DelSol: Its all bout the SOUL.

[DarkAccoon]

This time, my journey brings me to another level of epicness.....

A full restoration project (estimated to take about 2 to 3 months or more.). So updates will be done progressively. Do remember to check back once a while for more updates.

History lesson:
My project involves a Honda CRX Delsol 1992. A 20 year old car that has gone thru thick and thin with me and his owner. We were young back in those days and we did had a lot of fun with this car.

But I guess no one is interested in knowing my old time stories. So I will stick to the car. Car was bought 2nd hand by my best buddy from secondary school around 2004. It was freshly re-painted back then. He used the car for a good few years but later due to other commitments and in need of a bigger space car, he has sort of abandon the car for more than 3 years in his car porch which is.... open air...

I had asked, begged him to let me restore this car to its glory days as I find it as a really really good challenge. As I am not taking any payment nor have any monetary commitment to this project, it shall be slow paced and rest assured.... very very detailed.

Lets start off with some shots of the car upon arrival (actually its been sitting under my porch for a good week before i started.)

The dirt inside the glass is so thick that you can draw on it.

So is the dirt outside....

Dust on the top of the car.....

Really bad clear coat failure.....

The dirt inside the window was so thick and hard that i had to use water and cloth to write this....

Can you see the spots on the bonnet.... caked up dirt from 3 years or more of no washing

Broken pieces from the windscreen mold...

Dried and cracked window rubber mold.

Pretty thick dirt...

Rear window rubbers have seen way better days...

Rear view of the car..... pretty dirty.

Following pictures are not for the faint hearted.....

Interior photos of fungus infested car.

Oh yeah, fungus man was indeed here.

This side is more severe as this is the part of the car that was exposed to moisture most

Even the dash is not spared....

Poorly prep paint job = paint starts to flick off on its own...

After a quick wash with Osren Bubble and Wash + Optimum Power Clean

Inspection time..... clear coat failing on the bonnet..... i will worry bout this later as exterior restoration will be done last.

Glass and roof has totally no beading and feels rough like sand paper....

How black the water is after the quick wash.....

Now, I shall start stripping the car from the inside.
Seats out. *This is a 2 door, 2 seater car.... so only got two seats ya*

Unexpected treasure found.... I shall take these coins as my payment.... hopefully the owner does not ask for it back. KAKAKA

Fungus on the rear panels too....

All must come out.... in order to clean it properly.

Since the seats are out, I installed a new seat brand IKEARO.

This is how the rear firewall looks like...

I am dead serious when I said I drove the car with this IKEARO seats...

Some of the things found inside the panels.... rusted like mad test pen..

Let's start detailing the seats.... since its out.

Can you see which side was detailed after one pass of OPC 1:5?

Now whole seats gets OPC 1:5

Can you see the difference?

Still cannot, then compare both seats, which is detailed and which isn't?

Hmm, some weird stains....

Tested a small part with OPC 1:3 and it came out....

So I did it to the entire mark and its mostly gone... more work needed on it.

Rear seats as well....

Yes, this is what was lifted out from ONE of the seats. 20 years of..... butt sweat.

Remember the rear panel that I spoke earlier with fungus.... HALF HALF should convince you on the power of knowledge and Optimum Power Clean.

Comparing it with another side that is not done

Another comparison so you can tell that there is really a difference and not just lighting or camera trick

50/50 of the other panel

That is all for today. Look forward to more updates as the project continues.

Product used today: OPC 1:3, OPC 1:5, Osren Bubble and Wax, Muscle Power, Screw Drivers, Ratchet size 12.

 

[GRexer]

That's really bad compared to a project I'm working on restoring too. I suppose the glass top leaked moisture in. Mine's a hard top so the fungus isn't so bad.

 

[Veloc]

Awesome and patient job there. Even removed the seats!

 

[eohl79]

That's a pretty badly abused car. I wonder how the driver goes around in this car with fungus and dirt inside.

Oh no why did you damage his special dirt window tinting?

 

[kc2]

wow wow

u r great......


i like yr 50/50

a true heart of great detailer

I know what u went thru...trust me....it wasnt for the money

 

[loose_end]

Wah, that was once not good for health.

 

[DarkAccoon]

That's really bad compared to a project I'm working on restoring too. I suppose the glass top leaked moisture in. Mine's a hard top so the fungus isn't so bad.

Because its bad so I take it as a challenge. The water was leaking in from the top which later on will be sealed and restored.

Awesome and patient job there. Even removed the seats!

You wait for more updates.... more things will be removed.

That's a pretty badly abused car. I wonder how the driver goes around in this car with fungus and dirt inside.

Oh no why did you damage his special dirt window tinting?

Erm... driver did not drive this around... just left it parked in the porch for couple of years.... The tinting..... will be damaged even more, wuakakaka

wow wow
u r great......
i like yr 50/50
a true heart of great detailer
I know what u went thru...trust me....it wasnt for the money

Indeed this is more of a challenge and learning experience. Also a chance for me to test out new techniques. More to come in the near future.

Wah, that was once not good for health.

Was once not good for anything.

More updates soon as I cleaned more of the interior parts. Look out for it.

 

[kazukimy]

cant wait for ur update!!!

 

[DarkAccoon]

You want it... you get it... more updates.

Got some time to clean the rest of the interior parts that was taken out in Part 1 and more...

Can you see which side is detailed and which side isn't? *Hint:less oily is detailed*

Without flash, you can see the color difference.

As this car was fungus infected, I leave no chance and detailed the rear of all plastic panels as well... Can see the dirt?

OPC 1:5 with a brush....

Nice and clean..... no fungus spores left alive

Which side is detailed? *Hint: the darker color is detailed*

Its air vent looks ok

Are you sure?

Probably few years of dust inside here.

OPC 1:5 + Toothbrush (yes, i used to brush my teeth with this brush.... USED TO)

You get.... miracle....

This is the climate control sensor at the back of the panel

Took it apart..... for fun.... nah, for detailing.

Closer look on the amount of dust here.

After detailed.... oh yes..... took awhile cause of the small gaps

Both side detailed... nice?

Among many other things found...... a 2009 MPSJ ticket...

More money found.... hehe.

More dirt found.... huhu

Cleaned.

The top of the middle panel where no one sees.... no one clean

After detailed..... looks better.

But how much was lifted from such a small place? A LOT.

Detailed but not much difference.... for some odd reasons.... its pretty clean?

All the things you saw.....is missing these dirt

And its a bit oily.... odd indeed.

OMG.... someone stole the door panel....

Why would they steal door panels?

To detail of course. Which side is detailed is kinda obvious so I would not ask. Just enjoy the 50/50 ok!

Another view just so people stop saying its camera trick.

Notice all the parts of the detailed panel are gone? (switches, handle, lock and all)

Yeah, even the fungus is gone

Yes, its indeed..... a transformation

The speaker covers are not spared as well...

From the previous millienium

Brush brush with OPC 1:3.......

Sweet cleaniness

Switches were also dismantled and detailed millimetre by millimetre.

Switch taken apart.

Installed back after cleaned.

20 years of human palm on the door handles...

Yeap, its dirty

Window sills.... normally I would just replace these but since this car is a bit hard to find parts.... detail till clean

Brushing on the way with OPC 1:3

No gaps, no folds, no dirt shall escape me

Spreading the rubber for exercise.... and access to the dirt

After OPC the panels, water started beading?

Amount of dirt on the door panels alone..... DOOR PANELS ALONE WEI.

Time for some fun..... me and the owner once joked that this car is meant for war.... cause the door panels can be used as SHIELD.

And as a weapon.......

Passenger side door panel which was the worst hit...... no traces of the filth earlier

Driver side panels... sweetness...

Both panels are sunning to dry.

That's all for today. Heading for a few days break as Hari Raya is here and I want to spend some time with my love ones.

Time taken: about 5 hours.
Products used: PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE, OPC 1:5, OPC 1:3, Brushes, Toothbrushes, Screwdriver, PATIENCE and common sense.

Note: The top part of the door panel have faded due to the sun's UV.... this is PVC and not leather so anyone can tell me where to get PVC dye? Hopefully with lots of different color choices. I am sure the owner won't complain unless I dye it pink.......

Look forward to more updates.

 

[kc2]

you another mad engineer liow.....
Saluting your PASSION

 

[DarkAccoon]

Part 3 is up.

Had a bit of time after work so I continue working on the Sol.

Took off the roof top to facilitate the removal of.... something big and chunky.

Can you spot what big chunky thing was removed?

Oh yeah, the dashboard has been removed and this is what is underneath. Will be cleaned later as well. Look out for the future posts.

The rear trims were removed as well (damn, this is very difficult to remove.)

I am still having trouble removing the front trims. Anyone can tell me how or show me a guide... i would appreciate it a lot. Else I will be detailing this part of the trim while its inside the car.

The inside of the car now looks....messy... with everything everywhere

A closer look at the parts that was removed.

Oh yeah fungus infested dashboard is.... gonna be de-fungus

A 50/50 shows just what a big difference it can make.

Taken without flash

Taken from another angle.

All possible with OPC 1:5. and some brushes and cloth and water and PATIENCE.

This is the cloth used.... not so dirty wert.

Closer look and you can see it is dirty...... very...

Dashboard sorta done... more work will be done to it as only the surface was cleaned. The inside is still..... not touched.

A 50/50 on the rear trims.

50/50 on the rear trims.... rear. Told you all that I am not leaving any chances for the fungus spores to survive. Behind also must detail kau kau.

Dashboard done and placed inside the house.

Yet another transformation..... from the fungus infested dashboard once seen.

And this is the amount of things removed from just the 3 items. Would have loved to continue but was getting late at night.

Time spend: bout 5 hours
Note:
- Removing a dashboard on a convertible car is very much easier compare to those with a roof.

More updates to come soon. Stick with me.

 

[DarkAccoon]

Time for another update....

This time it consists of couple of days work. Not that i got lazy, just that there was not enough to post as an update so i figure might as well gather a few days work and throw it in one shot. Erm.... i let you guys jump straight to the photos and commentary.

Ok, so i took the glovebox out and nothing much to detail as my friend already wrapped it in insulflex previously.....

So I sprayed OPC 1:5 on to the glovebox front and..... without agitation... i saw.... dirt flowing down

Took the locking mechanism apart to detail

Detailed the portion behind the latch for the lock.... was not able to access it without first removing the locking mechanism

After detail of course must....put it back.

The rear portion of the glove box

After detailing....

This is the rear part of the plastic piece below your steering.... yes, its dusty

As said previously, not leaving any chances for any fungus to remain

Front portion of the same plastic piece has been detailed as well

Hmm.... some dirt on the fuse map...

Detailed. Note: scratches cannot be removed.

Can someone read this?

OKAY, now, lets move on to..... the gear level area

Fungus has taken over....

The back portion of the same piece.... why like missing some things?

Cause I dismantled it......

Areas that do not really get cleaned cause its..... just not that obvious

After detailed.....

This is actually the air cond vent at the gear level that keeps our butt cool.... pretty dirty as well.

So..... cleaned it and it looks marvellous. I bet the owner's butt will be cooler now.

Remember the fungus infested gear boot.......

Nice, clean, suppled.... with just OPC 1:5 and ONR to rinse.

The rear portion again.... now it looks more like it.

From the side.... sweetness...

This is the steering cover where the owner last sticked a sensor.... glue mark remains after 3 years.

OPC-ed it and its..... gone.

Can you tell me which side is detailed?

This is the before....

This is the after.... i was surprised as not just the fungus is gone.... the 20 years of dirt is gone and it exposes the real color of the interior

Some jap words...

Cleaned?

Yes, its clean but i just dun understand what it written

Can someone help me translate this.... looks like the instructions to remove the roof.

Final shots of the head thingy before you guys get bored.

This is the amount of dirt taken out...... in the items you just saw. I took the grit guard out so you can see its not because of the gritguard that the water looks black... its because the water IS BLACK.

This is from another day already.......
The door panel lights.... pretty dirty after 30 years so I took it apart to clean

Can you see the difference?

Even the door handle small small gaps has dirt

Which is now gone....

Some of the air cond vents

Not a lot was cleaned so the water still is a bit transparent

OKAY, another day comes and its time for the more serious stuff......

Took out the rear panels to expose the rear window and its mechanism.... had to do it as the motor is no longer working.... for now.

DIRTY glass...... to be dealt with later.

The motor that no longer works

Pretty rusted up.... probably jam but its to be expected since it has not been used for about 3 years...

My technician insisted on helping....

If you have the memory of an elephant and the eyes of an eagle, you would notice that the bracket has moved from the earlier position.... which means......... ITS WORKING AGAIN. Will tell you guys how it got fixed in the notes section at the bottom.

Since its out.... might as well grease the whole thing...

The rear panel..... that houses the motor and rear window.... superbly dirty.... by the way, this is not a 50/50 shot...... its just that the lower part of the panel is dirtier than the upper part....

ME.... OPC-ing the glass....... with no slippers.

50/50 of the glass.... nice?

The bracket for the glass...... moldy...

And now.... cleaned.

The other side of the glass.... note, the yellow worm like thingy... is just dunlop glue used by the manufacturer to stick the thing...

Cleaned..

How bout it.... nicely cleaned glass.

OKAY, sun the rear panel long enough and its super burning hot....

Installed back the rear motor assembly....

The keen eye would notice that I installed this wrongly at the moment. The cable should go below the motor and not above the motor.

So I had to take it out and re-do and installed the glass.

Glass was cleaned enough and the semi legend is so tired that he was caught..... sleeping in his work..... or in this case... sleeping ON his work

As there are more to be done....... and I am too tired, i put in a no entry tape.... in hope that no cats decide to jump in and pee inside.

Notes:
- The rear panel seriously needs some patience and skills to remove... one wrong move and its bye bye glass...
- most online guide are pretty dumb in assisting to remove this panel.... for example *to remove and replace broken broken, first wind down the window.....*
- I call it pretty dumb as....... how on earth do they expect me to wind down the window when the motor is broken and there is no manual way to wind it down.... donkeys.
-The motor was repaired with.... a spare battery to test it and a screwdriver to knock it..... i guess it just needed to be whacked to start moving again after 3 years in hibernation.
- a 20 year old motor is still working..... compared to a local brand's power window which breaks down every 1 to 2 years.... this is good shit.

Time spend: about almost 15 hours in total span from a few days.
Products used: OPC, passion, brushes, patience, toothbrush, knowledge, cloths, water, ONR.
Satisfaction level.... cannot be determined yet.

Please leave your comments whether good, bad, gibberish, pointless, honest opinion, assistance as it is very much appreciated.

 

[kazukimy]

very very good, and detail in every corner....!!!!!

 

[DarkAccoon]

It has been 20 days since my last update..... little progress were made as the things I am doing now takes a long time for curing and also I been busy with other cars as well.

So here is a hint of what is to come in the near future. This post is sorta like a teaser yeah. Specially for ZTH members as this will not go into my blog....yet.

Remember this rear window lining....... after 20 years, it is bound to break

This is during the restoration.

And this is the finish product.

Notes:
- There is still minor cracking lines on the lining. I should have sanded it down to bare metal before applying this magical potion.
- Magical potion used was PLASTIDIP. not so easy to use and its even harder to store.
- i have to add thinner to the plastidip every few days to prevent it from drying during storage.
- each coat of plastidip takes bout 12 hours to cure.... even if the instruction says shorter period of time.
- this is the result of 8 coats of plastidip.

 

[nishantdarshana]

 

[wongsengming]

i have a wira sedan also same matter as this car, full of dust, and fungus inside. thinking to give it a restoration as well.
after read those process, its awesome:top:
may i know those product name you use for the car? do you sell those product?

 

[DarkAccoon]

thanks and I am glad I am able to inspire you to restore your wira.

Products used so far is:

- OPC/Alien Clean (you can ping KC2 in this forum, my sifu and supplier for Optimum Products). Not to say OPC is the only one capable of doing this job but it ease the cleaning process.
- PlastiDip, this one i got from ACE Hardware....... warning, do not open it unless you have a bottle of thinner lying around as this thing dries fast and the original container it came with does almost no sealing

 

[sm84]

ur job: mesmerizing..super inspiring...outstanding..
u: extreme hardworking...lil bit crazy
me: can dying..

good job...only 1 in malaysia..

 

[DarkAccoon]

ur job: mesmerizing..super inspiring...outstanding..
u: extreme hardworking...lil bit crazy
me: can dying..

good job...only 1 in malaysia..

Thank you for your kind words. Part 5 is finally up. Will take me about 30 minutes to alter the code before posting into ZTH. why must ZTH and Blogspot use different html codes.....

If you are eager to read bout part 5, please proceed to my blog. Address can be found on my signature.

---------- Post added 10-14-2012 at 12:01 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was 10-13-2012 at 11:46 PM ----------

Extremely sorry for the long hiatus. Been busy with other cars, life, day job, life, travel, life and etc....

So this update.... is a bit more extreme.... BE PREPARE FOR 88 pictures. Interior to exterior to....mechanical thingy.

So all the tools have been removed and the carpet looks...... messy...

Some white fungus (not the edible ones) found on the carpet.

Zoom out to make sure you can see that it is a big spot.

Spray with OPC 1:3 and brush with a........TOOTHBRUSH.....oh yeah.

After brushing.... no longer visible.

Proceed to vacuum the place....

The entire carpet was spray with OPC 1:3, agitated with a brush and vacuumed....

In the last update, the rear window was removed and this is the dirt inside the panel.....hmm... looks like hiding something

A 50/50..... reveals that indeed something was hidden

A closer look at the thickness of the dirt.... almost an inch (i love to exaggerate)

Yes, it was hiding a drainage hole.......which was blocked btw. So i stuff the vacuum and suck whatever I can and shot some compress air inside to clear it

Hmmm... the other side seems to be hiding something as well....

Cleaned both sides and no more 50/50. This is an after shot.

This is the other drain hole i was talking about

It has indeed been cleared... so no more water slugging around this area for awhile.

This is what the dashboard has been hiding....

Dust everywhere.... luckily no fungus

A simple wipe with ONR and water.

The rear window seals.... have seen better days. Over 20 years, it is bound to crack...

During the process of restoration... looks kinda ugly

Definitely not a nice sight....

Yeap, this was done over a span of a long time..... each coat was given at least 12 hours to cure and this is 8 coats... so you do the math why this update took so long to come out....

And the end results.... sweetness.... sorta. To be explained in the notes area down..... wayw ay down below.

Installed back and it looks pretty good.

This is how it looks like after being installed back....

The messy wiring has been settled as well... looks neater right now.

So, this is what was vacuum out of the car..... this is water vacuum which explains why I can spray OPC and water unto the carpet and vacuum it out.

Now, we move on to the rubber seals. Hmm.... dirt dirt dirt everywhere.

What dirt...... gone gone gone... HOW?

Ok, show you all magic trick. This is the top after removing the roof... pretty dirty ehh

A 5-/50.... i am quite surprised that this part of the rubber looks almost new after detailing.... considering that this is a 20 year old car.

Secret... OPC 1:5 and a tooth brush and microfiber cloth.

End results...... pretty good.

Now we move on to putting the interior back. Bits by bits and ensuring all screws are tighten so no lose sound is audible.

Crap...... I messed up, tweeter is suppose to be on top... not bottom... have to take out and do again...argh...

Placed in the correct place now..

So the entire rear panels have been installed...

EHHHHHHHH, why take out again?

Cause the car cannot start and troubleshooting forced me to open back the panels and take out the fuel pump..... (Fuel pump was faulty before the car was sent to me. It was replaced and it broke again.... probably cause the pump is Made In China and this is a Japanese car.)

So I left the interior as it is as the owner is not free to have it replaced at the moment. Now, we fast forward to two weeks later.... fuel pump still not replaced cause owner went JAPAN.

After taping the windscreen..... its time to see all the problems with this windscreen... mineral residue...

Wiper mark at the bottom as the car was not used for 3 years...

A 50/50 after removing the tinting and polishing

Another 50/50.... pretty good results.....

From inside, you can really see a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.

Secret technique...... using a Dual Action Polisher + Glass Polishing Pad + Glass Polish.

After done polishing, its time to wash the windscreen with Osren Bubble & Wax.

Then washed with OPC 1:3 to remove any polishing oil.

What do you think?

I would say its pretty shiny and would be a winner shot.

Why take a photo of the wiper.... btw, this picture is pretty clear.....

Even when it was taken from inside the car.... that is how clear the glass is now.

Remember this side window.... It seriously look as if I am shooting the dirt...

So I am now seriously removing the tint. Cause it is like a clear plastic and serves no purpose anymore.

Cleaning the glass with OPC and a pen knife

After that sprayed ONR to the glass and you get water beading on the glass.... nice.

Can you see the watermarks on this glass.....

ZORRO came to the rescue...

This is before Zorro came..... note that this is taken awhile back hence the plant is still there....

See, plant gone..... this is after Zorro came and stole the plant. Btw, the glass is indeed up even if it is not visible... that is how clean the glass is now.

So we go to the driver side windows now.... dirt is that thick...

Secret to the side windows..... cannot use Dual Action Polisher here as the windows has no frames, the vibration and force may just break it... so use hand...

Not so consistent with hand power....

But still, end results is a shiny glass, definitely a winner shot.

Until this shot came along, try and spot the glass..... pretty easy if you follow the window line.

Now we tape up the headlamp.... for some fun.

Sanding starts with 1500 and followed by 2000 grit.

See the amount of residue and plastic is removed.

This is after sanding, can see the difference between both sides. One is whitish, one is yellowish. To be picked up on another day. Move on to other things.

Dusty roof.... left around for too long,

Going to clay the car after giving it another wash with Osren Bubble & Wax. Using ONR as lube.

After wash..... water sticking, whole roof feels gritty.

After claying half the roof.

Cleaned again with water and you can see that water sheets away from half the roof (also partly because of ONR was used.)

This is what was removed from half the roof..... and its a really small roof.

After the roof is done, proceed to the bonnet and this is what was removed.

Did not take more picture of the claying as that would bore all of you all. By now, it should have probably taken you guys/gals bout 15 minutes to reach. So now, we tape off the bonnet and went towards restoration. After one pass of Optimum Hyper Compound > Optimum Double Sided Wool Pad + Makita 9227c.

Pretty good for one pass.

Went at it a few more passes and you get sweetness.

Notice how the reflection is restored. Cause compounding removes oxidation and scratches. Basically removing the top layer of your clearcoat.

This clearly shows how big a difference it is. Btw, do not polish and compound your car too often as it thins your clearcoat which overtime would cause lots of problem.

Difference.....need not be pointed out.

And I went and pose the 9gag FUCK YEAH pose...... camera a bit off focus.... very off focus. And living to my theme... SINGLETS... the real white, thin and APEK singlet.

Why the pose... cause I completed compounding the bonnet.

Sweet? Note that the some parts of the bonnet, the color is off, cause of bad prep by the painter and also neglect by the owner. Could not be corrected.

Now, I move on to the roof.... wet sanding quarter of the roof...... made a mistake here as I used insufficient water as lubricant so you see some slightly deeper scratches.

Here you can see the compounded side and the untouch side. Look at the reflection.

And after compounding 5 passes (to remove those scratch marks), you get this 50/50.

If you have managed to read until here without flash glancing the pictures, I applaud you.

Note:
- This was done over a period of 1 month plus hence the pictures are kinda jumbled here and there.
- Total time spend: Glass polishing: 5 hours, Bonnet: 3 hours, Roof: 2 hours. The rest, cannot remember.
- Roof was completed but no picture as I stop here for the day and will pick it up again when time allows.
- Hopefully the fuel pump gets replaced soon.
- I spend almost 4 hours arranging the photos, renaming them, resizing them, uploading them and typing this long essay.
- Still work in progress, so lots more to do.

Btw, would you guys prefer higher resolution? Leave your thoughts at the comments below. Thanks.

 

[seech]

Epic!!!!