89 Hatch (The Black Tortoise)

[TKP89]

Hey guys! This is the first thread I've ever started. I've had the hatch for a little over a month now, and i love it, just posting some pictures of her to see what you guys think, any suggestions or tips on making her more badass in any way will be greatly appreciated. My current project will be installing a keyless entry system on her and putting the sedan rear door handles on.

The Black Tortoise - Imgur

[Dr_Snooz]

Welcome! Your car's pretty tight. I would recommend that you detail the wheel wells. Clean and paint your brake hardware. I wouldn't use any garish colors, but that's just me. Then pressure wash your wheel wells and shoot them with some vinyl dressing to darken them up. It's a small detail but should give you a lot of bang for your buck.

[HLW]

Looks nice.

[derolph]

Welcome! Your car's pretty tight. I would recommend that you detail the wheel wells. Clean and paint your brake hardware. I wouldn't use any garish colors, but that's just me. Then pressure wash your wheel wells and shoot them with some vinyl dressing to darken them up. It's a small detail but should give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Is "vinyl dressing" OK on top of old undercoating? I like the idea of darkening the wheel wells but just wonder what product is best for that. What about some fresh undercoating on top of the old?

[derolph]

My current project will be installing a keyless entry system on her and putting the sedan rear door handles on.

The Black Tortoise - Imgur

Where can you get a a keyless entry system to install on a 3rd gen Accord? How are the sedan rear door handles different?

[TKP89]

Where can you get a a keyless entry system to install on a 3rd gen Accord? How are the sedan rear door handles different?

I think any keyless entry system will work on it for the most part, the one i'll probably get is the viper 211hv, and then you just have to get lock actuators, i'm under the assumption its pretty easy to install. And the key holes in my door locks don't work, so when i install the keyless entry system i'll put the rear door handles on just to give it a cleaner look, without the key hole on the handles.

[TKP89]

Welcome! Your car's pretty tight. I would recommend that you detail the wheel wells. Clean and paint your brake hardware. I wouldn't use any garish colors, but that's just me. Then pressure wash your wheel wells and shoot them with some vinyl dressing to darken them up. It's a small detail but should give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Thanks man! It sounds like a pretty easy job, is there a difference between the vinyl dressing and just paint?

[Dr_Snooz]

Vinyl dressing is any Armor All type product but paint might be fine too. I remember hearing that professional detailers use vinyl dressing, so that's what I recommended. I've used dressing in the past and it works fine. Most of the wheel well is plastic and if you paint it, the paint might come off the next time you pressure spray it. Just something to think about.

[TKP89]

Vinyl dressing is any Armor All type product but paint might be fine too. I remember hearing that professional detailers use vinyl dressing, so that's what I recommended. I've used dressing in the past and it works fine. Most of the wheel well is plastic and if you paint it, the paint might come off the next time you pressure spray it. Just something to think about.

oh okay, thanks, i'll definitely look into it.

[TKP89]

Just a quick update, i finished putting the rear door handles on the doors and i got the keyless entry system, and man those door panels are a pain in the ass to put back on lol. The check engine light keeps coming on sporadically and its not losing any fluids so i need to figure that out. Also just yesterday in the McDonalds parking lot a huge silverado backed into the hatch , so im hoping i'll be able to get the damage fixed by their insurance.

[gp02a0083]

I hate saying it man, but im pretty sure the insurance company is gonna total it. You could buy it back and have the repairs done with the settlement funds

[Gt-r]

Hate to agree but yeah. More then likely it will be declared total mainly to do with that being the region for the fuel tank.
My truck had gotten total'd out because the wreck it was in messed up the pass fender,grille and my bumper.


Best bet would be to scoot the car to a shop and have them give it a good once over and make sure there is no frame damage(Looking at the pics i doubt there will be any) then once the money comes through take it to the shop and have them fix it up for you.

[TKP89]

Luckily it is still drive-able for the time being. We're going to try to do this without getting the insurance company into it, so i'll be taking her around next week to get a few estimates, and hopefully see where it goes from there.

[Dr_Snooz]

That is so super sucky. Sorry your car got tagged.

[TKP89]

That is so super sucky. Sorry your car got tagged.

Thanks DrSnooz.

I took her up to a couple body shops today, and two of them just turned me away and said they couldn't do anything with it. The other place said it would be between 1900 and 2400 for it if they could even find a donor car (which around here there are no 3rd gen accords, let alone hatchbacks, so im pretty much shit outta luck. If i do get any money out of this whole ordeal i'll save it up for the accord. Im thinking about trying to bang it out and maybe bondo it or something? if anyone has any tips or ideas on that they will be greatly appreciated!

[gp02a0083]

its gonna take too much work and effort to pull it out , it will never be the same. You best bet to get an idea of how extensive the damage is, is to remove the rear seats and the hatch side panels. Look at the inner 1/4 panel for stress cracks and stuff in the paint , and the seam sealed areas for separation. There was a site that did supply the arches with the dogleg, but at best your's is going to still need a outer 1/4 skin. It may be wise to part her out.... if your not too far and do decide to go that direction, 1'd be interested in the complete hatch tailgate and the panel under the tail lights

[Gt-r]

if you happen to live in Alabama there is a hatchback in birmingham for 650. Needs brakes and a paintjob.

[Dr_Snooz]

The old school body repair method would be to use a slide hammer dent puller to get to worst of the dent out and then fill, shape and sand with bondo. It's do-able, but it will take a lot of time and skill to get it to look right. Spend the time and the skill will come so you could do that. There are some areas on your car where things are going to get a lot more complicated than you might realize. The wheel arch is one. You might be able to float out the bondo and make a smooth arch again, but it will be hard. The new method of body repair is to remove any dented panel and replace it with a new panel. Notice that your panel goes a long, long way up and over the car without any visible seams. Basically, you got hit in the worst possible place. Replacing that panel is going to involve some serious disassembly to drill out spot welds so you can remove the sheet metal from half the car. That assumes you can find a donor car, because it would be easier to find Shangri La than to find that panel new. A sort of mid-way between the two methods of repair would be to cut out the damaged area from the panel and then weld in a replacement piece from a donor car. That will require a skilled welder/body man and a donor car without the usual rust in that wheel well. You can fix it, but there's no easy way, unfortunately.

[TKP89]

Actually the guy at the shop said that the only one he could find was in alabama, and the cost would be about 2400ish, so thats out of the option :P

but their insurance company game me 1100 and a salvage title, so the resale will never be the same. Its still perfectly fine mechanically so im just going to drive it around for the next couple years, while saving up for another car with more part availability lol :P. Im going to try to bang most of it out myself, fix it to the best of my ability, but it doesn't have to be perfect, and it'll be a hell of a learning experience. Since the re-sale value is basically non-existent now, when i get rid of her i will definitely part it out on here.

[Gt-r]

er yeah...the one i found is a birmingham craigslist ad.

[TKP89]

er yeah...the one i found is a birmingham craigslist ad.

well then there must have been two people in alabama to have bought a hatch :P

[apache07x]

Just a quick update, i finished putting the rear door handles on the doors and i got the keyless entry system, and man those door panels are a pain in the ass to put back on lol. The check engine light keeps coming on sporadically and its not losing any fluids so i need to figure that out. Also just yesterday in the McDonalds parking lot a huge silverado backed into the hatch , so im hoping i'll be able to get the damage fixed by their insurance.

Worst part is the arch just like everyone is saying and you can probably procur just the arch from any 3g, as long as the uni-body is not bent that is very fixable. I'd have that knocked out in a weekend and you'd never even know it happened. On the other hand if someone did that to my hatch I probably would be in jail and not have the opportunity to fix it.

[TKP89]

QUICK UPDATE! After not being able to drive the car for about a month because of the salvage title, i am glad to say that i will be getting a re-built title tomorrow and she'll be street legal!

[Dr_Snooz]

Woohoo!! Do you have a strategy for dealing with the body damage yet?

[TKP89]

Woohoo!! Do you have a strategy for dealing with the body damage yet?

I'll either use a slide hammer and lots of bondo, or my father has a buddy who used to do collision repairs that might hook me up.