I bought this car on craigslist almost 2 years ago for $200.00 delivered to my house. It had been sitting in a garage for over 15 years and someone who knew very little about cars had made it a mechanical mess. I will try to keep this thread flowing in some kind of direction....but if anyone has questions or opinions along the way please throw them in! Hopefully this will inspire others to go "oldskool JDM".
The day she came home:

 

 

Note the tag:

 

 

After fitting a new carb. and getting it running (new timing belt, spark plugs, cap, rotor, wires fuel filter, fuel pump relay) I moved on to the brakes . For the time being I just restored them to operational! While I had the tires of the wheels off I couldn't resist adding a little bling. I sandblasted and repainted the wheels and bought two beauty rings to replace the ones that were missing.

 

After everything I had a pretty decent driving vehicle, except after it was warm it would be really tough to restart. I think that a large part of it had to do with the vacuum box that went to the carburetor. What a MESS! So I decided that I would fuel inject it with megasquirt. The only thing was that the engine bay was a very oily mess and I wanted to do a color change on the body so I pulled the drivetrain for a makeover.
After a bath:

 

After a rebuild:

 

Engine bay after a respray: (color is Mazda Miata Green)

 

Engine back in bay after cleanup: (notice no FI, just a Weber)

 

Great work so far, i love 1st gens, goodluck with all the other work ahead
of you.

 

If it sat for 15 years, you're gonna want to drop that gas tank for inspection. Especially if you're gonna be moving all that fuel for injection, you'll clog up the pump and filter really quick

 

Before I started it the first time I pumped all the gas out of the system without a filter. I then filled it with fresh fuel and some stabil. I drove about three tanks of fuel through it and then replaced the filters again. Until next winter it will be rolling with a Weber.

 

wow really liking the work so far! how much sand did you need to do the wheels and what grit did you go with?

 

be sure to keep us updated! cant wait to see how this turns out.

 

awesome build. I love me some old school builds.

 

Would love to see an h22a swap in that, that thing would haullllllll asssss

 

I have one of those cabinet blasters from harbor freight. I use the real fine media that they sell . It takes a while longer but keeps the surface smoother than regular sand. Unfortunately an H22 is too large physical for the engine bay, and this is actually a car I am building for my girlfriend.....but later on ...


I already have an exhaust manifold that I made that is 75% complete , I will post pics when I can.

 

bump for old school!

 

'84 Accord breaks... upgrades to vented rotors, and bigger front pads, you will have to get the calipers with the relocation attachment.

Part RAYBESTOS Part # FRC3612 (right) and RAYBESTOS Part # FRC3611 (left) on rockauto

I used EBC rotors and GreenStuff pads when I did mine:



After some use:



was an unbelievable difference in stopping power from the solid disks to the vented, and they are bigger diameter which means more friction surface.

here is stock:

 

That is actually my next step. I just ordered some new KYB struts for the front and some new wheel seals. I probably won't go all drilled and slotted, but definently want to do the upgrade.

 

It was as straight forward as doing a new rotor pad install with the added part of having to bleed the brakes, it all just bolts right up.

Keep up the good work, I know I miss my '81, but it is in good hands.

 

Wow, keep up the good work man! Looks like 2 of us going at it with our old school ludes. Loving the engine bay and engine work!

 

cool man

 

looks sick

 

I started work on the trunk today. I had already ran a new power cable for the battery and purchased a pre-made box. It is an 8" Kicker Solobaric that is going to be powered by a Chrysler 300 factory amp that I picked up from Partsexpress for $20.00. It is designed to turn on and off with the headunit. It is a 100w 1ohm amp. The sub is dual voice coil 2ohm, so I can bridge it down to 1 ohm. The box is ported on the side and I like the thick bedliner-like coating on the outside. Here's what I started with: