Restoration Part 3!, All fixed. For now... Options

[enderswift]

Halloween 2009 some douche got beyond drunk and bashed into my parked celi before speeding off . I found the damage a few hours later and aside from an internal cuss-fest I kept my cool and was really relieved to see that there was no mechanical damage. Pictures say a thousand words so observe:


this picture is from when it first happened and doesn't really convey the magnitude of the damage, I seriously thought the rear suspension was boned. I'll post fresh pictures soon, they'll show my sad looking (but effective) attempt at rust proofing.


After saving every penny from my summer job while scouring the world for parts, paint, good advice, and someone to trust my celi to, I finally have everything in order


(thats $300 in paint supplies right there, the majority of which was the insanely expensive toyota 3l2. That taillight was damn near impossible to find for a reasonable price)

I just cant be happier right now. Ill finally be able to wax my celi without wondering if I'm an idiot for waxing a ruined exterior (I figured a dent isn't an excuse to neglect the whole paint job!) also, I'll finally be able to pull up somewhere or go on a date w/o cringing every time my drivers side is displayed

So now the next order of business is to take a few things apart before delivery to my body guy. The rear bumper has to be removed together with the taillight, mirror, power antenna, front head light, sideskirt, and window trim. I'm paranoid about having someone else work on my car so I insisted on being as involved as possible. In fact, If I had the time I would learn body work and fix this on my own. Too bad university has to be so time intensive while body work is a skill that comes with lots and lots of experience..Either way until I graduate I'd rather have someone fix this thing rather than count on my rustproofing to hold up.

I'll post pics of the tear down soon

This post has been edited by enderswift: Jun 2, 2011 - 8:34 PM

[enderswift]

alright its been a few days and its time for an update of sorts. Well this isn't much of an update to be honest. My body guy has been busy with a few other cars and told me he wouldn't take my car until tomorrow But he did take my hood to apply the sealer and do all the preparations for paint. That way the turn around time will be much quicker when he does finally get to my car. In the mean time i spent the week installing some of the tune-up parts i mentioned before.

I am aware that some of you are probably looking at this thread with this expression on your face : since none of this is particularly interesting. Theres no doubt that the majority of you know what rotors and spark plug wires look like! I'm really just making this thread as keepsake for myself, if someone gets something out of my experiences then all the better. In the future when I finally graduate I'll have the cash to make the most epic progress thread of all time. In fact I'm gonna make a point making it as detailed as physically possible haha. Till then I'll have to get by with my humble restoration and reading other about other peoples swaps. Here are some pictures of some things that went on this week:


New denso wires, parking shoes, hardware kit, and fuel filter. My hatred for drum brakes was only reinforced with the experience of putting these on


Here is the finished product. Dont those rims look bad up close? I really wish I had the cash to buy some 17inch enkei rs5's since I sprang for the falkens, but the tires alone were ~$500 and my summer job just couldn't cut it. I cant help but feel the same way about the taillights and headlights, if your gonna replace em then you might as well get the jdm tails and a set of front projectors... but I just couldn't justify the costs


And here is the replacement highbeam that really should be a jdm clear piece!


After 3 years of owning the celi I FINALLY have a remote. Programming took ~5 seconds. I cant believe the dealer wanted $90 for a 5 second program. The way they rip people off is mind boggling. If you do the math that works out to $64,800/hour


Heres another shot of how my celi currently sits. I have a car cover over it most of the time but it got ripped off in last nights storm and my whole engine bay got rained on

This post has been edited by enderswift: Aug 14, 2010 - 9:39 PM