mid-life rebuild...

[old'uns]

...TOM'Y...not me!

what started out as a 'simple' audio fix has, well, expanded.
stereo, speakers, amp, seats repaired, respray, new hood, yadda yadda.

dash having small welds to the 2 outer fixings...£5

seats..repair to bolster, both seat squabs centre panels replaced with either grey Alcantara or a Black with thread pattern, leaving the surround as Zebra... guy reckons £80 with covers re-installed on bases, bargain methinks!

respray, humming & aahhing, £1500-1600

hood may wait until return from Le mans?

picking up 4 speakers tomorrow along with cable, connectors, corrugated tubing etc & hopefully Alpine comp speakers will arrive as well.

if weather picks up next few days, piccies time.

[Mylee]

Not sure you will get much of a respray for £1500

[Obsessive]

I'll look forwards to seeing so photos as the work progresses :)

[maiku]

be sure to take out and clean the carpeting.
I plan to paint/dye mine flat black this spring when it warms up

[old'uns]

door speakers here, dash speakers picking up Friday so if not in Scotland working, again!, hopefully sort out pods.
quick fit of doors reveals a slight issue.....can't wind windows down due to cutting too many wires around radio area! oops! :suicide: connectors & soldering iron time

seats away, back this time next week x fingers, silver grey'ish Alcantra on centre panels of squabs.

[TADO]

:bounce:
lucky TOM'Y! cant wait to see the results

[unclejemima]

Cant wait to see photos!!!

[old'uns]

bit more progress....temp wiring for window switches done, soldering iron decided to jack in :mad:
speakers will clear window, just need to tidy up spacer ring.
didn't like the idea of using the very thin existing wires into doors with the new set-up so........

passenger door first.
couldn't feed wires through so, 4 bolts later..
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dooroff.jpg

fed wire into water grommet...

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/firstattempt.jpg

struggle to get back on & re-fit grommets properly.

eureka moment!
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/easyway.jpg

4 bolts, 3 plastic fasteners, easy.

drivers side took me 15 mins.
amazing what you find...
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dswing.jpg

wings were coming off any way for re-spray.

now need to get some more supplies & hopefully get most of it done this w/e


mmmmm, no idea why pics won't show directly? done same as other threads & they do, sorry folks!

[old'uns]

phone call today, seats are done!

old...
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dseat.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dseatbolster.jpg

new......

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/newseat.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/newsquab.jpg

well pleased:)

[old'uns]

tested all speakers today, all working as should be, now i can start rebuild.
door speakers in, loom behind dash tidied up, part wiring done between HU & amp & 1 dash pod cut out done, 2nd tomorrow.

also found a wire i'd forgotten about in drivers door. thought originally it was a second loom to speaker, vaguely remember a long time ago when changing speakers it was attached. it has 2 spade connectors, small & large as per speakers but tracing the wire it goes up to where the mirror is bolted?
mirror is coming off anyway but my first thought is it looks as though someone has somehow fitted a heated mirror feed from the stereo wires:eek:

definitely only 4 wires in to door, 2 for windows, 2 for speaker

[Beatman]

I have two wires running up to the same position. Mine is because someone has wired in door lock actuators. Perhaps in the past yours had also? I don't think its factory I think its from the previous failed car security install.
The actuators have forced a dent into my door trims to clear the window. Anyone experienced anything like this?

Kudos on the restore by the way!

[old'uns]

solved the mystery wires..

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/extrawires.jpg

at some stage someone re-wired the speakers & used this way into doors.

dash cut out last night & this morning, took the easy option & took a large chunk out..
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dashpre.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dashsound.jpg

braved the cold this afternoon, wires run from HU > amp>dash, dash fitted back. also replaced the foam on heater vent join between dash & heater box, old stuff just fell away.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dashpartin.jpg

put anti-vibe on door skin as well

looking a bit tight for the crossovers, need to fit cage & have a look, i may mount them next to amp or in old sub box, means running 2 extra wires for the tweeters, will decide next chance i get to work on it

[old'uns]

couldn't be bothered to go to work today so....

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dashtestfit.jpg

need to look into area around radio facia & surround but it'll do for now. there are covers to go on ends.

robbed a piece of Ali chequer plate from a place where i work, bit of black reflective vinyl i had lying around & test fitted this..
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/amptestfit.jpg

trim carpet will be going back in, thought the reflective will keep heat away from ECU, got some anti-vibe left over so that will go on rear of cheq plate for more protection.
god knows how hot Jen's seat will get though!

after looking at space left around radio & dash, decided on crossovers below the Amp was easier option to work on, rather than struggling in tight spaces, they are quite a size for what they are

[old'uns]

we got sounds :)

just a few minor things to do to finally finish but bulk of it done.
flattened the battery, really needs engine running to run amp so no parking up for a quick rave :rolleyes:

USB will be on a short lead to behind the radio, easy enough to get if needed, 16gb stick should be ample!

[Beatman]

Hey, what happened to your pod tweeters?

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/dashtestfit.jpg

You don't want a big hole left in them or the Visatons will likely sound rubbish as rear sound waves cancel forward ones.

Also they will likely have less control over their excursion.

On the other hand by some fluke sometimes these things just work as the rear waves may reflected correctly by chance but I wouldn't want to rely on that as you don't know what they are supposed to sound like.

I would be inclined to blank them off at least. They are ony little speakers so you have to ensure they little bass they do have can be heard.

I even used a bit of silicon along the flat edges of the drivers to fill in that little glimpse of light you see as the round cut out intersects the square speaker frame.

[old'uns]

tweeters are in?
small tubes as supplied glued in place, tweeter attached to frame.
what you can see through grille is a chromed bar across face, not light

[Beatman]

Ah, I thought I was looking through to the support bracket. They look quite recessed? That the 'tube' you are referring to? Some kind of mounting shroud?

Good work, shame we didn't get a pic of the underside of your speaker setup!:(

[old'uns]

the shroud is part of the fixing kit,glued & sealed to pod. tweeter fixed to bracket, couldn't find anything to space out so thinking being that the tube will 'project' the sound & keep waves away from the mids.

setup at rear same as yours, longer screws to hold bracket, 2 wires in - 1 to tweeter from crossover, the other to the 2 mids in series- or parallel - don't know how you'd describe it? looped +ve > +ve / -ve > -ve

[Beatman]

That's parallel. You got it. They now have a total of 4ohms. Series would have been 16 and very quiet!

[old'uns]

more progress last few days.....install come to a stop, no point in doing too much before paint.
quotes are in, car goes in about 10 days time, wheels done at same time, darker centres & polished lip as is now & lacquered.

started stripping trim etc today, means if i break it i know about it!
screen trim off, door window seals off, seals above rear wings, aerial loosened, washer jets out, side vents, spoiler off & LED out, rack off ready for a polish, badges & decals off & probably a few other things as well.

oh Yes, roof off, new one definitely needed now :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/roofstripfr.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/roofstrip.jpg

[old'uns]

well i've got to the 'can't do anything else' stage...waiting on paint now.
everything that needs to come off is off, bar the front & rear lights, will come off at bodyshop.
new hood will be ordered sometime this week, fitting to be arranged.

[Obsessive]

Reminds me of 18 months ago when I got my one painted. I had the fun task of removing all the over spray from all the parts I'd removed thanks to the shocking job done by the previous paint job :suicide:

Still it kept me amused whilst the car was at the body shop!

[TADO]

cant wait to see the new look TOM'Y - keep warm and keep up the good work dave! :D

[old'uns]

thanks Mike.

got bored today so found some 'stuff' hiding in cupboard, did a bit of 'Badda Badda Bling'

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/fogsurrounds.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/frontfog.jpg

wait & see now if it remains stuck on....

[old'uns]

off for paint on Thursday, working away next week so won't see until at least the following w/e.

wrapped scuttle today with Alligator

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/scuttle.jpg

around the screen will also be done, makes a change from Carbon Fibre

[TADO]

great news about the paint dave, cant wait to see the final outcome!


wrapped scuttle today with Alligator
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/scuttle.jpg
around the screen will also be done, makes a change from Carbon Fibre
please tell me the interior will be 'huggy bear purple' velour too match? :D

[old'uns]

he's back :)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/backfromspray.jpg

doesn't look that different on pic but definite improvement.

wheels also done

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/wheelrefurb2-1.jpg

now to start rebuild & service

[old'uns]

booked in for the 27th to have the new hood fitted.
fitted back bumper, spoiler & a few other things today.
stereo now connected up, some trim back in.
still got fair list of things to get....

Horn
Air & oil filter, Air con belt, various clips ordered from Honda
LED front Indicator & sidelights on way to put in before bumper goes back on
retro-fit Aero blades as well
just ordered 2 PIAA H4H bulbs....:help:...lots of pennies

....and also various screws, bolts , nuts to sort out

[Rod]

I like your rims Dave. Just had a quote back to respray ToBY £2400......ouch! Need to negotiate with me doing the strip out. If I can get it sorted out, maybe two bling yellow beats at the park.

[old'uns]

original quote was £1500 from a restoration place, stripping off as much as possible.
went to get a price for wheels, found out they had bodyshop & asked for quote.....paid £680 for paint, water based base & 2-pack lacquer in OEM colour & all 4 wheels powdercoated with chrome lip & Graphite centre.
only painted exterior panels, apart from d/s shut, couple of dents filled & blister on d/s sill.
removed bumpers, spoiler, front wings, mirrors & side vents.
happy with paint, minor gripe is runs on inside edge of vents but at a later date will wet sand back, plenty of paint to work with!

i'd have been prepared to pay the £1500 but with a long 2 trips coming up would feel bad if chipped or scraped it, lower price means i could re-do no problem

[TADO]

can't wait to see the little chap back on the road :D
its great to see so many beats getting the treatment!

[old'uns]

front wings now on & various small bits.

LED indicators need load resistors, flash like crazy!

been to see about custom oil catch can, quick mock-up of where i think i can fit it
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/catchcanmockup.jpg

should be approx 100mm dia X 120/140mm high tucked into corner as far as possible, captive sleeve on top to fit bolt or long bolt welded to can & nut?
no sight glass, hopefully won't get full too quick & may not fit drain plug, easy enough to take off & drain once a year?
outlets will be sorted when i take car in for measuring up.

possible to blank air box & vent outlet from can to atmosphere via the side vent?

rough cost will be £50-£60 so if it works out i'll ask them to keep specs on file for any future takers?

[Rod]

original quote was £1500 from a restoration place, stripping off as much as possible.
went to get a price for wheels, found out they had bodyshop & asked for quote.....paid £680 for paint, water based base & 2-pack lacquer in OEM colour & all 4 wheels powdercoated with chrome lip & Graphite centre.
only painted exterior panels, apart from d/s shut, couple of dents filled & blister on d/s sill.
removed bumpers, spoiler, front wings, mirrors & side vents.
happy with paint, minor gripe is runs on inside edge of vents but at a later date will wet sand back, plenty of paint to work with!

i'd have been prepared to pay the £1500 but with a long 2 trips coming up would feel bad if chipped or scraped it, lower price means i could re-do no problem

The company I have been too said the paint will be £680 but including the prep, strip out and rebuild being labor intensive that's where the cost come in. They also put a provision in for broken bits replacement. Room for considerable cost reduction.

I was considering having the wheels coated in that black chrome with the rims diamond cut. Not far off of yours. Good choice.

So all you Beat'nicks out there don't throw away and bits.....not just yet!!

[old'uns]

i stripped as much off as possible purely for the reason if i broke it, i knew about it.
the paint shop labourers will have no idea how hard some parts are to replace, if at all.

[Rod]

Did you have any problem area's I should be aware of. Like hard plastic becoming brittle?

[old'uns]

not so much the plastic but the clips, especially the type with x headed insert wouldn't unscrew, i've replaced most of mine with newer equivalent types ie the 9 that hold front & rear bumper on top are the new type with slots to lever up, not the octagonal shape with X head

The clips that hold the scuttle to windscreen i broke most of them but having seen it now i would go gentle. not too sure whether you could lift front edge & slide out or need to get long nosed pliers starting at one end and squeeze the tabs.

mark & keep the bolts etc together, much easier, take pics as well i've already forgotten some things!
you'll also find that at some stage the 'wrong' size or type of fixing has been used or not put in, i'm now in process of listing what i need.
also replacing some bolts & washers with new, also using number plate bolts to fix the rear mudflap to bumper- the 2 underneath fixings that use a stainless plate

i removed bumpers, front wings , mirrors, spoiler & side vents.
window trim on doors clips out easily.
hood was removed but not difficult to remove the metal work from boot area.
rubber ring around boot lock pops out, loosen bolt on lock to do it.
if front wings are off, make sure they paint right to front, my passenger side isn't, my fault as i didn't check before, the drivers side door shut was done so part between wing fixings was done automatically

can't think of anything else at moment, phew!

[Rod]

Thanks for the info Dave. Shall take photo's and notes of the strip out. Will post piccy's when I start. Got to get rid of the mini first.

[old'uns]

decided to strip the vinyl off pillars...
4 hrs later & i'm left with this..
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/screenstripped.jpg

heat gun no good, paint stripper to get the vinyl off, another coat to get some of the glue off and finish with thinners, panel wipe, fingernails, razor blades & a few choice words!

don't leave paint stripper on too long & walk away....
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/pillardamage.jpg

now need to prime, fill, sand etc before i fit Vinyl wrap

Oil catch can has been measured up, should be done late next week.

altering side repeaters to white, slight change from how they are at moment, very much a suck & see job.

[Obsessive]

Bad luck on the pillars! Damn, that must suck having to put the time in to fix them up :eek:

I painted my side repeaters too. Once the old amber lens was smashed out and the plastic was painted I cut some perspex to replaces the lens.

The challenge was to cut a circle with out a pilot hole.
Trick here was to use a circular saw (drill attachement) to cut a hole in some MDF, then lose the pilot drill bit and clamp the MDF above the perspex. Result, one perfect round Perspex lens with no centre hole ;)

I had a nice rubber bead kicking around which I used to glue the two together. Works well and no leaks :D

[old'uns]

hopefully mine will be as OEM but in clear.
should have the taper around the edge to seat as per original & possibly the circles routed as well, if not cross cut to leave tiny pyramids.
got some white reflective to 'cone' the inside & amber LED's as well

[old'uns]

took advantage of weather today..

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/pillarstart.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/pillarwrapds.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/pillarwrapns.jpg

the yellow line will be coming off

LED ind relay arrived today, still won't run LED's :mad:
tested the relay along with original for comparison, old one buzzed, new one didn't so think it's Fu'barred.
LED sidelights are in, so much brighter along with the PIAA Extremes H4H's

[old'uns]

don't think the rear rack is being re-chromed....£170!
apparently down to the price of Copper & Nickel.
looks like Powder-coating assuming price is reasonable.

spare wheel back from refurb, powdered same Graphite as wheels.

[old'uns]

Boo!! Robbins can't tell their left from right :mad:

d/s Tenax fitting, the flap that folds under is wrong way round!
new hood on order FOC, 2 weeks wait again, new one will go on, old one returned to ETC for them to check & then bin it.

at least it sort of looks finished :rolleyes:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/IMAG0214.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/IMAG0215.jpg

[old'uns]

rack has been 'bodged' for the time being, was only the support legs that were bad....

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/IMAG0220.jpg

took the opportunity for a minor addition..2 sockets & 2 USB for £10 from Maplins, wired into power supply & 10 amp fused.
switch for the ECU code connector is tucked away at the top.
inside will get a small tidy up one day.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/IMAG0221.jpg

95% of trim back in now, Catch can ready to pick up tomorrow so engine cover & carpets can return.
HU again nearly done, just need to tidy up around it & fix that chip at bottom somehow, was already like that when i had the HU as spare & wasn't confident enough not to screw up a perfectly good one :)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/old-uns/Honda%20Beat/IMAG0222.jpg

need to tidy up plastic trim, quite a few scratches collected over the years, probably not until we come back from Le Mans though.

[old'uns]

mmmm........Precious thing has arrived :)

that's a Business card folded underneath for an idea of scale.

100mm dia X 100mm tall.

[old'uns]

precious thing now fitted apart from longer outlet pipe needed....
airbox is plugged up so pipe will vent to outside

[old'uns]

replacement hood now at fitters but can't do before i go to Spain so have had to temporarily put a couple of fixings to remain something like watertight.

side repeater lenses have arrived, job for the w/e.......

just the MOT to sort out for either Mon or Tue, then away on ferry Wed afternoon

[bigB]

I'm thinking about a catch can also.
"precious thing now fitted"
How are you going to drain tiny "precious" every week being so small and hard to get at? Is there a bottom drain with a valve?
Also there's no vacuum to draw in oil vapors into the can if not connected to the airbox. Its just a vent if no vacuum.
Why not put it near the dipstick tube/air cleaner so you can just reach in to check its level or to drain?
:)

[old'uns]

it's got a drain plug, 2 min job to unbolt anyway, no level indicator being under engine cover but with doing an average of 3-4k per year it's not going to need much attention?
i may re-connect to airbox, will give it a look over when i get chance this w/e.
it was put in where it was so it was out of way, custom made to fit, proper job by old school mate who's co. know their job...radtec.co.uk
has an internal baffle plate as well to convert vapour to liquid

[bigB]

it looks and sounds like a nice piece

[old'uns]

one less job to be done.....
thanks to SteveM for inspiration from a long time ago :)

[old'uns]

2nd new hood now being fitted 30th may.

few clips etc to finish off & a tidy up ....:D

MOT today, nice plain piece of paper....
2136

& emissions don't look too bad either
2137

Le Mans Classic here we come. :cool:

[old'uns]

decals now fitted....

2138

[old'uns]

2nd hood now fitted, lovely.
pics to follow soon as it's now decided to rain heavily :(

virtually there.

[old'uns]

quick pic of hood, 'arty farty' pics probably over w/e weather dependent & a Blue Peter moment whilst waiting for parcel delivery...