New to 3geez

[lkrfn5283]

I'm new to 3geez and recently bought an 81 accord from my cousin. (It's been owned by my family since they bought it brand new. i even have the original honda key chain that came with it when they bought the car). Aside from the paint being a bit faded the car is mint. Heres what it is.
1981 Accord LX 3 door hatch, 3 speed automatic=(, w/ac and power steering. Everything is stock(aside from the alternator,voltage regulater and the headlights were changed to hids & the brights were converted to yellow fog lights). Even the floor mats. The interior to this car is cleaner then the interior in my 95 accord. I'm still new to this car and I already know that it's hard to find parts for it. I needed some input on what i could do to produce more power, where I could find a 5spd manual transmission to swap in. Also, where could i go in terms of buying better suspension for this car. I want to drastically improve it's handling and have it sit an inch or so lower. The only company that I can find that makes anything for this car, in terms of suspension, is monroe. Any help will be greatly appreciated and pics will come soon.

[2ndGenGuy]

First off, for power, you don't have a whole lot of bolt on options. There are some options though, IF you don't live in an emissions controlled area. Where abouts are you located?

If you want a little bit of juice and tunability, you'd probably have to get at least a Weber carb. And if you can find one, and beat me to it, a Hondo header. Pierce Manifolds makes the Weber conversion kit for your car, so should be no sweat there. Good luck on a header... I haven't ever seen one for sale that fits the 81.

There's plenty of people here though who can help out if you have any other questions. Welcome to the site and enjoy the stay!

[lkrfn5283]

thanks for the welcome. I live in cali so emissions is a huge issue for me.

First off, for power, you don't have a whole lot of bolt on options. There are some options though, IF you don't live in an emissions controlled area. Where abouts are you located?

If you want a little bit of juice and tunability, you'd probably have to get at least a Weber carb. And if you can find one, and beat me to it, a Hondo header. Pierce Manifolds makes the Weber conversion kit for your car, so should be no sweat there. Good luck on a header... I haven't ever seen one for sale that fits the 81.

There's plenty of people here though who can help out if you have any other questions. Welcome to the site and enjoy the stay!

[ghettogeddy]

were at in cali

[lkrfn5283]

were at in cali

LA

[ghettogeddy]

nice a so cal member lol im in the bay but theres a quite a few members out your way

[lkrfn5283]

nice a so cal member lol im in the bay but theres a quite a few members out your way

really??? aside from my car, i've only seen 1 other 1stgen accord hatch in southern cali. maybe we should have a meet of some sort....=p

[Hazwan]

and post pics

[ghettogeddy]

really??? aside from my car, i've only seen 1 other 1stgen accord hatch in southern cali. maybe we should have a meet of some sort....=p

lol idk about 1 gees but 3geez for sure lol

[2ndGenGuy]

Well, being in California, you don't have much hope for power improvements. Your car is pimp anyways just because it's so different! The old 1g hatches don't really need a ton of power. They've got enough uniqueness that they turn heads just driving around.

There are a few suspension options for you though. There are Koni struts you can get for it, and the only springs I know of are from King Springs. They're in Australia, so shipping is kinda killer, but go to the 1g section of Prelude Power. There's a guy there who was talking about buying springs and shipping them himself to save money, he'd ship for other Prelude guys, and I'm sure he'd help out an Accord guy too, being that we're all old-school Hondas.

A setup like that would make that hatch handle like a dream, I'm sure. Would make hell of a fun car to drive.

[79cord]

Welcome again.
Headlight upgrade sounds interesting.

5-speed would certainly transform it's character but as you said sourcing all the bits could be interesting, since the Accord was constantly changing with every model year adding variations of its own meaning to get all the bits required from a single car, it would have to be another '81 Accord. Though that's not to say you need to get all the bits from one car...

Here's a quick shopping list, best as I remember from Prelude last year:
clutch pedal (76-81 Accord)
Hydraulic master/slave cylinders & hose (76-81 Accord)
Transaxle (79-81 Accord/Prelude)
Clutchplate (79-83 Accord, 79-82 Prelude)
flywheel & bolts (81-83 Accord, 81-82 Prelude)
Shift linkage inc. rear hanger ('81 not sure about interchange to 82-3 Accord or '81 on Prelude)
Distributor (different on NON-CVCC models anyway & varied year to year, Accord or Prelude)
(Carburettor also had some different ancillery components on NON-CVCC models)

Less important:

wire loop connector in fuse box to bypass 'start in park switch'
Smaller brake pedal -auto pedal could be cut down to size (?)
g/shift gaiter
instrument cluster without shift points
Manual had stiffer engine mounts?

Sounds like '82/3 drivetrain would also drop in easily for a fraction more power. (cable clutch actuation though)

[MessyHonda]

[Pico]

to the forum

[Ichiban]

Welcome again.
Headlight upgrade sounds interesting.
5-speed would certainly transform it's character but as you said sourcing all the bits could be interesting, since the Accord was constantly changing with every model year adding variations of its own meaning to get all the bits required from a single car, it would have to be another '81 Accord. Though that's not to say you need to get all the bits from one car...
Here's a quick shopping list, best as I remember from Prelude last year:
clutch pedal (76-81 Accord)
Hydraulic master/slave cylinders & hose (76-81 Accord)
Transaxle (79-81 Accord/Prelude)
Clutchplate (79-83 Accord, 79-82 Prelude)
flywheel & bolts (81-83 Accord, 81-82 Prelude)
Shift linkage inc. rear hanger ('81 not sure about interchange to 82-3 Accord or '81 on Prelude)
Distributor (different on NON-CVCC models anyway & varied year to year, Accord or Prelude)
(Carburettor also had some different ancillery components on NON-CVCC models)
Less important:
wire loop connector in fuse box to bypass 'start in park switch'
g/shift gaiter
instrument cluster without shift points
Manual had stiffer engine mounts?
Sounds like '82/3 drivetrain would also drop in easily for a fraction more power. (cable clutch actuation though)

I installed an 83 EL1602 into my 81, reusing the original automatic transmission from the 81. The only problem that I ran into was that the alternators are wired differently, and I had to reuse the 81 style alternator. I do believe you can adapt the later transmissions back to hydraulic by changing out the shift fork shaft and lever.

[2ndGenGuy]

Hmm, on that note, I think I'd like to get a tranny from an 82-83 to put in my '81 hatch. I'd rather have a cable than a hydraulic clutch I think. What's the advantages of the hyraulic one?

[79cord]

I do believe you can adapt the later transmissions back to hydraulic by changing out the shift fork shaft and lever.

I thought that might be possible too, '82 prelude stayed hydraulic....

& good to know Honda didn't change bellhousing bolt pattern or anything.

Hydraulic does gave a smoother, less 'springy' action but everyone has different preferences.
For better or worse 2G Accord transaxle does have cruisier gearing though.

[Ichiban]

It seems that the transaxle I took out of my parents 83 sedan had lower gears than the stock one in my 82 hatch. However, no numbers confirm this, just driving impressions.

I far prefer the cable clutch to the hydraulic. Cables can't leak out of their containers, provide a very direct and consistent feel and cost almost nothing to replace, if anything ever does somehow go wrong. Adjustment is also way easier. Cable, I think, is the way to go.

[lkrfn5283]

Sorry for the late response. I just got back from az. Here are some pictures i took from my camera phone

[lkrfn5283]

I really need to clean up my engine bay. =p

[beerrrat]

cherry, to bad its an A/T, i wounder what engines would fit in there if ur gonna try the M/T swap might as well see what engine u could match it up with

[Hazwan]

Thats clean!

[2ndGenGuy]

Verry niiice!

[offthahook]

Very nice. Gotta love the 3 door LX AT's!

[MessyHonda]

really clean....it would make a grandma proud

[lkrfn5283]

There was a 1st gen with a b16 that inspired me. I was planning on swapping a b18a1 that's sitting in my old DA(clutch,tranny,ecu & all) into my 1st gen. Seeing as that I have no experience in welding or custom fabrication I've been searching for a shop here in so cali that would be willing to do this swap. I've called about 15 different shops.........NO ONE is willing to do it. I'm still determined to do this, however if no shop is willing to do this then I'll obviously have to take welding classes and etc and do it myself. Before I do this, I was wondering if anyone on this forum knew of a shop in the southern cali area willing to do this swap.Any help would greatly be appreciated.

*side note: if there is no shop that will be willing to do this, then it will take me quite some time to do this swap. In the mean time I'll build up the current engine and just maintain it. For some reason, i've been getting SHITTY mileage (~10 to 12 mpg). I fixed a leak that was found in the carb (rebuilt it completely). Carb no longer leaks, but i'm still getting shitty mileage. this is what i've done so far

1. Rebuilt Carb
2. changed fuel filter
3. checked fuel lines (no leaks)
4. checked gas tank (no leaks)
Any suggestions?