Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200

[steve.ewing@ottawa.ca]

Looking good Steph. Obviously painstaking when the temptation is alway there to rush. Love your intake setup.

[Steph]

Looking good Steph. Obviously painstaking when the temptation is alway there to rush. Love your intake setup.

Thanks Steve, that's my first priority to fit after tomorrow's final exam. Should be relatively quick and easy... hopefully. Then it's off to the paint shop.

[bob78cvcc]

Nice find on the horn. Makes me want to find one too. 8)

[Steph]

Mine doesn't always sound right, so when I saw this one I had to get it. I was actually thinking I'd have 2 horns for a bit more 'volume' :P

[Bill]

Just crack the nut loose on the screw on the body of the horn and turn just a tad CCW and snug the nut back down. You can use both horns with just a small variation in pitch that really makes it sound like a little more car than it is.

[Steph]

Thanks Bill, I forgot they were tuneable. I remember I had a car years ago that had different sized horns, and yes it was somewhat bigger than my Civic, but that's not saying much. It's amazing what passes for a small car these days, ours are positively micro by today's standards.

[Blackbullet]

On mine,The 20mm stuffin gland is for an intake temp sensor which ive yet to hook up. I use the acclaims stock pcv valve and screwed it onto my filter baseplate. There's a vac pickup to encourage the flow of vapours at idle. Of course when your driving enough depression is created to draw the camshaft cover vapours in.
As ever steph your works fantastic, i wish i had the time, skills and facilities you do.

[Steph]

Jay, you say there's a vacuum pick-up to draw in vapours at idle, where is it plumbed in?

Thanks for the compliment. For the record, you were the trail blazer who inspired me, I just built a little upon what you did with the help of some found objects, like chocolate shaker lids, dish scourers, and a watering system elbow.

I'd still like to have a flash filter like yours though.

[Steph]

Yesterday I stripped my 'new' RS steering wheel back for refinishing. I used the bead blaster at work to remove the paint from the centre and spokes, and it did an amazing job. After that I sat down with some sandpaper and removed all the varnish off the outer wheel. I finished it up with a 60u 3M micro finishing film. I love 3M products. Once the varnish is removed the stain that I suspect was originally in the wheel gets rubbed away as well. So, today I used a golden oak stain and it came up beautifully. I couldn't be happier with the colour. Tomorrow I'll get some Feast Watson Marine Spar Marine Varnish which is a high grade polyurethane finish that doesn't spoil the finish like so many other polyurethanes. Well that's what I read on other forums, as apparently it's the best product for this job. I want to paint the centre the same colour as the optional wheel, which appears to be a metallic grey? The RS ones had silver I believe, but I prefer the darker finish, as it doesn't clash, and I'm going for that fully optioned look. You know, all the expensive add ons like; Hondamatic, air conditioning, 8-track/FM radio, roof console, tachometer and centre gauge pod... all the good bits

I'll take some photos and post them shortly.

[Steph]

I booked my car in at the paint shop today. It goes in next Thursday, and they said they need it for 2 weeks. I told them I plan on removing the bumpers, lights, grill, and all manner of other parts. I prefer doing it myself so they don't damage anything.

I also sprayed the first coat of marine varnish on my RS steering wheel and wooden gear knob. I waited for 2 days before giving them a light sand and applying a second coat. It must be a poly urethane as it takes forever to dry, and it has a really grippy surface, as it feels like it's quite flexible. Maybe it will set harder with more time? I still need to work out what colour Honda painted the wheel spokes in. I know on thw RS it was silver, but I need to find out what colour the optional 2-spoke wheel was that dealers sold as an accessory. Jay post a picture of it, and I've re-posted it below...

albums/y213/jayroadster/SAM_0741.jpg