Nick's 98 DB8 Log - Restoration Phase

[kecknj]

Well I've been lurking for literally years and I feel its finally time to start my own thread. Up until now its been nothing but regular maintenance and city street abuse. I still live in the city, but I seem to finally have the means to restore and possibly start tuning my car.

So what we're starting with is a (mostly) stock four door gsr. I got it at 100k a little over 5 years ago. Its about to hit 130k and is in pretty good condition, but by no means perfect or anywhere close to my standards. The interior is pretty nice except for some small rips in the leather and a (gross) cigarette burn. Its run GREAT since I got it. Clutch was replaced at 98k, timing belt at 90k. No overheats, things look clean and in good order under the hood. Its got an Apexi WS cat back and injen intake, both of these were installed by the previous owner. Otherwise he only installed some sidemarkers and a crappy alarm (since replaced). She's treated me well and its time to give back a little bit.






Cleaned Bay. Before:

After (got to the filter after pic):


I've recently fixed a couple problems. First I replaced the valve cover gasket. First I thought the head gasket was leaking because there was oil all over the serial tab, then I thought it was the valve cover gasket (which did in fact end up being faulty), but now I suspect the camshaft cover. Any comments on this are more than welcome, this is my top concern right now:


Replaced the front (lower) motor mounts with ES inserts into type r mounts. I still have to check the rear, its just kind of tight in there as I'm sure most of you know. I only have this pic, which is before I did any work on the mounts. Some dingbat must have forgotten to put it back on at some point. The other side I was able to just rip off. I think it must have been getting more wear since its counterpart was missing. I really need to get in there and check the rear, but the motor barely moves when throttled up so I'm only a little concerned.


You might have noticed the body damage. Its all pretty minor, but every panel except the right quarter and trunk lid has some sort of ding/dent on it. I started buying parts to focus on this area first:

Parts!:

Crappy APC city lights the previous owner installed, he did it with speaker wire and no sheathing:
Rusty scews:

Broken off!:

Parts!:



SOOO... after about 16 hours reading everything I could find about auto body (the videos helped too) I went ahead and got these (along with everything else I will need):

I had a very helpful attendant at the local auto paint supply store (Thanks Jeff), and he walked me through the steps and I got all of my questions answered.

Also got this for $100 bucks. A little old, but holds compression, no rust, and hey, its a starter and it pushes out 8.3 cfm @40 psi (guns pull 7.1):


So that's about where I am. I love the car. I love beating on it even more, but I am willing to keep on eye on things. In that spirit, my current to-do list:

1. Fix oil leaks!
2. Replace right outer CV boot (noticed it when I was doing the mounts, torn, but no axle clicking... yet)
3. Body work. Still need to get some practice panels, but other than that I just need to get up and do it.

Plans:
Right now, the body needs some work. After replacing the bumper and right fender, I'll be moving on to the left fender, doors, rear bumper, trunk, and roof (has some clear coat peel). I think I can handle all these areas, the quarters I may leave to a body shop. I'm fairly confident I can learn to paint, but metal shaping, ehhh prolly gonna leave that one to the pros. The turn signals and city lights may or may not get smoked, and the tint will definitely be redone.
Next up is suspension, A mild drop (full coils, no sleeves) are the plan, along with a Progress 22mm bar which I got from Greyteg a couple weeks ago. Thats a little ways down the road though, so it'll wait.

Thanks for looking and more for comments guys. I'm looking forward to this thread lighting a fire under my ass and getting me moving!

[hungry718]

Bookmarked! Wow man thats a helluva project you got on your hands. What mods do have planned after you make her pretty? Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[phenom3030]

More four door love! Where at in VA are ya located? I'll be moving there in a few months. I also just replaced my cam seal, (documented in my thread). Looking good! Bookmarked as well.

[honda_90]

Awesome man!! How much did the guns cost you?

[MDumpin]

nice find. did you pay a lot? i just found a db8 a few months ago and have been doing the same thing. I dont really have too many before pics because it was ugly! and i had no internet. I need to replace every gasket and seal in and around my engine, including valve seals.
I live in southern MD. maybe ill see you around.
Check out my DB8 sometime.

[thenickster5792]

looking forward to this build thread! my name is also nick!

[kecknj]

Thanks for the support everyone.

Originally Posted by hungry718

Bookmarked! Wow man thats a helluva project you got on your hands. What mods do have planned after you make her pretty? Can't wait to see how this turns out.

I'm doing my best to focus on the body for now. Pretty mods will be halos, itr lip, dark tint (well darkest VA allows), probably smoking the corner and city lights, painting skirts, deleting mudflaps, and adding replica valences (might ditch them if they look like crap), going to keep it wingless though definitely. I have a type r replica spoiler but I just can't bring myself to do it. I like the clean look too much. I also want to upgrade to cooper brakes and some orange painted calipers; though I'm on the fence with the orange, might be too flashy for my taste. I keep wandering over into turbo build threads though... we'll see, haha.

Originally Posted by phenom3030

More four door love! Where at in VA are ya located? I'll be moving there in a few months. I also just replaced my cam seal, (documented in my thread). Looking good! Bookmarked as well.

I'm in Richmond. I go to JSR and work in Carytown. I'll be checking out your thread man.

Originally Posted by honda_90

Awesome man!! How much did the guns cost you?

Guns were about 150 but the whole box with all the safety gear, paint, primer, etc was about $680 plus $100 for the compressor; still need a couple small things though.

Originally Posted by MDumpin

nice find. did you pay a lot? i just found a db8 a few months ago and have been doing the same thing. I dont really have too many before pics because it was ugly! and i had no internet. I need to replace every gasket and seal in and around my engine, including valve seals.
I live in southern MD. maybe ill see you around.
Check out my DB8 sometime.

I got it for 6k, near perfect condition less a couple of dings. My father and I did most of the damage. I claim the quarter panel and he flowerbox'ed the bumper! Haha. I'm actually from Alexandria and go up there a few times a year to see my family. I might go up if you hear of any events though. Got a thread for me to look at?

[kecknj]

Originally Posted by thenickster5792

looking forward to this build thread! my name is also nick!

oh and "yo Nick!"

[kecknj]

Cut the new fender for the stanley markers:







I used a nibbler tool and a file to get it just right. The side marker template here helped too!

[DaddyCat]

I did some QP repair and repainted my teg acouple years ago. I started off with a new 25 gallon Sears compressor and it would not put out enough air to paint with my HVLP guns. It needed to run continuously trying to keep up which caused alot of moisture in the air (bad for paint).

You can confirm if your compressor is up to the job just by pretend painting with air (or air and water if your guns can handle water based paints). Move the gun across your car as if you were painting it and see if that baby compressor can keep up.

I found a great used 60 compressor on craigs list for $200.
Good luck with your project, sounds like you want to do things right. (unlike the previous owner).

[stealthpenguin]

Originally Posted by DaddyCat

I did some QP repair and repainted my teg acouple years ago. I started off with a new 25 gallon Sears compressor and it would not put out enough air to paint with my HVLP guns. It needed to run continuously trying to keep up which caused alot of moisture in the air (bad for paint).

You can confirm if your compressor is up to the job just by pretend painting with air (or air and water if your guns can handle water based paints). Move the gun across your car as if you were painting it and see if that baby compressor can keep up.

I found a great used 60 compressor on craigs list for $200.
Good luck with your project, sounds like you want to do things right. (unlike the previous owner).

Just curious, were you using water separators and still ran into condensation issues?

[DaddyCat]

yes sir, a copper tube condensor and a very nice filter system.

[kecknj]

Joe, good lookin' on the test with air. I will try that. I was planning on doing the car piece meal, just in case, but if I can do the whole rear of the car (everything fenders back or perhaps roof/left side then trunk/bumper/right side) I'll be (edit: ) VERY happy. Haha

Ben, I bought the cheapo disposable ones. what are your opinions on these? Can you 'overflow' them where they can't keep up with the incoming moisture or do they just keep up until they're full?

[kecknj]

Hmm... looks like they are actually meant to be used in addition to a wall mounted unit. Well... I don't know if I want to buy a $400 unit. Might see how it does on the test pieces.