Restoring My Nana and Grandads Car in Remembrance

[Roverjoe]

Hi guys thought I would join, as I’m in need of some advice about these cars I’m in the Rover scene quite a bit so I know the ins and outs of the 400/45 however I’ve got a 1998 Honda Civic VTi that needs restoring as a remembrance thing, the car has unfortunately been sat for quite some time last it was on the road was 2011 the car has been started every year or so to keep it from seizing up but nows the time to get it restored as upon investigation there’s some areas for concern like the Drivers side Sill which has huge holes in the bottom section of the sill. the section of the drivers side footwell where the sill meets the floorpan where it’s seamed together needs sorting ASAP. Along with the drivers side Rear arch. Strangely it’s only rotted out on 1 side the other side is solid with only a few bits of corrosion which is mostly chopped out and the floorpan is really good too as it’s not seen the salt in over 10 years just thinking how I could go about saving my grandads car as I really don’t want to see it sent off to scrap. The idea is to get it restored to factory and how it was when my grandparents had it the engine seems pretty good it just needs a major service before i turn it over as the Belt is easily over 10 years old. Any feedback would be great.  currently doing up my Rover 25 at the minute so this Civic is next on the list.  

[Patxi]

Damm thats a lot of work

[noodels]

Not worth restoring tbh, take engine/box out and put it in a Integra R rolling chassis if you can find one 

So  a re-shell is best option,the engine is the heart of the car.

[AJCivic]

Hi Joe - I recognise you and the car from the Facebook pages. 

 

I'm also driving an MB that previously belonged to 2 of my Grandads, both of whom have passed now, so I know sometimes it isn't just as simple as 'scrap it' without even trying to put effort in! Not to mention you've got a nice clean MB6 there (with the bumpers on ) which is getting to be a seriously, seriously rare car.

 

Not sure if you remember me but mine needed a LOT of welding doing to pass the MOT last November, I ended up having both lower sills completely chopped out and replaced as well as patches in the rear wheel arches, an area behind the ECU in the passenger footwell, and a couple little areas on the outer sill (where I can see you've got big holes) right at the back, and the opposite side to that I had welded 18 months before because the jacking point collapsed. All in it took round about 4 days for the guy to do it all and cost me £600. 

 

I think maybe the undersealing/protection following the last bit of work accelerated the rot in the 18 months between MOT'S, but now I've got all new metal down there I'm quite hopeful that it won't return anytime soon. When we get any sustained good weather I'm going to get the sill covers off and neutralise any surface rust that's started on the outer.

 

So basically I think yours can be saved, it just won't be too cheap! There's a few more tricky areas to sort. And wherever possible with the lower sills, you should get them cut out and swapped for new metal, or the remaining areas might go eventually. You can buy replacement outer/side sill pieces to weld in, I discovered these a few days too late to utilise them on mine, but mine was mainly the lower sills anyway. 

 

It's good that you've stripped the car out, so any more problem areas you'll be able to find and won't get a nasty surprise. And it's good that you're not in a rush to get the work done, and have somewhere you can keep it off the road. It means you don't have to try and get it rushed to pass an MOT or something. 

 

Oh and another option for smaller areas is to ask anybody scrapping clean shells to cut bits out for you, but I wouldn't hold much hope for that.

 

Just my experience anyway pal, good luck with the restoration! 

Edited May 14, 2021 by AJCivic

[dr_broon]

It's hard, but that's what I've ended up doing with my aerodeck (reselling). My old one was worse than yours in most places, but better in others (not many mind). I was lucky enough to get a mint rolling shell that was the same spec and colour as mine, and have had my engine and gearbox swapped, as well as renewing a whole heap of parts. The main thing that I miss is the reg, as for me that was such a big part of the history of the car, but I was open and honest with DVLA about what I was doing, and wasn't able to transfer the reg across. 

 

At the end of the day it depends on how much time and money you're willing to spend on it, because it would take a lot of both. 

[Roverjoe]

28 minutes ago, AJCivic said:

Hi Joe - I recognise you and the car from the Facebook pages. 

 

I'm also driving an MB that previously belonged to 2 of my Grandads, both of whom have passed now, so I know sometimes it isn't just as simple as 'scrap it' without even trying to put effort in! Not to mention you've got a nice clean MB6 there (with the bumpers on ) which is getting to be a seriously, seriously rare car.

 

Not sure if you remember me but mine needed a LOT of welding doing to pass the MOT last November, I ended up having both lower sills completely chopped out and replaced as well as patches in the rear wheel arches, an area behind the ECU in the passenger footwell, and a couple little areas on the outer sill (where I can see you've got big holes) right at the back, and the opposite side to that I had welded 18 months before because the jacking point collapsed. All in it took round about 4 days for the guy to do it all and cost me £600. 

 

I think maybe the undersealing/protection following the last bit of work accelerated the rot in the 18 months between MOT'S, but now I've got all new metal down there I'm quite hopeful that it won't return anytime soon. When we get any sustained good weather I'm going to get the sill covers off and neutralise any surface rust that's started on the outer.

 

So basically I think yours can be saved, it just won't be too cheap! There's a few more tricky areas to sort. And wherever possible with the lower sills, you should get them cut out and swapped for new metal, or the remaining areas might go eventually. You can buy replacement outer/side sill pieces to weld in, I discovered these a few days too late to utilise them on mine, but mine was mainly the lower sills anyway. 

 

It's good that you've stripped the car out, so any more problem areas you'll be able to find and won't get a nasty surprise. And it's good that you're not in a rush to get the work done, and have somewhere you can keep it off the road. It means you don't have to try and get it rushed to pass an MOT or something. 

 

Oh and another option for smaller areas is to ask anybody scrapping clean shells to cut bits out for you, but I wouldn't hold much hope for that.

 

Just my experience anyway pal, good luck with the restoration! 

Hi Yeah i Do remember you indeed :),

Ive managed to source some panels for the Lower section of the sill, and ive also found a good Quarter Panel that fits very well, if theres any remaining bits i need i will probably just look towards a Rover 45/400 to chop the metal from if needs must as the upper Sill section where all the clip holes and moulding would be hard to recreate, theres some side panels still available so i may even just buy one of those and fit accordingly to the sill area. ive got a brand new inner wheel arch section too for the Passenger side so thats not an issue. thankfully the Rover stuff fits due to it being the same shell. Once i get round to it ill be chopping out the whole sill, its spot welded to the floor and mid section where the top and bottom sill meet so i will probably do that which will be neater in the end. the only issue i have is that front bit where the floor pan is thats probably the most common area for the rot to start due to it being 3 layers of metal then seamed which wasn't the best design but oh well and annoyingly the panels for that bit are no longer made which would have made it so much easier if they were still about. Cheers for replying :) 

[Roverjoe]

35 minutes ago, dr_broon said:

It's hard, but that's what I've ended up doing with my aerodeck (reselling). My old one was worse than yours in most places, but better in others (not many mind). I was lucky enough to get a mint rolling shell that was the same spec and colour as mine, and have had my engine and gearbox swapped, as well as renewing a whole heap of parts. The main thing that I miss is the reg, as for me that was such a big part of the history of the car, but I was open and honest with DVLA about what I was doing, and wasn't able to transfer the reg across. 

 

At the end of the day it depends on how much time and money you're willing to spend on it, because it would take a lot of both. 

it will be hard but will be very worth it in the end, im not really fussed about how much money i spend on it as it will be a good few years before it sees the roads again most likely, the thing is as you say about reshelling is that you lose the reg and id rather be honest to the DVLA than drive round in a ringer that doesnt really relate to the original car which is what i want to maintain as much as possible due to the history of it.  I have a lot of the repair panels already so its just a matter of finishing off my Rover 25 before getting on with this which hopefully should be happening soon :) 

[dr_broon]

47 minutes ago, Roverjoe said:

it will be hard but will be very worth it in the end, im not really fussed about how much money i spend on it as it will be a good few years before it sees the roads again most likely, the thing is as you say about reshelling is that you lose the reg and id rather be honest to the DVLA than drive round in a ringer that doesnt really relate to the original car which is what i want to maintain as much as possible due to the history of it.  I have a lot of the repair panels already so its just a matter of finishing off my Rover 25 before getting on with this which hopefully should be happening soon :) 

Fair play mate. I did go down the route of trying to fix mine at first, but got badly let down by some dangerous repairs, and ended up going down the route I did. 

 

If it helps, I did manage to buy some new parts for mine - I got some new wings from honda, randomly via a website in Holland. 

 

https://www.akr-performance.com/

 

I also bought some of these panels for the repair - not sure if they're what you gave already. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CIVIC-1995-2001-MA-MB-4-5D-DOOR-REAR-WHEEL-ARCH-REPAIR-PANEL-WING-PAIR-/273823939449?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

 

Good luck with it mate, and keep us up to date with the project 

 

 

[dr_broon]

Also, in case there's something there that'll help, this is my project from the point of finding out how much of a bodge the first place did. 

 

[Roverjoe]

1 hour ago, dr_broon said:

Also, in case there's something there that'll help, this is my project from the point of finding out how much of a bodge the first place did. 

 

Bloody heck thats not good, ive just had a Nosy today at mine and thankfully its not as bad as that, i never knew had bad these cars Can rust, they seem to be a mixed bag when it comes to bodywork. Heres some photos including the floor at the back :)

[Roverjoe]

8 minutes ago, Roverjoe said:

Bloody heck thats not good, ive just had a Nosy today at mine and thankfully its not as bad as that, i never knew had bad these cars Can rust, they seem to be a mixed bag when it comes to bodywork. Heres some photos including the floor at the back :)

 

2 hours ago, dr_broon said:

Fair play mate. I did go down the route of trying to fix mine at first, but got badly let down by some dangerous repairs, and ended up going down the route I did. 

 

If it helps, I did manage to buy some new parts for mine - I got some new wings from honda, randomly via a website in Holland. 

 

https://www.akr-performance.com/

 

I also bought some of these panels for the repair - not sure if they're what you gave already. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-CIVIC-1995-2001-MA-MB-4-5D-DOOR-REAR-WHEEL-ARCH-REPAIR-PANEL-WING-PAIR-/273823939449?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

 

Good luck with it mate, and keep us up to date with the project 

 

 

Yeah ive managed to find some Quarter panels for the Back which is good, ive managed to get hold of an inner arch section for the passenger side so that is handy too from Rimmer Brothers from a Rover 45