Newbie questions

[nixsky]

Hi everyone,

I recently got a DC5 and have set about restoring it. My plan is to preserve it and get it as clean as I possibly can. Generally speaking the car looks to be in pretty good shape, one or two stone chips and a little bit of surface rust here and there. I do have a few questions I'd like some help with if possible, I've done a fair amount of Googling/searching but haven't been able to find any conclusive answers so far.

Little bit of rust
I decided to remove the front and rear seats and carpet to check there wasn't any rust underneath. I also wanted to give it a good clean. I found a couple of bits which I treated with it with AutoGlym Magma and agitated it, which seemed to work a treat. I can't remember if it was like that before or not. However, I noticed there was a little bit more on the passenger side floor. The paint has bubbled in places also. I'm not sure if I scrubbed too hard, but the paint started flaking off in places. At that point I decided to stop and look for an adult to ask for help. Doesn't appear to be rusted through or anything like that. No sign of any rust on the underside of the car either. Do I need to worry about this? Should I continue to treat it and just have it re-undercoated?



Plastic boot hook things
I can't seem to figure out or find any conclusive information on how to remove these damn things. It's preventing me from taking out the last couple of boot interior panels. Has anyone got any tips?



Little box under drivers seat
Wondering if anyone knows what this little box is? I originally thought it might be for the seat belt detector, or the air bags or something. But given it's held in with a single cable tie, I'm suspect it's not OEM?



Any help or advice would be appreciated. I promise to return the favor and help someone else once I've figured out what I'm doing. Tomorrow I'll be removing the spoiler and side skirts to give them a proper clean!

 

[Neil_H]

The box may be part of an alarm system, check where the wires go.

 

[nixsky]

The box may be part of an alarm system, check where the wires go.

Yeah, it's a Toad alarm system. I've mostly disconnected it, but it needs an auto electrician to come and remove it from the loop

 

[DE4NO]

Looks pretty clean, have you had a look behind the rear speakers yet?

 

[nixsky]

Yeah, completely clean! Looks like the front and rear bumper was painted at some point, the rest of it is original. No indication of a prang. Japanese report is clean, as is the UK one. So I think it was something just trying to sort out the stone chips etc

RE: Toad alarm system. Auto electrician came out and sorted it all out. Can't quite believe how much cabling I pulled out of the car lol! (don't worry all still works lol)

 

[JordanSuth]

The rust under the seat, was there any moisture or damp? That's usually the reason they rust in and around that area. You could sand back the rust and put some primer over it to protect it. No one is going to see it and it will protect it from getting any worse.

The plastic tab in the boot, there's a lip on the inside you need to push to release it.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

 

[nixsky]

No dampness at all, I asked in a few other places and the general consensus is that it's from where passengers have gotten in with wet feet etc.

I've treated it, which has exposed some of the metal. The plan is to get it re-painted so it's all as new. Or as close as I can get at least

 

[Them Witches]

Was' Good Cross De Pond....

This is what I would do if I was able to score a DC5R. I would go On ebay buy usdm black carpet from a RSX Type S and buy 05-06 DC5 RSX TypeS cloth seats or EP3 Type R seats and install them in your current Type R. Have the red carpet and Recaros professionally cleaned and store them away for special occasions, same with the floor mats, rear seats, and any interior bits that will "collect travel evidence". Dirty all the cheap stuff up. Meaning below just wait...

While prices are current buy bits like new TypeR headlights, OEM parts that are "unavailable OR backorder" & "discontinued" and store them away. Meaning if you were to sell this car one day, you could pull these parts out of storage and install them, basically commanding top dollar for your DC5R. Since you are in Europe and the "R" was sold there you have access to more than most do.

The "Kswap the world" craze is killing access to parts, driving parts to backorder. It would be smart to buy a used K20a longblock & tranny or K20a2.. whatever. Start building a replacement engine for the car you have now and buy "2qty." of certain parts like PRB or RRC oil pump, VTC sensor, etc. Back to it...

Kseries, especially the 86x86 high rpm 2.0L's are going to dry up fast over the next few years. start buying mechanical & service items.

Do you have a service manual to start reading up on?