A Sentimental Honda Civic Restoration

[Tickman]

Some excellent work going on here.

Keep plodding along with it, I think you have more than enough ability to get this finished to a very high standard.

[Roverjoe]

4 hours ago, Tickman said:

Some excellent work going on here.

Keep plodding along with it, I think you have more than enough ability to get this finished to a very high standard.

Thank you for the kind words, I appreciate that. Ive been working on it today and its come out better than expected   Ill pop some photos on the thread

[Roverjoe]

So today ive been finalising the metalwork by filling areas with weld that needed it mainly around the outer arch section as i grinded too much away (whoops) anyways ive managed to rebuild it as best as i could. there is a few pin holes but i may just leave them as i really dont want to make more work for myself again. ive tested the structure of the arch and it seems strong so thats good. I will use a fine layer of filler just to get it all smoothened out so that it looks right, so a day of sanding i dont think will be too bad after all the work ive had to do today lol. 

 

Today i also managed to flood the sill with cavity wax, made sure it got into all the areas and especially the areas where the welds were as the paint will have burnt off on the inside. i also managed to get it up into the arch too where i had to fill it with weld so that should hopefully be nice and protected from the inside now. I used Bilt Hamber S50 Cavity Wax which came with a handy lance to get into all the tight areas. 

 

 

And Finally here it is with the Door on:

The Door needs slightly lifting up, i put it on in a rush as it was getting dark so thats something to do on another day.

 

For the next part of the project i will be focusing on this section of the front jacking point and floor on the passenger side. It just needs a small patch where it joins the floor. I really dont want to have to open this up but if it comes to it then i will have to. but i think once thats done i will be taking a break from the welding due to winter, and ill put my focus onto the other jobs, perhaps suspension and such who knows ill see. 

 

 

[Roverjoe]

Its been a while since the last post, however i have managed to recently get some more jobs done to the civic, These were mainly jobs off the car such as refurbishing parts etc. As i dont fancy welding and painting the bodywork in the winter months due to being outside. 

 

First Things First was the Fuel Filler Neck, as you can see its pretty rusty. They Like to do this on the Civics and Rover 400/45s Thankfully mine has not got any holes so ive treated the rust as best i could then coated it with Hydrate-80 then primed and painted black. The finishing result looked pretty good to say that some of the rust was quite pitted.

 

Next up was the Rear Lower Control arms, These are a Spare set so thankfully i can do them whilst not having to have the car in bits. These can be really expensive brand new nearing like £300 for one arm. and any of the aftermarket ones are them over the top "boy racer" ones with the bright colours. With this car being 100% Standard i wanted to use the parts that are original to the car. 

Here is the Arm being painted, all the Rust was removed, it was then Primed and painted Black, once set the Mating surfaces for the bolts were then cleaned up to look original. 

 

Finally The Fuel tank. At first i was thinking of buying a new one but it turned out that the one i had was not that bad in the end. when i took it off the car it looked very corroded but after cleaning it, it came up well. I also noticed the fuel pump was also covered in that same underseal used on the underside of the car its a bit of a blessing and a curse as its protected the fuel pump really well, however it was an utter pain in the backside to clean up. Still even had the Original Bosch sticker on it underneath lmao. 

 

 

For the fuel tank i wanted to remove all the rust and then stonechip it to protect it from further road exposure. So i went out and got some generic Hammerite stone chip to do the job. I was pretty chuffed with how it came out, a nice smooth finish, which was what i was after. I did put it on thick in some areas mainly around the edges and the lip of the tank to prevent any rust from creeping in. 

 

I finally after many hours got the pump stripped down and cleaned up. surprisingly it came up really well not as much rust as i thought there would be either. 

 

I didn't get many photos of the process between this and fitting it all back as it was getting dark and i just wanted to get the thing done. I painted the top of the fuel pump with some brush on hammerite black as it was the only thing i had lying around at the time, the finish could have been better but to be honest its gonna be under the car and covered up so its not exactly in view and it will just protect it from rusting out. But there we go, all refurbished with new clamps and nuts, all cleaned up and painted. Im pretty pleased with the outcome of this. Just need to get round to doing the Straps next and fitting the pads back on. That'll be a job for tomorrow...

 

 

 

 

Before and After:

[High Jetter]

Nice work there.

[tom13]

You are doing an excellent job here. Hats off to you.

I do love a lightly modified one of these though.

[Twiggy]

Some excellent work there. I would say you`re a perfectionist.

[Rightnider]

Top work, great to follow. 

[Datsuncog]

Impressive stuff, dude - a real credit to you.

This is going to look simply gorgeous when it's done.

[Roverjoe]

Cheers for the kind words guys! 

I managed to get the straps done today also. They were pretty rusty at  the ends however, they weren't horrendous. So i removed all the rust/paint/underseal and got them back to bare metal to be etch primed. Once that had set i then put the Satin Black paint on. I managed to find some Rover parts to use at the mounting end as the old ones had seen better days. i found some brand new mounting bolts for £10 which wasn't bad at all. Unfortunately a lot of the Honda stuff isn't available and when you think it is, its usually listed wrong and is actually for the EK / EG Civics. Not a bad thing as you don't have to pay for the Honda Tax  

Here are some Before and After photos, i think these will finish off the Fuel Tank Assembly quite nicely. It saves me buying new fuel straps too as they aren't cheap either. 

 

[stuboy]

keep up the great work

[2flags]

That looks great. I expect your grandfather would be really proud of you! Well done, you are doing a fantastic job.

[Roverjoe]

Cheers Guys! I appreciate the kind words

[Roverjoe]

Today im starting the removal process of the rear trailing arm on the passenger side. Ive managed to get about half way there before the sun set. Good news is, is that a lot of the bolts came undone really easily considering how rusty they were. 

Now regarding Callipers, i have removed it and as you can see it is really rusty, i gave it a clean up. But was thinking, Should i just Refurbish the one i have or buy a new one. I'm really unsure because i want to make sure i go with a decent brand as i don't like skimping out on brakes. However the rear callipers are like £90-130 per side. Or Should i just get a Refurbish Kit for £30 and clean it all up myself and then it'll be the genuine calliper that was on the car since new. 

 

I did give it a wire wheel and surprisingly it came up really well. 

 

Any Advice and thoughts on the situation would be great. As i have never really Rebuilt a calliper but would like to at least give it a try. And if all fails then i can always go back and buy a new one. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

If time is not of the essence then go for the rebuild - it would be a further string to your bow (and a feather in your cap if it works).
If it fails then you're not likely to be ££££ out of pocket either?

 

[Ghosty]

Rear calipers on these always seize, even if they look like they're working they can drag. I'd just replace them, but fair enough if you want to give rebuilding a try. 

[Roverjoe]

to be fair, a replacement would be much easier and less time consuming. Plus it comes with all the new hardware too, new spring, nuts and bolts etc. I could always put the old unit to aside and use it to practise on rebuilding whenever i feel like it later on down the line. As Ghosty said they do like to seize and can be a right pain to sort. They probably will have seized up due to the car being sat for so long. 

[mat_the_cat]

Couple of points to note - rebuilding a caliper is usually pretty simple, but it's difficult as a DIYer to prevent it from deteriorating quickly. A professionally rebuilt caliper will (depending on the quality of rebuild chosen) have a more durable finish. If looking good for a long time is not important, or will never be taken out in the rain again, then this is less of a concern.

I've had issues in the past with cheap new or exchange calipers coming with poor quality rubber. You don't always get what you pay for, but you rarely get what you don't pay for (unless you can find a NOS bargain).

If you do decide to rebuild, give yourself the best start by dipping the caliper (minus any aluminium parts) in some rust remover. It will remove rust in crevices and pits that the wire brush does not reach. I use Bilt Hamber DeoxC but other brands may be equally effective.

[Roverjoe]

Ive decided to get a new calliper, it would be easier plus will save me time. In other news today was the day i removed the trailing arm, its been 2 days worth of work trying to get it to come off as so many bolts were properly seized on and i could not reach them with the arm on the car. It meant having to cut the ABS cable, the Handbrake Cable and also the Brake line. Not too worried as all those are getting replaced anyway. The majority of the bolts came out without snapping apart from one which was the LCA bolt to Trailing arm leaving me with a situation where i had to cut the arm. Yet again not a problem as im putting new ones on. Once the arm was off then i was able to remove the tricky bolts. I gave the arm a clean up to be pleasantly surprised at how little corrosion there was on the arm, the hub and spindle are a different matter though so i will get them cleaned up.  I managed to remove the remains of the Lower control arm that were stuck in the trailing arm. it has left a bit of thread behind in the trailing arm so i will aim to try and weld a nut onto that and try and free it off that way! 

 

Other stuff that needs removing are the Hub and Spindle, the Backing plate, ABS sensor and Bush. That will be a job for another day though...

[grogee]

On 02/01/2024 at 19:42, Roverjoe said:

Today im starting the removal process of the rear trailing arm on the passenger side. Ive managed to get about half way there before the sun set. Good news is, is that a lot of the bolts came undone really easily considering how rusty they were. 

Now regarding Callipers, i have removed it and as you can see it is really rusty, i gave it a clean up. But was thinking, Should i just Refurbish the one i have or buy a new one. I'm really unsure because i want to make sure i go with a decent brand as i don't like skimping out on brakes. However the rear callipers are like £90-130 per side. Or Should i just get a Refurbish Kit for £30 and clean it all up myself and then it'll be the genuine calliper that was on the car since new. 

 

I did give it a wire wheel and surprisingly it came up really well. 

 

Any Advice and thoughts on the situation would be great. As i have never really Rebuilt a calliper but would like to at least give it a try. And if all fails then i can always go back and buy a new one. 

Blimey if you're that good with a welder then the caliper refurb will be child's play. I'll be doing my Maestro ones soon with a kit from Bigg Red. 

[Roverjoe]

13 hours ago, grogee said:

Blimey if you're that good with a welder then the caliper refurb will be child's play. I'll be doing my Maestro ones soon with a kit from Bigg Red. 

Ahh cheers! i have decided to go down the route of getting a new one as they're readily available plus itll save bit more time when putting it all back together. Good luck with the Maestro!

[Roverjoe]

Today was another Painting day. I was inspecting the control arms that i removed from the suspension, and to be honest they were very good condition to say they came from a car standing still for 10 + years on grass. I inspected the bushings and they seemed to be in good order. So to save a Few pennies i decided to refurbish the original control arms. Im not sure if the bushes have been replaced in the past but even the rubbers were not cracked or brittle. 

 

First one to Refurbish was the Upper Control arm. 

Heres some Photos During the Refurb process:

And here it is all painted, It came up really well surprisingly. I used some etch primer then used some smooth stone chip to cover up any blemishes from the rust plus it will protect the arm. i let that dry then over coated with satin black. 

 

Same was done for the Compensator Arm:

 

So thats all the Arms complete for the Passenger side:  

Very happy with how they have come out, i now just need to install the Lower Control Arm bushes and do the same for the Trailing Arm which i will be hoping to get sorted tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Crazy to think all this came from the Suspension that looked like this not so long ago:

[Roverjoe]

Over the past few days ive been preparing the Trailing arm for paint. there were a few obstacles in the way such as snapped and seized bolts. However i did managed to get them out in the end with the help of the welder.  

 

I also managed to get the old bush removed which proved itself to be a nightmare. Im hoping i can get the tool to press the new one in so that i dont damage the new paintwork or bush. 

 

I also nipped to the local fastener shop to source some new bolts for the arm, as i thought i may as well go all out and replace the lot. Here is the arm fully stripped of its parts minus a few bolts. 

 

First things first i removed all the rust off the spindle, and got that painted silver then gave it chance to harden overnight so that it could be masked up.

 

the entirety of the arm was then stripped of its old paint and rust, making sure that it was properly cleaned up ready for paint. surprisingly it came up really bright. A few spots of rust but nothing too much to worry about. 

 

 

Here is the Arm all painted with Etch primer, once that had set i then applied a smooth stonechip to allow for a bit of absorption for when stones and crap from the roads hit it. it also fills in them little rust pits to leave a smoother finish. 

And here it is finished with the Satin Black top coat and masking removed. Miles better than before. 

And here it is with the Brake shield and arms fitted.

 

All new bolts and hardware fitted, Will defo be putting plenty of grease on these bolts when it goes on the car. hopefully that will stop them from seizing!

[2flags]

That is looking good. Your Grandad would be proud.

[Roverjoe]

41 minutes ago, 2flags said:

That is looking good. Your Grandad would be proud.

Thank you!

[MJK 24]

Amazing work!

[shampooefficient]

This is absolutely fantastic work, you should be very proud.

A small one that might save you a lot of time, effort and cash - citric acid is an excellent rust remover. Its also the thing that Bilt Hamber sell as Deox-C, if I recall correctly.

Its roughly a tenner for a 3kg bag on Amazon, two decent scoops in a gallon of boiling water and you can leave it to bathe pretty much anything that doesn't have a brain.

Just get a big bucket or plastic tray, preferably with a lid so you can leave it outside because it does make quite  pungent aroma...

[Roverjoe]

On 10/02/2024 at 17:54, shampooefficient said:

This is absolutely fantastic work, you should be very proud.

A small one that might save you a lot of time, effort and cash - citric acid is an excellent rust remover. Its also the thing that Bilt Hamber sell as Deox-C, if I recall correctly.

Its roughly a tenner for a 3kg bag on Amazon, two decent scoops in a gallon of boiling water and you can leave it to bathe pretty much anything that doesn't have a brain.

Just get a big bucket or plastic tray, preferably with a lid so you can leave it outside because it does make quite  pungent aroma...

Thank you for the kind words!

Ill have to have a look into that too for the Rust Removal I was in fact looking at something else called Evaporust, Not sure if that has a similar chemical in it. But I've seen a few videos on it and some of the stuff had come up really nice and clean. I do have a few brackets and such to possibly strip and clean so ill test it on those and see how well they come up. 

[Roverjoe]

Thought i'd post another update seeing i have not done recently. Having done the Trailing arm for the Passenger side ive recently started work on the Drivers side. I Even decided to record it i have a small YT channel with the odd video here and there on stuff but i'd love to try and record the progress of the work i am doing on the Civic, And hopefully it would help out other people with the same car even with those who own 400/45/ZS's as they share the same suspension. So i did a little Disassembly video its a bit cheesy with the voiceover and music but wind noise was terrible. 

Other than that, Here are some Photos of the Drivers side Sill and Wheel Arch, Hopefully my welding and fabrication work is good enough to get this side done lol. 

[KruJoe]

You're doing an amazing job with this project young sir.

After doing so well with everything on the passenger side, I don't know how you mentally deal with turning the car around and setting about the whole job again, just a mirror image. If it were me, it would screw with my head too much and I'd struggle big-time with motivation.  

Though the winter. On a driveway. In North Yorkshire. Truly admirable. Keep going!