lofreq's lowly accord

[lofreq]

hello again. thought id start a thread on my new project.

EDIT: discussion thread here: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30533

the chaser (other project) is too new and everything is all technical and electric and nothing smells of petrol, its too weird for me, so i needed an old car again. i didnt want another RWD sedan and i didnt want to repeat an old build, so i thought id do something different

ive always wanted to go back to the honda motor co, but also wanted that old sedan look as well. my dream choice would have been an original 1st gen accord, and when this one came up i couldnt believe the condition of it - 93,000kms original by one owner in chch, and then it went to a collector in wellington who just stored it for ages before having to let it go.

1980 honda accord EL1, 1600cc 5spd manual - body is great, hardly any rust. Sticker on back window from the Chch dealership it originated from only has 5 digits in the advertised phone number.

everything works, from the 4 door/boot/tail lights indicators on the dash to the "oil change/tire rotation" service lights to the mechanical clock. to the AM radio with center channel speaker, with optional STEREO cassette player that was added later (havent tested it, dont have any cassettes anymore)

flew down to wgtn to pick it up, and drove it back up to aucks. ran like a dream - its actually quite fast! was able to overtake cars on the way back, 900kg chassis maybe 70hp motor?

my original plan was to pull the motor and swap in a K series, since this motor is reverse layout from factory (exhaust by firewall, same as Kseries) but its just so clean and mint i cant justify destroying it. or ruining all the dash cluster due to switching to injection and all the gauge differences etc.

contacted Weber Specialties, who told me they still have access to the moulds to make a manifold for this motor, to accept twin DCOE40's - but was quoted $3000 for manifold, new carbs and tune. would look something akin to this:

so current repower options are tossing up between the DCOE on stock motor route, OR a B20b block (honda CRV twincam motor) but bin all electronics and run carbs. not gonna go EFI i think.

thats a photo with my brothers CL9 accord euro. grand dad meets teenager so to speak. well, with like 6 generations in between...

but really its lovely to drive as it is, so smooth and torquey, all it needs is an exhaust for some sound and some breathing mods maybe for now. so, will focus on height and shoes for now.

[lofreq]

so imho the correct sequence is always suspension first then wheels then everything else.

so the suspension was addressed - im stoked with the results

compressed springs, stock shocks for now as they were amazingly still in great nick. wil get better dampers later. still heaps of travel because the top hats are that "bell" design where the shock continues up into the bell, so it has heaps of travel when it looks like it has none. had to cut the bumps down a bit, 30mm down in rear 55mm down in front.

was thinking of going for custom coilovers from an EF or something, modded to fit, but budget does not allow for now. so, springs will do for now.

as for wheels, nothing will fit this thing because it was one of the few early models that ran the bizzare 4x120 stud pattern. nothing came out in that pattern other than the other early civics, or RX5's or something. the only factory 4x120 wheel options were some real rare Enkeis, or Panasports, too hard to come by, only 13" max, and like 5.5" width, weak as shit offset etc, so why bother.

one option is to swap front hubs to 2nd gen civic hubs, EF brakes and calipers, and 2nd gen civic rear drums, to 4x100 pattern.

so thinking i would do this, i went ahead and bought a bunch of suspension components from a dude wrecking a 2nd gen civic... and bought these "rostyle" 13x7 widened steels

but of course what should come up for sale this morning after i had bought and paid for all the 4x100 parts?

14x6.5 +4p / 14x7 -2p genuine Work Equip 02 Competition's. damn. basically the exact wheel i copied in steel for my old gx71 project. its like a sign...

4x114.3 of course, so now i might flag the whole hub swap and simply have the stock hubs cross drilled to 4x114.3 as they come out pretty easily. so this is all happening perhaps this week or next, depending on wheels arrival from wgtn, and engineer availability.

if the equips fit on, then the 13x7s will be up for sale. so ill keep you posted on the progress over summer...

[lofreq]

took this thing and the chaser to the NZPC hardpark parkup thing at Hootons Reserve Albany on Saturday. response was huge, pretty easy going crowd and very few morons, i was very impressed.

accord got snapped here

i took one here

but totally forgot to get more detailed photos. there were like 400+ cars that turned up so it was pretty hectic.

NZPC's photos here:

http://www.performancecar.co.nz/news-59 ... ll-gallery

i wrote a little blog thing for Grant (GT Refinishers) here, as he was too busy to attend:

http://gtrefinishers.wordpress.com/2011 ... -n-lofreq/

ran out of time to get the equips onto the accord, before the event. however my mechanic guy is hopefully free this week to bring it in, swap out the hubs and rebuild the brakes - at the same time Steel Surgeon has agreed to redrill my hubs to 4x114.3... then send it back for reassembly. once done i can test fit the equips and see if they will work. fingers crossed...

[lofreq]

updates before xmas.

redrillage has occurred. Carlos (steel surgeon) is a majestro. ovaled out and redrilled front hub studs, repressed them back into the hub carriers - rear drums machined and redrilled. bam.

185/55/14s chucked onto the equips. test fit on hoist. problems now clear:

so i have about 1" problem all round. this is the 7"s on the back, 6.5"s on front

rear situation:

went to see Grant at GT Refinishers about this... he reckons we might be able to get 25mm on the rear from a flare/pull. if i swap the 6.5 to the rear and use a smaller tire, it might work.

front situation:

front is a bit more doable, the whole fender is empty steel underneath, so it will pull heaps. hence the possiblity of 7" on front. VISUALLY they look almost the same, but we will see when its on if it works or not.

155/55/14 would be ideal but waiting for some to arrive would obviously push the date out quite a bit, and im trying to get this in with the CJC vintage collection for the nationals end of jan. i found some 155/65/14s in auckland and im gona bite the bullet and try em and hope they arent too tall to not work also. i know they fit as i have already test fit them to the 7s.

so shes currently on some borrowed typeR wheels for now to get her mobile while i sort this shit out.

i leave on holiday soon and wont be around so plan is to leave the car at Grants to get the work done early Jan, then come back and finish detailing it before the show. if grant cant get it to work however, then ill miss the deadline i guess. or have to put it in the show and then swap wheels over and pretend it worked. lol. anyway, we'll see. im trying my hardest to make this shit happen.

[lofreq]

so heres 2012! whats been happening?

well i was away on holiday till about 20th Jan, and the car was due at 4&R on 27th for setup day, so not much time at all to sort shit.

Grant @ GT Refinishers did an amazing job on the rear flares, and paint - even had to mix in a bunch of crappy old thinners to dull down the paint so it matched the aged original finish. to the eye i dont think you can tell.

but the 7"s were still too wide - however thanks to 4AG_Addict here, he had a pair of exactly the same 14x6.5 +4 Equip Competitions that i needed. soon they were on their way up to aucks for me to swap tires onto and trial fit.

here they are swapped round, with the tires now replaced with 155/65/14s lol. overall result - IT WORKED - only slight scrapes on the rear left on full bump, no scrapes on front. stoked.

a ton more work in cleaning/polishing the wheels, and detailing the car for the show ensued. so finally, show day:

i couldnt be prouder of how she looked. spent hours on set up day tech-waxing the stock paint, and autosol'ing all the chrome, also had to work on the Chaser which was also entered on the CJC stand, exhausted but happy with how it turned out.

now for a much needed break! next on the agenda, some kind of custom coilover setup, its time for the stock shocks and springs to go. also, potential front brake upgrade. but for now, its summer, time to cruise this thing and enjoy

[lofreq]

where am i??? ;p