Operation Bora Body

[PranK]

Hi All,

I thought I'd post up a thread about my car.

Its a 2002 Bora 4Motion Sport. I've had it for about 2 months now and bought it with a 2" thick folder of receipts and letters from the previous (original) owner detailing *everything* ever spent on the car (including the original sales receipt for $62,000.)

The car has 190,000 k's on it and is mechanically perfect, blew me away coming from Nissans who really start to want a new motor soon so have a car that still felt so tight after so many k's.

The body is not so good. Dents, scratches, scuffs, bumps, you name it. It was absolutely filthy when I got it with about 2 - 3mm of grime in the door jambs.

The thing is, I've always had other people do work on my cars for me, especially in the body area. This car will be my first attempt at owning a fully owner-modified/maintained vehicle. Including all body work.

I dont *really* have long term plans for it. It needs to be a daily still, so no 'slamming' it (used to have an R33 GTR that was too low for me to put my shoe under the front bar - not doing that again.) I'm liking the idea of Porsche wheels but dont like the idea of adapters. I was also thinking of a 'rat' type look in matte black or something but my wife *hates* that idea and she'll likely win the argument. Maybe just a straighten and respray, I do like the OEM look.

The first thing I did was ditch the roof racks and the boot spoiler (which was half falling off anyway);




Body condition pics here

[PranK]

Next was to try my hand at repairing one of the wheels which went *ok*. Have mis placed the pics, will post here when I find them.

[PranK]

I bought some non genuine plastic black background headlights from the states. I have never been a fan of silver backed lights and mine were so cloudy (I did try to sand and polish them but with only limited success.)

Before;


After;


The difference;

[PranK]

Also my interior handles were in terrible condition and I cant stand wood grain (especially Feaux wood grain) so they were replaced with nice new black ones (although I did a little bit of damage to the door part when getting them off - I need some trim tools.)

[PranK]

I want to find some wheels so I can take the stockies off to clean them up and possibly spray them black.

Also getting some coilovers and sway bars and I have an ECS front refresh kit too.

Am also considering badging the boot, I'd like to shave it eventually.

[*thad*]

Looking good. It almost feels like everyone is going from a skyline to a VW at the moment (you, Funkymonkey and myself) although i still like to stay in the loop on sau.

[PranK]

although i still like to stay in the loop on sau.

Good!

Yeah I needed a cheap(ish) commuter with space and safety for baby seats. I have always loved dubs, I still love GTR's, but until I can afford an R35, I'll stick with VW.

[Manaz]

Something to be aware of:

On the headlights - be aware that US market headlight reflectors were considered second-rate in terms of performance to the European version and our RHD version (which is based on the European reflector design, but modified to suit RHD). LHD reflectors will also provide a beam-pattern not ideally suited to our RHD market (and you may be dazzling oncoming traffic).

They do look the goods though

[*thad*]

Good!

Yeah I needed a cheap(ish) commuter with space and safety for baby seats. I have always loved dubs, I still love GTR's, but until I can afford an R35, I'll stick with VW.

Yes im sick of driving my stripped out r32 around so a nice daily should be on its way soon. There is a nice Silver R35 that parks at my building...MMMMMM R35.

[PranK]

Something to be aware of:

On the headlights - be aware that US market headlight reflectors were considered second-rate in terms of performance to the European version and our RHD version (which is based on the European reflector design, but modified to suit RHD). LHD reflectors will also provide a beam-pattern not ideally suited to our RHD market (and you may be dazzling oncoming traffic).

They do look the goods though

Yeah, first thing I did was drive down to a carpark in the dark and turn them on, run 50M away and have a look to make sure they weren't dazzling (one of my pet peeves.) They are definitely not as good as the stockies, but I have an HID kit that I bought for an older car that I might put in them.

Thanks, I think they look awesome too.

[Dyldo]

Yeah, first thing I did was drive down to a carpark in the dark and turn them on, run 50M away and have a look to make sure they weren't dazzling (one of my pet peeves.)

I just pictured this. pretty funny.

haha, even funnier with Benny Hill music

[Dyldo]

Something to be aware of:

On the headlights - be aware that US market headlight reflectors were considered second-rate in terms of performance to the European version and our RHD version (which is based on the European reflector design, but modified to suit RHD). LHD reflectors will also provide a beam-pattern not ideally suited to our RHD market (and you may be dazzling oncoming traffic).

They do look the goods though

you are the Headlight Yoda.

[Speed]

With regards to the body, you could always give it a buff first and see how much of a difference it makes.
Won't fix the dents/scratches on the "a" pillar but will take out most, if not all of the roof racks and spoiler marks.

The panels that have deeper scratches will need a respray but if your a perfectionist (like me), then you might end up having to respray the entire exterior of the car.

This takes time/effort and a bit of skill or a lot of beginners luck to get right but saying that, we all have to start somewhere.

You don't need to spray in a booth but I seriously recommend it, especially considering that you can hire one for $150 a day.
(Saves a fair bit of buffing in the end and your not suseptable to moisture like you are if you paint in the elements.)

Since there was so much dirt in the door jams, I bet theres heaps more stuck in behind the front guards. You can clean this out by removing your plastic inner guards or just do it if you need to remove the guards for paint.

Good luck.. I always love a project!

[anthony]

Boras are great,so you have a wonderful project to work on.

The Navy is a good looking colour,I would keep the origional alloys,clean them up,and DONT spray them Black...

Hopeyou got it for a bargain price ???

[sirmoe]

Where did you get the power windows plastic thing? Mine looks shocking too, wouldnt mind replacing it.