New-bro 1985 Accord sei

[Krynvel]

Hey guys, been lurking here for a couple weeks and thought I'd post and introduce myself. I just bought a 1985 accord sei with 147k miles on the clock as a daily driver for $500. Previous owner stated that it didn't pass smog, I went ahead and changed the cats and did a tune-up and passed CA-emissions with flying colors. It had some old gold no name basket weaves with sketchy tires, so I replaced those with TRD Toscos and fresh rubber. The front brakes were shot and when I looked at the rotors they were not salvageable. New Hawk HPS pads and Brembos rotors went on. Removed the 12v cigarette lighter and installed a 4amp 2x usb port charger. Removed the 4x6 sealed beams and put in H4 housing with led bulbs. New timing belt, water pump, alternator, and battery. Overall impressions of this car are positive, it met my expectations of a 35-year old car. I'm going to be keeping this car for a while. Hopefully it'll be around when I get my hands on a wrecked Tesla model S.

5-year plan: front end rebuild, oil changes, rebuild turn signals/tail lights with custom leds and light diffusers (not the crappy led bulbs that you plug in), and reupholster interior.

20-year plan: EV conversion with Tesla motor and custom 18650 battery pack.

So sourcing struts/shocks for this car is a bit of a challenge, are the struts rebuildable?
So the needle on my speedo is bouncing and I diagnosed it to the speedo cable, how can I get the gauge cluster out of the dash after the bezel is removed? Can I use some elbow grease and force it out without breaking anything?

(low quality) Pics!







edit: updated post with mileage

edit2: added more info and questions

edit 3: more pictures and questions

[2ndGenGuy]

Always been jealous of the SEi! Glad to see you giving her some love.

The struts... not really rebuildable as far as I know. At least it's not a typical job that I've seen someone do. I've got Konis in my 2g, but they aren't easy to come by anymore. You could probably find some inserts of the same size, or close, from another car. Lots of MacStrut cars use the same setup.

That gauge cluster... Man it gives me nightmares. You have to pull the steering wheel, obviously, but you also need to drop the steering column to give it room to pivot inside the dash. Then you will bend the new speedo cable putting it back in because there's no room, or crush your hands trying to attach it while the cluster is still in there. And you'll probably break off the maintenance indicator reset buttons. I wish I had some advice for you, just be careful and take your time. It's fucking difficult, and I wish you the best of luck. Paint your needles and fix those bulbs now, because you will never want to do it again.

[Dr_Snooz]

Well if those are the new H4 housings, I think they're a good choice. I'm not really a fan of the super modern H4s in an old car. Looks anachronistic to me.

Welcome!

[Dr_Snooz]

20-year plan: EV conversion with Tesla motor and custom 18650 battery pack.

Don't tell any of the gearheads here that I said this, but I think we are one or two technology advances away from the absolute end of the internal combustion engine. I expect we'll see a big advance in battery technology or a free energy device in the next 5 years that, when it happens, no one will ever put an internal combustion engine in anything ever again.

Think about all the stuff we have to do to swap a gas engine: gauging fitment, matching bellhousing patterns, plumbing then tuning a fuel delivery system, tuning an ignition system, plumbing in a cooling system, plumbing in an exhaust system, finding somewhere to put the battery, all the smog crap. All of that goes away with an electric car. I don't see anyone choosing gasoline when the batteries advance enough.

Good luck with you build.

[Krynvel]

Double post

[Krynvel]

Always been jealous of the SEi! Glad to see you giving her some love.

The struts... not really rebuildable as far as I know. At least it's not a typical job that I've seen someone do. I've got Konis in my 2g, but they aren't easy to come by anymore. You could probably find some inserts of the same size, or close, from another car. Lots of MacStrut cars use the same setup.

That gauge cluster... Man it gives me nightmares. You have to pull the steering wheel, obviously, but you also need to drop the steering column to give it room to pivot inside the dash. Then you will bend the new speedo cable putting it back in because there's no room, or crush your hands trying to attach it while the cluster is still in there. And you'll probably break off the maintenance indicator reset buttons. I wish I had some advice for you, just be careful and take your time. It's fucking difficult, and I wish you the best of luck. Paint your needles and fix those bulbs now, because you will never want to do it again.

Sounds like fun...ish..., what bulbs am I going to need for the gauge cluster?

Well if those are the new H4 housings, I think they're a good choice. I'm not really a fan of the super modern H4s in an old car. Looks anachronistic to me.

Welcome!

Ayee that's the look I was going for. Repaint is definitely on the to-do list as well. The Toscos are gonna come off, the wide tire look doesn't fit it. I have some 13x5 minilites that are going to go on next.

Don't tell any of the gearheads here that I said this, but I think we are one or two technology advances away from the absolute end of the internal combustion engine. I expect we'll see a big advance in battery technology or a free energy device in the next 5 years that, when it happens, no one will ever put an internal combustion engine in anything ever again.

Think about all the stuff we have to do to swap a gas engine: gauging fitment, matching bellhousing patterns, plumbing then tuning a fuel delivery system, tuning an ignition system, plumbing in a cooling system, plumbing in an exhaust system, finding somewhere to put the battery, all the smog crap. All of that goes away with an electric car. I don't see anyone choosing gasoline when the batteries advance enough.

Good luck with you build.

Free energy device? Sounds like wizardry to me!

I'm with you on the swapping in a gas engine crap; all this plumbing and messing with inflexible small, med, and large pipes that vary in material and temperature is annoying. I find pleasure in driving cars, not fixing cars. The amount of downtime that this car will have seems minimal with an electric drive train compared to figuring out how to put a modern Honda engine in this. Plus the thought of never emission testing this thing ever again is awesome... and rwd .

edit: grammar

[Dr_Snooz]

Free energy device? Sounds like wizardry to me!

There are a lot of them out there. You can find vids on YouTube. There's a lot of bogus stuff, but the real stuff is there too. The trouble is that none of it puts out appreciable amperage, which is what you need to run air conditioners and washing machines. It's interesting, but not useful. Not yet.