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Body Work Project, Telephone Pole 1, NSX 0

Joined
6 October 2010
Messages
371
Location
Las Vegas
I recently purchased a 91 NSX with some body damage, and wanted to make a thread to document my work to repair it, in the hopes of helping others who undertake similar projects. I'm still in the process of locating replacement parts, so if you or anyone you know have any parts you think I will need to repair, please get a hold of me! You will have to excuse the camera phone pics, my digi camera is MIA. A photo is worth a thousand words, so I will let them do the talking!























































Temporary radiator to make car movable






 
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Good luck. I hope you have experience in these type of repairs. There is probably frame damage to the front rails.
 
Should be a easy fix, keep your eye's on prime parts market. E-bay searches, also send many e-mails. Your start should be, strip front and rear body parts down to welded frame. Tow car to local frame shop, pull frame to
+-3,4mm, take home, buy many used parts. :wink:I did it:biggrin:
Jack Tulsa, OK
 

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yeah need to strip the car down to the bone exterior wise. all panels.
rear bumper, take the trunk off, leave the doors on though. and take it to a frame shop like was sugested earlier. once the frame it " true " or near to it. put all the pieces back on and then part by part she can be revived.

an old tv show line " The Million Dollar Man " comes to mind

" we can make him better, we can make him stronger, we can make him faster " LOL

but good luck it would be so much fun to do what your doing.

its like your god bringing back the dead or other wise unrepairable.

my hats off to ya

by the way how much did you get it for?

I saw a wrecked one that was flipped and it sold at auction for 19K
 
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This should be a great winter project. Rule 1, don't be in a hurry, you'll
find all or many parts across the U.S of A. Also, buy the nsx manuals, service and body repair. Study the car front to back. Enjoy the Japanese
engineering, compared to US from early 90's. Remember its a labor of luv.:wink: My 11k NSX plus 4k in repairs.:biggrin:
 

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Should be a easy fix, keep your eye's on prime parts market. E-bay searches, also send many e-mails. Your start should be, strip front and rear body parts down to welded frame. Tow car to local frame shop, pull frame to
+-3,4mm, take home, buy many used parts. :wink:I did it:biggrin:
Jack Tulsa, OK

Yup I had mine fixed up after a little oops too. Once it was all said and done I actually ended up making money lol.
 

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You got to love these guys that bring damaged NSX's back to life. I wish you the best of luck.
 
Should be a easy fix, keep your eye's on prime parts market. E-bay searches, also send many e-mails. Your start should be, strip front and rear body parts down to welded frame. Tow car to local frame shop, pull frame to
+-3,4mm, take home, buy many used parts. :wink:I did it:biggrin:
Jack Tulsa, OK

How did you choose a frame repair shop? Do the straighteners seem to work with aluminum as well as steel? I am going to stop into a few local body shops this weekend and see what they have to say. How much did you pay for the frame to be pulled back into position?

yeah need to strip the car down to the bone exterior wise. all panels.
rear bumper, take the trunk off, leave the doors on though. and take it to a frame shop like was sugested earlier. once the frame it " true " or near to it. put all the pieces back on and then part by part she can be revived.



an old tv show line " The Million Dollar Man " comes to mind

" we can make him better, we can make him stronger, we can make him faster " LOL

but good luck it would be so much fun to do what your doing.

its like your god bringing back the dead or other wise unrepairable.

my hats off to ya

by the way how much did you get it for?

I saw a wrecked one that was flipped and it sold at auction for 19K

I really do enjoy this kind of work, there is something rewarding about bringing a vehicle back to life that would have been parted out otherwise. Plus I get to know the car inside and out.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141460

This should be a great winter project. Rule 1, don't be in a hurry, you'll
find all or many parts across the U.S of A. Also, buy the nsx manuals, service and body repair. Study the car front to back. Enjoy the Japanese
engineering, compared to US from early 90's. Remember its a labor of luv.:wink: My 11k NSX plus 4k in repairs.:biggrin:

A winter project is exactly what I had planned. The engineering really is a step above most every other car. Unfortunately it seems like all the parts are over on the west coast, shipping is going to kill me!

You got to love these guys that bring damaged NSX's back to life. I wish you the best of luck.

I had to practically beg to get the title paperwork included with the car. The previous owner did not think there was any chance of repair.
 
Was this your donor part?
Yes, I cut the main beam and inner
splash pan from this part, my upper shock
mount was not mis-aligned. Welded in new
headlight pan support. Upper and lower control
mounts was within 3mm's.(Fwd/Aft) Mounted new beam
forward of control points. Hibon 4 wheel Computer
alignment was set to factory specs. with no problems.:wink:

Frame shops!!! (at the beginning)
Finally, after visiting four frame shops, the fourth one
agree to check and pull pass. side beam to orginal point.
(inboard around 2") It was set within 1-2mm's,(up/down-L/R) I built
drivers side from this ref. point. $800 frame bill.:smile:
PS: Frame shop pull it cold, not heated.:rolleyes:
 
How did you install the side member? Butt weld or plate?

Shop mechanic said to butt weld, but how to align it true?
Control arms are three point attachments. How would I find
the true front point. My final assembly was this: My new beam
had all three points. The answer: Sock over Foot! split new beam
at aft side, slide it over good beam control arm points(overlap 8") till orgin
holes align with new beam holes, adjust fwd bumper mount plate
(up/down-L/R) Now install control arm casting bolts(3 through frame,
2 from bottom), then weld aft points. Note; this moves the wheel .080" out and .080" down.(The frame matl. thickness). Jack
 
post a few more pics of the rear, i mean the inside of the trunk, in one of the pics it looks like some of the metal was folded out near the passengerside. I just wanted to see it in a better pic.

have you started taking any of the panels off yet? take step by step pics. we love seeing the process underway. LOL
 
Time for an 02 up facelift.:wink:


iamwithstupid.gif
 
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MKNMOVES, holy shit I took another look at the hood its crickled on the driversside, you got a quick Eye. buddy. good looking out.

so Scratch that hood. but the others are OK. LOL
 
rad_support1.jpg



Getting things as straight as possible before cutting out the radiator support
rad_support_pull1.jpg



rad_support_pull_21.jpg



Donor front end
doner_front_end1.jpg



doner_front_end_with_car1.jpg



After a lot of measuring (Honda body repair manuals are amazing!), finally began to TIG things into place
welded_rail1.jpg



welded_rail_21.jpg



welded_rail_31.jpg



NSX-R bars came in handy for holding things in place
welded_rail_41.jpg



rad_support_and_frame_rail_in_place1.jpg



rad_support_and_rail_in_place_21.jpg



primered1.jpg



front_end_together1.jpg



front_end_together_21.jpg



front_end_together_41.jpg



front_end_with_bumper1.jpg



Dusty
front_end_w_hood1.jpg



Someone had already cut out a portion of the rear damage
rear_end_damage_21.jpg



rear_end_damage1.jpg



rear_end_cut_out1.jpg



Drilling out the frame rail spot welds
rear_end_cut_out_21.jpg



rear_end_cut_out_31.jpg



rear_end_spot_weld_cut_outs1.jpg



rear_end_parts1.jpg



rear_frame_rail1.jpg



rear_rail_in_place1.jpg



rear_rail_in_place_21.jpg



Had to build some custom long reach sheet metal clamps...
vice_grips1.jpg



vice_grips_21.jpg



rear_floor_in_place1.jpg



rear_inner_fender_in_place1.jpg



rear_inner_fender_welded_in_place1.jpg



rear_inner_fender_painted1.jpg


Seam sealed
rear_end_seam_sealed_21.jpg



rear_end_seam_sealed1.jpg



rear_end_in_air1.jpg



rear_end_w_bumper_beam1.jpg



rear_fender_in_place1.jpg



Finally got to wash the dust off!
completed1.jpg
 
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Wow! Really amazing result. These projects are always incredible to me.

I'd be lying if I said there wasnt a part of me that fears that these cars are going to end up being sold, eventually, as "PERFECT NEVER HIT!!!!" down the road to some poor schmuck that has no clue though. Not necessarily by the person who restored it, but somewhere down the line. Hopefully the VINs wind up here to match the history threads so at least a future buyer will have a shot at finding out that the things were decimated and rebuilt and can make their decision with full knowledge.

Congrats though! Looks like a long journey has a great end!
 
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Im' absolutely amazed by the work you did... I saw the first couple of pictures and was like OMG... What a handful... but kept scrolling and smiling and amazing results!

You have done a great job on reviving that poor NSX
 
Superb Job! I must say that there is a lot of love there and the fashioning of custom tools for the job shows the extra mile in the elbow grease.

Stunning work my friend!:biggrin:
 
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