fungus mungus

I picked up the rear interior from Ichishima Tatsuru's (Mr. Spoon) personal EG6 a couple of months ago from OPAK Racing and finally decided to give this install a go. This interior came out of a car that OPAK is going to turn into a SPOON race car. Mark at OPAK was great...he got ALL of the brackets out cleanly...no torn, bent, or incomplete brackets. Nice, clean spot welds drilled out perfectly.

Last week, I took an hour and gutted the rear of my hatch in preparation for the welding work to take place over the weekend. I'd read up on HT about other JDM interior installs, but there were still some unanswered questions. More on that later.

The first thing to tackle was removing the center rear seat bracket, the side pivot brackets, and the seat latches on the wheel wells. Taking a lesson from Mark, I went out and got a proper spot weld cutter. Just chuck this baby up into your drill and you're good to go. This is essential if you want to get these brackets off without turning them into hamburger, or worse, drilling holes through your car. I had my buddy do the left side and center bracket and I did the right side.

Here he is drilling out the center bracket:




If you use this cutter right, you'll get just the spot welds, leaving clean holes in the bracket. The bracket can then be re-welded if you decide to. Here are the pieces we removed...they were removed cleanly enough that they could be remounted if necessary:




Note that the seat locks are not used in the JDM seats...those are integrated into the seat backs.

Since the JDM center bracket sits on part of where the original bracket was mounted, we had to hit that area with a grinder to get rid of the nubs left over from the spot welds. This wasn't necessary for the left and right areas as the JDM t-brace mounts in a different place.

Next, we test-fitted the t-brace and center mount. This is one of the most crucial things to do in this process and it's where most write-ups fall short...they don't tell you how to accurately place this piece. If you don't get this mounted in exactly the right position, your seats won't fit properly and will look like @ss. SO, here is how you do it:

Get your t-brace and center bracket and place it so that the front of the center bracket is approximately where the front of the original USDM bracket was mounted. It's actually offset to the right (passenger) side of the car by a few inches.




Here's a pic from the front of the car looking back (bracket was already welded in when I took this). The bracket is actually mounted to the right (passenger) side of where the USDM bracket was mounted. You can see this in the pics...the unpainted part is where the original bracket was. Note the hole to the left on the unpainted part...this is what happens if you if you're a dumb@ss and get overzealous with the spot weld cutter, so be careful. I'll have to patch that hole later. :p





The next step will make things really easy...BOLT on the plastic cover piece onto the t-brace. Also, put in the rear hatch lower plastic piece. With these two pieces in place, set the trunk box into place. Now move the t-brace such that the trunk box fits. There should be just enough gap allowing you to open the trunk box, but no more than that.


Trunk box, front passenger side:





Trunk box, front driver's side:




Trunk box, hatch side:




If you've done this, you'll find that the t-brace's side brackets should fit on the wheel wells lined up with the sheet metal seam:

Left:



Right:



Center, from the rear of the car:



Note the level on top of the t-brace...don't forget to use it to ensure the the t-brace is exactly level so that you're trunk box fits right.

Once you're sure everything is in place, remove the plastic on the t-brace, just in case. Mark the mount points on the left, right and center using a sharpie...mark the outline of the bracket. Remove the t-brace and then hit the area where you're going to do the spot welds with a grinder to remove the paint so that you get proper welds. Your outline should remain so that you can line up your bracket again.

Next, put the t-brace back in place, using the outlines you drew with a sharpie as a guide. Then TRIPLE-check everything before you start welding. Make sure you use the level too.

Now, ground your welder to the frame of the car. We used the sheet metal around the left speaker. Now, do your spot welds:

Center:




Right:




Sorry, no pic of the left being done.

We did six spot welds on the center bracket and 2 on each side. Then we checked to make sure that the welds were solid. Now we have the t-brace installed and the trunk box is set in place:



That's as far as we've gotten so far. Next, I'll be putting in the Gathers speakers and then fitting the rear seat backs in...look for this in the next couple of days.

fm

ferio252

Congratulations on such a great find +1 for Opak racing. All those people are G's In for details and more pictures.

fungus mungus

Thanks! I just added a few more pics and some clarification as to where the center bracket on the t-brace goes. Check it out above.

Now, later on that evening, I was able to sneak out to the garage while my wife was asleep and install the Gathers speakers. I thought these would be really simple. In retrospect, they were, but I was thrown off by the pics from the FAQ posted on HT because those speakers apparently use the USDM center speaker bracket to hold them in place. Mine cannot use this bracket, as I quickly found out. I guess there are a couple of variations of these twin-pod speakers.

So I removed the USDM L-bracket, which is held on by two 10mm bolts. There are 5 mounting points on the speakers that are held onto the frame using 8mm nuts (the same ones that your mirrors are mounted with). I was short a couple, so I ordered a couple from the Honda dealer...they'll be in tomorrow. Here's the speaker in place.




The plastic shroud is next...it fastens on using four self-tapping screws right in the center between the two speakers.




I noticed a little rattling where the plastic was hitting the metal speaker mounts, so I put a little mounting tape in between the speakers and the shroud in the problematic areas and now it's quiet.

EDIT: Actually, the rattling was a loose washer on one of the mounting screws, not the shroud. I tightened that up and the rattling went away. Also, the shroud goes on AFTER the side panels are in place.

Today, I test fit the seat backs in so they line up nicely and I've marked the holes I'm going to drill out with a sharpie. I'll try to drill out the holes tomorrow. I'll have pics up then.

fm

kozanatos

Lasky

nice work so far!! jdm interiors are fresshh

BERT-O

Awesome thread!!!


:D

sworth9411

great pictures.

0S2Carbonworks

All that work for paper cone speakers? You must be a die hard JDM fan!

fungus mungus

Yeah, I'll replace the speakers later. I just wanted to get them in. I have a pair of decent Polks, but I need to get another pair and then rewire them so they'll work in series. One thing at a time...replacing those speakers can be done any time. Also, I noticed that I'll have to remove the plastic shrouds when I put the side panels on. The shrouds have holes that apparently bolt on to the side panels. No biggie...I'll do that later this week, after the seats are ready to go in.

This morning, I hopped in the back and took a couple of minutes to drill out the holes for the rear mounts:

First, I put the seat backs in and lined them up so that it folded down properly. It works best to have two people do this...one for each seat back. It turns out that the little tabs on the brackets line right up with those little indentations. I then took a sharpie and marked the holes to be drilled and drew an outline of the bracket:

Passenger side:




Driver's side:




Then I took the seat backs out of the car and drilled out the holes. Choose a bit that's bigger than your bolt, as you're going to have to put a nut on the underside of the car anyway. That sheetmetal is way too thin to support the seats without a nut behind it.

Drilling the holes on the passenger side:




Finished passenger side:




I didn't get a pic of the finished driver's side, but you get the idea.

At lunch, I'm going to see what it's going to take to get nuts welded on to the underside.

Also, added a few more pics to the original posting, showing the trunk box.

More later.

fm

fungus mungus

Just got back from the shop. The best way to do the rear seats is the weld a steel strap to the underside of the car where the seats will bolt in and then weld nuts to that strap. Otherwise the seats will tear out the sheet metal, just as I suspected. Gonna get this done on Thursday or Friday. Updates after that.

fm

fungus mungus

Just went out to the car during lunch time and swapped my seat belts. The car started off with a blue interior. I went from OEM blue to OEM black and now, to JDM gray. My black interior was still rockin' blue seat belts because the black set that I found had two bad belts. So I left the blue ones in, which really bugged me. Nothing says "I look like @ss" like mismatched seat belts.

Anyway, now I'm rockin' dark gray to match the JDM interior. The dash is black as are the door panels, but they've got the dark gray inlay, so it all matches well.

Friday, the seat reinforcements will be welded in place, so I'll be putting the rest of the interior in over the weekend...I figure I have about an hour max left in this project.

fm

fungus mungus

Finally got my seat reinforcements welded in place. No pics of those yet, but I did get the interior test fit in. Here's a preview pic:




I'll be putting in the finish screws in, as well as installing the Gathers speaker grills this evening. More pics then.

fm

bluebomber

iTrader: (2)

Great job. I'm sure this will help out other people who have this same setup.

CPchud

joined the site just to say thanks for this thread.. im doing the exact same thing atm. blue to black and rear interior. thanks !~

fastrxu

Sweeeeeeeeet!!
Thats pretty clean/rare/awesome/cool/ A+

I wish i had the dedication and skill to take on a really extensive project like that.

ej1love

sick

Damaged Goods

Fungus where in CA are you located?

fungus mungus

Damaged Goods,

I'm in Monterey.

I'm pretty much finished...a few details to finish up. The Gathers speakers come with a long thin piece of metal, the purpose of which I was not privy to until I went to snap the covers in place. It turns out that the top perimeter of the spaces for the speakers in the JDM rear side panel doesn't have the the little holes that allow the top part of the speaker cover to snap into place. The long thin strip of metal is supposed to be bolted between the black speaker shroud and the rear side panel. This creates the "holes" for the top part of the speaker cover to snap into place. I have no earthly idea why they didn't just mold in the holes into the side panels like they did for EVERYTHING else. Plus, I lost one of the strips of metal, so I'm going to have to go to the hardware store and get something that's close and modify it. :p Not a deal killer, but annoying nonetheless.

In the meantime, I did get the speaker covers on (the left side is on, but barely...good enough for pics). I'll be posting pics shortly.

fm

fungus mungus

OK, as promised, here are pics of the completed interior swap. I still need to go over it with cleaner and vinyl protectant, so it's a little dirty and scuffed.

[SIZE="2"]From the driver's side, looking in. The seats are nice and snug. I love the rear speaker setup and the little storage compartment/arm rests.[/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]Rear seats, taken from the front. In there nice and tight![/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]Shot from the rear. There is some expected wear on the backs of the seats as well as on the trunk box. I guess Mr. Spoon hauled around his gear in there. Or groceries? There are a few small holes on the lid of the trunk box where something was mounted. Perhaps a video camera? [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]Seats fold down, nice and flat! I'll be going over the rear interior with some 303 Aerospace Protectant to clean it up a bit.

Note the GSR leathers in the front. I was torn between getting the seats that go with this interior or sticking with the GSR leathers. But this is a daily driver for me and I put 100 miles a day on the car...I need some seats that won't give me butt rot. [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]From the rear with the trunk box open. The sticker on the underside of the lid tells you where to store the jack, in both Japanese and English. I wonder why in English? BTW, you remove the box and stow the jack behind the driver's side rear seat. [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]View from the driver's side w/seats folded down. [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]From the passenger side. Note the SI trunk/hatch lamp. I added this using Deschlong's excellent DIY writeup. Unbelievably, the EG6 this came from didn't have this lamp. And I thought the Japanese market got all of the goodies! [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]Not really part of my JDM setup, but I thought I'd include it anyway...this is my factory leather-wrapped EG wheel w/cruise control and SRS. I wanted a nice leather-wrapped wheel, but didn't want to give up SRS. I think it's an ITR leather-wrapped wheel with a Civic airbag. Whatever, it works for me. I'll be upgrading the cluster to a UKDM 145MPH cluster soon. [/SIZE]




[SIZE="2"]Also not part of my JDM setup, but I like it. This is my optional audio console that I added a half-pocket from a 2009 CRV to. This pocket has an AUX IN jack that I have wired to my factory stereo so I can listen to tunes from my iPhone in my car. I didn't want to go with an aftermarket stereo since that's a thief magnet. The cradle for the iPhone is actually an FM transmitter, but I only use it as a charger. That thing hanging from my shifter is koutsuu anzen omamori, which is something you'll find in every Japanese car. You get them when you visit temples. They have different kinds, but this particular one is supposed to protect you while driving.

Also, I like the amber lighting in the stock stereo. I've converted the cluster to amber lighting as well. [/SIZE]

deschlong

iTrader: (8)

Props for the new trunk light using my DIY ... w00t.
You plug your wire into Pin 6 on connector C556 like I say to?

HTautodc

does the dc2 seats also bolt on to the 92-95 sedan?

nice interior

ej1love

yeah, 4 door rears are needed though...

Jimster480

nice swap that interior looks very nice

markspan6243

dude, awesome

fungus mungus

Thanks everyone!

So, I just thought I'd fill in a few holes. The Gathers speaker grills ended up being more of a challenge than they should have been because I lost one of the long, steel strips that need to be wedged in between the side panel and the black speaker shroud. This strip combines with the side panel to form small slots that the speaker grill clips into. Without the strip, the speaker grill won't stay on. I have no earthly idea why Honda didn't just mold the holes the correct size in the side panels. :p

Here's the right side with the OEM strip installed:




So, after a trip to the local Ace Hardware store, I came back with these brass strips. They're not quite as long or wide as the original steel strip, so I bought two. I'd planned on cutting one down to size to fill in the remaining gap. It turned out that I didn't have to...I was able to get the 3 gaps covered with just one strip. I used the thicker of the two sets of strips I bought. I don't think the thinnest would have held up. You can get these at any hardware store...they have a little section with small brass tubing, sheets, and strips.




I measured the little holes on the right side speaker and then bolted up the brass strip wedged in between the black speaker shroud and the side panel, making sure I had approximately the same amount of gap as on the right side.




I was surprised to see that my first attempt was all that was needed. The speaker grill popped right into place:




I know that about 2 months down the road, I'm going to find that $@*#! OEM strip.

As I said, about the only other interior mod I plan on is swapping the SI cluster for a UKDM cluster. After that, I'll be saving up for the engine swap.

fm