AvianMan 1976 Honda Civic 1200 "Baby Car" Build

[AvianMan]

Okay, so I figured it was time to start one of these build threads. Im not really doing a build, per say, but I plan to get it to the point where I wont do any major work to it for a while.

Some of you may remember that I sourced an old King Motorsports engine and had it shipped here from up north. Not sure whats in it but it does have a Cannon intake and a nice Weber DCOE. Right now it runs very rich and spits fuel out of the carburetor and fouls plugs. Personally, I think the floats might be bad from sitting as long as it did (They are brass), so a rebuild is probably in order. I plan to finish the engine bay in a satin black and clean up the engine quite a bit. I had planned to slip a 5 speed trans into it, but it looks like that might have to wait....I have one in the basement but I just dont feel like tackling the project right now.

The door is off of her because someone put a nasty dent in the side (I bought it that way) so I took it to a body guy I am trying out. He'll work his magic and throw a coat of paint on it. Originally I was gonna go with that RS Orange, but my wife disuaded me. Then I was gonna go black,,,,but I have settled on a white with a slight pearl. I plan to put the stripes (thanks Koosjer55!) on the side in Gold to match the rims. I always liked the way the old Oldsmobile 442's looked in white/gold. Should be interesting!

Right now the interior is more pink than it is brown. The sun took its toll on the color, but it is in good shape physically. I have decided to dye the seats black, but then I thought Id try Two-tone. Its a lot more work, but I like the look.....

More to come....

[AvianMan]

Its just so hard to keep the white engine bay clean.

[AvianMan]

Its a spray on vinyl dye, which is a bit easier than I had anticipated. But it doesn't come off, even if you want it to :( . If you follow the directions on the can its pretty easy. If you don't prep the surface right, it lets you know right away by not adhering. I used a dish soap and water to wipe off the surface, let it dry, then spray a surface prep spray, then spray on the dye.

Taping off the piping so that it stays tan was a pain, but I think it was worth the aggravation. A word of advice - don't use the 'gloss' finish - it looks way too shiny, almost like the seats you might find in a 50's diner.

I was hell bent on painting it orange. I'm kind of glad my wife talked me out of it.. I really dont want to have the inside painted or have to remove the headliner and dye that. White hides any imperfections well, too. Some people don't like pearl, but there really isnt a good white metallic, so I opted for this.

[AvianMan]

Well, I got to working on the carpet today. I was cruising around a local home improvement store when I came across some commercial carpet that had a neat look to it, and I thought - why not?

I removed the old carpet and pad to find some very strong floorboards (yay!) with no rust! I cleaned off the padding and put them back in:

I unrolled the new carpet and laid the old carpet pieces upside down on the new carpet. I used a pen to trace along the old pieces and cut them out with a carpet knife

Everything fit pretty darn snug! I like the pattern on the floor, and it matches the interior.

So I figured I might as well put the back seat back in and see how it looks - very nice......

I think I am going to try and carpet the metal that you can see below the seat - the white sticks out like a sore thumb!

Back to work.......

[AvianMan]

Right - but I dont want a white headliner with a black or orange car, so I would have to remove the headliner and dye it, which I dont want to do.

[AvianMan]

I will admit that the dye job looks much better in photos than up close, but it looks better than the awful pink color it was before.

Yes, I do love the new stuff. I hope this bad boy will be back on the road and looking good before the first car shows come up.

[AvianMan]

Decided to work under the hood a bit and clean up the engine. I am still leaning toward a satin black engine compartment as the white just shows every bit of grime and grease - I know it is harder to see in the engine bay, but it looks better.

I experimented with various polishing/sanding wheels on my weber carburetor. I had it apart so that I could replace the needle, filter, a few gaskets and the brass floats, which had begun to retain fuel inside leaving my engine running really rich.

In the process of removing the carburetor for cleaning I broke the tiny bolt that holds the end of the choke cable to the lever - it is very small and has a hole in the center to insert the cable. I cant find a replacement for sale anywhere! Oh well, Ill figure something out!

I then took the dremel to the intake to shine it up a bit - the picture doesnt really do it justice, but it looks great in person!

[AvianMan]

Working in a cramped garage is slow work in the winter, but I suppose it is better than no garage at all! Finally got 3 coats of paint on the civic - not the original white, but pretty for sure. I decided not to go with the pearl, mostly because by the time I could afford it, summer would be over! I painted the engine bay black for two reasons. First, I think it looks nice. Second, because it looked like crap and I didnt have the time to pull the engine to paint the engine bay properly!. The engine looks pretty good. Just a few more details and I am done - for a bit anyway....