Hope, British Columbia, Canada

The car is a 78 Civic trunk model that was brought up from Bellingham, Washington. I love the trunk models (more retro) and they seem to be harder to find then the hatches.

Funny that the hatch was the option? The car was apparently parked under some trees, hence the layer of green. Once I got it home I completely gutted it and pressure washed the interior along with some bleach to get rid of that mildew smell.

I actually found a nest up in the dash on the top of the glove box. Once the interior was stripped and washed it was sanded for paint (I then put the interior back in so it could pass inspection before the shell was painted).

The engine was next. The stock one was pulled, the bay was pressure washed and then sanded and primed for paint. I ended up buying a unique green (like Heinekin green) from a 98 Volkswagen Golf. I have never seen the color in Canada. The bay was then painted.

From there I installed a Canadian EL 1600. The motor has a reground cam, header and downdraft Weber along with a Chromed valve cover to spruce it up.

I am currently looking for a dual side draft manifold for dual carburetors. I will be using a radiator from a Volkswagen. and a Mallory CD Ignition module and an MSD blaster coil.

The brakes were upgraded to a set of 'custom' cross drilled rotors (done on standard Brembo rotors). The suspension has been lowered about two inches and a set of front Addco rear sway bars were obtained to beef up handling. The wheels are a set of aluminum 13"x5" mag wheels with 185/60R13 tires. As for interior, I have gone with a set of prelude seats, a rare dealer option leather Honda steering wheel, a Momo shift knob and Type R pedals modified to fit the skinny stock pedals.

I have deluxe gauges and am in the process of removing the wood grain for some faux carbon fiber. As for the outside it will be that cool green and I am fitting it with the bumpers, grill, hood and all red tail lights from the earlier models (I had a 77 parts car).

The bumper mounts are also 'shortened' so the bumpers don't stick out so much. I will be using the all chrome 78-79 mirrors (yes, I have a passenger side mirror too!) and have converted the sealed beam headlights to those new H4's. I still have to have 2" exhaust fitted to the car and finalize some bugs. Once its running I can then have it inspected and register it
here in Canada. From there I will strip it (minus the engine bay) and send it away for paint.

I was also able to get a hold of a rare GL emblem from Hiroshi Kawai from the Civic SB-1 club in Japan. The GL and RS emblems fit in the 'Hondamatic' spot on the rear.

Photos courtesy of Kurt Bosnell