90 LS, Introduction/New Project

GENERAL General G2/G2IC Discussion
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Introduction: 1990 LS, Polar White, Blue Interior, 68K, all stock, new to this forum. By coincidence, started work on this car about the same time as Dmorga1 on his, or within the same week (chuckle).

This car has had a bit of a sad history, first used as a daily driver for five years, then as second car and well cared for, then stored for a few years and kept essentially mint, except for one minor dent which was professionally repaired. Then vandalized (broken rear glass etc), and repaired again. Five years ago, while loaned out, in an unfortunate chain collision and later while parked awaiting repairs, hit from the side by a moving truck (yes, really). After that, it pretty much sat outside.

When I took the front apart in August, most of the damage turned out to be fairly superficial, and with a new battery the engine actually started and ran pretty smoothly. Engine seems to run fine, seats, carpet, and all interior still look mint. So, decided to make it drivable again mostly as a personal challenge, and I felt bad to let it go for just parts w/only 68K miles on the odo. Also felt encouraged to see what other people have done with these cars!

Replaced so far:

RF headlight assembly & corner light (crushed)
Front bumper, fender, hood, air box (broken/dented)
One caliper (rusted solid), all pads & rotors (rusted/pitted)

In progress:

LR quarter panel repair/refinish/paint
New exhaust, in shipment
Front struts and springs, on hand
New/used hood needs removed and aligned

Lots more to do, interior aft of the front seats has been removed to repair the rear quarter properly, rust found in the trunk, antenna rotted away from the inside, one tail light fills w. water when it rains, gear shift lever moves like molasses, every single bracket that holds anything in the engine compartment seems to have some rust, some of the suspension bushes look a bit dodgy even though the car rides fine.

Everything done so far (bodywork, brakes, suspension, exhaust…) is pretty routine, and would be the same on any car. I am sure will be scouring the threads when I get to the more interesting bits.

Suggestions, comments, snide remarks all welcome… :smiley:


(car is on stands in this picture, so distance from ground appears a bit odd)

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Wow it don’t look bad at all. Will be looking in to this for further updated

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What’s with the missing rear-quarter molding and missing holes? Heh

The car does look really clean though. It’s nice to see another DA saved from being parted out. Thumbs up man.

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looks like a great starting point…more pics and updates please!!! keep it goin!!!

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yay wisconsin

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Just finished the q-panel repair and 1st base coat when that was taken, happens to be a pic that shows the car well, is all. Did not think anyone wanted to see it wrecked and surrounded by pallets of used body parts for my first post (chuckle). Best foot forward and all that…

The lower window trim piece slides out easily, so I took that off, to extend a coat of paint under it. The damage was really close to the window there (moving truck had a high bed). The corner, not so easy, & no damage, so it stayed. The holes are not missing (!!), since the interior is out of the car starting behind the front seat, I taped the holes from behind, to paint the channel where the molding goes, along w. the rest. It was really the best I could do @ the time.

This is what the quarter panel looked like before painting (u can see I did NOT bondo the holes!):

Basically, what was done was this:

Dent pushed out w. hydraulic rams
Hammer & dolly until within 1/4 inch of orig body lines (neighborhood dogs really liked this part)
Door jamb reconstructed
Some structural fiberglass (3M BONDO Glass, still seen in one small dk green patch)
Rough sanding
Body filler (3M DYNA De LITE)
Fine sanding (above pic taken at this time)
Skim coat
More sanding
Taped and masked
Etch primer (b/c some metal still poking out)
Spot putty ('cause I am not so good at bodywork!)
Primer sealer
1st Polar White base coat (Intro pic on top of this thread taken)

Thx for the encouragement.

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Oh I know all about that… check out my build thread, there are tons of pictures of my car torn down and in pieces lol.

Props on the good work sir!

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[QUOTE=unified112;2276475]Oh I know all about that… check out my build thread, there are tons of pictures of my car torn down and in pieces lol. [/QUOTE]Thanks, I did look up your build thread tonight. Very impressive overall, and your paint job looks awesome (I don’t think my ambition reaches quite that far w. this car, but I am sure I will be mining that thread for any nuggets of wisdom I can find there (chuckle). One of those much-maligned ebay exhausts to be installed soon here, hopefully by the end of the weekend :wink:

It came well packaged, anyway…

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No problem man… any questions go ahead and ask, I’ll do my best to give an enlightening answer.

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i have that exhaust on my car, and i absolutely LOVE it, it sounds good, and looks good, i dont get why everyone hates on the egay exhaust

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[QUOTE=unified112;2276518]No problem man… any questions go ahead and ask, I’ll do my best to give an enlightening answer.[/QUOTE]Thx, I appreciate that, especially since everything I have done so far would be about the same on any car (brakes, fluids, O2 sensor, unbolt bent and broken parts, bolt on new parts, simple body work.

[QUOTE=bryan24207;2276519]i have that exhaust on my car, and i absolutely LOVE it, it sounds good, and looks good, i dont get why everyone hates on the egay exhaust[/QUOTE]That’s encouraging, thanks.

In the past I have found you usually get what you pay for, so far this looks like a decent quality product to get on a budget. From a part store, an axle-back standard aluminized piece would cost about the same as the whole thing here.

At first glance the welds look clean, and the inlet flange fits the stock cat converter with no problems.

@bryan, if you think it would help some other DA newbie who comes along after me, I can take some more detailed pics and measurements b/f I bolt it on. Temps are just above freezing here now, so Im just sitting with a cup of coffee, waiting for the sun. The old exhaust is off the car, and the new one is sitting on the living room floor, so this would be the time to do it.

@unified: Right now, the new/used hood I bolted on fits and feels well opening and closing, but it sits a bit deep at the hinges. Nothing bent that I can see, just sits lower than the original one. Hinges adjust side-to-side and fwd/back, but it looks like this will have to be shimmed to fix (?)

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That’s odd… shimming is definitely the easiest solution, provided the bolts are long enough to still get a good hold of the hood (naturally).

I think eBay exhausts get a bad rap because people associate them with the typical loud, raspy fartcan exhaust systems… But sadly, this stereotype does exist for a reason, as more often than not, they are of lower quality… The resonators suck and.do a very limited job of quieting the rasp of the muffler. This is not ALWAYS the case though… And in hindsight, realising I spend over $700 for my ‘legit’ exhaust seems a bit asinine lol.

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yes the canister style exhaust do sound loud and raspy…but the one that he got and the one that i have are nothing like that at all

these are the ones that suck and sound like ass

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-5-MUFFLER-TIP-SS-CATBACK-CAT-BACK-EXHAUST-90-93-ACURA-INTEGRA-DA5-DA9-DB1-DB2-/170853307025?forcev4exp=true&forceRpt=true

as for the OP, put that shit on and post some pics and vids…

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[QUOTE=unified112;2276535]… my ‘legit’ exhaust … [/QUOTE]What kind? The Tanabe exhaust you mentioned early on in your build thread, or something else?

$700 seems not out of line for a small-production run SS racing-type exhaust for a car that has been chipped or custom tuned (shrug).

Mine was about $130 shipped. It was advertised as 2.5" stainless, but it is actually 60 mm, which is not the same to someone doing mix&match… not that I care, since I am bolting it behind the stock cat, LOL. The pipes are 60 mm OD, 1 mm wall thickness (~19 gauge US spec). If ya like nice & shiny, it definitely fits the bill. Resonator seems OK from looking inside w. a flashlight, flanges do not look stainless, h/w is pretty basic, but still much better quality than old Walker pipes I’m taking off. The tip looks OK, but a bit oversize for this car.

Im guessing if Bryan thinks it sounds good on his car, I won’t have any complaints either (chuckle)

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yea the tip is a bit big…at first i was like dammm this shit is big, but when i heard it i didnt care anymore lol

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[QUOTE=bryan24207;2276546]… as for the OP, put that shit on and post some pics and vids…[/QUOTE]If ya tell me what people might want to see, I will post it. I take the pics for my own, instead of taking notes, so that is no problem, just not wanting to bore people with what you already know… :wink:

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probably take pics of the fitment of the muffler with the body of the car, the tip, a side shot from the left and a shot from the rear, and then whatever else u feel like, if u can get a full length installed pic thatd be good too…i’m sure ull like it once its one, i was impressed with mine for the price, but i just got a hole in mine cuz im too low and hit on everything

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The exhaust I got is the now-discontinued RS*R ExMag. I didn’t know it was as rare as it is, but apparently it’s very popular in the DA community. It has since grown to be my favorite part on the car.

Here are the pictures of mine:
http://forums.g2ic.com/showthread.php?203377-Long-build-in-process&p=2154563&viewfull=1#post2154563

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[QUOTE=unified112;2276565]The exhaust I got is the now-discontinued RS*R ExMag… [/QUOTE]Looks absolutely bitchin’ great, end-to-end, especially the tip.

Hmmm, plot thickens. The one I bought is labeled “RS Type” …I smell knock-off… how disappointing… and here I thought I bought a genuine original cheap ebay product, designed and built in China with authentic child labor… I may be crushed for days! do I have to leave and come back as someone else now? (chuckle)

@Bryan, I’ll do my best.

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Yes, you can be banned for such offenses!

Actually the other day when looking at by brothers eBay exhaust, on the tip its labeled SR*S lol.

Either way, an exhaust is an exhaust imo… If it sounds good and holds up decently to weather, that’s what matters to me.