Lude Generation

Hi all,

The original of this was on PreludeUK, and various other forums...

I thought I'd copy this here, so anyone who hadn't seen it (or wants a blast from the past) can enjoy it!

I'll try to remember to add the dates!


So... here goes!

13th November 2006

May as well start this thread up, as I'm going to be doing some stuff, may as well log it here!

Anyways, the reason for needing this rebuild thread, is due to the following happening on 21st October 2006 on the A12 -



Thanks to the fire brigade wanting to take the roof off to get myself and my GF out, despite us both saying we were OK, I also have 3 rear windows to replace, and so my initial thought of getting a couple of panels suddenly jumped up to the need for a set of windows, too.


A few days later, and we'd taken the wing, bonnet and headlight out, and put a pry-bar in the front to pull it out a bit.




Then, thanks to a guy from PreludeUK, I went down to Cornwall to collect the following car, as a donor, as I needed a lot of parts, and getting a complete car would have been the best way to get everything I need, including the rear windows.





It's a 1994 JDM BB1, with ABS, TCS, LSD, ~45-50k miles, and the rest of the usual JDM goodies that the UKDM cars didn't, such as climate control etc.


Today's work involved cutting the very bent/distorted slam panel from my car, and removing all the necessary components from the donor in order to get the slam panel out, and after today's work, we're left with the following:




I have also removed all the interior and boot trim from the front seats backwards on the white one, as there is glass absolutely *everywhere* where the windows were smashed.


Plans are to do a complete swap of parts from the donor - engine, gearbox, climate control etc. I'm aiming to make my UKDM car look and feel just like a JDM, as I know I have a good base car.


That's it for now - I'll be sure to get more pictures as I progress, I must admit today was a "just get on with it" day!

18th November 2006

Hey all again,

Been working on the car again today, so here's some updated progress pics


Prepared today for taking the engine/gearbox out. Removed all cabling, vacuum pipes, fuel lines, exhaust downpipe, throttle cable, heater pipes, air con pipes, and disconnected all the wiring from body to engine.






Also put the car up on axle stands, removed wheels, loosened off driveshafts. And since these pictures, have also removed all the plastic trim around the front end of the car.






Took some pictures too of the interior/boot/rear end all stripped down.








Next Saturday's task will be to hopefully get the engine/gearbox out.

27th November 2006

Didn't have quite as long as I'd have liked to work on it this Saturday, so here's the progress so far (and there were some FT bolts!)

Driveshafts, anti-roll bar + front-back support bar, downpipe removed, clutch disconnected and heater core disconnected.







Just got to undo 2 engine mounts and drop engine/gearbox straight out the bottom of the car. That'll be done first thing next Saturday.

4th December 2006

Well, the engine/gearbox are out! No piccies of it on it's way out, because to be honest, I was too busy doing it rather than taking photos!



Lift going down!



Looking over engine to car!



You have done 175,000 miles, you will be missed!






A rather empty looking engine bay!




What's this? Nearside engine mount? That looks a little close to the suspension turret... *goes outside and looks at donor* ... yes, it is a bit close. Looks like it's moved it backwards. But what else do you expect when you have a Range Rover sit down on the engine!


We've now straightened out the engine mount, so it's back in the right place, and I got a call yesterday evening from my dad to say the new slam panel is welded in place No piccies, as I wasn't there!


Coming along nicely so far!

9th December 2006

Another update for you

Slam panel was welded on last Sunday, so today's task was to ensure it's welded in the right place, and things line up.

So first off I put wings on, and the headlights in:







Only *very* slight adjustments were needed to get the correct panel gaps to the lights and doors

Then I placed the bonnet on, and lined that up, got the height and position right, then put the bumper in place to check how close it is to the headlights and wings, as such:








Next Saturday's task is to take this lot off again, so that we can prepare the new slam panel for painting

30th December 2006

Been a few weeks since the last update, but I've not really done much more on it until today!

Have taken all the front panels back off, now that I know they're all going to line up perfectly, so that they don't get knocked or damaged when putting the JDM engine/box in.

I stripped the dashboard and the rest of the interior out today, so that I can get all of the glass out, give it a clean up, and make it take the old windscreen out, and put the new one in. I'm also going to add a bit of sound-proofing, to make the ride more refined for me, and remove some drone when driving along a motorway, but I'll still be able to open up the windows/sunroof when I want to hear the VTEC roar!

Only the one picture this week! Was too busy working



I've also got headlights in the boot, which I will be modding, more on that as I work on them

6th January 2007

Did the following today:

Remaining broken glass removed
All remaining interior/exterior trim removed
Boards made up to go over said broken windows and Duck-taped in place




Front windows put up (courtesy of probing motor with a jump-pack!)
Car rolled outside
Sills, wheelarches, window surrounds, and engine bay sprayed with de-greaser/cleaner and pressure washed while it's empty.

22nd January 2007

I've now taken off everything that needs to come off, so I suppose I'm at the "half way" stage now!

Took out all heater components, plus all the wiring loom etc. Everything is also removed from the firewall, ready for painting



I then went round the whole front end, and rubbed back every single spot of rust, and treated it, then went over the whole engine bay with a coat of anti-chip paint:



Then while that was drying, I helped my dad cut up a neighbour's tree that had fallen in the wind on Thursday!

We then saw 7 planes in the sky at the same time! (The white streaks you can just about see on this pic!)




Then it got dark, and I had to go home! I got a call on Sunday night from my dad asking me to pick up some more primer and thinners before I come up next Saturday, as he'd used his last 1/2 litre of primer spraying all the front end

Also, he's hoping to get the coat of white sprayed on Tuesday night!

So, next weekend will be the start of putting it back together!

26th January 2007

Here's a sneak peak of what I've been doing the last couple of evenings:









More information to follow at a later date!