My Project Accord: 2004 Coupe EX V6/6spd

[jpawela]

Hi everyone! I just purchased my first Accord. It's an '04 Accord Coupe EX-L V6 with the 6spd. This is replacing my '02 Acura RSX Type-S which has been a great car to me but I've grown tired of it (and grown tired of being bounced around when driving it...feels like the suspension is made of granite). I will be making a profit once I get my Acura sold.

Here's what she looked like:


I got my Accord for $7,750 out the door with 102,000 miles and a full service history. Drives smooth and strong, clutch, tranny are solid. The only thing wrong is the paint on the hood, driver's side front fender and door need to be redone. Also some trim took some beating in our desert sun here in New Mexico. Reason why the paint is only bad on these panels is because it's had some minor body work done in the past and that paint didn't hold up well. Looks like crap now, but I will bring her back to the "head-turner" status. Here's a pic trail:

When I first got her:






Trim looks very bad!:





What I did to fix that:

Before:





After:




Got both sides done in one evening. (The evening I brought it home)
I painted the top half and the bottom trim was just some wet sanding and then rubbing compound, followed by polish to bring back the gloss.

[jpawela]

Next, I wet-sanded and compounded the head lights:

I used 2500, 2000, 1500, 1000 grit sandpaper in that order and then used my rotary buffer to get the clarity out:

Before:


After sanding and first round of compound:

And finally...


Buffed those exhaust tips! Made such a huge difference!




Debadge:


Still can slightly see where the Accord badges were. Maybe I'll try wet sanding? lol

And how she stands now after detailing and paint correcting on the good panels I have:





So far, I'm not spending much on mods yet until I get maintenance all caught up (ie. timing belt/water pump, spark plugs, struts) and those panels painted. After that's all done, I'm thinking maybe a decklid lip spoiler and maybe an HFP body kit? I'd like to lower it but I don't want to deteriorate the super nice ride quality any. That's the main reason why I bought it...comfortable and stable. Any other suggestions on mods for the future would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for looking thus far.

[namegoeshere]

Since those headlights are clean and clear now, I'd pick up some Opti Coat to protect them otherwise they'll get all cloudy/hazy in no time again.

Aside from that and the bad paint on a few panels, it looks good.

You should do a 7.5 coupe rear conversion.

[mc1114]

Any regular gloss black paint is adequate for those door panels? Mine are starting to show some discoloration

I love how silver always looks clean. And I dont like debadging. lol

Eventually I want mine to have the HFP look. I recently bought a front lip, and it made a huge improvement. I love it. Next will probably be foglights, then 17" wheels (really dont like the current ones).

[07AccordEx-L]

Nice pick-up and superb job on the detailing. You will love the torque in the J30. HFP lip is a good start. I am on XLR8 ISC N1 coilovers and they ride great. You can feel every imperfection in the road but will not hurt your butt. Another thing to consider is the slave cylinder checkvalve delete. Deleting it will help the clutch last longer and give you a better clutch feel.

[SatinSilver]

On the passenger side rear quarter panel you may want to get a pdr guy to bump the dings out. Looks good though.

[jpawela]

Originally Posted by namegoeshere

Since those headlights are clean and clear now, I'd pick up some Opti Coat to protect them otherwise they'll get all cloudy/hazy in no time again.

Aside from that and the bad paint on a few panels, it looks good.

You should do a 7.5 coupe rear conversion.

Thanks, man! I'll see about picking some of that Opti Coat. I've heard people use it before and yes I bet our sun here will yellow those lights up again in no time. I would love to do a 7.5 conversion. Maybe when I get all the other things done.

Originally Posted by mc1114

Any regular gloss black paint is adequate for those door panels? Mine are starting to show some discoloration

I love how silver always looks clean. And I dont like debadging. lol

Eventually I want mine to have the HFP look. I recently bought a front lip, and it made a huge improvement. I love it. Next will probably be foglights, then 17" wheels (really dont like the current ones).

For the door panels, I used Dupli-color auto black paint. I've used it before and it holds up better than that Rustoleum stuff at Home Depot. It was easy and since I garage my car, I hope it will last a while. Debading isn't for everyone. You have the same mods in mind that I want!

Originally Posted by 07AccordEx-L

Nice pick-up and superb job on the detailing. You will love the torque in the J30. HFP lip is a good start. I am on XLR8 ISC N1 coilovers and they ride great. You can feel every imperfection in the road but will not hurt your butt. Another thing to consider is the slave cylinder checkvalve delete. Deleting it will help the clutch last longer and give you a better clutch feel.

Thanks, buddy! I do love the J30. I'll also look into those coils. I guess maybe that's why my clutch is so vague? I didn't know these cars had them.

Originally Posted by SatinSilver

On the passenger side rear quarter panel you may want to get a pdr guy to bump the dings out. Looks good though.

Thanks! I actually had an appointment for the PDR when I posted this. It's all done now and looks great...like it never happened.

[jpawela]

Visited the PDR guy today...had a nasty couple of dents in the passenger rear quarter panel.

Before:



After:



These guys just perform miracles sometimes!

[mgartner0622]

If you don't mind me asking, how much did that PDR cost you?
I've been looking around as I have about 3 dents on my Scion that need PDR, and it seems to be around $50-70 per dent.

[Aviography]

TL Type-S front/rear sway bars are a must, see the 7th Gen FAQ for the Sticky for this mod, made a huge difference to take away the excessive lean during cornering, I came from an Integra GSR and the TL sway bars made a world of difference, and they are cheap too, less than $200 for all the parts required.

[mc1114]

Originally Posted by jpawela

For the door panels, I used Dupli-color auto black paint. I've used it before and it holds up better than that Rustoleum stuff at Home Depot. It was easy and since I garage my car, I hope it will last a while.

On the top part of the door panel, after peeling the outside layer off, did you sand the chrome before painting it?

[jpawela]

Originally Posted by mgartner0622

If you don't mind me asking, how much did that PDR cost you?
I've been looking around as I have about 3 dents on my Scion that need PDR, and it seems to be around $50-70 per dent.

Don't mind at all. The PDR Guy I used usually charges $65 per panel if the dents are small and simple. However, my rear quarter panel had some really tricky dents as well as many other smaller ones on the accent line (couldn't catch those on camera) All together for just that panel, he charged me $200 and took about an hour. Was that pricey? Maybe but he's the only guy in my area that I know of.

Originally Posted by Aviography

TL Type-S front/rear sway bars are a must, see the 7th Gen FAQ for the Sticky for this mod, made a huge difference to take away the excessive lean during cornering, I came from an Integra GSR and the TL sway bars made a world of difference, and they are cheap too, less than $200 for all the parts required.

Hmmm...I'll have to check those out. Thanks! I think it handles decently now but maybe I'm missing out big time. Does it affect the ride quality at all? Like is it stiffer?

Originally Posted by mc1114

On the top part of the door panel, after peeling the outside layer off, did you sand the chrome before painting it?

I basically peeled off all of the old vinyl (I think that's what Honda used), then cleaned off the adhesive left behind with rubbing alcohol, then sanded with 2500 grit paper on the chrome part, primed and then top coated with the black.

[staro0989]

Just curious, why did you go from a fine grit sand paper to a coarse grit? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Either way, looks good along with the car.

[Aviography]

Originally Posted by jpawela

Hmmm...I'll have to check those out. Thanks! I think it handles decently now but maybe I'm missing out big time. Does it affect the ride quality at all? Like is it stiffer?

Ride quality is not affected for the most part since I kept the OEM springs and struts, the only time the stiffer sway bars are felt is if I hit a depression on the road with one side of the car since the higher torisional regidity from the larger sway bars will react more than the smaller OEM sway bars.

It's a good balance of performance and safe handling characteristics.

[jpawela]

Originally Posted by staro0989

Just curious, why did you go from a fine grit sand paper to a coarse grit? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Either way, looks good along with the car.

Oops! Yeah you're right. i just wrote it down wrong. Yes, I went from coarse to fine.

Originally Posted by Aviography

Ride quality is not affected for the most part since I kept the OEM springs and struts, the only time the stiffer sway bars are felt is if I hit a depression on the road with one side of the car since the higher torisional regidity from the larger sway bars will react more than the smaller OEM sway bars.

It's a good balance of performance and safe handling characteristics.

Great info, thanks! Sounds like something I will want to do really soon, now.