Build Kurts 1978 Honda Civic Trailer

[Kurt]

Gonna start a new thread for my latest endeavor.....gonna start building a matching trailer for my Civic

Found a 78 1200 for cheap. Car is a trunk, has no papers, no motor and no interior so a worthy candidate! I am already regretting this but what the hell....its only time and money right :roll:

There is a bit of rust one wheel arch and a bit one one of the lower rockers (the part that stays). And...a hole in one of the strut towers but overall it could be much worse. Gotta hit up Justin to figure out where to cut it up but it seems pretty straight forward.

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[Kurt]

Hoping to drop the gas tank this weekend before I start cutting. Praying its near empty!

[Kurt]

Did some work on it today. Well quite a bit actually as the "trailer part" is cut out of the rest of the shell now Lot more rusted than I thought around one strut tower and in the passenger side sill so it will need some welding. I have another good trunk lid, a NOS seal and a NOS trunk lock for the hatch so the rusty one on there is junk.

I have about 10 liters of old gas I need to figure out what to do with....may end up in my truck. Smart people drain the tanks prior to dropping them.....but not me :roll:

I made the marks and then cut the outer parts of the sheet metal before cutting the inner layers - just in case something buckled and creased the body. It was surprising how easy these cars can be cut up. Only took 2.5 cutting wheels in my angle grinder

I left some excess to cut later (just in case) and left some extra metal on the inner parts of the shell at the back (to bend over and weld to cover up the large hole left between the two layers.

I will post a better photo once I get the rest of the car moved (its a bit tight next to my house).

pulling the glass and the tank

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Smart people would have drained the tank first. I did it after I dropped it out :(

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marking it for the cut

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[Kurt]

Did some more work today. Mostly more cutting to get rid of the front half. I should ask before I take it to the scrappers. Anyone need parts Most the smaller pits were gone already but still have a nice grill. I cracked the perfect windshield taking it out :oops:

Saving the roof just for some 'free' sheet metal to weld up some holes in the trunk (I will post pics of that later). I also cut out a good section of one of the sills as I need to weld in a new section to the right side of the trailer half as its pretty rotted on that side. The outside panels on these are 22 guage (really thin) and the pillars (A and B) are 16 guage.

Hope to scrap the rest this week and I will see what they give me for the scrap! I have it in a small utility trailer for now but I may keep the 12" steel wheels as I keep throwing these out and have none left! The rear ones are 13" wheels from somewhere...

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[Kurt]

Scrapped the rest of the car today. Got $54 for the scrap. I am into the car for $150 so only out a $100 so far.

I cut out two large pieces out of the roof to use the sheet metal to weld up some holes in the trunk. That will be my next task.

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[Kurt]

Minor update. Started some rust patches. I just got a Lincoln Mig and converted it over to gas. Still figuring it out but the welds are starting to look a bit better. A lot more to do though.

The biggest patch will be welding a plate over the cubby hole where the jack and tool kit was kept. It was rusted right out so I cut it out completely. You can also see the hole in the strut tower in the one photo. For the cosmetic stuff and smaller holes I am starting to see the benefits of body filler

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[Kurt]

Bit more today. Getting better with the welder but discovered a 20 CFM tank is waaay to small :(

Got the hole in the spare tire well welded over and all the smaller holes in the same area. Gotta tackle the strut next and I think the rust on the inside should all be done I folded in the the sharp edges where the weatherstripping was mounted for the rear and side windows. Still need to trim the sides down so the sides are all even along the top.

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[Kurt]

Did more today. Got the rust all repaired on the inside panels. Time to get underneath and start working on the body. Getting closer to doing the frame.

I had to repair a large hole in the strut tower and a bunch of smaller ones in the floor of the truck. Its hard as everything on the floor of these cars is contoured....nothing flat.

Also repaired a rotted out piece where the spring is for the trunk lid. It should help keep the water out too when I install a new seal.


This is the patch over the B Piller:

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This was the largest hole in the car. Still using metal I recycled/saved from the roof when I cut it off. I should have enough for all the repair in an out and will only need to buy a piece when I close off the front.

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Here is the repair of the area around the trunk lid:

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[Kurt]

Here are the two repairs all done.

You can see the patches I had to do in the floor too:

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All trimmed and grinded down:

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[Kurt]

Just some updates.....

- Got the "caps" welded over the gap left when cutting the D pillar.

- welded in some metal to shave the side marker lights

- More rust repaired around where the tail light sits flush against the body and some rust just above the trunk hinges. This had to be cut out as any filler would have cracked with the body flexing there....especially now that the rear window is gone (its not quite as rigid, or so I suspect).

Next I need to get underneath and fix some holes in the wheel wells (inner fenders) and then the frame up underneath.

The 'quarter round' was added so I did not burn through when welding the cap on...........its really thin!

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The 'quarter round' was added so I did not burn through when welding the cap on...........its really thin!

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caps welded over the holes in the D pillar.

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I had to fix the rust here as the metal would flex a bit here with the trunk hinges mounted just below it. I did not want paint/filler to crack

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I had to fix the rust here as the metal would flex a bit here with the trunk hinges mounted just below it. I did not want paint/filler to crack

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Fixed the rust around the tail light seal (where it mounts) and metal welded in so I can shave the rear marker lights......thin layer of filler.

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Still need to add some filler to smooth out the repair but its good and solid now

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Still need to add some filler to smooth out the repair but its good and solid now

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