 Aerodeck too and I hope that your Aero would also stay Black.

[epic1400cs]

Another aerodeck on 3geez! Welcome! Is yours German special edition?

[-Rotu-]

Another aerodeck on 3geez! Welcome! Is yours German special edition?

If you ment me, then I'm not sure, what edition it is. And I'm also not sure, if my Aero would be good enough to make a new topic here.

[kubior]

What is going on Sir?

[thegreatdane]

Well, tommorrow I'm heading off to Italy, going snowboarding for 10 days

Other than that, not much. I've been waiting for a body shop getting ready to take my car in, to put tin in all the welds and straightening out a couple of dents. I hate bondo, so this should drastically reduce the amount of bondo needed to make everything flush.
I had hoped they would get time to take my car before christmas but that didnt happen and I'm still waiting.

I ordered new gas struts from honda for the rear hatch, the old ones were shot. Ordered a new cable from Honda for the belt feeder at the drivers seat, the old one was broken.
Also ordered a new '88-'89 JDM/USDM front bumper from Honda, ordered home from japan. Expected cost around $400US which is cheaper than buying the EDM bumper lol. I also wanted the aerodeck facelift 88-89 rear bumper but it's not available anymore, so that was a big dissapointment. If they were still available it would still have been cheaper than buying the EDM rear bumper.

[carotman]

You could just buy a used rear bumper from Japan or NZ I guess. Make sure you get the facelift side moldings too. They will match the bumper better.

[thegreatdane]

After a lot of consideration I have come to the conclusion that I like the 86-87 moldings better, they have more of a flush fit.

I would get a used bumper if it was possible and not too expencive, but I think that's a tough one.

[epic1400cs]

I think that is wise decision - even in Japan late model bumper is extremely difficult to get hold of and Honda doesn't have stock either.

We are the early type bumper club, yey!

[thegreatdane]

Hehe, well for now at least
I should still be getting the front bumper.

[thegreatdane]

Today I recieved my brand new 88-89 front bumper ordered from honda japan. Came out to only about $300 US. Very cheap, I'm happy.

$300 alone wouldnt even cover shipping costs for getting a front bumper from the US shipped over here.

I'm hoping that maybe next week the car is going to the bodyshop.

[Cheeseburger]

pics pics pics!!!!