$2015 Challenge entry - 88 Accord LXi

I got messed up on pagination there, go bak one page for the whole car. It came out OK. Here is what I did.

I used my Astro Pneumativ Euro HVLP to lay down the primer, which was generic decent from Amazon stuff. I was unhappy because the material transfer was super slow, it took a really long time, and lots of paint was drying as it hit, so it was rough like sandpaper. I put a few coats on, did some minor filler work, primed some more, and sanded the whole thing with blocks and 220. I had a minor breakthrough when I backed out the material knob enough for it to fall out and for one glorious moment, the gun acted normally. From then on I used my thumb to hold the spring in rather than the knob. It was stupid, but it worked. Sorta.

I got fed up with the gun. It wasn't working. I knew I was using a 1.3 trip for primer, but I could not find the part number for a tip for that gun, nor was the support useful. I caved and bought a Eastwood Conours thanks to Pete telling me they were on sale.

I had my family look at the color chips from Kirker and let them all pick two. This color had multiple votes, so it won. It was metallic single stage, so I bought some clear from AutobodyToolmart to go with it.

I know these brands are not fantastic, but it's a learning experience, not a showcar. 

I shot the green and it came out pretty well. I did three coats, the last being mixed with clear. I did not sand between.

I shot the clear, but ran out, so some of the car got one coat and some got two. Oh well. You an see some burn through on the roof and on the middle of the decklid. Too bad, so sad.

The clear looked OK. It showed lots of trash on the hood, some in the roof, and a small amount on the passenger door. I should have taken a look at this before the clear, but hey, I learned. Orange peel was minor, but there. 

I wet sanded with 800 and then with 1500 and then with 3000. Trash was still hanging in there, but it was flat. I drove it for a week this way, and it looked terrible because I stopped between wet sanding and buffing.

I bought a Sunnex Pneumatic DA thinking it would be better and cheaper than some of the other electrics out there for triple the price. It didn't work. I could move my hand faster. I gave up and looked around the shop for something and my eyes saw the orbital sander. Why not? Before you start cursing me and screaming at the screen, it worked.

I am not proud to say this, but the dang thing actually worked ok. I won't use it on the truck or anything, but gosh.

I started with Meguire's 105 and a wool pad. It worked OK. I was not super encouraged with the results I was getting.

I then switched to a yellow foam pad and the same compound. Now it started to look nice. You could start to see hazy reflections of things in the good parts of the finish.

I then used another yellow pad and the 205, and the reflections started to get really good. What was super weird is that it never seemed to run out of compound. Where I had to add more 105 every few feet, the 205 seemed to keep working. I added more out of conscience but honestly, it was just great. I even went to a microfiber pad with the 205 and hit it again noticing the same effect. There are parts of the car (fenders, C pillar, drivers door) which look really great. The hood still is trashy and the roof has one spot where I burned through the clear, but it's pretty good.

I painted some of the trim with SEM black, and I still have to reinstall the side pieces and paint the wheels. More pics to come later when I do that.

Here is what I learned:

HVLP guns are amazing and overspray was minimal.

Wet sanding and buffing is critical. It's like going from a crayon to a paintbrush.

I'm going to need that temporary booth for the truck to avoid trash.

Tunakid #1 is pretty good at mixing paint.

Tunakids #1 and #2 are decent with an HVLP (I only let them do primer, I was too nervous to let them do color)

My little compressor is adequate, but not wonderful.

Masking is way harder than it should be.

More coats of clear coat!!

That looks fantastic!!!

There, you go, you popped your painting cherry and now will be able to relax a bit and actually enjoy the process of painting the truck.

A few of us here are looking forward to that day!

Remind me...when we last left off, was the truck moving under it's own steam?

Pete

tuna55 said:

Just to get this pic on the most recent page.  ;-)

That's a really great color for that car. 

looks great! Will look even better with trim. 

Clips for side trim are coming soon.

I installed wipers and windshield washers, which is super exciting.

I offer ten GRM points for someone who finds me an "H" logo for the hood.

I need to paint the wheels black.

The license plate holder for the front was installed and looks pretty great.

Window tint is coming also at some point.

Thanks for the comments!

As for the truck, it doesn't move yet for want of a steering column. Then I need to build some device to hold the bed away from the cab so that both can be primed separately.

But if you saw my honey-do list, you might faint.

Also, it may be time for restickering the quarter window.

I finally got the clips in the mail (yes it took that long) and also painted like five rooms inside the house, built a bench for my wife, and fixed the fuel gauge)

Now I need opinions, black wheels or no?

White wheels. Teal and white go together like peanut butter and jelly!

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

That looks great until you drive it. Dirty white wheels look terrible and they get that way the first brake application. I think the sparkliest silver works best against the teal Black is too much black, especially with the broad side trim. I love the teal. 

One thing is for certain, I need a vinyl sticker of the Honda logo for the center caps. Any leads?

Needs a set of fancy BBS-style wheels with black center and polished lip.

But that's just my opinion.

In reply to slowbird :

Putting more money in isn't really an option. 

I like the silver- it goes with the interior.  Less work, too.  

H stickers and ship it.  

I get into the thing to go home and hit the A/C button:

CLACKITTY CLACKITTY CLACKITTY CLACKITTY CLACKITTY CLACKITTY

Turn the A/C off and stops.

I assumed the compressor had seized and the belt was jumping all over. It turns out that the top two bolts of the compressor decided to go AWOL and the belt was jumping all over and rattling the compressor all around.

Time to get some bolts.

Got some bolts (metric fine pitch + local = $$) and drove home happy

Until halfway home when I picked up a miss. Cylinder 4 was a dead miss. Pulling the plug wire got sparks but no bang.

Telling the wife that suck, squeeze, bang, blow wasn't just a good time, it was how the engine worked, was not a good plan.

I pulled the plug and it looked fine, pulled the valve cover and everything looked fine, and I put it back together and it ran smoothly. Yay? Maybe the plug wire came loose?

Until this morning, when it skipped and missed all the way into work, getting worse until it was a dead miss again when I got in.

I have come to realize that I have been neglecting the budget portion of this project. Here is where we left off:

Challenge budget

$1235.84

New "real" (including tools and drinks and such) budget

$1546.69

Now, since I stopped keeping track, I have replaced another CV boot, the windshield washer squirters, both rotors, both pads, both lines, a tie rod end, a ball joint, and a belt, injectors are coming in the mail, spark plug wires are going on this week. I believe that all falls outside of the Challenge budget rules (although I may never get there now). Inside both budgets are the marker lights, the turn signals, the trim clips, the paint and primer.

$1461.80

$1772.65

WOW. That's much less than I thought.

The injector indeed solved much of the misfire. Another few coming tonight (I replaced one because that's what Amazon had).

I found yet another two leaks, and fixed them (loose oil pan bolts and loose oil drainback hose)

Also apparently the transmission is leaking. Remember that it uses engine oil, so its leaks are virtually indistinguishable from the engine, but I was having a seriously hard time getting into first and second gears today. So that's nice.

Wrong.

The transmission was full. There were some shiny bits from the crunchy shifting on top, but everything else was fine. I changed the fluid and then realized that the clutch was not releasing. I adjusted it and it was perfect. Then this morning, it went "click" and stopped working again.

Hmmm

So I had to keep retightening the clutch cable to make it livable. Kid #2 helped me pump some grease into one end. I ordered a replacement cable.

Wow.

First off, hats off to Honda for making this thing so easy to get out. I have a cold and was overtired and I had the cable out in a few minutes.

Secondly, I have never had a clutch so light. It's literally, at a maximum, 1/5th the pedal force required when I first started driving the car five years ago. It's actually a bit hard to drive now because it's so very very light.

Two tunakids wanted to try and drive the thing on Saturday.

That's when I discovered that the power steering hose was spraying fluid directly onto the exhaust manifold. Happily, we did not burn the car toi the ground. Unhappily, they did not get a try. Hopefully next weekend.

Power steering hose & caliper

$1235.84

New "real" (including tools and drinks and such) budget

$1885.34