wurlycorner's '91 BA4 4WS SE Auto - body build

[wurlycorner]

Right, so some updates on this.

The original plan...

The original bumpers had a few scrapes on the unpainted parts (a PITA) and had been bent and slightly split. They looked good from a distance but jobby up close. I had spent months and months trying to find some decent replacements, to no joy (this was obviously before I found Honda heaven just down the road from me )

So they were getting on with repairing the originals (at some labour cost that I'll find out some time later on... )




The bonnet paint was shocking (stuff sat on it in storage for years and damp had got in under the lacquer so it was lifting) so that was being painted.



There was a very small rust bubble on the bottom of one rear arch so that was treated and sorted.


The bootlid paint was the same as the bonnet so that was going to need painting (but more on that later)...

That would need blowing into the wings/quarter panels, so the trim was lifted away so it could be done properly, instead of the masking up job, which never works 100% (you always get some bleed under and onto the trim )


The rear numberplate panel was bent and dented to drokk and I thought not recoverable, so I was hunting for a new one, but they sorted it (more labour )




The bootlid was worse than I thought - the top was rippled, so it was going to be a jobby to repair (would have needed a spread all over, even after beating) and because it's such a big flat panel sat over the so it wouldn't have lasted well and the best bet was to find a replacement.
Originally I got the bootlid off the white 3g breaker (which is mint) and gave that to them. However, it's off a preface 3g and next day I got a call from the bodyshop the next day to say it was completely different, in ways I hadn't imagined
So I set about finding a replacement in a hurry (as some of you will have seen )
A convoluted trip to watch the world snooker yielded a mint facelift bootlid




So that was a couple of weeks ago.

[wurlycorner]

I'd seen the car one evening and spent the next few days with something bugging me going round in my mind...

The original plan was to have keep as much original as possible, because the paint was otherwise in such good condition. It was also meant to be a quick(ish - it was still a 'side/mates rates' job) so it could be finished for japfestshow. But...

I knew there were some surface rust stains on the shell around the front/rear window screen trims. With bits of the trim having been removed, I could see what these were like.







This was bugging me...

It's just surface rubbing at the moment, but in a couple of years time, it will be worse.
The car is nearly stripped to the point where it could be dealt with, but it would mean painting more bits that still have original paint, in great condition...
Painting those extra bits mean that the roof would need doing, which then means that the only bit that isn't being done is the doors...
Not doing the doors as well would mean it would probably look like a dogs breakfast but doing them would mean the whole car was being done, so it wasn't original and I didn't want it to be 'over restored'...
Doing the whole car means more time and cost and it won't be ready for japfest...



drokk it.

It's now or never.

Cue a call to the bodyshop. "I need those bits done".
"Ok, we've started to prep the rest of the car for the blow in so can you come down tonight to take as much of the rest of the bits off?"

[wurlycorner]

So after work on Weds I headed over there



Having now taken most of it apart, I'm pretty sure that the 3g would have been a far more expensive car to build than the 4g (and even more so the 5g) LOADS of bespoke fixings/better put together.
To get some of the trim off the door meant a full strip (glass out etc - the external trim on the back post of the door is attached to the rear guide and can only be separated by taking the rear guide out first, which means glass out etc.)

So half 1 in the morning;




Most of the rear quarter glass trim had been lifted away, but the last bit across the top only comes out with the glass according to the manual. I really didn't fancy that and it looked like it could be got out without...
It could not (I snapped it on both sides )
£75 each (for a small poxy bit of trim) and no longer available. So I need to get them out of the breaker.





That left just the top trim on the windscreen, the rear quarter side trims and the rear washer jet to be removed.

I went back on Sunday to get those bits off. They'd got on with rubbing back to metal and priming the bits that had the surface rust and any areas that had tiny dents in that were now going to be taken out.

(rest of the car temporarily covered)






These are a complete arse. So difficult to access the back clip


I felt guilty ripping into the wrap so I could get the interior out to release it the rear quarter panel trims. It had to come off anyway, but it still felt bad unwrapping it ;

Kept the headlining removal to just one side and along the back;

But it meant all the back seats, lower quarter internal side panels and one of the upper side panels (which meant seatbelts, kick panels etc. etc. it all spreads



It will probably be quite a while before any more updates. I think they'll have rubbed it all down today, but they have 40 odd trains to paint on nights now, so this will go back on the back-burner

[Vtecmec]

It'll be worth the effort.

[K30DPC]

I do remember this type of work I have done on mine. It's always worth the effort.

[farlow]

This is gonna look awesome. Will it be at JAE ??

[honda-hardy]

I miss mine. Good luck

[wurlycorner]

This is gonna look awesome. Will it be at JAE ??

It will probably be there again, yep. Which and how many of my ludes are at JAE this year will depend on which ones are running and how many drivers I can rustle up

[RattyMcClelland]

I miss mine. Good luck

X2

[mercutio]

looks great though wurly