WierdAznDude

Alright so I always wanted to rock something old schoolish. I know i know... dumb project Just thought it would be a fun project and something to do for the winter. Its a 1983 Honda Accord LX Coupe automatic, only has 135,xxx original miles on it. Drives great except it overheats..... figured out it was a head gasket (fun fix), starts up quick, shifts perfect. Everything works on it including interior lights, radio, etc. Anyways, I picked it up off of craigslist for $200. Plan is to completely restore everything myself with some nice interior and exterior upgrades (drop and some nice old school reeeemz). Pull the motor out and degrease everything. Do a COMPLETE tune-up while the engine is out. Also, wire some wire tuckin action. So this is my project for the winter.

Sorry i didnt take any good pics of it so i stole some off of the craigslist ad


Didnt take any pics of the inside BUT the interior is actually pretty nice. Here are some pics of the interior with seats out. Did a thorough vacuum.


After vacuum


Ok so i got a bunch of parts ordered. Apparently no one has 1983 parts in stock :D Decided to do a side project and start working on the interior. Pulled out the ol sewing machine.
Went to the fabric store and bought some vinyl and faux suede.

Tools

Heres some before of the seats.


All i got done was the front driver side seat. Updates on the rest to come.
Back rest:

Bottom:

All together:


Finally got some stuff in

Also got some cleaners

Day 1 of the motor work.
Draining some fluids:

The chocolate milk oil thats in it:

Took out the radiator.



Took out the ac compressor, disconnected all the lines, getting ready to pull the motor out.

Starting to pull the motor. Thats Kevin (racingcrx/crx08) helping me with the engine pull.

The beastly 1.8L EK1

Putting it on the engine stand:


So this is what I did today. Doing some engine cleaning and starting on the wire tuckin.

Putting the labels in all the wires.


Heres all the wires pulled aside. Starting to look like progress.



Here it is after some degreasing:



Ok more updates daily.

2ndGenGuy

Awesome! Keep the updates coming! I love seeing the 2g Accord love! You really need to come over to 3geez and share your car, some people will love to see it.

If you dig the clean engine bay look, you really are going to want to get a Weber carb for that motor. It's simple to work on, and it's like a "vacuum tuck." You'll be blown away at how clean your engine bay will really look then! The other cool thing is you'll be able to remove a bunch of wiring, as a lot of the engine loom is for emissions controls and carburetor.

Parts are really hard to find for the old Accords these days. But that just makes keeping them running that much more of an accomplishment. Good luck with the car, if you need any help, I've built 2 EK1 motors. One for my 81 Accord, and I helped a friend build an EL/EK hybrid for his 83 Accord.

Here's a preview of the EK1 with a Weber onboard:



Ignore my nasty wiring mess, I'm half way done installing a distributorless, crank-fired ignition system on mine.

Oh did I mention, stop by 3geez? :D

2ndGenGuy

Also, if you're looking for some suspension upgrades, a full set of Koni Reds can be purchased from Classic Garage for about $140.

http://www.classicgarage.com/accord1.html

WierdAznDude

^^ wow thanks for the help guys and offer for help! Im thinking next on the list to buy is a Weber carb and Koni reds

1grex

NOT a dumb project! We love restos!

racingcrx

HA HA! I see me here too! that's me (crx08). bump!

WierdAznDude

Heres what i did today so far.... nothing... BUT i did photoshop a pic of myself working on the car.

2ndGenGuy

Haha! Sweet pic!

WierdAznDude

Didnt get much done today. Just trying to get the wire tuckin job finished.


Heres how the day started for me. Doing some more labeling and extending wire.

After labeling and cutting. I got the good ol soldering iron out. Gonna secure all the wires by soldering it, then electrical tape, then just for ***** and giggles gonna shrink tube it. Tools and materials

Heres the before of everything.

Heres some pics of the soldering

After that some electrical tape action:

Then some shrink tubing action:


Alright so after all that ****. Got everything ready to be shrink tubed. Turns out nothing I buy from harbor freight last more than a month. Damn heat gun wont work. Took it apart and checked all the wire.... everything seems to be alright but it just doesnt turn on. ANyways long story short... thats where I haad to stop today. Heres a pic of the culprit.


More tomorrow!!

JVDE

cool project! :D good luck with it!! love to see this :D

but your solderings can be better.
look @ this http://jaguar.professional.org/electrics/splicing.php

I also think your shrink tube is to large for that small wire.

shrink tube mostely shrinks 1/2 example. example: 10mm shrink tube becomes 5mm.

WierdAznDude

Wow yea my soldering sucks. Yea i figured the tube was too big. I picked up some smaller tubing. Thanks for the link too. Any help and criticism is appreciated!!

Dumped Ek

looks good dude props

gsrauto98

man you're everywhere with this build lol, but anyways good luck with all of it. If you need some help with something just give me a shout

WierdAznDude

haha yea i know. Just the 2 local sites and this one. The local site just to give people an idea of a fun project that doesnt take thousands of dollars to look good, and on honda-tech cause people here know everything! You can get alot of good responses and good critcism here (for the most part )

WierdAznDude

Didnt do to much today. Just degreased and cleaned one whole side of the engine. Thought it would be easy but it was in a tough layer of what seemed to be black tar.

Pics of the before:



Heres the after:



And heres all the dirty paper towels, gloves, and wire brushes:

chuck d

hi, If you need some parts I have a few. I am about to post them on "thisOldHonda.org" next week sometime when I get them out and take pictures...
chqd@hotmail

WierdAznDude

Getting the engine bay ready for some paint and then to put the motor back in. First i have to fill in some nasty holes. Obviously left some holes open that were necesary. So far i worked on the passanger side. Then moving my way around.

Here what she looks like:


Got some bondo..



Started filling in the holes with the bondo. Looks rough.



Sanding some of it down.




After a bunch of sanding down the whole passanger side of the engine bay I primered it. There was a lot of inbetween stuff i didnt take pix of. Sanded it down to the bare metal. Heres the first coat of primer. Cant even see the holes Should be a nice clean look.



Doing the rest of the bay this weekend

2ndGenGuy

Damn! You're really giving that engine bay the treatment! I love it, never seen it done on an old Accord before! Nice work!

WierdAznDude

Sorry havent posted much lately. So I got the whole engine bay painted. Looks alittle dirty. Putting all the hoses and such back in got some dirt on the new paint. Anyways heres the new paint. After putting the motor back in ill be painting the rest of the car

Took some close ups to see the paint quality. New paint is Infiniti G35 Lakeshore slate blue

Heres a before for refrence:


AFTER:
Inside engine bay

Front end

CountDracura

Solid dude! Keep up the good work!

AccordSeduction

good job man

racingcrx

bump for making progress tomorrow night!

Aaron0526

looks great man

92DSeries

any updates? i check this thread every day with my morning coffee!

WierdAznDude

haha sorry man. Ive slacked on the updating. Ill post more progress as soon as im free early next week.