[Fiero]

gr8 paint job !!
like every1 else ... curious about the 'before pics' .... seems to be headed for the scrapyard (no offense meant)

[bruce]

Originally Posted by iraghava

Sorry for so many pictures but I couldn't just help myself! Also I am not very happy with how the colour has come out in the photos as it looks a bit too orange-ish for my liking. Any tips from the photography experts would be highly appreciated.

Comments or brickbats are welcome!

Hi iraghava,

Did you re-register once you changed the color?,
It is not legal to change the color of the vehicle in Karnataka....

coming to the color, it's a nice color, congrats and you have restored it very well....

but how did the car get dented so badly?

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by bruce

Did you re-register once you changed the color?,
It is not legal to change the color of the vehicle in Karnataka....

bruce, thats a UP registered car... not at all registered in Karnataka. So no question of changing colors

[bruce]

Originally Posted by Zappo

bruce, thats a UP registered car... not at all registered in Karnataka. So no question of changing colors

:-) no doubt about that..... legally you got to re-register the car, i guess thats the same through out india isn't it?

[quicksilver]

A very neat paint job pal... looked very hard to find some irregularity/glitch and there was none... good workmanship !!!

Only minor thing, get the alloys buffed... I had painted my VTec alloys too but it did not quiet turn out the way I wanted so am going back to buffing. Enjoy the car, and take care of her... the new paint shade will need a lot more caring for.

[manson]

i had seen a honda in as bad condition when i was looking for my ohc, coincidence has it that it was the same gold colour you car was.
oh yeah it was priced at 5 lakhs, 2003 vtec beat that. lol.

manson.

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by bruce

:-) no doubt about that..... legally you got to re-register the car, i guess thats the same through out india isn't it?

you only have to make an endorsement on the RC Book for the colour change... no need for re-registration. You may have to present the car for inspection though.

[The Wolf]

Mr iraghava, where are you??? Im waiting for your reply on the qstns everyone has askd...

Great paintjob, looks very much like inza red, one of the stock colors. Lemme ask you the qstns again...
1) What had happened to your car before the overhaul??
2) Why are your alloys so faded and nonstock looking??
3) How much did it cost for you to only paint the car??
4) What else have you got in your car apart from good looks??

[iraghava]

Oh crap! I never thought I would get so many replies for my poor little car but thanks to all you guys for the positive responses!

@V12, zulfikar, somebodystopme, karthik, v.tec, aza, Rtech, ajmat, Steeroid, S@~+#0$#, speedsatya, Fiero, supremeBaleno, Bruce, quicksilver, Manson - Thank you for the comments the quality of the paint job it is absolutely stupendous and I am very happy to see that other people like it too.

As for what happened it's a long story but bear me out: I was travelling at night on NH 24 from Moradabad to Delhi and at a particular stretch of about 12-15 kms. we have an elevated road running on which the sides have very acute slope angles. So in the dead of the night out of nowhere I see a tractor alongwith a trolley attached with not a single light on the damn thing turning towards me from the opposite side. I was doing about 80-90 km/h and I saw the tractor at the last moment when it came in the range of my headlights, so to avoid it I had to swerve and as a result went down the side slope of the road and the car got banged into an old tree lying on its side and a fresh tree from the front. The result once I had managed to get the car pulled out of the steep slope with the help of a tractor was what you see. Fortunately the damage was only cosmetic and I wasn't hurt. I continued onto Delhi and sent my car in for repairs the following week. I still shudder to think what would have happened if I hadn't been able to swerve to avoid the tractor but anyways let bygones be bygones.

I try and maintain my cars to the best standards and anyone who has driven my VTEC is shocked by how fast she is for a car that's done 92,000 kms.

[iraghava]

@ aza, karthik, Steeroid, S@~+#0$#, supremeBaleno, Fiero - I completely agree with you the paint job is fabulous and all credit goes to PANDIT & CO. they did a great job and had to put up with a lot of colour choice problems from my side! But the quality of the work is top notch and I was really happy to see the car They are simply the best when it comes to paintjobs! Thank you to both Mr. Pandit & his son Prakul for a marvellous job done.

@ v12, karthik, S@~+#0$#, speedsatya, quicksilver, The Wolf - The alloys are non-stock looking because when I had taken the delivery of the car the alloys had little water spots on them due to water left standing on them and Honda refused to sort it out under warranty (One of the reasons I don't work with the *******s anymore) and so I had no option but to get them sand blasted and powder coated 'cause otherwise they looked very iffy. This time however I had asked for the alloys not to be redone 'cause I am gonna get them redone very soon in a colour matching the Grille and rear console. And I couldn't find any options to get them repolished here as I was told it would require a CNC machine to repolish them and I couldn't find one willing to restore them to the original finish.

@ speedsatya - No I learnt to drive in a M800 in 1995 and this is actually my 5th car! And I drive VERY FAST!!

@supremeBaleno - can't agree with you anymore on the NHC!! Well put and thanks a ton!

@ Fiero - No offence taken I know the car was in a bad state but she is mechanically in perfect shape and now visually too!!

@Bruce, Zappo - In UP it's ok to change the colour you only need to inform the Insurance company. Also I checked after I got my car painted and the RC does not have any entry next to the colour so as far as I am telling this is the damn original colour!

@ quicksilver - Thanks a lot, yes she dosen't ahve any defects on her and I intend to keep it that way!! And yes the worksmanship is absolutely top notch too.

@ manson - Sorry to disappoint you but it wasn't mine!!!

[iraghava]

@ The Wolf, somebodystopme - The full denting and painting job alongwith the colour change and extra metallic flakes for the custom look costed me 44k. And after seeing the effort it's been worth every penny!! I think you guys might agree.

@ The Wolf - Apart from the paint job and outstanding engine she now also has the following extras :

1. Alpine CDA - 9813 Headunit
2. Velocity 130.1 Components Front
3. Velocity 170.1 COmponents Rear
4. Velocity 6.5" Bass Tube
5. Sony XM - 222 (for the bass tube)
6. Sony XM - 504Z (for the components)
7. Straight through donwpipe aft of the Cat
8. Free Flow TRD end can
9. Performance Enhancing piggyback chip which in conjunction with the exhaust has boosted horsepower to around 115-120 bhp and has solved all the low-end grunt problems. Now she pulls right from 1.5k rpm and also just to give ypu an example of the driveability while crawling in traffic I can now pick her up from idle in 3rd gear without any stutter or driveline shunt!!!

And with the new exhaust setup she sound LOUD & GORGEOUS !

[The Wolf]

Originally Posted by iraghava9. Performance Enhancing piggyback chip which in conjunction with the exhaust has boosted horsepower to around 115-120 bhp and has solved all the low-end grunt problems. Now she pulls right from 1.5k rpm and also just to give ypu an example of the driveability while crawling in traffic I can now pick her up from idle in 3rd gear without any stutter or driveline shunt!!!

And with the new exhaust setup she sound [B

LOUD & GORGEOUS[/b] !

Hmm...thats impressive! Well, what piggyback ecu are you using(dont tell me you are using the blue box)? Who did the install?

[buzzin_hornets]

love the paint job!! awesum!!!!.... yeah plz temme what piggyback chip this is?!?!

~cheers
-Ash

[quicksilver]

Originally Posted by iraghava

@ The Wolf, somebodystopme - The full denting and painting job alongwith the colour change and extra metallic flakes for the custom look costed me 44k. And after seeing the effort it's been worth every penny!! I think you guys might agree.

I had just blown up 20K on minor touch up jobs... just the minor scratches/swirl marks that are stubborn to remove with a normal rubbing/polish. So 44K for a complete paint job with a colour change sounds great VFM...

Originally Posted by iraghava

7. Straight through donwpipe aft of the Cat
8. Free Flow TRD end can

you might want to check the exhaust end can and get the hot gases to flow away from the bumper... otherwise your newly painted bumper will start to fade because of the heat from the Exhaust gases.

Originally Posted by iraghava

9. Performance Enhancing piggyback chip which in conjunction with the exhaust has boosted horsepower to around 115-120 bhp and has solved all the low-end grunt problems. Now she pulls right from 1.5k rpm and also just to give ypu an example of the driveability while crawling in traffic I can now pick her up from idle in 3rd gear without any stutter or driveline shunt!!!

Can you throw some light on the make/specs and the price you paid for the chip ? Many of us are dying to fit that on our OHCs...

[bruce]

Originally Posted by quicksilver

you only have to make an endorsement on the RC Book for the colour change... no need for re-registration. You may have to present the car for inspection though.

Thanks mate, sorry u are right we need to get an endorsement in the RC book after the inspection,

Is it the same with the engine swap? how do we get an engine swap endorsed? suppose we make a zen an E.Zen?