Hello all! I am new to the forum. I recently purchased a 2008 Honda fit as a commuter car as my other cars are gas guzzlers (tuned cl55, fully build mr2 turbo, and an old Dodge Ram). I have to say that I love the car. Being a car guy, I couldn’t leave the car alone. It was in pretty rough shape when I purchased it. So I decided to embark on a Type R tribute build. Once the moderators approve my thread, I’ll share all of my progress. I’m sure I’ll have tons of questions for you all. Thanks for allowing me to be part of the community.

 

In for link to thread with pictures..

 

Thanks mods for approving my post! So, let me start from the beginning.... I live in Texas. One day at the end of July while sitting in a fast food drive through, the AC went out on what was my current daily driver. (Did I mention that I live in Texas and that it was in July?)

The silver one is the one I’m referring to. My MR2 never had working AC so both were paper weights in the TX summer unless driving at night.

 

I had just sold my gas saver Toyota Solara since the silver car had been running flawlessly. Less than a week later, AC takes a dump.... Go figure....

 

I couldn’t take too many days of driving with no AC and fixing the AC in my garage in July would be the equivalent of walking through the Mojave Desert. So I began to search the local ads for a cheap fuel efficient car and came across this for $1000....

 

 

Cosmetically and mechanically the car was rough but the engine, Trans and AC were in good working order.

One more shot.

 

Once I got the car home, I had a chance to really go over it. Sheet metal screws holding the rear bumper on as well as some other body parts. I love all cars and have always loved the Fit and I hate to see cars treated this way so I began the process of bringing her back. Plus all of my car guy friends gave me tons of crap about the condition of my daily driver. Nonetheless, I was happy to just have AC!

 

One of the first things that I did was replace a bad driver’s side CV axle and motor mount. There was a horrendous clunking on acceleration. Check out the condition of this motor mount...

 

Old vs. New

 

It all began small. Lol. Red OE Honda badges, LED fog lights and disassembled the headlights and painted the bezels black and buffed them out...



also painted the fog light bezels black and replaced the bent bumper reinforcement.

 

The display to the radio was all kinds of cracked. I couldn’t even read what was on the display. I guessed my way through the functions enough to get one random radio station. I eventually had enough and purchase this android head unit that comes with rear view camera, navigation, apps, and Bluetooth calls and streaming for $100. Crazy how prices on this stuff has come down. Also had to Purchase an adapter radio bezel for $55.


running wires for rear view camera

 

Finished product. Sorry about the poor lighting....

 

Knowing that the car needed some serious attention in the looks department, I started to devise a plan for repairing the outside. I thought about a Type R tribute in Championship White but saw that it had been done already (and done pretty well at that). I knew that’s the look I wanted but wanted to do something a little different. So after some back and forth, I decided on Audi/Porsche Nardo Grey. I’ve always loved the color and it was close enough to the Storm Silver that I wouldn’t have to paint under the hood and door jambs...

 

Miscellaneous parts hoard. Replacement front bumper and OE lip, new fender liners, front bumper reinforcement foam, and some OE clips. Oh and some carpet mats. All for under $300

 

Two days of body straitning and primering and finally began the painting process. Starting with the front bumper and lip.

 

Then the body....

3 coats of base. Paint and clear came in a little under $400. The roof, spoiler and wheels will be painted in black...

 

These came in for the wheels. OE Honda centercaps...

 

 

3 coats of clear, 5 stages of wet sanding, 3 stages of buffing. It’s got some small imperfections here and there from painting in a home garage but the average person probably wouldn’t notice...


Roof pic is before wet sanding. If you zoom in you can see all of the trash in the clear. I was able to wet sand it all out and get rid of the orange peel...