I didn’t want to change the alloys and wanted to keep the cars look as stock as possible and hence we decided to restore the stock wheels.
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Hello dear members.
A brief introduction about myself, I am 28 years old and self-employed. I have been on Tbhp for the last couple of years and have been following and reading different threads on Tbhp for more than a decade now. This is going to be my first thread on Tbhp(FINALLY). Please brace yourselves as it may be long read.
Coming to the story.
I have always wanted an old Honda city VTEC (1998-2003) since I was in 8th grade. I would spend most of my vacations near TV Tower (BLR Members would probably know) as my grandparents live in the same locality. I would enjoy looking at different cars getting their exhausts and other works done from there. As years passed by the urge to get a Honda grew on me.
My birthday was around the corner, and I wanted to gift myself something nice and that’s when I decided to gift myself a OHC VTEC. After many discussions and convincing the better half, the permission was granted . Spoke to a couple of friends and within no time all of us were on a hunt for a OHC VTEC. After searching the internet and many other places we didn’t find anything that would suit our requirement. Either the car had 3+ owners or people were quoting very high for the car. On the first week of August, I remembered a friend whose brother in-law had a VTEC who was willing to sell it. Immediately got in touch with him and my my my…. It was a single owner car with 65k kms on the odo. Got a few pictures on WhatsApp and the car looked clean. However, went down to his place and the car was standing under the tree next to his old tractor. All four doors had rust on them. Car had scratches and niggles all over due to its age. Bumper clamps were broken. However, the interior was clean but needed small minor stitching for the seats as they were worn out. Then came a huge surprise, The car was under the tree for the last 6-7 years and would only be started on the day of Ayudha pooja every year. Took a days’ time to think if I was making the right decision or no. Again, hear over brain decision I went to my friends BIL’s place with a friend of mine and asked him permission to take the car to SAG Racing for a thorough inspection. Tried starting the car using a jump cable but it failed. Tried multiple times and the Nth time it came to life. Got a new battery from a nearby shop and drove down to SAG Racing and was inspected by Vasu anna and after about 2 hours I got a heads up to purchase it. On our way back the coolant pipe just went off and the car started leaking coolant. Luckily, we were just 2 minutes away from his place, so we reached back safely. Went back my friends BIL’s place discussed about the pricing and paid the advance and left.
Finally, on the 16th of August 2022 the complete payment was done, and all the documents were signed, and the car was towed to SAG Racing.
About SAG racing:
My friend and Vasu anna’s son (Tharun) are good friends and my friend had got his car repaired from them and that’s when I decided to go ahead as they had done a splendid job on his car.
The car needed a lot of work to be done for it run properly on road. List of works that went in initially were:
- Suspensions needed to be replaced.
- New Brakes
- Balance rod bushes
- Power steering belt
- Oil service
- New engine bedding
- Spark plugs
- New headlights
- A/C work
- Complete electrical wiring
- Full system exhaust
- New centre locking kit
Dropped the car at SAG racing for all the above which was completed in 2.5 weeks and the car was all good to run.
Mandatory pooja picture:
Two months passed by, and the car was running perfectly fine without any problem. However, it needed a makeover very badly. Mid-October I decided to go ahead and restore the car and spec it to how I always wanted my VTEC to look since 8th grade. I Wanted to strip down the car completely. The decision to strip the car down completely was made because I want to retain the car for another 5+ years and wanted to fix any kind of damage or take care of the rust. Spoke to Vasu anna at SAG Racing and he gave me a date to drop the car. Meanwhile I spoke to my painter whom I know for the last 11 years and told him my specifications and he said it’ll be done. 24th October the car was dropped at Sag racing to remove the entire engine from the car. 26th October the car was towed to my painter’s garage.
I got a call from my painter on 29th saying that car was stripped down completely, and I could come and look at what must be done. As expected, all the four doors were rusted, Windshield and rear glass edges had rust. The trunk floor had rust, Engine Bay had rust here and there. The radiator mount was so weak that it was on the verge of falling off. Both the rear wheel arches had rust from the outside. On the inside the driver and co passenger side running boards had rust. Apart from that there were no traces of rust was there.
My painter and I made a list of parts required and the hunt for parts began. Lucky for me I could source all the 4 doors, roof beadings, and glass beadings from SX8Sparesbangalore. Sourced the body-kit from the guys at Motocode in Kerala. Radiator mount was sourced by my painter itself:
Denting & repair:
Now it was time to choose the colour came. Literally took me about 1 week to decide a colour. After many many many discussions with friends, we finally decided on one colour. Silky gold from Toyota was the shade we finalised. Informed the painter the same and he sprayed the sample on the spoiler and showed how it may look. Gave him a heads up to go ahead with the paint. The entire denting/painting process took about a month and 5 days to finish.
8th December 2022 the car was towed back to SAG racing for the re assembly. In the meanwhile, Vasu anna had ordered a D16 intake manifold and throttle body. And a BMC cold air intake. I had told Vasu anna that I wanted every screw, bolt, clamps, and holders to be zinc coated. The engine head cover also to be in chrome finish.
I had observed a few minor things that were bothering me:
- Speedo meter needles
- Vibrating issues (dashboard and all door pads)
- Shrilling noise from the exhaust
- Wiper blades, wiper speed adjustments and water spray adjustment
- Head light switch adjustments, headlight beam adjustment and headlight water seepage
- Centre locking adjustment
- OVRM electrical motor repairs
- Power window electrical motor repair
- Cigarette lighter/Charging hub not working
- Front LHS suspension knocking sound
On the 19th of December I dropped at SAG Racing and the car was fired for the first time after the re assembly and my I had a big smile on my face (Just like my 8th grade). The test drives were done the following day and the car was driven to the painter for the final touch up and detailing work.
I didn’t want to change the alloys and wanted to keep the cars look as stock as possible and hence we decided to restore the stock wheels. The wheels also arrived a day before Christmas, and I went straight to Madhus on Christmas for new shoes. Went ahead with the Yokohama S drives 185/60R14.
After few weeks using the car needed an interior cleaning. Got an interior deep/germ cleaning done at 3M.
The stock headlights throw was very bad and hence changed them to BLAUPUNKT and the horn was not that good so went ahead with the red grill horn. Also went ahead and changed the seat belt straps to red colour.
Here are a few final pictures of the car. It has been about 8 months since the restoration and every single time I take it out I have a wide smile on my face:
All the pictures were taken on my phone. Planning to do a photoshoot very from a long time but I have been caught up with work. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks the photoshoot will be done.
Till then Enjoy. Cheers.
Keyword: How I bought & fully restored a 1st gen Honda City VTec