Restoration: 1978 Honda Civic (1200) Part 2

[Randy]

No time to work on the car managed to get some steel for the floor.
I measured the thickness of various areas of the car and determined it has 24, 22 and 20 gauge used throughout the car.
Mostly I am surprised the floor is thin probably 24, but areas of the engine bay are thicker, I opted to use 20G.
Took it outside today to blow all the sawdust out. I spent the summer renovating our two large decks and restoring the wood and finishes.

[Randy]

Filling the small holes 🕳 in the engine bay where the battery tray was. Some difficulty on others using a copper backer to fill the hole. It’s not so easy to hold the copper plate while MIG welding the hole closed. I will have to figure out how to hold the copper in place as my arms are too short to weld at the same time.
The welder is not so great but does work well considering the age and there is only a speed adjustment and high low.

[Randy]

All winter yes, not looking forward to the cold. I would rather be sweating it out on Zwift on my bike.

More holes filled and pushed into a difficult corner where I cannot make a nice clean cut. Where this hole is, most might not be aware that the metal is doubled up. The surface metal under the bumper mount had a small hole through it. My plan was to use a Dremel tool to cut out a square patch hole. But I ended up having to use a razor sharp impact chisel. It went through both layers. Oh well more welding. I hope I can use my Christmas present when it arrives.

[Randy]

Things are a bit more difficult than; I thought it looked great but needs more welds.

A month or so ago I had a sever reaction to a drug and thought I was on my way to heaven’s gate. I should have gone to the hospital but Covid everywhere I stayed at home.
The end result it damaged my left eye making it difficult to see out of the left half.

Anyway more is done and now I am heading to patch up the hole I cut in the inner wheel well to patch the inner frame rail.
Some may not realize but the frame rails are doubled up.
I tacked the lower patch through the engine bay then put another patch on top between the mounting holes for the bumper shock.

I found another hole the size of a quarter on lower end, patched it easily then threw my back out on Wednesday, Getting old Sucks?

After I finish welding in the inner patch from underneath there are 3 panels to be fixed including the final outer that needs fixing too. All this holds up the front cross member.

637B7D57-FA06-4703-A0F6- C3116387D04B.jpeg

I am hoping the new helmet will give me a better view when welding, it’s one of those clear view from Eastwood.

I had ordered a sheet of metal to do the floor but found the metal in the engine bay is 20guage thicker than the floor.
I find it a lot easier to weld the thicker stuff with the MIG welder, I did test on new 22guage and welded somewhat well with one blow through. With rust on the car blows through so much easier. I think the firewall must be really thin as I am having a heck of a time filling one hole 🕳 using a copper blocker.

[Randy]

I got two of the layers made tonight and used a 1/2 Greenlee conduit punch to make the holes, not sure if they are for undercoating or to hold a nut in place where the front crossmember attaches even though there are two long bolts that do the work.

I have to say I really love the Eastwood Stitch Weld Magnets for holding the metal in place while fitting and for making a pattern from Bristol board, this bit was really simple to cut out and bend into shape.

The outer third layer is going to be tough, I am using part of the outer piece and trimmed off the rough stuff. The bottom bit is going to require some bending and contortions.

[Randy]

Not finished yet.
This last piece has so many bends to it. I had to cut the bottom off making more work.

[Randy]

Here is the finished welded up piece, just have to hit the bits underneath with weld through rust primer then I can start putting the layers back in and patch the little hole.

Before

After

[Randy]

What a job…you sir, are tenacious!
Nicely done.

Thank You!

My son said I am spending too much time on something that won’t be seen.

Back in the garage again, it’s getting cool now so I put the heater on so I could spray on some weld through primer and rust converter for the spots I can’t get to.

Layer one, this goes just in front and is part of the piece that the bolts go into that hold up the front cross member.

1st spot weld

Spot weld man this is heavy

I could not get over in the left corner to clean it up, so it’s good for the next layer.

3rd spot weld

It’s in and upper is welded

2nd layer, I sprayed the last layer with weld through primer and started with spot welding the bottom in first, I had trouble in one spot on the back where there was surface rust prevented the weld. Tripped a breaker as my extension cord is not the correct gauge. Cleaned the back up and the rest of the spot welds worked like a charm, quick, but back breaking holding it up must weigh at least 60lbs.

2nd layer spots

2nd layer

[Randy]

So you thought you would see layer number 3, nope that’s for another day.
I have to clean, should clean up these last welds and primer everything before putting the final layer on.

I tried a new welding helmet and it’s way easier to see like daylight without all the dark green filter to see through.
Next week I hope to pick up a bottle of 100% argon gas for my new welder; it should make life a lot easier with the micro flex head to get into tight spots. There will be less welds to clean up.

Old school MIG

I had a few gift cards from Amazon from the last few years since COVID I have not ventured out to any stores. I picked up this lighter grinder with a better trigger. My Wolf mini grinder finally bit the dust after 43 years. Don’t read anything in to it. My Wolf drill knocked off too shooting sparks after the hammer portion was already kaput, it was older.

Mini Grinder

[Randy]

I was cleaning out the garage clearing space to keep my stuff and found my old grinder I thought I threw out. Seems the pin tool for taking the disc off is missing one tooth. I welded it back on an then broke again trying to get the disc off.
There maybe a future for it after all.

Here are a collection of tools I use for taking dents out, notice anything out of place?