Aerocivic - Restoration and further modding
 

For those of you who don't habitually read the aerodynamics section of the forum, Aerocivic has come into my care. Basjoos was generous enough to entrust me with this automotive icon.

I thought quite a while about just continuing his thread, because it's really the car's thread, but I feel what I plan to do will at the very least exceed the scope of aerodynamics. I'd like to ask others to volunteer some potential thread titles that capture my ideas of restoring the car, both mechanically and cosmetically, in addition to bringing it back up to peak sleek (or going farther).

First, some pictures:

https://i.imgur.com/vv05fe9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zBF3FKx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GCJAdFo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gG5MpD7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mAfFwVJ.jpg

Aerocivic departed South Carolina with me on a Saturday afternoon, and I drove it to its new home in Vermont through the rest of that day and on into Sunday evening. The car ran great. The engine and transmission feel young and healthy. The same can't be said for much else on the car, and it is my intention to love and restore this car. Perhaps one day my children will ride in the back of it to school, and get picked on by the other children for it. :D

On my way home, Aerocivic was missing its underbody paneling, and had mismatched tired with relatively low pressure (mid 30's) due to their extremely advanced age. Traveling 65-70mph and not practicing any hypermiling techniques, I was rewarded with 63-65mpg, taking into account the ~1.4% low the odometer reads.

I cannot stress just how much attention this car attracts.

My intentions with Aerocivic are, roughly:

1) Make it 100% mechanically sound again

2) Restore the interior

3) Repair or rebuild the exterior aeromods, taking some care to make the car... if not beautiful, at least polished


~

On my drive home, Aerocivic had some clear mechanical needs. While all of the added paneling and bodywork felt incredibly solid and sound, it was clear that many of the bushings and joints in the car were either broken, or beyond tired. I had told myself that, since I'm already restoring a 2nd Insight, Aerocivic would have to wait its turn, but immediately after arriving home I failed and started working on the car.

I was very reluctant to pull off the wheel covers, but it was necessary to get at the bones.

Some things I noticed, either on the drive or during my inspection:

-The front axles both have some play in them.
-The tie rod inner joints both have at least a quarter inch of play
-The upper and lower ball joints all have play
-The tires, while capable of delivering me home safely, are at the end of their life
-All of the bushings look like this:

https://i.imgur.com/fVhZ54C.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FF2fhJJ.jpg


The driver's seat has clearly seen some miles.

https://i.imgur.com/MTCIWaf.jpg


Otherwise, the carpet and interior, while a bit dirty and dusty, are remarkably intact. Nothing is loose or rattles. It's clearly a very well built car.

https://i.imgur.com/0uvfHgJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dvjtwDH.jpg


I don't expect the engine bay needs much of anything, besides maybe a tune-up.

After observing all of this, I immediately ordered well north of $1,000 in new parts. All of the control arms, links, and bushings, front and rear. New tires. Axles. Plugs, wires, a distributor cap. It will be getting Insight aluminum drums, new fuel economy instrumentation, lightweight alloy wheels, and probably a new radio + speakers.

Here's a closer look under the wheel covers, at the Civic's fantastic double wishbone and multilink suspension:

https://i.imgur.com/bRz3MIj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jeJk6kr.jpg

New tires mounted on some serviceable Civic HX wheels I had in my basement were good for 2.3lbs on each corner. Not as much as I was expecting! Also not the prettiest, but I don't suppose they'll be seen often.

I was fascinated by Basjoos' front cover setup. The wheel covers are attached with hinges, and held against the car with springs. When you turn the wheel, it rides up on conveyer belt rollers.

https://i.imgur.com/mJD8VH6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/iLT0u2u.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fdCmJ7x.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KK2VAhN.jpg


I can't promise I'll make quick progress, as I have another car I need to restore before a deadline, and I'm doing some major renovations on my house, and Aerocivic may be several weeks at least before I can even put a tag on it.

This is what I'm hoping for. Make it a better representative of what it is.

Youtube has been feeding me a lot of videos on mixing ratios for Rustoleum paint and acetone. $50 to do a car.

When it becomes time to upgrade the front skirts, I'd suggest replace the hinge with a four-bar linkage.

I'll definitely want to try a Rustoleum paint job.

Link to what you have in mind with the linkage?

I would suggest a simple title. Like 'Aerocivic pt. II' or 'Aerocivic, the revival' maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Nice job! Best wishes to the task!

How about:

• Aero Civic resurrection
• El Aéreo Cívico
• The Lean Green Mean Aero Civic Machine
• The Aero Civic Strikes Back
• The Return of the Aero Civic
• Back to the Aero Civic
• What I did to my Aero Civic today
• Aero Civic Surgery
• Aero Civic. More Aero, less Civic
• Civic unrest: The Aeromods
• A Civic's journey to aerohood
• How to train you Aero Civic.

IIRC the title can only be changed by the mods.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...2-11-13-05.png

Pic was added in 2014!

The top two bars are connected in torsion. This would keep the skirt from rocking from any play in the hinges. Instead of the bottom swinging out the whole thing lifts. You want the clearance at the center, not the bottom; and gravity would help close it.

The moderators seem pretty agreeable! :)

I look forward to seeing what you do with one of the most fuel-efficient cars on here! :)

Subscribed!

I know it's more of a pain to post attachments using vBulletin, but I for one am going to be sad N years from now when imgur goes out of business/crashes/is held ransom by Russian hackers/changes their offsite linking policy and all the pics disappear from this thread.

I can definitely attach them as well.

Woohoo! Thanks.

Let me know when you decide on a thread title. PM me if I don't respond to a post here - I don't see 'em all.

You can change it as long as you can edit the first post. I've changed the title of my civic's thread before.

Titles
 

Aerocivic: The Resurrection and new Journey

Looking forward to your posts.

I second this one:
Back to the future is the first thing that came to mind looking at the photos of it.

Either that or something to do with the Jetsons.

Ecky, I am glad you are willing to take this on and the Aerocivic didn't just go the the crusher. When you get it sorted and are able to take highway trips I hope you will continue to post some mpg numbers "with no hypermiling" as that would highlight the aerodynamics of the car over driver skill using EOC and other techniques.

Posted today:

https://www.motor1.com/news/507479/h...civic-100-mpg/

A "1992 Honda Civic with just a few modifications"
"Technology has really changed in the last 10 years, so maybe 150 or even 200 mpg is possible now."

"Technology has really changed in the last 10 years, so maybe 150 or even 200 mpg is possible now." ah yes the new 200% gasoline, 200% more energy per litre. If anything, worse mpg is expected now due to the higher ethanol content they put in fuel.

Just shows, you don't need to be knowledgeable to be a magazine writer. I will be following this thread ecky.

If in the process of restoration you can add pictures of a how it was done then that would be great.

Absolutely.

I was very much interested to see how Basjoos had done his adjustable front grille block. It's rather ingenious and deserves pictures.

I'm pretty sure the Insight front brakes bolt up too. But they are smaller.

That would be neat. I'll have to look into it.

The Civic front brakes clear 13" wheels while the Insight ones do not. I'll pull them all what apart and compare. Might just be than the Insight ones are aluminum and thicker.

So I checked and the size difference is 231mm vs 240mm - 3.9%. Brakes are one thing I'm generally very reluctant to downsize, but with such a small difference I'm considering it. The weight difference between the two cars is only around 200lbs, and Aerocivic is more rear biased. And, I'll never be towing with it, something I did (and do) extensively in my Insight.

Aerocivic seems to brake just fine, but I plan to pull the calipers off and service them anyway. Perhaps if the calipers are at all sticky I'll swap them.

Hi! Very cool to see the Aerocivic is still around. What part of Vermont are you in? I've always been curious whether it really lived up to the claimed MPG, so I look forward to hearing your analysis. I'm also curious how hard it will be to get through a VT inspection!

I don't think Vermont does inspections.

Edit: I see you're in Vermont as well. I didn't think they did. I registered my civic there without an inspection, but it's also 17 years older than the aerocivic.

I'm just north of Burlington, on the Georgia / Milton border, and work in the Burlington area. I'll definitely bring Aerocivic that way once I get plates on it, but the DMV is only doing things by appointment or mail right now, and appointments are backed up nearly 2 months.

As for inspections, they're actually quite strict here. I expect it'll pass once I replace all of the tired bushings, given there's no rust and no CEL.

I've had 13" wheels on my Insight. They just barely cleared the aluminum calipers. I can see some 13" wheels not fitting.

I doubt the slightly reduced braking power or lighter weight of the smaller brakes will noticeable, but it's the cool thing to do (which won't impress anyone either). Of course I have a pair of Insight calipers that will eventually go on the CRXFi. :cool:

Some parts arrived.

https://i.imgur.com/i0ErpKD.jpg

.

It should be mechanically sound after you install all those parts. :thumbup:

And maybe...

Just maybe...

A coat or two of that “Kilz Hide All” too... ;)


😈


>

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I’m saddened Vermont Bread Company went out of business a few weeks ago. Truly a loss, best organic white bread, buns and raisin English muffins, at a low cost.

Can’t wait to see Aerocivic’s restoration, hopefully it can get closer to 100 mpg! ;)

I love the sleek aero aesthetic. The shape reminds me of Arcee from G1 Transformers.

Looks like Aerocivic's trip to Vermont resulted in it taking the #1 spot for gasoline vehicles in the last 90 days, on the front page.

Just when I was starting to work my way onto the chart (I'm still #9 on % over EPA though :D).

You technically haven't qualified for the 70 mpg club in the aerocivic yet. I'm sure it's just a matter of time though. No picture of a sticker or hat for you ;)

I just need to get the tie rod ends replaced, then drive it a little slower than 70, and I'll have it. ;)

Somehow I'm #5 there at 63.625% despite sometimes exceeding 180 km/h, carrying stuff that sticks out of the roof and running tires with a fuel economy rating of F while the aerocivic sits at 69.7105%
Let's see if I can beat that...

I'm hoping when I get my manual trans installed I'll get a good boost. I'm shooting for 60+

Did you check the actual number and not %? We are only at 1 mpg (U.S.) difference. 39 vs 38 on the 90 day fill up. I drive very conservatively though. I'd like to think the auto trans is killing my FE, I should know by the end of summer.

Ecky : When can we get some good tuft testing video of the car ?
I've been looking forward to that for over a decade now.

That, and some video of the car making a complete turn so we can see the front skirts open up.

( Just have someone drive the car in a circle around you while you video it. )

Probably not until late summer at soonest. The skirts as they are will likely be replaced by then. Right now they make an incredible clatter - the conveyer belt rollers they ride on work very well, but the don't have bearings and could wake the dead. I might try something like roller blade wheels.

I can say, it's wild driving Aerocivic through a rainstorm. Only the windshield gets wet. As Basjoos said, everything goes up and over the car. My Insight is the same, except the for the turbulent area where the license plate / vertical back glass is. The hatch glass facing the sky remains dry in all but the heaviest downpours.

My partner is a huge fan of the car, and can probably arrange for her to record a video of highway travel.

The big holdup is my rushing to finish restoring my 2nd Insight, and my house. Both are nearing completion but still have some needs.

I've got a simmilar issue, my 5-speed close ratio transmission is killing my fuel efficiency.
At 100 km/h (62 mph) I'm reving about 3000 rpm.
Even in city driving, I often find myself in 5th gear.
If I make the car a little more aerodynamic, I might even hit the rev limiter in 5th gear :mad:

There was a video posted somewhere (like a news interview or something I seem to recall) that showed how they worked.