86 Civic Build Progress (restoration & Chassis Reinforcement)

Here is the work I have done to the car since I first picked it up last fall. It was very rusty and the last owner only covered up the rust instead of fixing it which made fixing the problem even harder on my part. This car was ready for the junk yard before I took it over. Luckily, the rust was only bad on the (passenger) front right side and rocker panel. And mechanically the engine and transmission are in perfect running condition.

When I bought the car I thought the brakes were in good shape as well, They Were Not! The rear brake lines were rubbing against the fire wall and eventually broke. The E brake worked really well though. I replaced brake lines, brake cylinders, and bled the system. I will be replacing discs, pads, and shoes. But I have mainly been focussing on wire wheeling, rust converting, and Tremclading all cancerous areas on the car. As well as cutting out rust holes and welding in chassis reinforcements and making 1/4" custom rocker panels that will be able to withstand salty Canadian winters.

After the body work and Chassis strengthening is complete I will be painting the entire car using the $50 Tremclad/Rustoleum method. for now I just want to get the cars exterior condition taken care of and have this thing in pristine factory running condition before I start with engine swaps, suspension, brake swaps, etc. etc. etc.

P.s. I am painting the car with Tremclad using a spray can only on the edges but 90% of the car will be painted with a micro foam paint roller and mineral spirits. I am using rubberized paintable rocker guard on the lower half of the car but will be painting over that with black Tremclad, and finally painting the whole car with clear coat and buffing/polishing. The object of this paint job is to seal the underbody from salt and moisture and also provide a tuff and easily repairable exterior finish. The brilliant thing about this paint job isn’t the cost but the fact that you can start and stop the process at any time, as I will demonstrate by painting the car before I have even finished the body work then finishing the bodywork and finishing the painting. The reason why I did it this way is because the paint acts like a guide coat over your Bondo work and makes it easier to see your high and low spots, plus it allows you to preview your work as you are doing it. If you don’t like what you have done, sand it off and do it again. It’s just that easy.