Honda Accord Forum - Honda Accord Enthusiast Forums - Selene ('99 Accord LX Sedan 2.3L)

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Selene ('99 Accord LX Sedan 2.3L)

I don't have access to the photos right now but I wanted to make a thread for updates on my Accord (affectionately named Selene). I will post the photos when I get home today most likely. There's a lot of them!

Spent the weekend with my dad fixing up this car, had a lot of fun doing it too. Nothing too crazy to replace but stuff that was definitely needed. She passed inspection this morning, so now she's legal!

New/Replaced:
-Spark plugs
-Brakes & rotors (front pad/rear drum)
-Right rear brake light
-Air filter
-Oil & filter
-Driver's side power mirror
-"Accord" trunk emblem
-Repainted the steel wheels
-Hubcaps
-Steering wheel cover & front floor mats (the mats were too stained to save, which is a pity because they have the "Accord" logo on them)

Fluids:
-Transmission
-Antifreeze
-Wiper fluid

Cleaned:
-Entire interior including windows, mirrors, upholstery, carpet, dash, console, steering wheel etc. (except for the nasty, sticky center console plastic that won't get clean)
-Trunk area reorganized/cleaned

Still needs:
-Exhaust leak fix
-Passenger side door lock actuator
-Hood replaced
-Trunk replaced or painted
-Roof painted
-Scratches & dents painted/evened out
-Rain-X application to windshield

I think I'm gonna take a crack at painting the roof. I found a seller on ebay who sells Honda Flamenco Black Pearl paint in a fine-mist sprayer (not just a spray paint can of it), and the description says it does not need a top coat after painting, but we'll see about that.

The paint is so horribly sun damaged on the hood, roof and trunk that even if I screw up a bit it'll probably look better than it does right now. I'm not too concerned about the paint but I'd like to at least try to make it look better. Just replacing the hood will do wonders for its appearance, I'm sure. If anyone has any brand/technique recommendations for paint or prep let me know. We have a sander and am confident dad and I can get it done, with some effort. He's been painting sprint car body panels (I realize they're not the same as a proper car) with spray-on paint for years.

I plan on going and pulling a hood from a salvage yard sometime this week; it has a huge dent that's started to rust from someone backing into it, so I just want it replaced. Might try to just paint the trunk, it would cost about the same to replace it as buy paint off of ebay to try and paint it, and I wouldn't have to tear the lights out of it and all that jazz. Might just grab a front and rear bumper too, if I can find some. The local U-Pull-It has 5 black '99 Accords, so out of 5 I'm sure I could find a set.

Going back up to dad's this weekend to get the exhaust leak fixed and to install the door lock actuator if I can get one this week. The exhaust leak is from some bonehead driving up over a parking barrier or something and taking a chunk out of a pipe near the front end. So we're just gonna put a new one in.

Will keep updating this thread as I work; I'll add photos later. The interior was a huge job. Previous owner was using the car basically as a trash can so there was garbage and stains galore inside that thing. I worked on it from 10:30AM-5:30PM on Saturday just cleaning the upholstery and hard surfaces. And I could still probably sit down in there with some Simple Green and find more spots I missed. Everything was dirty.

What I used to do the interior:
-Blue Coral DC22 Dri-Clean Plus Upholstery Cleaner (worked awesome, but the spraying pressure was terrible)
-Stiff plastic hand brush to scrub the upholstery cleaner into the fabric (instead of the scrubbing cap from the spray can)
-A bag of old clean socks for cleaning hard surfaces, paper towels for windows/mirrors
-Undiluted Simple Green All-Purpose cleaner
-Long-handle kitchen brush for hard surface scrubbing
-Eagle One 20/20 Auto Glass Cleaner
-Big Fresh Spray Automotive Air Freshener
-Shop vac
-And gloves!

Some funny/weird stuff:
-There was sand in the air filter compartment. Like literally there was beach sand in there. The air filter was all but completely black and stiff with dirt and leaves.
-All four spark plugs were (I think) stock, and completely shot.
-The oil filter was a wimpy little thing and the oil was total crud.
-Someone had put blue windshield wiper fluid in the coolant tank, which was also just about empty.
-I took a tall garbage bag's worth of energy drink cans out of the back seat and another bag full of papers, fast food wrappers and other junk.
-There was about $.75 in corroded pennies in the cup holder as well as a nice amount of spilled/dried beverage
-None of the bolts on the brake calipers had any kind of grease on them, and they were rusted in there so hard that one broke a ratchet extension

You are off to a great start. Youtube has just about everything in the way of repairs.

I'd take sun damaged paint over rust any day. I spent twice as much money to "fix" the rust on my Corvair than I paid for it.

Good luck and have fun.

It's only got body rust in three spots: the hood (which is getting replaced sooner or later), the left rear wheel well and a little bit in the dent in the right back door/body panel. You can barely see it in the photos I posted but it's there. I can probably get rid of the rust on the wheel well with a nice sanding/bondo/paint job. Dad can definitely help me out with that...we've battled rust before.

I ordered some touchup paint from ebay, to get rid of some of the more noticeable scratches on the door/body panels. Might head up to a salvage yard or two on Saturday and search for a hood.

Enne, you've made great strides... I predict that with your loving care, Selene will one day be a shinning star. Enjoy your endeavor

We applaud your enthusiasm.

Thanks Prospector...nothing quite like earning a little respect from some good "car people" ;)

I grabbed my Accord's owner's manual out of the glove box this morning for some light reading. I figured out how to turn off the Maintenance Required light this morning as it finally came on and stayed on (whereas before it would flash a few times upon starting up). When it would come on I'd think to myself "I just did everything to this car that needs maintained...what else do you NEED?!" Then Google helped me out and I realized it's just a reminder :o

I grabbed some Rain-X for the windshield, ordered an actuator for the door and I can't wait to hit the garage again this weekend and continue my adventure.

Well done, Enne. We can see that this project is a true 'labor of love', you are to be congratulated

Updates for 11/13:

Gotta take it in to the shop to get the exhaust leak fixed. The leak is coming from the front (I've seen where the leak is but we can't fix it at home) so I can smell the exhaust when I'm at a stop and idling...so yeah, gonna get that taken care of. I have a very sensitive sense of smell so anything that doesn't smell right coming from a car throws me into panic mode because of previous experiences. So anyway, the minivan will have to take another one for the team next week while Selene is getting fixed up. So what we're gonna do is drive both vehicles up to my parents' place, work on Selene at home, leave her there and come back down in the van, then the day she's done in the garage I'll come up and switch vehicles. I don't need the van anymore after that because that's all the work Selene needs done in a shop (knock on wood).

By the way, if you're wondering why all the hassle driving it over a hundred miles back and forth when I could just take it to any ol' garage in my area...my dad works at his buddy Larry's garage, and I know they'll do the job right (and they'll listen to my father when he tells them something is wrong, and he can literally explain it to them and point out what the problem is). Driving a little farther is worth the peace of mind. They did the head gaskets in my van and I've put another 3k miles on it since then, so I trust them lol. The owner loves imports (he has VW fever) so I think they'll like working on my Honda more than my parents' Chrysler/Ford/Chevy vehicles, I reckon :D We do also have a '98 Mitsubishi Eclipse (don't know much about it besides that it's stick), but all that thing has needed over the years was a power steering belt, ball joints, a new transmission cable and a new muffler. And my dad welded the passenger side door back on because the previous owner ripped it off while backing up at a car wash or something. It's my dad's DD and it barely gets driven.

And then...I think I'm going to dip her (throw your rotten veggies and "boo" me now). After we get a new hood on and take care of the rust/dents that can be dealt with, properly, we will think about doing a full Plasti-Dip job. Dad has a spray gun and his garage to paint in (or possibly Larry's personal garage that has been used to paint before), my mother works in a paint shop and has the biceps to prove it, so I feel if we consolidate our skills and equipment we can do a fair job, and even if we mess up, it's okay. We'll have fun doing it.

I watched a lot of the tutorial videos from DYC, and I also watched a few from the guy from SickSubaru do his car twice in two different colors. His hood is replaced and the other body panels all have patches on them from what I assume are rust spots. So I think I could do a similar job compared to what they did. I even saw a DYC video where they dipped a stock red Civic to silver, that had clear coat damage all over, and it turned out nice. And Fonzie just stuck a vinyl patch over a rust hole in the car before dipping it, haha, I think I can do better than that.

I was against the idea when it was suggested to me previously, but my other two options of replacing [basically all of] the damaged panels and buffing it, or painting the whole car with OEM paint, isn't going to work/isn't worth the money for the value and age of the car. I didn't pay anything for the car, so all the money I've spent on it so far was purely to get it in tip-top shape, which she will be (as much "shape" as one can get a banged-up 16 year-old Accord in, anyway) after the exhaust is fixed...I've spent less than $1,000 on the car so far, including title/tags/registration/plates and all the work and parts we've put into it (I didn't have to pay sales tax because the car was gifted to me). I'm okay with spending less than $500 on a full-body cover-up. I realize this will not be a permanent fix-all for the paint and that leaving it on too long can lessen the ability to remove it. If I like the way it turns out, even if my first try isn't so hot, maybe learning from it will get me interested in trying again with a new color/finish. It'll look better at any rate, and protect what's left of the OEM paint. From what I've read, if done properly, PD helps keep out moisture and help prevent further damage to areas that have been repaired. I plan on doing that with dad's help.

I'm gonna try to not go overboard and will probably do a basic black or gray with maybe some graphite pearl in the topcoat. I have been doing research and joined the forums at DYC to learn all I can before I decide to do this.

I will keep this thread updated as things progress. We don't get a whole lot done this weekend but hopefully the door actuator, stereo and hood/bumpers will happen, and then we can decide if/when we want to dip the car. Dad is up for the project, so I'm excited! He's been very happy that we get to spend time together, especially when that time is being spent working on a car. Mom likes to come out to the garage and check on us once in a while (making sure we're not dead and to tell us it's time to come in for supper, mostly) but her eyes do light up when she sees the progress we've made.

Thank you for all the advice, criticism and support you've given me so far. I really do appreciate all the input, even if I don't want to hear it, because I'm a jackass that way sometimes (I apologize for that). I hope to do right by this car and give her a long life to live yet. I want to do this correctly, so don't worry about me diving in head-first on stuff like dipping my whole car.

New list:
-Fix exhaust leak
-Install passenger door lock actuator
-Remove rust from any area on the car that has it
-Replace cabin filter
-Paint center console/maybe some other interior surfaces
-Replace front/rear bumpers and hood
-Install new stereo unit
-Still have to fix my stupid steering wheel cover that I didn't put on straight the first time
-MAYBE do a full Plasti-Dip