My 91 RS build, Gasper the misfit DA

GENERAL General G2/G2IC Discussion
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Hey G2IC figured it was time to give ya’ll a proper introduction, Im currently the owner of a battered and bruised 91 RS and despite her flaws I dont think id trade her for the world. Shes been through a bit of a transformation since I picked her up in November of 2014 and I look forward to making her the DA she deserves to be. So now a little back story, I didnt really see myself in a DA. I thought they were cool and two of my friends had them. (sadley those two DAs meet an unfortunate end, but both of them are back in the DA game) I saw myself driving a nice little EF hatch but that all changed in early Nov. 2014. Was browsing a local classifieds page on facebook and stumbled upon a little black DA for 1000 bucks, I didnt have much money saved and a I needed a “new” car, and in 4 days i had earned enough in tips to go and buy it, she had some problems from the start, needed a starter and alignment badly but I was determined to save this DA from the scrape heap. 850 out of a 1000 dollar later I was headed home with her. She had seen better days, the front brake rotors were warped, the passenger rear quarter had all sorts of dings in it and the paint was fading badly. But I loved it at first sight. since then shes come to take her new owner for granted, recently developing a no crank, no start conundrum. A couple months later I learned im not the only one saving DAs from the scrappers, a fellow i had met has had owner 3 (now 5) and all were on there last legs. So armed with new motivation and the quest to create the cleanest DA in Colorado Ive continued to press on to make something of this little abused DA.

I got around to addressing the starter, then brakes and it was so much more fun to drive

and then about a month ago I was paid a visit by the Sneaky Snapping ball joint, this was no fun and really hurt me. luckily I was in a parking lot doing about 1/2 mph when it went. so the damage was to just the balljoint and axle

I took it in stride and did some much needed suspension up grades, new OE struts, some really nice S2 uppers with new upper balljoints, new balljoints on both lowers and a fancy new right side axle

A little faux carbon vinyl wrap to add some flare

and heres how she sits up untill yesterday, I opted to trade my 92-93 bumper for a 90-91 bumper just to change it up since the 92-93 option is pretty popular. I also got some legend fog capsules in there and wee bit of yellow tint to make those fogs yellow day or night, I recently changed to a set of one pieces ( not legit ones) so ill have to mod in my vigor yellow capsules to return to the “mad JDM yellow fogs”

More is soon to come, shes gonna need a motor soon and while i tossed around the idea of a B20V i think im going to opt for a nice HMO B20 and B16/GSR trans to make her fun on the streets and on the track untill I can build something much more fun

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Awesome to see another DA saved. Good luck with it man.

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Awesome, best of luck. Post your updates.

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Thanks guys Ill get a couple pictures from the last weeks progress on trying to get back on her feet

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Alrighty then, heres some pictures from the most recent work.

It seems as if my no crank, no start is due to the starter relay, a cheeky little arse tucked up under the dash, heres to passanger side torn apart

Heres the little arse himself, I did discover you can relocate it into the stereo area to make it easier to access if it goes out again, just have to find a spot to zip tie it back up once i get my replacement.

Now the next task at hand is filling the hole/void where the blower motor was, mine was shot and had water in it, so i think some duct tape and expanding foam should do the trick. I also pulled the guts out of the A/C condenser and im going to use it to block the hole in the firewall untill i can get the delete grommet.

Over here in Colorado we’ve been getting buckets of rain dumped on us so ive had to steal the garage from mom and pop

Soon after i purchased it i got my hands on some 92-93 spec tails off an LS special, I also picked up the spoiler which is a dark green, its the only DA ive seen in that color and if i dont keep the car black its gonna be green


Heres a look at more of my vinyl wrap, did the center console tray and got the cluster bezel back in. And yes my speedo says 115 mph, im missing my clip for the transmission side and i forgot my cable was in so it spun around all nuts and got stuck there.

The “alarm” that was wired by a 2 year old out, when I pulled it i replaced the ignition switch.

“Sir would you be interested in some VTEC?”
“Did you just say VTEC?”
“Mmmm yes sir”
“VTEC…VTEC…VVVVTTTEEECCC!!!”

Story behind this wonderful box is a guy a knew was moving out of state and could take some things so I picked up this almost complete B16 (PR3-1) head for one bill, again Im not sure if im going to use it and if not ive got a nice home lined up for her

Last but not least my sweet ebay special one pieces, from what I understand these are the sought after ones if you dont get legit stanleys, I was able to trade my 3 piece lights straight across for these just the other day.

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Dope :slight_smile:

I know how fuckin hard you work to save and rebuild this car ! keep it up doc !

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Oh you know I will Ach, keep your eyes on the thread buddy. now you can keep tabs on the build from Europe.

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Here we go guys, decided that my day off is better spent doing some spring cleaning on the DA. going to try to grind out the grime in the hatch area and put down a nice coat of paint. should work two ways, make it look nice and help prevent rust (leaky middle spoiler hole). I alsot started playing around with my b16 valve cover going to see if i screw with it with various sandpapers if i can sort of polish it and use my engraver to do something cool over the next couple days. Ill get some photos of the hatch clean out before days end.

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Finished up with the hatch, it was nasty in there.

So I busted out my favorite cleaner and started the music

Had to free up the back seats to get a better clean and to avoid painting them

got a couple test coats in after i went at it with a shop vac and a wire wheel for my drill

little more progress

Final results,and i did spray over the sound deadening because pleny of noise comes from the back anyway so i figured leave the little bit thats there just to help things a slight bit quieter. I just used some Rustoleum high performance spray paint, ive been using this paint on numerous jobs, like my front bumper and friends wheels. It holds up very nice and with a little clear coat its even better. Highly recommend it if you wanna do small things like that, a big can is about 5 bucks at lowes.

Didnt get around to the valve cover was feeling pretty happy with my results so I figured Id leave the valve cover for a better day

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How do you like the skunk 2 front camber I was gunna go that route lol

Nice progress bro keep it going

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[QUOTE=Mnda90;2327828]How do you like the skunk 2 front camber I was gunna go that route lol

Nice progress bro keep it going[/QUOTE]

I personally love them. I have no power steering im my car and after I put them in the steering lightened up alot. Its still very responsive and much more accurate now. You might not have a as substantial results because at the same time i did put in two brand new lower ball joints. S2 sells them for 250 I believe, I got mine on a steal for 125 off a buddy of mine who was going a different route. Id very much recommend them.

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Figured Id squeeze in an update, Ive found the route I want to go with the motor. The GSR trans is going to happen, ill mount it up to a nice B18b1 until i can assemble something better. Itll allow me to get her to some time attacks for the first time and keep me on the road. My motors just in a bad place and needs to live its life as my next coffee table or something. Ive never built an engine but im excited for the challenge, and with the wealth of knowledge here Im confident that itll be “great success”

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Also as a side note, my misfit DA made it into a video at a local memorial day meet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7KULwqifwU

peep it if you get the chance, it should go without saying mines the black one. Theres another DA in the video, the white one belonging to a lady enthusiast

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Got a chance to get a much needed wash in after I had her all torn apart from the starting issues. Took the opportunity to snap a few pics

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just another update on the endless road of working on a 2nd gen. I decided to make the switch to a 92-93 bumper. Found one locally in pretty good shape for 20 bucks with crash bar (already had a set of supports for it from the wreakers) the paint wasnt pretty but it was in overal decent shape so I set out on a journey to bring it back.


YAY FREE SLAVE LABOR, nah just a future 2nd gen owner in the making, the little bro is always trying to get involved

at this point I decided I had sanded enough, looking back it might have been better to use a couple more finer grits, I started with 150 and then used 180. I probably should have used a 250 and 300ish grit to really smooth it out but ill do that next time when i introduce a bit of bondo to make it factory fresh.

Started laying paint, I used Krylon Maxx, which from what ive seen on some of my buddies cars has worked out very well. Its a paint and primer in one. Then after the clear began the long process of wet sanding.

This is after the first sand with a 2500 grit sanding block, starting to look pretty good EH’

And heres the finished product, Im waiting on a few parts so its not going on yet, didnt come out half bad for a first attempt on this more detailed paint job. Im very pleased with the result so money well spent in my book for a little 2 day project. next time itll be even better

IMG_20150606_150331_zpsawzwq5wm.jpg
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Nice job with everything. I like the speaker terminal at the back hatch area.

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Hey for some reason that kid in the dark grey shirt looks really familiar I wonder who he is wink wink:slight_smile:

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Im pretty sure one of the last few previous owners had subs in it, all of the accessory harness was hacked up and is
now unusable. So the only music I hear is a 4 cylinder symphony. But anyways thanks alot for the compliments means alot.

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[QUOTE=spazbo;2328267]Im pretty sure one of the last few previous owners had subs in it, all of the accessory harness was hacked up and is
now unusable. So the only music I hear is a 4 cylinder symphony. But anyways thanks alot for the compliments means alot.[/QUOTE]

That’s so interesting, because I was going to say (going off of that clean terminal job), that the sounds might be half-way decent.

Oh well, Although sometimes I feel like every car has a hack wiring job. It’s like when I go sit on a drum set and go “who the hell set this crap up”-- then it turns out to be Neil Peart’s :stuck_out_tongue:

Bad joke; either way, I might steal that idea for connections, so don’t lose pics!

Build is looking great :manual:

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[QUOTE=Titan_Killer;2328269]That’s so interesting, because I was going to say (going off of that clean terminal job), that the sounds might be half-way decent.

Oh well, Although sometimes I feel like every car has a hack wiring job. It’s like when I go sit on a drum set and go “who the hell set this crap up”-- then it turns out to be Neil Peart’s :stuck_out_tongue:

Bad joke; either way, I might steal that idea for connections, so don’t lose pics!

Build is looking great :manual:[/QUOTE]

Go ahead man certainly would cut down on the wires running around in the hatch, if it worked id be ok with it but since it doesnt it looks like poo to me, and as far as the photo it wont go anywhere anytime soon. Sadly my car took a mad poop on a cruise this morning, hoping its a cap and rotor fix, im not looking to buy a brand new distributor i need my car up and running again. Maybe she thinks she can be a trailer queen.