Soxturf"s EK9 Full Restoration

[soxturf]

Hi Guys,

My EK9 is currently in the process of having a full restoration done. It should be complete in the next 6-8 weeks so thought I might as well start this thread now to show its progress to date.

I bought the car 2 months after my 18th birthday in September 2008 and will own the car 15 years this September 2023 coming (I turn 33 this July 2023 ). I do not think I will ever sell the car and a few years ago I knew if I was going to hold on to it forever in good condition, then it was going to need this restoration at some point. The car was never my daily driver and never will be but just from working on it here and there etc, I knew once it was stripped, there would be a few surprises with rust etc.

As some of you may have seen in another thread, a couple of years ago, the car was having an issue with emissions for NCT, so I had it remapped by AP Performance (Vtec6000 on here) who also installed RDX 410cc OEM injectors into the car at the time. All engine internals are stock and this remapping restored the car to its original power and went straight through the NCT with no emissions issues. This ensured I could proceed with the restoration.

Anyway, below is some pictures I took before it was stripped.

 

[soxturf]

More pictures of before it was stripped.

 

[soxturf]

Pictures below are of when the car began to be stripped.

 

[soxturf]

The car was garaged indoors for the last number of years as when left out in the rain for a couple of days, I noticed the passenger footwell would be wet. After removing the windscreen and then seeing the size of the hole under the windscreen seal, above where the rear view mirror would be, I think i found the leak!

 

[soxturf]

The car was then Vapour Blasted to see what metal would actually be left and to see the amount of welding which would be required. Video below is after the Vapour Blasting has just been done. Car looks like it was just riddled with a shotgun and the amount of welding required was sick.

 

[soxturf]

More images of the car after it had been stripped and then after it had been Vapour Blasted.

 

[soxturf]

Welding, Painting and reapplication of sealor can then begin to happen. All underside of car from behind the back bumper up to front wings has undergone rust proofing and is covered in a thicker stone chip paint to prevent rust and stone chips causing any damage. Inside the chassis and every hole and inside the rear quarter panels has been pumped with wax to prevent rusting.

 

[soxturf]

More of the above.

 

[soxturf]

More images of the car after it was stripped but before it was Vapour Blasted.

 

[soxturf]

Below is images of the car with its final paint coat inside the car and its final paint coat (rust proofing paint) on underside of car and the engine bays final paint coat.

 

[soxturf]

Video below shows just how stunning the inside of the car now is.

 

[soxturf]

Below is every single bolt on the car which were sent off to be reanodised.

 

[soxturf]

Rocker Cover redone in original crinkle red and every single part underneath the car sent off to be powder coated in black. (All parts not in pic).

 

[soxturf]

Car is now starting to be put back together before it will go for its final external paint coat. Keeping it in championship white of course.

 

[soxturf]

Car was stripped and is being put back together by my mate Conor Kenna. He does alot of work with civics, mainly putting K20's in them for customers. All Vapour Blasting, welding and painting so far has been performed by 'Murphy Vapour Blasting'.

 

[colliemcc]

What a project, fair play.

 

[soxturf]

What a project, fair play.

Thank you. When it is all done and final, I will put up the costings of everything and exactly what has been done so people can have an idea of cost should they ever wish to have their own professionally restored. Its going to be a pretty penney.

 

[DL84]

Goddayum that thing was rusty! Glad to see people doing these jobs properly nowadays. Hope to see more soon!

 

[soxturf]

Goddayum that thing was rusty! Glad to see people doing these jobs properly nowadays. Hope to see more soon!

Yeah its crazy how rusty this was once stripped. Bear in mind I live in the Midlands in Ireland and could not be further from the sea if I tried ha. All rust most likely coming from the salty roads here in winter. IIRC there is only about 130k miles on the clock with about 70k of does coming in the last 15 years since I bought the car, so was surprised to see just how bad the rust was when it had not seen the road much. Once restored, car will be in a garage in a bubble during winter and drove at weekends during the summer.

 

[soxturf]

Some additional pics I took while in the unit today. The car used to be on mugen coilovers (they were on it when I bought it) but as I am now a bit older and the suspension it's self was very old, I have decided to change out the suspension as it was very harsh for Irish roads. Car now sits on KYB Shocks with Spoon Springs and has brand new discs all round. (Lug nuts in pic are the old lug nuts as I have new ones on the way).