project resurecting civic

[trans_am_lover_79]

ok so some of you may have seen my phone pic of my civic



Well I tried to repaint it, but I ran into some huge difficulties. The paint flaked and peeled. So I've decided to do a complete overhaul on the ol' civic.
this is what happened when I tried to remove the old paint.







So here's where I'm at as of now..









I obviously have a long way to go with the sanding. I also need to add more putty in some places.

My plans: I'm going to smooth out the body, get rid of the sunroof (I already sanded and added putty), I'm filling in the "air dams" in the front and rear, and I'm trying to decide which way to hinge the doors.

Butterfly like this:


or I have a model kit to make them "lambo" like this:


I'm thinkin the lambo style since I havent seen an xmod with that style.
What do you think?

[winner]

looks like a good project! i have seen a xmod with lambo doors, but personaly i likt the butterfly doors

[trans_am_lover_79]

That's kinda what I was thinkin

[XMDrifter]

you could possibly do butterfly doors and cut the roof also so you have the same style of door. the butterfly doors seems to have to have a certain door style to go with it

[trans_am_lover_79]

I'm not sure what you mean about cutting the roof off for a door style??

[winner]

if you look in the pic with the butterfly doors the doors are part of the roof

[trans_am_lover_79]

o I really didnt pay that much attention to the pic. It kinda looks like a "t top" roof the way the doors are. That might be "do-able" considering I'm smoothing out the sunroof.
I did some sanding on it today and changed my mind about trying to smooth the bodykit.
I would have to taper the putty up too high on the side of the car.

[trans_am_lover_79]

Just an update for anybody actually following my first project.

I got a lot of sanding done. I used 280 for a rough sand and refined with 320 then 400 then 600.









As you can see from the pics i've decided to completely smooth the rear.
I have to go to my lhs this weekend to get some primer, paint, and super glue for the hinges. I've also decided to hinge the hood.
I'm going to put down primer so I can see where I need to add more putty.
I think I'm going black with some kind of green design. I don't have the knowledge to change he under glow "neons" (evo) so I'm just going to use the ones I have and make the paint match.
And if anybody has some tips on how to fix those windows please share.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

[trans_am_lover_79]

Well it's a double post but that's what happens when nobody takes interest in your project..

Time for an update...
I'll just let the pics speak then I will..









As you can see it's just the primer coat.. Still needs A LOT of sanding and more putty work...
I'll be working on it all weekend.. Hopefully have some good progress by monday.

C&C welcome.. anybody?? lol

[bondo]

it doesnt look too bad.
looks like you have your work cut out for ya.
you have good reference pics of what needs to be filled and sanded so if your lighting is messing with ya you can rerence back to the pics above to see the low spots.

if you havnt gotten the windows fixed yet then there's really nothing to do other then bite the bullet and start sanding.
in the future i might be offering a service for sandblasting stuff like that but for now i don't have the grit to cut paint that thick.
if you're interested then i'll keep you posted when my blast arrives.

[Michael Long]

Whay does the body look like it's covered in clay?

[taiwanesekid05]

It's just grey primer.

[trans_am_lover_79]

Originally Posted by bondo

in the future i might be offering a service for sandblasting stuff like that but for now i don't have the grit to cut paint that thick.
if you're interested then i'll keep you posted when my blast arrives.

yes bondo please keep me updated on the blast.

I got some sanding done this weekend.. no pics yet sorry.
I realized the trim on the doors will need much more putty than I originally added. And actually there is a bunch of places I need to add more putty (ie. the sunroof, license plate area, and grill). I also sanded the body line down.

Once I get the body smoothed out I will start working on the doors and hood hinges.

I also figured out how I'm painting it.... But thats for a later post..

[trans_am_lover_79]

Well Its been a loooong time since I posted something on this project.
So here's an update.










I've done a lot of work to this thing.. Still a LOT more to go.. I do realize I didnt have the doors in any of these pics.. o well. Maybe next time.
I still have some sanding on the side skirts. I def. need to go over the whole thing with finer grit paper, but I'm waiting to get all the putty work done first. There isn't a pic of it but, I completely sanded the sunroof off instead of filling it in. I sanded the rear clip mount but, its a little crooked. I'll get it... I actually changed the front bumper and skirts. The front bumper was really bad and the side skirts didn't sit against the body as close as I would have liked. I super glued the bumpers and skirts into place and puttied the cracks(that's the white you see). I still haven't touched the windows (eventually I will)..

I cut the "cf" hood up that came out of the body kit. I plan on adding the center of the cf to the top of the stock hood like so:


Hopefully another update will come soon.
C&C WELCOME

[BlueDragons]

Looks good so far...

Waiting for more to come!

[zippo855]

fixed your pic, if you ever run into that problem again, hit edit, go advanced, save changes. dunno why it works, or why it does that to start with but it does. did you actually post a reply or fill in the quick reply box?

[FloydfanYodaman]

Originally Posted by zippo855

fixed your pic, if you ever run into that problem again, hit edit, go advanced, save changes. dunno why it works, or why it does that to start with but it does. did you actually post a reply or fill in the quick reply box?

sidenote...i had this probelm too...as well as on another site...the fix worked over there too thanks zippo

nice progress shots...color ideas?...hope the hood comes out how you want...looks alot smoother than b4

[trans_am_lover_79]

Originally Posted by zippo855

fixed your pic, if you ever run into that problem again, hit edit, go advanced, save changes. dunno why it works, or why it does that to start with but it does. did you actually post a reply or fill in the quick reply box?

I just went to quick reply. I'll be going to a full reply from now on. Thanx

Originally Posted by FloydfanYodaman

nice progress shots...color ideas?...hope the hood comes out how you want...looks alot smoother than b4

Thanx. I have decided to go with a marblized technique I learned in auto refinishing. It will be a lime green base with the black for the marble. I will be doing a tut on the paint as well. I haven't done a test for it on plastic, but it should work the same. I'm getting ready to work on it more now. Hopefully I'll have another update tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned...

[trans_am_lover_79]

So i did a lil work to the ole civic. Tell me what you think.





Got a pic of the door on and one of the cowl hood. The cowl sticks up 1-3mm above the body kit's cowl hood. Im waiting to get into my dads garage so I have somewhere to lay some primer. My basement is waaaaay too cold. More updates soon

on a side note, here is my xmas present and the only upgrade so far..




The 26's fit the wheel well perfect no shaving. I stretched reg car tires over the rims. LO-PROs..

C&C Welcome

[trans_am_lover_79]

UPDATE/HELP
Double post? On my project?? Noooo...

Ok so I got my rims for the Civic. I went with the 18 spoke from gpm. Since Im going with a green/black paint scheme, I'm painting the rims as well. I'm going to paint the spokes green and the center and lip black. The lip area was much wider than I expected.. On to the pics...



I couldnt tell which pic looked better so I just posted both..

Here is the hood up close. I noticed a few small pinholes in the putty. Ill get it later..

Now this is where I need some help.. This is the only Xmods forum site I belong to.. When I searched through the archives for hinge options I couldn't find one to help me with this style of hinge. I did find a couple for splitting the hoods but I don't want to do that.





I've seen quite a few pictures of Xmods with the hood flipped forward (like in my "mock up" pics) and I like it. So much so, that I want to do that to my civic. But I could use a little help. So if anybody with the hood flipped like this has pics, PLEASE post some with a few tips. I would greatly appreciate the help. Also when I paint the rims, do I need to sand them as well? Or will that be noticeable through the paint?

as always c&c welcome