From a "Type R" to a "Type S"

[Paul Smith]

Afternoon all,

Been a member on here for some time now and I've never taken the time to place up pictures of the progress I'm making on my Type S.

In June 2011 I sold my beloved Accord Type R. I bought that car with 99,999 miles on the odometer and in roughly 4 years of ownership, I only put on another 25,000 miles.

It was a fantastic car with fantastic abilities but when ever I saw the 7th generation Accord being driven on the road, in Type S guise especially, I knew that I would have to sell up and move on in the not too distant future.

Shortly after getting my Accord Type R featured in the 1st edition of the Total Honda, I placed it up for sale as a good friend of mine had 2 Type S Accords come into his work.

I really wanted one in Gunmetal grey but the silver one you see here had little over 37,000 miles on the clock and as I'm more into detailing and appearance, the condition of the paint and the car was higher up the list.

So from a high revving H22 with no sound proofing to a quiet, reserved K24. First impressions were good but I won't be truly happy until I get the car up to the standard that I had my Type R.

Firs thing on the list for the K24 was suspension. Even with the A-Spec suspension fitted the Accord sits fairly high when compared to say an A4 or 3 Series BMW.

I opted for uprated springs and KONI adjustable sport dampers over coilovers. While the car was in the garage getting all that fitted I had a new set of discs and pads fitted also.

When I got the car home I set about cleaning up all of the suspension components. I'm a great believer in “what you see has to be clean” and if it's rust, it must go!

Everything got rubbed down and treated to a coat of Hammerite smooth silver.

So from this . . .

To this . . .

First photo opportunity since I bought it then (daughter was asleep in the back seat :blush: )

 

[Paul Smith]

Suspension and brakes sorted, I then had to make a choice on wheels.

I knew that I wanted to go down the rote of "less is more" as I'm not into chrome or overly complicated wheel designs. I opted for a set of Fox FX004's in Glass Black. They are a complete pain to keep clean, but I regularly wax them inside and out which does help with general dirt and brake dust as it just falls off

Next up is a wing. I wanted the Mugen duck bill spoiler but even replicas fetched over £150. Another owner on this very site had an unfortunate accident and donated his wing as it was damaged. As I have spent some of my teenage years in a paint shop, I'm no stranger to repairing fibre-glass and painting. Here's a picture of the spoiler in its current state.

I've spent around 3 hours so far wit fibre-glass resin and body filler so re-create the shape of the original wing. If I don't get it perfect then I just won't use it . . . more to follow on that one.

The engine bay is every bit as important as the outside appearance of the car. The intake manifold is due to be removed and polished but for now I commissioned a custom purple pearl for the cam cover. It was an exchange scheme on the DC5 owners club and the best I’ve seen in recent years.

The rest of the engine bay will shortly be receiving the same treatment, lots of purple.

A few more goodies that have arrived in the last couple of weeks.

Replacement front H (it’s Huge )

Mugen Oil Cap

***anium Pre-Facelift Accord Type R gear knob, arguably the best Honda have ever produced. Not bothered that it would suggest I have a 5 speed box, its how it feels.

So what's next? A proper paint correction as so far I have only spent around 10 minutes on each panel with the DA polisher. I really need to get some halogens on the paint and make it perfect, that's what I'll be aiming for.

All chrome is to be removed, all of it.

The handles will be colour coded in the next week or so.

The window trim with be plasti-dipped when my can arrives from America.

The Mugen replica wind deflectors will be staying on as the best contact is made on the chrome and not the plasti-dipped surface.

The ride height isn't set to the height I want but as the KONI adjustables come with adjustable ride height perches ( 3 of them ), you can make some adjustment to the ride height.

Adjustable rear cambers arms are next I think and an X-Car Link for the standard stereo.

 

[whereami]

That was a really nice read Paul! Good to see the photos of the type r and your type s. Looks the business the Type S including the new second set of pics

 

[Paul Smith]

. . . a proper photo shoot will be had soon when my lighting equipment arrives from Japan.

My Type S and my all time favourite Type R B)

 

[mohammed]

buddy the car looks awsome, real credit to you,loving the photography and the detailing

 

[OB1]

Looking great. I really enjoy seeing the development of a car, keep those updates coming!

 

[Wilderman]

Show off!

 

[mutsaip]

Wow, what attention to detail

. Lovely car Paul, with awesome wheels too. Are you going to plasti dip the door handles too?? I hate the chrome on mine and it has to go pretty soon

 

[Gav]

stunning mate, so you're into photography AND detailing. Match made in heaven!
Might ask you for some tips to correct all the scratches on my paintwork....

 

[vile]

Lovely mate B)

 

[Paul Smith]

Lovely car Paul, with awesome wheels too. Are you going to plasti dip the door handles too?? I hate the chrome on mine and it has to go pretty soon

Many thanks, the handles and chrome strip on bonnet will be colour coded. Everyhting else will be plasti-dipped.

Just had an e-mail from the suppliers tonight, my spray can is on it's way to the UK

 

[J4JAV]

wow Paul that car looks stunning!!!!!

 

[Blue Guru]

Stunning buddy, absolutely stunning! B)

 

[Paul Smith]

Might ask you for some tips to correct all the scratches on my paintwork....

I have a few other paint correction threads to put up that may help you.

Lovely mate B)

Thank you.

Stunning buddy, absolutely stunning! B)

Thanks mate :wub:

 

[spoonage]

Great build mate, hows the drive and handling compared to the atr??

 

[BlamesCL9]

Car is looking so clean Paul! How do you find the Koni's? im still considering whether to go koni shocks wiht my eibach sprigns or go coilover when the stadard shocks go.

 

[CJM]

Paul,

Excellent job you've done there, a real credit to you

 

[Paul Smith]

Great build mate, hows the drive and handling compared to the atr??

Thanks mate. Give it a LSD and you would have a match in my opinion.

Car is looking so clean Paul! How do you find the Koni's? im still considering whether to go koni shocks wiht my eibach sprigns or go coilover when the stadard shocks go.

KONI's are superb, I have mine set to the softest damping setting just now but that will change when I strip it all to clean them for a Honda meet I'm attending in May.

Paul,

Excellent job you've done there, a real credit to you

Many thanks.

 

[F6HAD]

I need to show my kid brother this thread, he has a pre facelift Type S in silver too B)

Lovely car mate, you should be proud!

 

[justa]

looks stunning - i'm not really a big fan of non-oem wheels but they look fantastic !

nice photography too

 

[mango]

Car looks fantastic mate.

How are you going to do the door handles? On or off the car? What prep before painting?

I want to dechrome mine eventually so all advice or a write up would be great.

 

[Paul Smith]

Car looks fantastic mate.

How are you going to do the door handles? On or off the car? What prep before painting?

I want to dechrome mine eventually so all advice or a write up would be great.

Thank you, I'll take pictures as I go and place them up here.

Plasti-dip arrived this morning from America. They gave me a letter of apology for the delay and a bag of sweets to say sorry

 

[Paul Smith]

OK, stripped off a whole load of metal from the engine bay to get powder coated and I'm just back from the Powder Coaters . . . they look superb.

Apologies for no pictures at this time, they will follow.

Was going to get the Intake Manifold coated but I have decided to sand, wet sand and then polish this myself.

I used the same process on my ATR and I was really pleased with the end result.

 

[mohammed]

great stuff buddy, cant wait to see the pics

 

[Schritzer]

Looks stunning mate, looking forward to seeing some more progress! B)

 

[Paul Smith]

A sneak peak at the Powder Coating -

Plasti-dipped the lower chrome strip on the grille last night and the window trim on the left hand side of the car only.

What can I say, no primers required, just cleaned with alcohol solution, taped up and spray away. Recommends 30 minutes between coats and 3 coats should be enough. If you get some where you don't want it, simply remove it with your finger by catching the edge and rolling it.

I'll get pictures up when I'm finished with the whole car.

Door handles are next but that will be a process of U-Pol Acid Etch Primer, 3 coats of Satin Silver and another 3 coats of lacquer.

Also lowered the rear of the car slightly, machine polished with some Gtechniq P1 (tried for the first time) and fitted Japanese sized plates . . . it's getting there

 

[OB1]

Oooh, Dairy Milk purple. Looks very nice.

Any old-skool mountain bikers here? Reminds me of the mid-90s when Ringle did all their components in a similar colour.

 

[mutsaip]

Can't wait to see the results

 

[mohammed]

those parts look yummy bro, looks awsome,cant wait to see the finish article

 

[spoonage]

That looks mint!