Greetings from Northern Ontario

[CivicCanuck]

I thought I would introduce myself, I have been working on vehicles of all sizes and descriptions from small cars to tractor trailers and front end loaders. My name is Mike, and I am a BASF certified refinish technician, have worked in a few autobody shops as well as welding / fabrication shops, heavy duty truck shops and a hydraulic repair shop.

During my first few years out of school I worked pumping gas at a local station, then moved to a parts counter job in a small town ( weekend service writer as well as installing tires etc when the rest of the techs were busy, and someone else was manning the counter )

I have a 2012 Civic, it's the first new vehicle I have owned, having driven many miles on the cheap with used vehicles I repaired not only mechanically, but kept up on the body repair as well.

Some of the fun projects I have worked on: 12.5 second 0.30 over 440 powered '79 Dodge short box pickup. First iteration was built in a month from start to finish, including yanking out the slant six, tossing a cam and valvesprings at a basically stock '77 440, re-wiring, mount fuel cell, line lock etc. Current engine has over 0.700 inch valve lift via a Comp solid roller cam, custom Ross pistons ( 10.5-1 ), Weiand Team G single plane intake, a Holley 750 with a Proform main body atop an HVH super sucker 2" tapered 4 hole spacer.

Idles great, and pulls HARD.

 

[CivicCanuck]

Big into the paint / bodywork in my spare time, here's a set of custom subwoofers for a friend that I sprayed and polished out. 12" active driver ( TC Sounds TC2000 with titanium cones ) with dual 18" passive radiators from AE Speakers. Powered by a 2500 watt pro sound amp, the passive radiators are operating in their linear region ( less than half of the stated maximum P-P excursion ) while the actives are near their limit.

 

[CivicCanuck]

Also spent 5 or 6 years in the towing business, everything from motorcycles to tractor trailers. Here's a good picture of an uprighting job on a loaded truck and trailer, with two wreckers on the job.

 

[Monk]

Welcome....... Lots we can learn from you, glad you've joined us.

 

[CivicCanuck]

Custom kick panels for horn tweeters in a '97 Chevy Lumina. Started out with cardboard templates, cut hardboard and MDF, glued together with hotmelt adhesive. Once the basic shape is complete, then the carpet and other panels are protected by many layers of masking tape.

Bodyfiller is mixed and applied, and the basic form is set into the bed of filler. Once the filler has set up some, another layer of filler is applied over the face before pulling the kick panel off for sanding and re-shaping. The process is repeated until the kick panel fits like a glove. Once the panel is ready, a few coats of 2K high build primer is used to seal up the filler. Once cured, it's then sanded, and a coat of texture is applied ( I used rockguard at a high pressure to give me a finer finish ), then once that's flashed, a few coats of basecoat and then clear.

 

[webby]

welcome to the forum. Great to see someone with a number of skills on board

pics of your civic? plans for it?

 

[CivicCanuck]

Posted pictures of my Civic 4 door in the PMM thread, but here it is again. Windows are tinted, and the only plans at the moment are to prime and paint the chromed grille bar body color when I have some free time. I may look to getting a set of 17" wheels for the summer ( looking at Kosei K4R @ Tire Rack as well as Michelin Pilot Sport 3 ) for faster steering response, as well as less tire roll under hard cornering.

 

[webby]

another member who did theirs with plasti dip

 

[KennyGS]

Very impressive introduction. Welcome!

 

[Intrepid]

Where at in Northern Ontario are you ? , i Spent 13 years living in Sioux Lookout

 

[CivicCanuck]

Where at in Northern Ontario are you ? , i Spent 13 years living in Sioux Lookout

Currently in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Born and raised in a small town an hour away from the city.

 

[CivicCanuck]

another member who did theirs with plasti dip

I saw this picture in a thread, I like it but I would rather a satin / semi gloss clear on body color for the grille bar. I am also thinking of shooting the emblem a contrasting color, possibly blue with a matte clear. PMM was my second choice, since the dealership couldn't get me a Dyno Blue Pearl LX sedan with a 5 gear.

 

[webby]

Flamethrower did his front emblem in blue paint.

 

[CivicCanuck]

This past weekend, installed winter tires and rims, painted the engine cover body color, and spent a few hours rustproofing the car. Here's a picture of the engine cover installed, however I don't have any in progress shots.

To paint any plastics successfully, you need to remove all of the mold release agents, some are waterborne, and some are silicone based. I scrubbed the cover in hot water with a sponge and dish soap both sides, and dried it off thoroughly. If it was raw plastic, you would want to also prime it and use an adhesion promoter as well.

2 medium coats of powdered metal metallic basecoat and voila~. I didn't bother clearing it.

 

[Tony An]

Welcome!