Project Steph's 1978 Honda Civic 1200

[Thor]

Steph,
Absolutely stunning.
I'd be frightened to start it, let alone drive it after all this work.
It is fantastic to see such passion expended on such an iconic design of car.
We all express our love of the cars in different ways.
RESPECT.
Pete

[amifsud]

Steph,

I was going to say don't think about polishing or chroming the windscreen wipers. I did it to mine and when driving with the sun above you they reflect back into your eyes. I had to drive around with the wipers stopped half way up the windscreen to be able to see. I quickly scuffed them up with a scotchbrite pad when I got home.

[steve.ewing@ottawa.ca]

I remember all the kind things you said about my valve cover and bumpers but I can't find the words for what you've done with your car. Brilliant in more than 1 way.

[Steph]

Thanks guys!

The windscreen wiper 'blinding' doesn't deter me, but I will bring some masking tape with me in case I need it during transit times. Thanks for the heads up!

I have to say, it's mind blowing the amount of time, work, and organisation this project has taken so far. I know eventually things will fall into place really quickly, but the grunt work is seemingly endless. The other 'problem' is I keep thinking of new things to do. I've almost run out of things to polish and chrome, which is a huge relief. The past few days I've been repolishing my power booster. Even though I already had it polished, I went at it with #2000 grit wet and dry for a couple of days until the whole thing was super smooth and devoid of any low spots (bit like orange peel). Today I gave it a good session the pedestal polisher with a brand new soft 'mop' to ensure I got a super fine polish. In the end I had a mirror finish, then I tried a little autosol which actually marred the finish, so i took it back to the polisher and cleaned it back up again. I then went and did some reading, where I found that Autosol comes in various grades/grits. So I ordered some of the Autosol 1824 soft polish, and a bottle Autosol Liquid Metal Polish, which is the one you're supposed to use for a light polish.

[Thor]

Steph,
you must have a benign climate where you are [lucky so-and-so]!
Over here, unprotected mild steel would have a bloom of corrosion within 24 hours, alloy not far behind ! To slow raw metal corrosion, I spray with WD-40 orit's into lacquer and paint.
It's beautiful.
I thought the first incarnation of your car was superb before the accident, but this time.............. it is surpassing description.
Pete

[Gusto]

Amazing, Steph. I'd love to see this in person when complete!

[trouts]

hi, steph love your work, what a car it will be. also I think I read in one of your posts you have a Honda stepthru love to see some pics of it . I have a crappy sym simba 100 a pale imitation of the real thing. still I do love the way it starts first time, all the time, but it has no soul, being just a copy.

[Steph]

It's been a few weeks, but I've been keeping busy working on the Civic.

I had to disassemble a pair of driveshaft assemblies to get all the parts prepped for chrome. The driveshafts were like new, as in I had them fitted not long before I took the car off the road. I'd estimate they have a few thousand kilometres, if that. In fact, they look like new internally, with the CV showing no signs of wear at all.

I polished the driveshafts first, then wrapped them in MIG welding wire so they can be hung for plating. Then I dip them in Peel 'n' Seal to mask the spline areas from being chromed. I also put the wire under the mask, that way I don't have any wire marks in the finish. I always turn the wire tight to ensure an electrical connection under all that masking goo. Once they dry/cure I check them again with a multimeter to be sure the wire will conduct current.

[Steph]

I finished up the Birfield joints (CV joints) this week. It was a huge job to remove the outer 'skin' of each joint then smooth it for polishing. Now the chromed driveshafts will have chrome Birfield's attached to the end of them. That's right, I'm going to keep calling them Birfields because I'm a stickler for details. I'm really happy with the NTN markings which show it's a quality part.

I also paint stripped the 2 springs off the front coilovers. It wasn't actually paint, but more a plastic coat that took a full 24 hours for the paint stripper to remove it. I used an all natural, environmentally friendly paint stripper this time. They claim it has no fumes, but it does have a slight smell, but no noxious fumes to speak of. It cost twice as much as normal paint stripper, but I swear it goes way further that the cheaper stuff, with a thin coating doing the job on normal paint. I'd say it's at least twice as good as the Selley's product. The fact that it managed to strip powder coating is pretty impressive IMO.

[amifsud]

Are you doing the chrome yourself at home or are you getting it done by somebody?