Got my first Honda on Wednesday!
#1
11-06-2015, 07:50 AM
Got my first Honda on Wednesday!
Hi all,
I recently received a '99 Honda Accord LX for a sort-of impromptu birthday present on 11/4. Was my boyfriend's but he works from home every day, and since we live in a city he doesn't need to drive much. I commute to work every day so he decided I could get more use out of it. Just got the title and registration transferred over to my name on 11/4 as well, getting it inspected most likely on Monday. So far I've spent about $650 on it getting it insured, ordering a mirror replacement, title/tags and such.
My previous vehicles were a '98 Ford Explorer and a '01 Chrysler Town & County LX. I've been driving this minivan for about 5 years now, it has 214,400 miles on the odometer and she's not long for this world. Just had to replace both head gaskets in it this past July and did the alternator, hoses and radiator in September. So I'm thankful that this Accord came into my possession.
The Accord is a flamenco black pearl (where it isn't worn down to the primer in spots on the hood, roof and trunk) 2.3L 4-speed LX sedan. Has lots of scratches, dents, wheel covers ruined and other blemishes, unfortunately. That's what we get for parking our cars curbside on one of the most traffic-heavy streets in our city, haha.
I don't want to slam him about it but my boyfriend didn't take very good care of this car. It was heavily sun damaged before he got it, and some of the big dents were already there as well. I don't remember what the interior looked like before he had it, but he's one of those people who uses their passenger and back seats as a garbage can, mainly for energy drink cans, and the passenger side floor mat (stock Honda floor mat that matches the interior cloth) is ruined and stained, as is the back bench seat and floor. On top of that the interior is a light gray color so it shows up really badly.
He doesn't know a whole lot about maintenance besides oil changes and just recently he replaced one brake pad (because the calipers and bolts are so rusted he broke two ratchets trying to change just that one). So I'm not expecting anything to look good under the hood when I go in there this weekend.
My father and I are changing the oil/filter, air filter, brakes, probably the rotors, coolant, refilling the wiper fluid that's been dry for months and anything else we discover this weekend at his garage. I also have the driver's side mirror to replace...someone either broke or stole the glass out of the mirror installation a few months ago. Like I said, boyfriend isn't great on car care. I didn't want to try and step in, tell him everything that was wrong with the car, take over everything and fix it back then, even though I should have just for the sake of the car; I'm not that kind of girlfriend
And before I go around saying "my dad's a mechanic", he's been a sprint car driver since I was a kid, and he currently works cleaning Honda and Yamaha (mostly) engines for other racers and calls in part orders at his friend's garage (George Automotive in NEPA). If you don't know what a sprint car is they run motorcycle engines in them; my dad mostly works on 600s. He doesn't know everything about everything but I trust his advice, he's only giving it in my best interest, obviously, haha.
So anyway, she's got a ways to go, but with some tender love and care I hope to give her a much better life than she's had. As for future modifications or just general work that I plan on/would like to do/replace, in no particular order:
-Wheel covers
-Tires and possibly new wheels (so I can take the wheel covers off)
-Replace hood and front/back bumpers
-Somehow get rid of the paint damage (paint/wrap/dip/etc, I haven't decided on how much I want to spend on this, as it's cosmetic only)
-Replace the rear "Accord" and "LX" emblems that were either stolen or fell off and weren't recovered
-Exhaust/intake tune-up
-Interior cloth stain removal or re-upholstery/covers
-New floor mats
-Stereo/speaker upgrade
-Fix the passenger side power lock that doesn't like to un/lock when it should (I found a thread here that says it's probably the door lock actuator)
-Get spares made of both keys; ignition was replaced before boyfriend got the car so it has a separate lock and ignition key (I believe the ignition was a recall for this gen?)
-Install keyless entry so I only need one key on my keyring
-Clear oxidation from headlights
-Install some sort of smartphone dock on the dash (I have one that you stick into the power outlet, but the outlet's inner metal component is loose inside the hole in the console so it moves around, but for regular chargers it's fine)
-Clean out all the garbage from the back seat
-Scrub the console and dash as they're covered in a sticky film and crumbs/dust, yuck (though I've read that this might actually be a problem with the paint or something on the console and not just sticky soda residue?)
-Aaaaaanything else I can think of, or any recommendations anyone gives here
So that's my long, drawn-out story. I can't wait to check out everyone else's rides, and hopefully learn a thing or two while I'm here. Thanks for having me aboard
I'll try to get some pictures up of my Accord today sometime, I suppose I'll make a thread for updates on it too. It's not pretty, but it's still mine!
For questions at this moment, what is the best cleaner to use on the interior plastic? I need to get that sticky junk off the console. It's seriously nasty. Also, I need a name for this thing because I'm tired of calling it "my boyfriend's old car" or "the Honda" or "the Accord". I have it named "Stigmata" in my garage on my profile but that's just a placeholder, though it does have some holes in it.
-Enne
I recently received a '99 Honda Accord LX for a sort-of impromptu birthday present on 11/4. Was my boyfriend's but he works from home every day, and since we live in a city he doesn't need to drive much. I commute to work every day so he decided I could get more use out of it. Just got the title and registration transferred over to my name on 11/4 as well, getting it inspected most likely on Monday. So far I've spent about $650 on it getting it insured, ordering a mirror replacement, title/tags and such.
My previous vehicles were a '98 Ford Explorer and a '01 Chrysler Town & County LX. I've been driving this minivan for about 5 years now, it has 214,400 miles on the odometer and she's not long for this world. Just had to replace both head gaskets in it this past July and did the alternator, hoses and radiator in September. So I'm thankful that this Accord came into my possession.
The Accord is a flamenco black pearl (where it isn't worn down to the primer in spots on the hood, roof and trunk) 2.3L 4-speed LX sedan. Has lots of scratches, dents, wheel covers ruined and other blemishes, unfortunately. That's what we get for parking our cars curbside on one of the most traffic-heavy streets in our city, haha.
I don't want to slam him about it but my boyfriend didn't take very good care of this car. It was heavily sun damaged before he got it, and some of the big dents were already there as well. I don't remember what the interior looked like before he had it, but he's one of those people who uses their passenger and back seats as a garbage can, mainly for energy drink cans, and the passenger side floor mat (stock Honda floor mat that matches the interior cloth) is ruined and stained, as is the back bench seat and floor. On top of that the interior is a light gray color so it shows up really badly.
He doesn't know a whole lot about maintenance besides oil changes and just recently he replaced one brake pad (because the calipers and bolts are so rusted he broke two ratchets trying to change just that one). So I'm not expecting anything to look good under the hood when I go in there this weekend.
My father and I are changing the oil/filter, air filter, brakes, probably the rotors, coolant, refilling the wiper fluid that's been dry for months and anything else we discover this weekend at his garage. I also have the driver's side mirror to replace...someone either broke or stole the glass out of the mirror installation a few months ago. Like I said, boyfriend isn't great on car care. I didn't want to try and step in, tell him everything that was wrong with the car, take over everything and fix it back then, even though I should have just for the sake of the car; I'm not that kind of girlfriend
And before I go around saying "my dad's a mechanic", he's been a sprint car driver since I was a kid, and he currently works cleaning Honda and Yamaha (mostly) engines for other racers and calls in part orders at his friend's garage (George Automotive in NEPA). If you don't know what a sprint car is they run motorcycle engines in them; my dad mostly works on 600s. He doesn't know everything about everything but I trust his advice, he's only giving it in my best interest, obviously, haha.So anyway, she's got a ways to go, but with some tender love and care I hope to give her a much better life than she's had. As for future modifications or just general work that I plan on/would like to do/replace, in no particular order:
-Wheel covers
-Tires and possibly new wheels (so I can take the wheel covers off)
-Replace hood and front/back bumpers
-Somehow get rid of the paint damage (paint/wrap/dip/etc, I haven't decided on how much I want to spend on this, as it's cosmetic only)
-Replace the rear "Accord" and "LX" emblems that were either stolen or fell off and weren't recovered
-Exhaust/intake tune-up
-Interior cloth stain removal or re-upholstery/covers
-New floor mats
-Stereo/speaker upgrade
-Fix the passenger side power lock that doesn't like to un/lock when it should (I found a thread here that says it's probably the door lock actuator)
-Get spares made of both keys; ignition was replaced before boyfriend got the car so it has a separate lock and ignition key (I believe the ignition was a recall for this gen?)
-Install keyless entry so I only need one key on my keyring
-Clear oxidation from headlights
-Install some sort of smartphone dock on the dash (I have one that you stick into the power outlet, but the outlet's inner metal component is loose inside the hole in the console so it moves around, but for regular chargers it's fine)
-Clean out all the garbage from the back seat
-Scrub the console and dash as they're covered in a sticky film and crumbs/dust, yuck (though I've read that this might actually be a problem with the paint or something on the console and not just sticky soda residue?)
-Aaaaaanything else I can think of, or any recommendations anyone gives here
So that's my long, drawn-out story. I can't wait to check out everyone else's rides, and hopefully learn a thing or two while I'm here. Thanks for having me aboard
I'll try to get some pictures up of my Accord today sometime, I suppose I'll make a thread for updates on it too. It's not pretty, but it's still mine!For questions at this moment, what is the best cleaner to use on the interior plastic? I need to get that sticky junk off the console. It's seriously nasty. Also, I need a name for this thing because I'm tired of calling it "my boyfriend's old car" or "the Honda" or "the Accord". I have it named "Stigmata" in my garage on my profile but that's just a placeholder, though it does have some holes in it.
-Enne
Last edited by Enne; 11-06-2015 at 08:20 AM.
#2
11-06-2015, 05:36 PM
Welcome to HAF.......
My opinion on the cleaner - something like simple green or those purple cleaners will work well - be sure to read the label as some you might want to mix with water before using on plastics. Also an old toothbrush helps into getting into those little tight spaces....yes all of my old toothbrushes spend time in the garge before they go to the recycle bin
My opinion on the cleaner - something like simple green or those purple cleaners will work well - be sure to read the label as some you might want to mix with water before using on plastics. Also an old toothbrush helps into getting into those little tight spaces....yes all of my old toothbrushes spend time in the garge before they go to the recycle bin
#3
11-06-2015, 08:36 PM
Welcome to the forum, Enne
Have fun with your Accord... with some TLC, you can bring her back to life
Have fun with your Accord... with some TLC, you can bring her back to life
#6
11-30-2015, 07:57 AM
So as you can see, dad and I (mostly dad) got Selene all nice and dipped over the weekend. The finish came out a bit textured, especially on the roof, and I believe that was a combination of the sprayer not being quite powerful enough and/or my dad's never painted with plasti-dip before, haha. He was spraying a little too far away. I don't care about that though, I think it looks awesome. I kept the bottom trim and front Honda logo original (I taped off the whole front emblem). The rear I came right off, and I have to peel the dip off the Accord emblem because I didn't want to risk breaking it trying to take it off.
I took this photo right after putting some Dip Coat Protective Spray on her. I actually applied it with paper towels so we didn't do too terribly. It only grabbed the paper on the hood and roof a little. Otherwise it went on pretty smooth. I tried taking a swing at painting too, on the hood, and I royally effed it up, haha. But dad fixed it as best he could. You can barely tell by looking at it.
We taped it off and wiped it down very, very thoroughly with denatured alcohol before painting.
We used two gallons of black, one gallon of gunmetal gray, and two gallons of top coat: one gallon of clear that had 25g of hyper black graphite pearl mixed in and the other by itself. We didn't use all of the paint. We put on three tack coats of black, two wet, two or three wet coats of gray, one tack coat of clear and then the rest of that gallon and about half a gallon of the other clear. The wet coats used about a quarter to a third of a gallon each so I think we got the ratio down. I would have liked to get more coats on but dad has a bad shoulder and he could only take so much painting. Maybe this weekend I'll go up and practice with the gun so I can do it myself next time, or take turns. I stayed in the garage and mixed up the paint and was on air hose patrol while he was walking around the car painting.
I actually might get some high gloss vinyl graphics for the hood and sides...I was thinking the dire wolf sigil of house Stark from Game of Thrones; just a thin black linework of the wolf sigil and maybe "STARK" on the sides, in the font they use for the show (I'm a fan of the books). The shade of grey it turned out would look cool with some shiny black graphics on it. I wasn't really thinking about putting anything on it but I'd be alright with something simple like that.
Anyway, since the hood and roof came out textured, I might go back up to my parent's place this weekend and try giving it a quick misting in naptha with the spray gun and see if that evens out the texture. We had xylene to clean the paint gun and mixing stuff, but I knew they didn't recommend it anymore to thin dip.
I took this photo right after putting some Dip Coat Protective Spray on her. I actually applied it with paper towels so we didn't do too terribly. It only grabbed the paper on the hood and roof a little. Otherwise it went on pretty smooth. I tried taking a swing at painting too, on the hood, and I royally effed it up, haha. But dad fixed it as best he could. You can barely tell by looking at it.
We taped it off and wiped it down very, very thoroughly with denatured alcohol before painting.
We used two gallons of black, one gallon of gunmetal gray, and two gallons of top coat: one gallon of clear that had 25g of hyper black graphite pearl mixed in and the other by itself. We didn't use all of the paint. We put on three tack coats of black, two wet, two or three wet coats of gray, one tack coat of clear and then the rest of that gallon and about half a gallon of the other clear. The wet coats used about a quarter to a third of a gallon each so I think we got the ratio down. I would have liked to get more coats on but dad has a bad shoulder and he could only take so much painting. Maybe this weekend I'll go up and practice with the gun so I can do it myself next time, or take turns. I stayed in the garage and mixed up the paint and was on air hose patrol while he was walking around the car painting.
I actually might get some high gloss vinyl graphics for the hood and sides...I was thinking the dire wolf sigil of house Stark from Game of Thrones; just a thin black linework of the wolf sigil and maybe "STARK" on the sides, in the font they use for the show (I'm a fan of the books). The shade of grey it turned out would look cool with some shiny black graphics on it. I wasn't really thinking about putting anything on it but I'd be alright with something simple like that.
Anyway, since the hood and roof came out textured, I might go back up to my parent's place this weekend and try giving it a quick misting in naptha with the spray gun and see if that evens out the texture. We had xylene to clean the paint gun and mixing stuff, but I knew they didn't recommend it anymore to thin dip.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ziggy!talon
Off Topic
14
04-15-2008 01:03 PM