78 civic a20a1 swap

[zxdriver99]

so, I'v pinned down the engine I'm going to "gently place" in my wife's little civic. its out of an 88 accord LXi. I got the whole damn car for 2fiddy and it runs awsome. it got sideswiped real bad on the driverside. I'm taking the engine, trany, ecu, wiring, guages, sunroof and anything else i want or need, and get this, the wrecker will give me 50 bucks back if I bring back the shell!!

Progress report on SXYCVIC;

right now I'v got the hood, trunk lid, doors, engine/trany, front bumper, fenders, lights, interior, and trunk all removed and stripped ready to start the body work.

today the dash and the front window come out, as does the main wiring harness, and rear bumper.

I will try to make regular progress reports to update those interested, also a friend of mine is giving me her old digital camera so I will see if I can post some picks too.

[cvcc_wagon]

cool. sounds like what my 78 wagon looks like at the moment

[zxdriver99]

got a couple of wagon steering knuckles you want to sell cheep??

[cvcc_wagon]

not at the moment. i have a set of second gen wagon knuckles tho

[zxdriver99]

here's an update on my progress....

here's whats left of the car. so far no rust!!

http://photos.yahoo.com/wrxdriver99.

[zxdriver99]

does any one know of any one that has shaved the drip mouldings from their civic??? I would like to, but I wonder about the door seals leaking and the cabin vents beside the back windows. also I'm looking to change the bumpers for some sleeker, one piece rap around ones, but I'm having trouble finding some, I even looked at thehondapartsstore.com, but I didn't find any thing I liked. any ideas much appreciated.

[zxdriver99]

well I havent done a whole lot , but I did get the drip rails off, as well as the battery tray, the charcoal canister bracket and the side motor mount. I started the body work today and I'll be going nuts on it tomorrow too. heres a few pics from this morning, before I started with the body filler.
I don't have my own digital camera, so I can only take pics when I borrow one from a friend, so there will be missing steps in my photos

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/wrxdriver99/my_photos

[lxndr]

I still find it amazing how simple these cars are.

Good job!

[zxdriver99]

where do I start...

Well I got working on my hatch opening. I welded the seams at the bottom of the opening then filled and sanded and filled and sanded and... untill I got it just right. I want everything about this car smooth. I ground all the paint off the seams where all the spot welds are and hammered them as smooth as posible, then filled and sanded untill smooth. After that I sprayed the affected places with rust inhibitor and/or primer and then with paintable rocker guard.
I used the rocker guard under the rear chrome bits so that hopefully chafing won't lead to rust. the rocker guard overspray will be sanded off the visible body surfaces, with the exception of the rocker panels, to help with the smoothness of the car. I will be using it around the rear window openings though.
I love this little car. just had to write that
I had a couple of L.E.D. strips laying around so I decided to put in a recessed third brake light. I cut out the roof for metal to use for the recess. I carefuly measured somewherre near centre of the roof and using my handy nibler and my even more handy die grinder made a hole. then I made the recess and test fit it. then I made a bigger hole and welded it in. then more fibre glass and filler and sanding. still more to do, but I'll wait till I put in the sun roof
The minor rust on the rear of the car wont be to hard to fix, I just havent decided what to do on the rear valance ends. I think I will clean off all the paint off both sides right the way accross and fibre glass a couple of layers on both sides for extra strength and corrosion resistance.
I'm sorry this is so long, but I thought you guys would want details. If there are some questions or coments or free stuff out there, let me know.

Don't forget to check out my pics!!

Happy modifying

[cvcc_wagon]

sounds pretty sweet, makes me want to get bck to work on my wagon

[zxdriver99]

well I have one seriously smashed 88 accord LXi sitting in my driveway waiting to be stripped of everything possibly useful for the civic. Now to find some time....

I even sot some upgrade parts for my air compressor to make it more efficient to do the work. I'm so excited.

Oooo, I got my red type R Honda badges, and my jdm hello kitty/mugen badge(its my wifes car). I'm still excited. I also picked up a nice set of older 14" Enkei aluminum rims for a hundred bucks

More pics and progress soon

[pimpmcdaddies]

Hats off to you for getting involved in your project.Sometimes i question my sanity,working on my civic Si ,covered in dust in the searing heat when all my mates are having a beer!Nice to see I'm not the only one...
My welding is now underway and roll cage is coming next...number plates and Rear suspension arrived too.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2283923

[lxndr]

Pimpmcdaddies,

Although this doesn't look like it's a picture of your car, I like the wheels!



Here's my project:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2278318/1



Ok, back to the topic.

[zxdriver99]

well mostly.... it was more harder than I thought it would be, but it looks great. now I have to test fit the glass and motor assembly, and start on the body work. there are pics of the install on my link.

[pimpmcdaddies]

You keep yourself busy..I expect my projects will untimately end in single life for me!
I've never removed roof gutters before but I imagine water may penetrate if the door rubbers are worn.These can be injected with sillicone to bulk them out as they are hollow.(Teqnique borrowed from a sunroof fitter).You could also try adjusting the door catch in as much as you can visibly get away with,I expect even 2mm would make a difference.