Considering Buying an '83 Hatchback

What am I getting into?

I'm pretty savvy with automotive mechanicals having gone to school for it for four years and worked on my daily driven '73 Datsun Z for the last 11. I'm not very capable with regard to body work or welding/fabricating.

I haven't seen these middle-aged Hondas in person very often, but having found one on Craigslist recently I'm drawn to it and want to have a closer look. I'm a fan of older Japanese cars and wanted to find something I could appreciate before everyone else does and the Manga starts coming out and it becomes the next coveted drift car and the price shoots through the roof. I perused the first 6 pages of this forum all the way back to posts initiated in 2010 and, with that being said, hoped I could start this thread without being flamed for not exhausting the search function.

I understand there is a difference from 2nd generation vehicles to 2.5 generation examples. I'm also aware that the '82 and '83 are 2nd gens and not 2.5 gens. From this I recognize there aren't many options for upgrades and engine swaps. And that's okay. My Z does horribly in the snow, and I haven't had much opportunity to do the long term repairs/restomods because it has been my daily for the last 11 years. So I'm looking for a daily driver and snow capable alternative in this Accord if I end up getting it. I'm not looking to restomod it as much as return it to a stock, driveable, and reliable condition. I've also loved the compound vortex controlled combustion engines since I first read about them back in school over 8 years ago. And carbs aren't scary; all those vacuum hoses kinda are though.

I want to know what the trouble spots are for these vehicles so I know what to look at very closely when I go to see it:
Where do they rust?
What is too much rust?
What are the hard parts to find that I wouldn't want to see broken?
How bad can a rough idle be?
What should the compression be?
In addition to checking compression I was planning to look for symptoms of leaky valve seals and blue smoke in general.
Any manuals available online for the '82/'83 so I can look into trouble shooting the rough idle as well as deciphering the VIN?
Anything else?

Thank you very much. Wish me luck. And I love the resources in this forum.

I have a 83 honda accord lx hatch. The engine is a ek1 its not cvcc, though it is quite scary with all the vacuum hoses. But if you put a weber 32/36, it eliminates a lot of those hoses. The biggest thing with these cars is finding parts and mods. I have had trouble finding the parts for my car and still cant find some parts i need. So if you plan on buying a 83 or any older honda make sure you buy it complete with all the parts and the less body damage the better. Also, you can swap a b20 or b16 into a 83. Gives it that power if your lookin for it. There is a extension to the 2nd gen tap that says conversion and mods. If you click on that it will tell you the conversions and mods you are able to do. But if you want to get creative and do some custom fabrication, the guys on here love that stuff. Good luck.

For my money, '83 is the perfect year for that body style. It got the 4-speed lockup auto trans instead of the 3 speed non-locking unit in the '82s. The 3-speed ran at a ridiculous 4,000 rpm at 70 MPH. I ran my '82 down the freeway one time, then went and swapped in a 4-speed. It greatly improved MPG and engine life. The facelift in '84 left me cold, so '83 is the perfect year, IMHO. The Keihin carb is notoriously difficult to fix, though I did manage to slay that beast on the second try (the first one got pitched in the trash). However, the sight glasses on the side of the '83 carbs make adjusting float levels much easier, which was the hardest part about rebuilding them. My '82 was giant heaps of fun and I missed it for a solid decade after selling it.

If you buy it, be sure to give us lots of pics.

Thanks for the responses.

It has a standard transmission, and I was hoping to keep it stock and daily driven. Or at least well alternated with the Z. It would be used whenever it snows too. It seems I can source a lot of important parts (brakes, engine management, induction) from Autozone. What parts are you referring to when you say they are difficult to find, PnwTougue83?

You also live where it snows. How does it do then?

Any readily available service manuals (electronic copies) on this site?

I would be thinking most body & trim parts would not be easy to find with few wreckers bothering to keep them long & with most having already gone from the roads fewer will be going to wreckers. Not enough survivors or $ for new reproduction parts, so just old stock.
Service items shouldn't be too bad.
EK1 was still CVCC, just 'de-tuned' from the original concept due to the heat problems & other emissions problems it could cause so Cat-converter was added & engine tuned for a little more power/ better breathing.

I see. Thanks, 79cord.

And I thought I had read that it was a CVCC somewhere. I remembered I saw it on Wikipedia and checked it about an hour ago. I'm glad you've confirmed it for me too.

Still looking for the manual... Seems I might have to buy one. Funny thing is I think I owned one a while back that I sold on eBay for pennies...

:welcome: The good news is you should be able to pick up another manual for pennies as well. I think I paid $10 + shipping?

That thing will be your holy grail to diagnosing the carb. That and a vacuum gauge. Don't let them intimidate you, as long as you are thorough, and take your time, I think you can diagnose any of those parts fairly easily. You pretty much just need to check if there is movement of a part, or if there is vacuum under certain conditions.

Thank you 2ndGenGuy. I'm looking forward to seeing this car soon. There seem to be many great examples of it on autotrader too.

How does it do in the snow?

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Originally Posted by 79cord

I would be thinking most body & trim parts would not be easy to find with few wreckers bothering to keep them long & with most having already gone from the roads fewer will be going to wreckers. Not enough survivors or $ for new reproduction parts, so just old stock.

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FWIW my car got hit in a parking lot necessitating replacement of the front bumper, header panel, quarterpanel, headlight bucket and one or two other things. My guy was able to find all of that stuff used or new, other than the corner light which I found a few weeks later. However certain things seem pretty much impossible to find. My car is missing the lower rear window trim, and the original owner was never able to find a replacement nor was I.

Rock Auto stocks most everything mechanical, although again there are a few things I have not been able to find (side engine mounts).

Weber conversion is probably the best thing you can do for driveability. These are very simple cars, easy to work on, not much to go wrong especially once you eliminate the original carb and the rat's nest of vac hoses. Though, this will leave you unable to pass a visual emissions check if your area requires it and the car is not old enough to be exempt, but I have been able to get by in NC thanks to understanding mechanics who are willing to turn a blind eye.

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Originally Posted by DoctorMuffn

It seems I can source a lot of important parts (brakes, engine management, induction) from Autozone. ?

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Just my opinion (and you know what they say about those) but you might find a better source than Autozone. Man, my 89 hates anything but Napa (limited) and Beck Arnley. Otherwise, it's Honda factory parts which seem to be gold-plated. Again, this is just my experience. Your car might be ok with it. Guess my car is an uppity snob.

Did you buy it? Pics, videos. We need things to look at whilst on the porcelain throne.


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Hahahaha! Autozone offers lifetime warranties on most things (brake pads too - use 'em up and get a free replacement when you bring in the backing plates).
And thanks, huntz0r. That's good to know that some of it is still available.
Pictures will come if/when I buy it or another. I'm really wanting a sedan, but this one is a hatchback.

Anyone have the specs on compression?
I want to know what they should be when I see it.

Anyone see this? Anyone live in Colorado?
Cars for Sale: 1985 Honda Accord LX in Montrose, CO 81401: Sedan Details - 395435371 - Autotrader

I think I saw that. Every time I find a near perfect specimen for a decent price, it's a million miles away. [emoji19]


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I could really use those compression figures - nominal, lowest acceptable, highest acceptable variance - if anyone could look any of this information up in their TSMs. I'd really appreciate it. I want to know if I'd be looking into a necessary rebuild or not. A picture of the page from the TSM would be the greatest help.

I haven't been able to find this information anywhere online.

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Originally Posted by ryan427

I think I saw that. Every time I find a near perfect specimen for a decent price, it's a million miles away. [emoji19]

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Well... mine is only 400 miles away

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Originally Posted by DoctorMuffn

I could really use those compression figures - nominal, lowest acceptable, highest acceptable variance

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Sorry I meant to look this up for you earlier and kept forgetting to do it when I got home.

300 rpm and wide open throttle
Nominal: 1274 kPa (13.0 kg/cm^2, 184 psi)
Minimum: 1078 kPa (11.0 kg/cm^2, 156 psi)
Max variation: 196 kPa (2 kg/cm^2, 28 psi)

Caveat: This is from my '85 manual, so technically applicable to the ES2/ES3. I cannot say for sure if they are the right numbers for an EK1 ('82-83).

Thank you so much, huntz0r. This is helpful, but I worry that the ES2/ES3 not being CVCC will definitely have different figures than the EK1.
But this is incredibly helpful. I really appreciate your time.

The car I saw is putting out 140, 140, 145, and 135. Again, not sure how relevant all of this is.