I cannot begin to describe the amount of time that has been
put into this car but I will do my best. However the times I
worked on it brought pleasure and many other times I wish I had
never bought it at all, just wishing it would just go away.
Frustration was brought on the the gross amount of rust as well
as the lack of good parts locally. Aiding the problems with my
back added by many hours working under the car scrapping and
sanding rust.
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This restoration is more involved than I was prepared to
put time in for, lack of proper space and the never ending
lack of time almost caused me to sell the pile of junk a few
times.
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The car was purchased in October of 1999 from a
body shop, the owner of the shop said it was his own since he opened his shop. Since then
his son had been driving it, "The Demise" of this little car. The owner said all
it needed was an exhaust gasket, you think. I talked the owner down to $500.00 from
$750.00 as he could not start the car. When I finally picked up the car it was running, so
I drove it home.
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I hate sand blasting only because no matter how you dress you still
end up with sand in your shorts. I think I need new glass for my goggles
though. These work great if you have to get up close if you are working
under the car, any thing else and the lens would only last seconds. These
are welding goggles, I just removed the filter glass and taped up the
little breather holes. I put some foam weather stripping on the goggles
where they come in contact with my face, this does a great job of keeping
the sand out. The floor of the car was completely gone on the passenger
side, held together by undercoating and carpet, the drivers side of the floor was 25
percent gone. The windshield had a deep crevasse from a absent wiper blade, tires are
badly worn, and unsightly rotten moldy disgusting smoke and garbage stained interior. Oh
I forgot to mention the mouse nest in the air cleaner and vents. Upon inspection the dash had a huge hole in
it from the heater controls to the right side of the steering column made for a huge
modern Honda stereo, which kept falling out.
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After stripping the car completely except for
the engine and wheels I discovered that it had been in an accident, the passenger side
door and pillar were poorly repaired, this side was pushed in by approx. 1". The
front drivers side had been pushed in and covered up by new bumper and fenders.
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It was now time to take stock of the situation, I was off
on the wrong foot to find a car in such poor condition. But we must go on. I surfed the
internet to find parts or whole cars, I found an 1978 Civic north of London Ontario with
lots of extra parts but not the passenger door I really wanted. I towed it back to Ajax on
a dolly but with the holes in the floor I ended up with less than I started.
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With this
acquisition there was parts to help me rebuild. New front calipers, rotors, shocks, 1 rear
shock the other is laying on some country road (must have fallen through the
hole in the floor), 2 sets of drive axles, a 1976 hood and
bumpers, an extra exhaust manifold, good drivers door and hatch.
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Before I started shaping metal and welding I completely
sand blasted the interior, wheel wells, and the underside up to the engine compartment. As
well as removing all the old undercoating.
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First step was to torch and chisel out the old cancer parts of the
floor, the seat rails & outer mounts were removed after carefully measuring &
recording the distance from three different angle points to areas not affected by
restoration, these measurements will be used to place the parts before welding. I used the
seat rail and right rear mount from the donor car. Even though the rear mount was
from the same year and make it was not quite the same so I had to modify the base to make
it fit. A sharp wood chisel is great for separating spot welds as well as getting into
spots that you can't reach with a nibbler. Before separating spot welds I drilled out the
center with a small drill bit.
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I checked stock for a
new floor at Honda and found that they are no longer available. So came the task of making one by hand, which I dreaded doing. The
first floor was so warped that I could not get it to fit very well. I scrapped that and
started over again. This time I made it flat and then welded it in that way.
To add the strength it needs I cut the ribs out of the
old floor and welded them onto the new one I made. And the same underneath. This made it
very back breaking doing all this welding from inside the car rather than on the bench. It
was worth it as the floor was nice and flat and strong.
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After welding in the floor I primed and painted it red
then sealed it with joint seal. To protect the floor from future moisture I sealed it with
2 part epoxy bed liner (2 coats).
The rocker panels were full of body filler and rust, the
passenger side had been patched several times all the way down to the rear wheel well.
This is where I found a piece of clothing holding out the patch of metal put in by the
previous owner. This is where the car had been hit in the side, I pulled the side out and
replaced the pillar with the one from the donor car.
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I made new rocker
panels inside and out. To do this I made a pattern from vinyl flooring before removal of
the rusted part, once removed I matched it up to the pattern and marked the holes for the
wiring harness and seatbelt holes. Picture of
finished passenger side. Then I transplanted the front half of the rear passenger quarter
from the donor car
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When I took out the windshield I had to smash out the glass to
save the rubber seal. The old wind screen had a gouge in it from the wipers. When I went
to take the screen out of the donor car the rubber seal was stuck to the glass like glue,
so I had to cut the rubber to save the glass. This was done in cool weather, in the
summer heat it is a lot easier to get out with out cutting the rubber.
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I found a dashboard In a virtually untouched
Civic at a salvage yard partially buried under a GMC van. Witch I had to convince the yard
to move. All I had to do was replace the top padding above the vents.
To put in the good wind screen I used lots of soap and some
1/4" sash cord around the inside lip of the seal. Starting at one corner and working
my way around pulling out the cord as I went, this cannot be done alone. My wife aided in
the installation by pressing on the glass as I removed the cord from the inside.
Notice in the pictures below of the roof liner has
yellowed around the edges. I have died the visors black already. When done all I have
to do is paint the rear view mirror. The wrinkles will come out of the roof
liner when the die dries.
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The interior door & rear panels were in such bad
shape I had to mix the best of the two cars, to accomplish this I died them all black
with upholstery die. It looks like new, at first the fabric swelled up but shrunk back
to normal as the die dried.
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The hatch came from my donor car. The original hatch had
patches of metal and bondo. I took the hatch off the donor car removed the glass
and trim and sand
blasted the small rust spots away. I then filled the tiny rust pits with a good quality
surfacing putty (2 part).
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My
next installment was to be new bumpers & rebar's, but it's not in the budget at this
point. So I went back to the salvage yard and purchased a cross beam for a Reddi Rack,
when cut to size and drilled for the mounts the 76 bumpers fit perfectly on my 78.
At
this point I have created a problem as the 78 front turn signal lights will not fit under
the 76 bumpers, for the backup lights I found a set at 77 style on
eBay. For the front turn signals I got the 77 style from
Jared in a trade for a back seat..
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Last year I looked for the tires at Canadian Tire, the
same place I used to get them when I had my 76 Civic, not anymore, I checked the major
tire outlets and found out they are special order from Korea or from the USA. I checked
out the new Wal Mart in Ajax and to my surprise they had them in stock for about $25.00
ea. Actually my wife suggested that if no one else had them maybe Wal Mart might, go
figure.
Last tires and rims, as the story goes the original tires and rims
were stolen for another 78 Civic I bought recently. I might use these rims
depending on what they look like when I get them cleaned up. Guess not, I traded
the rims for a 3speed automatic transmission to be put in this car at a later
date.
I bought new rear struts from NAPA, they came from Halifax. The rear brake lines were badly rusted so I made new ones,
where they exited the car I covered the lines with electrical heat shrink tubing before
the connector was put on this will help keep the moisture out. Also new rear suspension
bushings were put on. I sand blasted the rust from the parking brake parts &
repainted them. The wheel cylinders are replaced as in the process of removal the studs
broke off. I bought the wheel cylinders from Canadian Tire as well as brake shoes.
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The exhaust is in good shape except for the muffler, I
have to check around for a new one. The system is too long pushing the muffler out through
the back valance panel . Also the heat shield for the resonator is rotten like Swiss
cheese, I might see if I can find one of stainless steel from the scrap yard.
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Currently I need to find the
framing part for the steering rack as it has a hole right through it just above where the
lower control arm is bolted on, If not I will have to get it repaired.
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I checked with some well known body shops and they do not want to
touch it.
Above left is my new one I bought from Justin in BC, Center
cross member has been sand blasted and painted. The balance of the frame will be sand blasted when the
motor is removed.
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Left above will be sand blasted, notice the rust, New bearing and rotor
backing plate will be replaced with new.
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Bake and gas pedals were sand blasted and repainted. Component of
the floor shifter were replace with new parts as well as new rubber for
the pedals.
Sad part is these never made it to this car as I needed them for
another car I bought Sept 2002, I did a motor and transmission swap.
Here is the car October 2003, I changed my mind on the lights and I
bought some 76 style front and rear turn signals from "H"
Dave. The fronts will mount on the grille and the rears have the three
red sections instead. Here is the rebar I spoke of earlier, Notice the big holes, they are
for the round part of the inside of the bumper where the big rubber grommet/absorber
goes. I made a small piece of steel channel with the nut welded to it so
that the large bolts go right through the bumper with no problems as it
is also in alignment with the back there the bumper bolts onto the cat.
I also picked up a Kamei air dam for the car off eBay
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Motor above EB2 and Hondamatic is being used in place of the
current smoking EB3, only problem was that there is no place to
bolt on the drivers side motor mount. Further down the page you
will see I have fabricated a bracket that bolts on the front and
back side of the head and also through the holes for holding the
upper timing cover on.
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Transmission above is a 3speed from a 83 Civic wagon to be
used instead of the current Hondamatic. The 3 speed still has to
be shifted manually too. Notice the differences in the plate
that mates the transmission to the motor. The one from the
3speed must be used to match up to the transmission. The bent
tabs were used on the second gens for timing, these tabs have
to be dealt with as there is a clearance problem between the
transmission and motor.
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This is not a direct swap as some say it is as the frame
rail must be cut for clearance. The bottom of the battery tray
was cut away and the spot welds ground off to make an nice even
cut in the rail. I welded a piece in the top of the opening to
close the rail back up and sealed it with seam sealer.
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There is approx 1/2" space on the end of the
transmission where it meets the wheel well. Note the notch made
in the top right picture.
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Above required 3speed shifter and cable entry cover for
installation from the second generation Civic. Two new holes are
drilled in very close proximity of the old holes from the
original cover.
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Selector cable entry cover installed, plate on the right is
used, has markings for timing. Right picture - Tab has to be
dealt with, I bent mine down, hope this works, I turned it over
by hand and it clears pretty good.
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Next time I buy a house it will all depend on the garage
size, this is too small but workable. Prince came along for the
ride in the spring of 2004 when I moved the car to my in laws and
picked up my other car. I gave up as I have run out of
steam. Time to get out the other toy and get to some pleasure
cruzing and forget about the problems with this car.
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Work done in 2004
3 speed and motor swap, mounted 76/77 style bumpers, front
turn indicators and back up lights. All red tail lights swapped
in for the 78's. Rear frame rail and control arms cleaned and
painted. New front wheel bearings and seals. New front struts
installed. Up graded to Weber 28DCD
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Some distant thoughts and plans are to lower the car and
make side skirts and possible rear wing or hatch spoiler. Also
planned is a rear deck and floor console.
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What is left to be done as of late spring 2004:
Rewire 2nd gen shifter, new rubber for doors, tires, mount
Italian sport mirrors. mount Kamei air damb, fix rust hidden by
rear bumper. Replace pitted door handles and license plate
lights,
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Randy
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