Lude Generation

So been on the forum a number of years now, started my lude life with a 98 VTI auto about 5 years ago, about 6 months later the auto box died on that car and a replacement box was fitted but I always wanted to get a manual. About march 2019 this one popped up for sale on here and I was first to see her and buy. Had 54K when I picked the car up and lots going for the car, however the rear arch rust was showing but I thought this could be tackled and the car saved...we're now in February 2020...lots and lots of pictures to come. Here's how she looked when I got her:



Some close ups of the rust:


This side was an accident but had been left a while so didn't look to be as bad, but later pics will show just how bad this was.


So i didn't waste any time and a few weeks later courtesy of Cebul I had the following arrive:



Off the car goes to bodyshop number 1...who phoned me a few days later to explain the rust was in more than just the arches... both jacking points below:





And of course the inner arches were toast as well, (only have a pic of 1 side but both were really bad)


Bodyshop 1 were getting ready to relocate and did not have any more time or resource to work on the car so kindly asked if i would take it back as it was as they weren't in a place to much more with the car. so it came back and sat at home for about 6 weeks with the new arches half cut and the jack points not touched at all.

So in those 6 weeks I arranged for the car to go Dal performance in Rochester, Medway in Kent. Dal's quite accurate description of the metalwork at this point was that it was like "rizlas" and a serious amount of metal was going to have to be cut out. At this point i was questioning the cost to get this sorted, my sanity and how the rust could be this bad. Some pics from Dal when he started on the car:






Moral of this story is if there is even a spec of rust see just how deep it goes before you know what you are getting into.

So the job to de-rust this car begins, collection of pics of the metal being cut out and new metal being put in:




New metal in:



Finally after the jacking points were sorted work on the arches could begin, several months after i thought we'd be all done
Inner arches first (only have pic from 1 side pre Por-15)
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And both inner arches sorted and coated with Por-15



And now the outer arches finally start taking shape:

Bodyshop 1 cut this side ready to weld before discovering extent of rust, not sure why the smaller piece was cut out but Dal was able to work with it and get everything welded up.


Various stages of smoothing:



And with everything in place a slathering of Por-15 everywhere:





Dal was super busy during this period so the work itself was about 7-8 days of labour but this was done over a few weeks. He doesn't do paint but has a guy who he recommends so car waited around for about 3 weeks before going off to the paint shop and finally after owning the car since March i got it back in October 2019 and could start to improve a few things. Goals I had in mind first, a Motegi body kit and change of wheels from the saw blades to Motegi's.

So I had a spare set of Motegi wheels I had picked up from LankySod a few years ago that were in need of a refurb. Knew I didn't want to stick with original colour them so had them done in a gun metal grey colour, here's how they looked coming back from wheel shop (with a set of Toyo Proxes)



Love the colour myself but with the centre caps they didn't quite look as good as i had hoped:


This is the car about 3 weeks after getting it back from all the metal work and paint was finished, with the refurbed wheels but I'd decided by now I didn't like the look with the centre caps on:


Wasn't gonna leave them like this so I took the centre pieces from my sawblade wheels, stripped them down and paint matched them and then fitted, pretty happy with the look. Went from this:


To this (4 still, not sure what happened to 4th one in this pic)


And the wheels with these caps fitted:


I forget when but while the car was still being painted I dibbed a few pieces from Mills breaker so made the trip up from Essex and got his Motegi kit, some nice Magnacor leads and a few other bits. I also picked up a HoneyComb Grill from lings honda parts in this time and fitted that to the car. Motegi kit has now been painted and fitted and the car went for a nice detailing this week as the paint at the front now needed some attention as the whole rear of the car was sprayed after the metal work was complete.

Here's some money shots of how she sits today:





Plans going forward:
New rocker cover (have one i got from Ratty that's half way done)
Fit Magnacor leads and new console dash, carbon fibre wrapped with silver dial rings (from mills)
Brake Calipers to be painted a nice yellow which should look good with the car colour and wheel colour
Have spare door handle inserts and radio surround that need fitting as current ones are peeling/damaged
Would like to fit a newer exhaust system at some point

Lo
Very nice
Great work on the arch work
Cheers for posting
Toadster

What a transformation

With rust on these, it is always worse than what it first appears because they tend to rust from the inside out. Looking at the pics of the work, you have given yourself a good chance of eradicating the rust for good. I have seen quite a few Preludes that have had this type of restoration done, only to find bubbles coming through on the arches again a few months later.

You should bring the car along to mimms and/or japfest

Always good to see another prelude being saved
Looks fantastic - one of the best colours for a 5th gen imo
First time ive seen motegi alloys with different centre caps - think it works

Nothing unusual for the inner arches to he rusted out if the outers are bubbled on a 5th gen. Bought and broke many for this reason.

looking good. Lots of work gone on there!

Wow great work on the arches

Wow - superb bit of restoration