Ulland

Awesome in for more updates. Can't wait.

jonGSR

Great fab work!

LSVTEC96HB

Ok, it's been a while but I am back to it. I had to do some remodeling and rearranging in my garage/workshop. I built some cabinets, a multipurpose rolling work bench, bought a media blasting cabinet, and redid all of the work surfaces in a black laminate finish.
On to the updates:

rusted old fan shroud:


After media blasting



Finished shroud, repainted hot rod black (not rattlecan!) mounted to original radiator



Seats are almost finished as well. I just stopped by the upholstery shop and they only have the headrests left to do. These seats are from a 1986 Integra. The back seats are being done in the same black vinyl and houndstooth fabric.




Refinishing the steering wheel:

Original wooden wheel, looking kind of neglected




Taping off the wood and media blasting the spokes to get the rust off



Sanding the wood down, finishing with 600 grit



Repainting the spokes with OEM Honda aluminum paint




Clearcoat



Sanding again with 600 grit, reclearing again, 3 coats




Finished steering wheel

bbarbulo

ooo that's tasty

LSVTEC96HB

Thanks!
One of the reasons I bought the car was because I thought the steering wheel was cool. I later found out that an original wooden steering wheel in excellent condition is worth as much as I paid for the whole car. I hit up one of my friends at Scale Tuned Customz, they build 1/24 scale models, to try and create some kind of replacement plastic ring on the horn button. Or I may end up just making something out of aluminum. More to come on this build!

jdmjeff

Great work man! Subscribed

codybuRr

subbed. 100%

LSVTEC96HB

Should I install the headrests or just leave it like this? It's a recipe for severe whiplash but it looks old school without them. What do you guys think?

efjones9

this is one of the most interesting projects that ive seen in a while. keep up the good work

LSVTEC96HB

Restoring the speedo and tach









Fresh weatherstripping

LSVTEC96HB

Thanks! I haven't updated in a while but have been steadily working on the car in my spare time

My to do list seems to only get longer and longer. At least I was able to cross a few things off this past month.




Bad news under the windshield and rear window molding:



And under the carpet:



Roughing in the sheet metal repair on the passenger side frame rail



aligning and measuring for engine fitment



Brackets cut out of 6 gauge steel with water jet



Welding in the engine brackets










HASport doesn't make a kit for D series into a '79 CVCC so I designed and built a "garage engineered" rear mount adapter to retain the stock mounting points












Doing the bodywork, sanding, filling, sanding, etc. is my least favorite part of any build, but one that can't be skimped:







I got started on the wiring while I waited on the brackets to be made:

Pulling the dash to modify the existing wiring harness so that the OBD1 engine would be happy in its new home


Modifying engine harness to connect on passenger side








This build will be utilizing the stock fusebox from a '92-95 Civic- to be mounted behind the glove box. I ain't scared of wiring!



All engine connections are made and the wiring is passing through a factory grommet.



I had intended to install the inline fuel pump and filter under the car somewhere but there's just no room! its better off in the spare tire well, out of the elements.



I ran all the chassis wiring through the passenger fender well and on through the channel above the radiator support. Wire tuck done!






I scored an awesome vintage OEM Honda AM/FM stereo radio



OK, people, you'll either love this or hate it: I am covering all the red metal areas inside the car with stickerbomb. Personally I think it's cool and different. I don't feel bad about it considering this is not a restoration.





The back seats are back from the upholstery shop and they look AWESOME!! I had to put them in for a quick pic:










I found a vintage roof rack on a '81 Buick Electra Estate. I sectioned it and modified it to fit the roof of the Civic.





The car as it sits now, almost ready for paint!




The next update will cover repairing all the rust (except for the hood), painting the engine bay, modifying the front crossmember, shift linkage, exhaust, and MORE WIRING! Stay tuned!

ef2_civic

iTrader: (1)

It's different. I like it. Good job. Keep it up

solorex

You are doing all this awesome work and the seats look oldschool and turned out awesome, then you stickerbomb the inside? Don't do it!

LSVTEC96HB

HAHA I figured I'd lose a few fans there. Remember this is a resto-mod not a restoration. There is a mix of old and new throughout this build. If you think you hate stickerbomb, wait till I get to the fender flares and wide wheels! Haters will have fun thrashing this build. But love it or hate it, it will turn heads.

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

Personally, I would have painted the entire car THEN sticker bombed the panels that you wanted to sticker bomb. I think it looks fine. It's definitely a resto-mod sort of thing. I think it is fitting. It reminds me of tattoo sleeves and that definitely goes with checker board seats.

You should look up DIY gauge cluster faces. You can make them out of thin pieces of plastic by printing on them at kinkos (or similar store). The film is transparent and you can sort of tint it. Looks very cool and I think it would liven up the cluster since the backing is definitely faded. Even if you go completely stock with the colors, it would look good because it is fresh and not faded.

By the way, good work on the wiring. Looks clean. A lot of people don't respect the work that goes into completely rewiring a car. It's annoying and it's a hell of a lot of wires.

LSVTEC96HB

Thanks! Yeah I was thinking about possibly refinishing the gauge cluster. However, I have my eye on a parts car that has gauges that aren't faded. We'll see. I am only sticker bombing the interior sheet metal. The car is going to be black and I thought there would just be TOO much black if I painted the interior black too. The great thing is that it peels right off so I can change it up if I choose to.

The wiring has been a chore, but it's not too bad with a shop manual. One thing I am going to do differently on the next one is use all new pins and wiring and literally make a harness from scratch, like Rywire does, eliminating any solder connections. I'm sure it will be fine, but I try to make every build better than the last.

LSVTEC96HB

Ok, it's time for some more updates!
engine bay body work done, time for some primer



Painting the radiator support





I hate sanding



Engine bay painted









The engine fits like OJ's glove. It was very tricky to get it in without touching the frame. but it looks at home in there.









I installed a late model booster and master cylinder in anticipation of the bigger brakes that will be installed. Then I made an intake for it from parts I bought off Ebay lol




The wiring is just about finished up. I still have to cut the front cross member to clear the header and attach the front motor mount, and I will have to modify the clutch lever on the transmission. Then it's on to painting the rest of the car. Stay tuned!!

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

Coming along!

Also, there is never too much BLAAAACK! I am sure you would offset it with the checker board and chrome bits more than you think. But like I said, I enjoy the sticker bomb. Just get it running and get some more wide-pan style shots.

LSVTEC96HB

Yeah, it's going to have BLAAACK wheels too! I am also getting the Mighty Car Mods sticker pack...

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

LOL!

I am glad you caught that. I have a bunch of stickers piling up now. Everything I buy comes with stickers... so I think I may put them on the underside of the hood. I mean, I'm not sponsored by RC or AEM but they sent me stickers with their stuff. I don't want them on my window, that's just a theft attraction.

84Riceeater

iTrader: (1)

Nice build my friend! how much harder would it have been to shove a B series into that engine bay?

ej2guy21

Awesome build! looking forward to updates. thumbs up for getting MCM stickers

LSVTEC96HB

B-series would have required moving the firewall back, among other things. It is unbelievably tight in there. I had to do a LOT of cutting/fabrication just to get the ZC in! If I were going to go to all the trouble of a B, I'd probably just go for the K swap. There is a build in Honda Tuning where a guy did a K swap in a Civic 1200, and he basically had to build a whole new engine bay. As it is, there is about 3/8" of clearance all the way around on the D swap, and that's after cutting several inches out of the frame rails. The ZC should still pull it down the road pretty well though.