Build Kurts 1978 Honda Civic Trailer

[Kurt]

Thats the plan yup! You coming up this year ?!

[Kurt]

Got the receiver mounted today and tacked up the rest. The receiver will hang down about 3/4" to 1" below the rear bumper. I used 1/4" steel plate to mount the receiver to the cross member and drilled the 2 holes for the safety chains.

first real set back at the end of the day though: I was finding a had a bit of flex in the 2 mounting plates I made to mount the assembly to the car. I used 1/8" steel plate for these but should have used 1/4." Would probably be fine but I don't like the idea of having any flex in a trailer hitch frame so I ripped those off and am fabbing up new ones from 1/4" I am starting ti think I have gone from a class 1 hitch to a class 3

[Kurt]

Got the hitch all welded up with the mounting plates for the 73-77 bumper

[Kurt]

New Tires! Figured I spent over $60 just in sandpaper and these new were only $100 for a set of 2 (via no-links)

[Kurt]

Body work through last weekend of April.

Heating and cooling to shrink the metal at the rear (it was dented pretty bad)

....more Body work

Primer/Sealer going on. I used a make shift paint booth. The trunk lid, matching cooler, bumper filler panel, hitch and gas door were all hung for painting while off the car/trailer.

[Kurt]

Base Coat and Clear going on. I used two coats of sealer primer, three of base coat and three coats of clear. I wet sanded and buffed it all out after about 3 weeks of letting it sit and gas off.

Painted hitch mounted to the car...

[Kurt]

2nd week of May 2018.

I used Odyssey Soft Touch boat canvass in black for the top and stainless steal snaps (32 of them!). The pink foam was first covered in a faux carbon fiber vinyl wrap that I painstakingly wrapped myself (yes its tough to work with!).

The actual canvass top was done by friend and neighbour who happens to be a seamstress by trade. The contoured top turned out very well.

I sourced out an after market trunk seal years back (JC Whitney) I believe that was also trimmed to fit.

[Kurt]

I mocked up the interior prior to painting it. I was gonna leave it black but figured I would make the floor flat. I used 1/8" baltic birch plywood for the interior panels as its strong but very light. Once cut I used trunk liner material to wrap it using 3M spray glue and staples. I used a piano hinge for the spare tire well to either use a spare tire or for some extra storage underneath.

I was able to source some chrome cargo mounts from an Audi/VW from no-links that I recessed into the floor. I actually welded up some feet into the floor for them to mount to so they are very strong and lie good and flat when not in use.

You can't see it in the photo but there is also a 3AA battery powered LED strip under the recess near the trunk to illuminate it at night. It works quite well.

The cooler was just for fun that I bought online from Costco. It started out white as a Coors Light cooler but I painted it green when we painted the shell. The "CIVIC" decals I had made up at a local sign shop.

[Kurt]

All Done! Ready for our annual May Long Weekend road trip. I put 1200kms on the car and trailer after these photos were taken. Sways a bit over some bumps so will get the alignment checked and may swap in some heavier springs but it tows good.

I was warned of rock chips on the front panel so I had the local sign shop install a clear 3M film over the front panel. The film is designed to for this purpose.

I wet sanded the body with 1200, 1500, 2000 and 2500 grit to remove any orange peel, a run and some dust bunnies (and one bug) that got in there due to our garage made paint booth.

All Done!

[Kurt]