Sourcing battered four-wheeled rust buckets and converting them into sleek, driveable hot rods was a mid-20th century rite of passage for teenage males. But times have changed. The age of ground-up restorations and revitalized dilapidated antiquities has given way to high-tech whips that require little revamping.
Don't bother telling this to Eric Dickerson. The Corona, Calif., resident purchased his 1997 JDM Integra Type R nearly two years ago with the most innocent of intentions: to clean it up a bit, add some bolt-ons, and call it a day. Somewhere along the line Dickerson's project turned into an all-out restoration.
When the right-hand-drive sled arrived, Dickerson waited nearly a year to begin the buildup. At the time he was in the process of finishing up his EG, and he normally prefers tackling only one project at a time. Besides, Dickerson spent much of that time jumping through legal hoops just to get the Type R legalized for street duty. Soon enough, the fifth-gen Civic was bartered off and project ITR was given the green light.
The Integra was by no means a beater, but it wasn't up to Dickerson's standards. So a paint job was first, followed by a disassembling of the car. What began as simply a removal of the basics, like under-hood components and trim pieces, soon turned into a two month long, full-fledged tear-down. Every nut, bolt and washer was removed from the car before it went to paint.
This was Dickerson's ninth Integra, and his 23rd Honda-he was determined to put this one together right. "I wanted the most tediously built Integra possible," says Dickerson.
He also admits he got tired of giving his wife the old "this will be my last one" excuse when it came to collecting cars. He hopes this time it might really be his last build, so that's why "there will be no shortcuts."
Miguel Ortiz of MOBWorks in Orange, Calif., handled color changing duties and transformed black into white. Per Dickerson's request, Ortiz sprayed the Integra with multiple coats of clear coat along with the application of the Championship white paint, the Type-R color Dickerson is most fond of.
Upon the car's return, Dickerson couldn't find it in himself to reinstall many of the Integra's original components and hardware. "The car looked amazing when I got it back. It made the nuts and bolts look like they came off a '62 Cadillac." He tried cleaning engine mount bolts and brake line brackets to no avail, until his meticulous nature eventually got the better of him. More than $3,000 worth of OEM hardware was sourced and the car was eventually put back together. Parts that weren't replaced were reconditioned, cleaned and scoured.
New windows were installed, carpet, interior trim-the entire complement of factory fixtures. At one point, he was working on the car, looked around, and realized he was surrounded by nearly 400 empty Honda parts bags.
The engine bay received equal attention from Dickerson with the help of friend Leslie New. The high-mileage B18C was tossed in favor of a later model, lower mileage version. The install took longer than usual due to some scratch-preventing measures that were done. The engine bay was taped off and draped with towels before the team carefully lowered the B-series into place. All that didn't meet Dickerson's standards of perfection was ditched, including A/C and power steering.
While many builders set out to produce something different, Dickerson believes that different is not always better, nor truly attainable. Instead, he says he focuses on being thorough and a true craftsman, even if it does require a full-on restoration-kind of like those hot rod guys from a previous generation.