85 SE-i

[85SE-i]

Hello everybody, I am new to this forum but not new to the 2nd gen Accord. I have had four of these cars. An 84 white DX 5speed 4 door which is the car that got me through high school all those years ago. It was a pretty cool car. I wish I still had it. As far as mods, I had the K&N drop in filter with a custom air cleaner cover and a Cherry Bomb glasspack for exhaust. I also dumped the thing to the ground, about 3" or so. I bolted in some Prelude Si seats, all I had to do was swap brackets with my old seats. I converted it to look like an LX and even went as far as putting the LX emblem on it. I think I still have some pics of it so I will post them when I get a chance. The engine died in it, it was a bad oil pump and it knocked like a sumbitch. I was going to do an A20 swap but the engine I got was junk so I just dropped in the ES2 out of my 85 parts car. Second I had a dark blue 85 LX 5speed 4 door. It was a good car. Very reliable but always ran like crap. I think the head was screwed up. The previous owner tried to rebuild it and didn't set the aux valves in there properly. On that car I put in a short shifter out of an Integra, had to do some grinding to make it fit. I also installed the rear sway bar from an 85 SE-i. It bolts right in if you use SE-i control arms. I also had a Le Bra front end cover. That car was still on the road until recently when the kid I sold it to rear ended somebody. He offered it back to me for free but I didn't go for it (stupid me). This leads me to my newest acquisition..... an 85 SE-i. Yes an SE-i! I got it for free from my neighbor who was the original owner, they were moving and didn't want to take it with them. The only thing that sucks is that it is an automatic. But oh well, it's an SE-i!!! I have been trying to get this car from them for about the last seven years or so. When I got it, it had a busted to pieces driver side cv joint and it wouldn't start. The fuel cut relay was missing for some reason so I got a new one at work (I love working at a Honda dealer). I put it in along with the new axle but still no start. I think the fuel pump might be bad, I can hear the main relay click on but no fuel at the filter or at the fuel rail. So I am still working on that. The car is cool, it has power everything, windows, locks, mirrors, power moonroof, full center console with a equalizer built in, factory fog lights, alloy wheels and LEATHER. The seats are trashed because they never took care of them, and it needs a headliner and sunvisors so I need to take a trip to the good ol pick n pull. The body is in awesome shape, it only has one small dime sized ding in one of the doors and even the paint is still pretty good. I can't wait to get this car on the road again as it hasn't seen the road since about 2001 or at least that is when the registration expired. When and if this engine dies i will probably do an A20 swap but I think I will keep the auto trans as this will be my commuter car. I also want to find a set of lowering springs. Has anybody used the B&G springs, or are they even still available? I also heard that ground control made a coilover set for this car way back in the day but I have never actually seen a set.

[Pico]

:welcome: to the forum
Got any pics yet?

[85SE-i]

:welcome: to the forum
Got any pics yet?
none yet, but soon very soon

[MessyHonda]

wow like the 4th 85 se-i i ever heard of. they are rare lil cars.

[Placebo]

Don't know about the B+Gs springs, but I think there's a thread about that somewhere. Wow that was a quite an introduction! Welcome man. Can't wait to see what it looks like and what you do with it.

[Blkblurr]

Welcome. the 85 SE-i is a cool car.

[2oodoor]

:welcome: I love hearing those kind of car find stories. Sounds like you will be around. enjoy browsing the site, it seems infinite

[offthahook]

Fast little whip, too. The FI really did give that car some extra ponies over the carb. I've seen a few and they are hella nice, especially for a 1985 model. I want to see the fogs and center console myself; super rare goodies there.

[frantik]

:welcome:

[Ichiban]

Can't wait to see pictures of that ES3 engine, and the rest of the car, too.

[2ndGenGuy]

Awesome man! :welcome:

Coilovers would rock... But I've never seen them myself. How did you dump your first one 3 inches? Did you cut the springs?

Also, the ES3... Is that a CVCC motor? :)

[Boltgunner]

Hey, could I make a suggestion?

There are plenty of times where getting parts help from my local Honda dealer is not up to snuff.

May we drop you a PM to check on availability of a particular item now and then?

[85SE-i]

Awesome man! :welcome:

Coilovers would rock... But I've never seen them myself. How did you dump your first one 3 inches? Did you cut the springs?

Also, the ES3... Is that a CVCC motor? :)

Hey everybody thanks for the warm welcome! I wanted to buy the coilovers for my 84 Accord after I saw them online. I even called up Ground Control directly but they told me that they were discontinued due to the age of the car and lack of demand for the item. This was all back about 10 years ago. So anyway being a stupid kid of only about 16 years I cut the crap out of the springs. It bounced quite a bit looked pretty cool. I could brag about how my car was so low it could tuck 13" wheels. The ES3 engine is not CVCC. It is almost identical to the EFI A20 engines only using the smaller bore of the ES2.

[xvok]

hey hey welcome

[85SE-i]

Hey, could I make a suggestion?
There are plenty of times where getting parts help from my local Honda dealer is not up to snuff.
May we drop you a PM to check on availability of a particular item now and then?

That should be ok. I don't work in the parts department so when you send me a parts request it may take me some time to get back to you. Most vital parts are still available like timing belts, water pumps, spark plugs, brake pads, etc. The more uncommon stuff is hit or miss. There is also a good place to look up parts online using the actual Honda catalog and you can find that here: www.hondaautomotiveparts.com This is where I work: www.auburnhonda.com If you are having trouble locating an item for your car, Stephanie our parts manager is awesome with the older cars. Did you all know that back in the 80s Honda sold Mugen parts through their dealerships? They mostly sold stuff for the Civic and Prelude but they had a few Accord items as well. I found an old Mugen catalog at work and it was pretty cool. Unfortunately none of the items are available anymore.

[LX-incredible]

That should be ok. I don't work in the parts department so when you send me a parts request it may take me some time to get back to you. Most vital parts are still available like timing belts, water pumps, spark plugs, brake pads, etc. The more uncommon stuff is hit or miss. There is also a good place to look up parts online using the actual Honda catalog and you can find that here: www.hondaautomotiveparts.com This is where I work: www.auburnhonda.com If you are having trouble locating an item for your car, Stephanie our parts manager is awesome with the older cars. Did you all know that back in the 80s Honda sold Mugen parts through their dealerships? They mostly sold stuff for the Civic and Prelude but they had a few Accord items as well. I found an old Mugen catalog at work and it was pretty cool. Unfortunately none of the items are available anymore.
I need a few trim pieces and some other parts that I can't seem to get with Herson or Majestic. Would I stand a better chance going through your parts manager?

[offthahook]

I need a few trim pieces and some other parts that I can't seem to get with Herson or Majestic. Would I stand a better chance going through your parts manager?

Man I have bad news. Honda has discontinued almost EVERYTHING that is nonessential to an engine barely running. MOF, they have discontinued some parts that are essential to the car. I have even run into this crap on my 92 Accord. Honda is HORRIBLE with their product support on the older stuff; they have so many things on backorder that will never get to a customer. It is really pathetic the way Honda absolutely will not produce anything for their older cars anymore. Dealers don't stock too many parts for cars older than about 5 years old. There is a division called Vintage Parts that Honda uses for the older stuff, but it's pretty much limited to what NOS is out there. I would say the 2 dealers you checked can't get a part because it no longer exists and Honda is not making any old stuff. It sucks man. It's happened to me several times. Welcome to the club! :thumbdn:

[2ndGenGuy]

Man I have bad news. Honda has discontinued almost EVERYTHING that is nonessential to an engine barely running. MOF, they have discontinued some parts that are essential to the car. I have even run into this crap on my 92 Accord. Honda is HORRIBLE with their product support on the older stuff; they have so many things on backorder that will never get to a customer. It is really pathetic the way Honda absolutely will not produce anything for their older cars anymore. Dealers don't stock too many parts for cars older than about 5 years old. There is a division called Vintage Parts that Honda uses for the older stuff, but it's pretty much limited to what NOS is out there. I would say the 2 dealers you checked can't get a part because it no longer exists and Honda is not making any old stuff. It sucks man. It's happened to me several times. Welcome to the club! :thumbdn:

+1

I bought 3 brand new door moldings for my car about 5 years ago. The 4th one was fine. But now the 4th one is looking old, and they don't sell the parts anymore. So I have one, faded out molding, while the rest look brand new... lame.

[LX-incredible]

That's what I figured. It sucks, everything here is so sun-rotted that you can't find a spare. What really blows is when you order a set of mouldings and are missing a piece or two, almost looks better with the old shit on there. What I really need is that plastic cowl that goes under the windshield. It is so damn warped that the screw-rivet holes don't line up. The leaves keep getting past it and in the AC.