Milano Red 2000 EM1 Restoration/Hobby Car

[iLLmitch]

Some of you may or may not remember me from years ago. My name is Mitch, and i used to own ITR 01-0286. I met a lot of people over the years from this forum, H-T and going to Expo 7, and learned so much from many of you! One day years ago, i got it in my head that i HAD to have an 03 Cobra. At that point, i decided to sell the ITR (i still regret it to this day) after i found the Cobra that i wanted. I didn't even keep the Cobra for a year, it really wasn't all that to be honest. Fast forward to now, i have a 2013 Honda Fit, with some coil overs, slips, and really happy with where life had taken me up to this point. My wife mentioned to me last year that it would be a good idea for me to get a hobby, and she was cool with me looking for a car!!! Although, the endless hours of looking weren't exactly what she had in mind, but it paid off. I found this 2000 Civic Si in Shreveport, LA a few weeks ago, and of all the cars i looked at across the country, and people i talked to, this was the one that gave me that "feeling". Even though i had previously owned a Type R, i have always wanted a 99-00 Civic Si........So with the help of one of my closest friends, we took off from Tulsa, OK and headed for Shreveport in his K swapped RHD Crx. This thread is going to be an ongoing post that will be updated whenever i can get stuff done and pictures posted. i didn't take any real close up pics of the paint before, but in some of the pics, you can see how it was, and it was like that across the whole car.

2000 Milano Red Civic Si
93k Miles
Factory front lip, rear wing, and mud flaps.

[g3teg97]

Milano red EM1s look great!
Can't wait to see more pics and updates.

[iLLmitch]

i kept looking at the paint on this thing, and even though i loved the car, i was worried that i was going to have to save up $ and pay for a new paint job, and although i wouldn't say i was worried, but more of one of those things you just don't want to do lol. There were light scratches and really hazy paint all over this thing. So i decided to take it upon myself and borrow a friends buffer to see what i could do. i watched ALOT of youtube vids and did some reading and figured i could handle it myself. Since it is a hobby car, i have been taking my time and doing everything the right way!! The paint is not perfect, there are some bumper scratches and side molding scratches that need to be addressed, but Here you can see a small square i did on the hood to test it out, and make sure it would actually clean it up. After i saw this, i was full speed ahead for getting it looking good!! I started with the hood, and slowly over a week, worked my way around, back to the hood. I literally could not believe the transformation that this paint was making! Along the way, i also removed the "H" emblem from the front grill!

[iLLmitch]

The interior was actually not bad, but it was dirty, and previous owner smoked in it. That was going to be a challenge in itself!! I chatted with a few people, and came across someone that details cars for a living, and he said to try a chlorine tablet in water, sitting in the car closed up for 12hrs, then remove, then run heater on high for 30 min.......So i have done that 3 times so far LOL. It seems to be working. I totally cleaned everything inside, removed front seats and vacuumed and shampoo'd all the carpet, front and rear seats, and wiped every piece of interior down with cleaning cleaning/disinfectant wipes. I am still planning to use a steamer we have to do the headliner, but i am kind of nervous because i don't want to ruin the head liner, but at the same time, if i do, i can redo the fabric if i need to. i Just want the smoke smell gone. it is BARELY there now, but i can still smell it. So if anyone has any advice there, i would appreciate it! Below is during the cleaning, and then an after the cleaning with seats back in.

[iLLmitch]

The shifting was sloppy, and i knew it was a cheap fix to order some Energy Suspension full polyurethane shifter bushings! The old ones weren't too bad, just super squishy rubber! Old ones were easy to get out, but the new one on the transmission end, was a PITA to get in. I actually had to run to Home Depot and buy a long bolt, and 2 big washers and a nut to make my own press to get the extra pressure i needed to get it to pop in there. i tried for almost an hour to get it in there, went to Home Depot got the parts, and it was done in a matter of about 15 min. Lesson learned.

[iLLmitch]

Ordered a tune up kit (plugs/wires/cap/rotor) last week from Rock Auto. There was a small stutter at idle and i thought all that would help get rid of it. I hadn't really driven it in 5 or so days, because of all the detailing and what not. so i swapped the shifter bushings, and wanted to take it for a spin. Got it started up, warmed up, and the CEL came on....WTF?! Started running like crap, so i pulled the codes, and it was "random misfire" in all 4 cylinders. 2 of the plugs were also loose, causing some blow by as you can see. Luckily the tune up kit was delivering the next day. So i got it all home, switched it out, and of course, runs like a damn champ! I wasn't extremely happy with the plug wires, so i ordered some NGK plugs and got those put on this week also. I also spent a Little bit of time cleaning the engine bay and trying make it look decent. I just need another valve cover to redo to make it look better in the bay!

[coolhandluke]

Rock on, this will be a fun project to follow Mitch. You wasted no time with leveling up the car's foundation via cleaning interior, color correcting the paint, and maintenance items.

[iLLmitch]

Started with the front passenger side today. The inside of the rim was horrid as you can see. Took the wheel off, used some Purple Power cleaner and some non scratch blue scrub pads and alot of elbow grease. Once it was all scrubbed as good as i wanted (not going for perfection, just trying to clean it up), i washed the front and back of the rim.

Then i started in on the passenger front wheel well. I used a steamer to help loosen some of the dirt and grime, then hit it with some Purple Power, and scrubbing power. I then wiped it down, and used some plastic renew gel stuff (in my opinion, it is the same as tire shine). I do like the results, and knowing that i have 3 more wheels and wheel wells to do, i am good with the outcome!!

[g3teg97]

Order those OEM parts from Cris at IRUNOEM/AcuraExpressParts.com. He is an ITR Expo sponsor and actually was able to get some parts for the daily (Honda Accord) for me.

Great progress. Love threads like this!

[iLLmitch]

Order those OEM parts from Cris at IRUNOEM/AcuraExpressParts.com. He is an ITR Expo sponsor and actually was able to get some parts for the daily (Honda Accord) for me.

Great progress. Love threads like this!

Thanks for the heads up! I will forsure get in contact with him!