Vendor: Civic Garage

[Randy]

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An online store dedicated to providing reproduction and replacement parts for first generation Honda Civics. Parts for some other models (mainly early Honda) will be available but the focus of this store is on 1973-79 Civics.

http://civicgarage.com/

We strongly support EvoCivic as he has been a long time member of the Civic Community and a great asset to our site. I am sure he can be a help in any aspect of old school Honda's

Give him a try.

civicgarage

[EvoCivic]

Ok, next hen's tooth ...
I've had many inquiries and seen a lot of people asking elsewhere about the seal that holds the glass into the hatch of the 1973-79 3-door Civic models. This seal has been unavailable for years and as far as I can determine no aftermarket manufacturers have ever produced them. There are probably a few NOS ones hiding in people's stashes but they never seem to see the light of day and would certainly not fill the demand for them.
By now most of the seals you see on cars have perished to some extent (many are probably at the stage of starting to fall to bits). When doing a restoration or at least getting a bit of fresh paint it certainly makes sense to remove the hatch glass so you can do the job properly and fix any rust under the stainless trim but personally I've never removed the glass from a hatch in any of the cars I've rebuilt as I was always too worried about damaging the seal.
I have been talking to a windscreen seal manufacturer and supplied a sample from which they have determined that it is definitely possible to reproduce it, however there is a significant minimum order quantity or else it's simply not worth investing in the tooling to produce them. Therefore before I go any further with this I am going to need to get a good idea of just how many people actually want/need one. To be perfectly honest I don't want to hear from you if you might possibly need one some time in the dim distant future. I'm only interested in who genuinely wants one now (or realistically in the next six months or so) and is prepared to put their money where their mouth is. I have to do some more sums but it looks like the price should be in the region of AU$150, maybe less if I can get a decent number of orders. If there is a good enough response I will be asking for a 50% deposit before any manufacturing goes ahead.
So please, if you genuinely want a hatch glass seal and are prepared to come up with some money then I want to hear from you. Also spread the word around about this as not everybody looks in here and I need significant numbers for this to be possible.

I can post to anywhere in the world that normal post goes. I've sent heaps of stuff to the US.

Things are progressing with the seals (I think). I heard from the manufacturer a few days ago and the test seals are hopefully due towards the end of February (they do seem to be dragging their feet a little) so with any luck I'll have some good news in a few weeks.

BTW, I don't seem to have mentioned this but I'll be getting 5-door ones made as well. I know they are an extremely uncommon model as they were only sold for two years and only in a few markets but they do exist (I've got a couple and will need a seal one day ). The only difference is the length of the sides and bottom (the 5-door glass is a bit taller) so it's no great trouble to get some of them made as well as the 3-door ones.

[EvoCivic]

The samples arrived today! They look fan-bloody-tastic! Looks just like an original one. They even moulded in the drain holes by the bottom corners (I forgot to mention these to them but they were there on the sample). I've got both 3-door and 5-door versions (the only difference is slightly longer bottom and sides in the 5-door).
I'm going to try and test fit them tomorrow (I have both types of cars) if I get a chance. Otherwise it'll be later in the week.

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[EvoCivic]

I managed to test fit the 3-door version this afternoon. Fairly rushed job as I didn't have much time (start to finish in less than an hour) but it ended up working well.
The easiest way to get the old one out was to just run a knife around it and slice the top off, then just lift out the glass. Yes, the car was originally blue and yes, I did find some annoying rust holes in the bottom corners.
I didn't clean the hatch or the window up very much (just a quick wipe over with wax and grease remover).
It fitted well on the screen and went in with no dramas. I used the rope method. It needs a little bit more prodding and poking to get it to sit absolutely perfectly but it really is as perfect a match for the original as one could hope for.
I'm sure the 5-door one will also be good but I'll still test fit one on the weekend to make absolutely sure.

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[EvoCivic]

Test fitted the 5-door version today and it's also perfect. I'll get onto the manufacturer to get production underway first thing next week.

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[EvoCivic]

Finally some good news! There is a batch of gaskets en-route to me right now. They should arrive next week. I'll send them off to the people who have paid in full asap. There are still a couple of people owing the second payment ... I'll be chasing them up over the next few days. Anybody else who wants one just let me know.

[EvoCivic]

Some recently added parts:

Quarter window latch

2nd gen quarter window latch

Coat hook

Interior dome light lens 1973-77

Interior rear light lens

[Thor]

Those really are sensational.

[Randy]

Nice Parts, These are really cool. Do the rear window latches come in fluorescent green yet?

Can you get the base for the rear view mirror, the side slots tens to snap off and then have to put screws trough the mirror to hold it on.

Base, Rearview Mirror

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How about the lower cover?
This new old cover is done-in already.

[EvoCivic]

I can make window latches in just about any colour you like ;). Nobody seems to have gone for the glow in the dark ones yet :D.
I'm making early rear view mirror bases now. I just need to test in a car to make sure they work and then crank a few out. I hope to make the later (78/79) ones at some point but need a good one to make a mould from.