Had to take a break from working on my wheels, or rather, I got a little distracted for a couple of days (that's how long it took).
For ages I've been wondering what I was going to do with the otherwise superfluous lifting boss and bolt hole at the front of the head (it's only use is for lifting the engine and gearbox in and out). I figured I'd put a dummy bolt in there to fill the hole, but then the other night I had a thought... why not fashion a lifting hook that's both functional and attractive at the same time. So I cut out a template from cardboard, then traced it onto some 8mm 316 stainless plate, and began drilling and cutting it to an approximate shape. The remainder I did with my trusty Dremel and a bunch of mini sandpaper drums. It'll accommodate up to 10mm chain.
I've been keeping busy. I finished 2 wheels ready for the polishers, at which stage I was going batty doing the same thing day in, day out, so I switched jobs. I moved on to finishing the last parts ready for chrome. It's been 12 months since my last visit to the chrome platers, and I figured I better get these last parts finished before they take off for the Christmas break (4 weeks). The parts I just finished are all the hardware off the front struts. I just need to mask off all the threaded areas, then they're ready to go. These parts took me ages of unbelievably tedious work removing all the anodised surfaces in preparation for chrome. They were real fiddly to polish as well... glad to see the back of them. I also have a bunch of other parts and a full set of various length engine bolts (engine to transmission, starter motor bolts, etc.).I ordered them new from Honda, then sanded and polished all the heads ready for chrome.
I've finally finished the wheels! I made a concerted push over the past week or so to get them finished and ready to take to the polishers. I could try and polish them myself, but the guys at Extensive Wheel Services specialise in this sort of work, so I thought I'd pass the job to them. I've done both front and back of the wheels. The backs, or inside faces of the spokes took ages to prepare for polishing. Now I'm on to the rear suspension components, and then the job will be close to done.
I've been polishing the Watanabe wheel nuts. They're forged stainless that arrive in a dull frosted finish. I sanded all the surfaces with varying grades of sandpaper, before polishing them on the 8" mop fitted to my bench grinder. They look like jewellery now... they're soo shiny. So that's it. I have the new wheel nuts ready, a new set of Watanabe wheel centre caps, and a set of Watanabe valve stems and caps.
I can't be certain of the exact amount of time, but from as close as I can guess, I put between 200-250 hours in to each wheel. I started them 14 months ago. I blame my brother for putting the idea in my head. I was just going to paint them originally, then things got out of hand.
I've now removed all the rear suspension components and rear brakes so I can prep them for chrome. I can see I'm in for some real fun with some of the parts... and there I was thinking it was almost over...
Below are some photos of the rear brakes, break down. The brake cylinders, shoes, springs, etc, are all new parts that I fitted a couple of years ago, which turned out to be a complete waste of time and effort! On the upside, I'll be an expert at changing the rear shoes after this.
Tomorrow I'll be breaking out the paint stripper to clean up all the parts so I can sand and polish them up. I've already started on the rear BC strut springs. They've been soaking for 2 days in paint stripper. The last lot took several days before the powder coating finally gave up the ghost. Keeps me busy!
The rear strut springs took 8 days of soaking in stripper to remove the powder coating.
I've been working hard prepping the parts for chrome plating. The rear radius rods and the rear brake backing plates have taken ages. I disassembled and cleaned the brake shoe adjusters, then I reassembled them with fresh grease, as well as polishing up the bodies of the adjusters, especially the bosses that poke out the back of the brake backing plates. I also polished the brake lines, as well as the brake levers (handbrake) that also poke out the back of the backing plates. The brake levers were super sloppy, so I gave the rivets at the pivot points a few hits each with a heavy hammer and they closed up nicely... completely removed all sideways slop. Like new again... better than new, because this time they'll get a protective coat of chrome.
I have been flat out getting the Civic ready for paint. Last week I drained, then removed the fuel tank. After spending heaps of time airing out the tank I finally got it to a stage where it didn't stink of fuel any more and I could bring it back inside the garage to work on. It took 7 hard days to finish. Because it's getting painted I finished it off with #320 grit sand paper so the filler and paint can stick. All the spot weld indents, ripples and dents will be filled and block sanded to get that really clean look, much the same as I want them to do in the engine bay.
The insides of the tank are spotless. I've always used premium grade fuel like Shell Optima and BP Ultimate which are supposed to have an additive package to keep the tank and fuel system clean. I thought there'd be some rust, but it looks clean as a whistle in there.
Now I have to remove the seats and carpets in prep for them taking away the shell for paint.
shiny bits
