Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200

[EvoCivic]

I don't seem to have a pic of a complete Mugen diff handy but here is a disassembled one (on the right between the gearbox casing and the gears.)

[Steph]

Last night I pulled the intake manifold and radiator hose neck off my engine. I had to remove the carburetors first and carefully place them aside. Today my brother dropped over and took them with him and dropped them off at the chrome platers on the way home. It's like an hour's drive from my place, so real handy that he lives over that side of town and visits a lot LOL. So I'll have a polished and chromed intake manifold to match the chrome valve cover. The polished stainless header matches closely to the valve cover, but the polished alloy intake manifold looked a mismatch to my eye. Anyway, it's exciting to have it all in motion now. I'd been staring at the intake for a while, but last night I got bit by the bug and had to remove it. It was a coincidence my brother came over... like he called me at 11am and said he was going to drop over. It was almost kismet... I remove the manifold the night before, he turns up the next morning to deliver it to the platers. On top of that, the electroplaters said it was good timing because after Christmas they get inundated with work from all the people who go on holidays and pull their cars apart. He said they couldn't do it before Christmas, but that mine would be one of the first jobs that gets done after the break. After this there's nothing left to chrome... except the bumpers. Turns out they are bumper experts and even straighten them out. Mine aren't bent, but I like the idea of getting them done by specialists. I was going to paint them until I found out they specialised in restoring them. Perfect bumpers with a show chrome finish sounds pretty nice to me.

[mielko]

Thats gona be good xmas tree presents!

[Steph]

Thats gona be good xmas tree presents!

It sure would be, but I have to wait until February 2nd next year to pick it up. They take 4 weeks of over the Christmas and New Year period.

Last night I changed 2 of the intake studs over to 10mm longer ones to make allowance for the throttle cable bracket. One stud came out easy, but the other had me worried for a bit but finally gave. I used a stud remover, and I'm sure there's a knack to using them, but it ends up being a Chinese puzzle for me every time. I eventually get it right, but then it's a pain getting it to release the stud it's hanging on to. I used the brass head hammer to release the studs in the end. Very effective, you just knock the stud sideways on an angle until it levers itself out. That's another job crossed off the list.

[Steph]

Hey! I'm back and I've been getting stuff done. I've been really sick so things have being slowing down, but I've still managed to get everything done. I have some photos of my completed engine mock up soon and some info on my front bumper delete where I cut the front bumper up and removed the marker/indicator sections and turned them into housings and cut out the number plate mount and welded it to the front centre vertical beam just below the front grill. Anyway, I just wanted to quickly say 'hey' and I'll post more info soon.

[Steph]

Well I finally got my driveshafts reassembled. When I got them disassembled they had to destroy the outer CV joints to get them apart, so I had to source another pair. Much to my surprise the local driveshaft specialist had a pair on the shelf in stock! I couldn't believe my luck. I dropped them off last week, and then got a phone call that they were ready yesterday, and then picked them up first thing this morning, and couldn't wait to take some photos. Fortunately it's a sunny day here today... perfect conditions to take some photos in. They look sensational if I do say myself. LOL

[Blue-Civic-Hybrid]

They look great! so shiny!!

[Steph]

They look great! so shiny!!

Thanks, I have some new photos of my rear brakes and the visible handbrake parts from underneath the rear of the car.

[Randy]

It’s like jewelry! When it’s all together it will be a masterpiece.

[Steph]

It’s like jewelry! When it’s all together it will be a masterpiece.

Thanks Randy, high praise indeed after all that you have seen. I'm sending the motor in to be rebuilt in the next few weeks. Borrowing an old sump and valve cover off Phil Prentice so they can't mess anything up other than the block. I'm sure it will need a good polish after it gets hot tanked, but I really wanted to give it one more going over with Autosol and a buff for that final polish up before putting on all the accessories. I want to lower it into the engine bay with everything attached, especially because the air filter will be a pain to take off and replace, even though I've designed it so it's doable. I bought one of these cheap laser wheel aligners from the UK and an el cheapo camber gauge. So I'm all tooled up for a home assembly. If anybody wants one, search for the Trackace Wheel Alignment System model directly because the Gunson is just a rebadged version for about twice the price. Trackace sell direct to the public from their UK website and on the 'bay'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRypkAt ... ttotVivien