MY 79cord's rebuild(s)

[79cord]

part 1

I finally refound a bunch of old photos showing some of the ordeals my cars been through, so I thought I should share & put them in perspective with the cars history!


I've put a little more on its cardomain site @
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2051977/2

But here's most of it's highlights:

Here is the Accord soon after I first bought it from it's 1st owner; my aunt who traded in her mothers Rover 3500 P6 to buy it.

By the time it became mine it was still only 11 years old & basically sound, but the bumpers had been reshaped on the freeway, the paint had spider webs of surface rust beneath it from lack of polishing & her husband had backed a tractor into both front fenders, driveshaft CV joints were stuffed, battery expired & she was using it as a kennel, so her dog had dug through the back seat & the fronts weren't much better.

Dad assisted in having new driveshafts fitted & taking it to a local panelshop to attack the frt fenders, though unfortunately they only bashed them around roughly & irreparably before slathering them with filler...& didn't even get the shapes right as they did so!




Still it was my first car & I learned to drive in it before I had a chance to repair it properly, replacing its seats & sourcing replacement panels.

Then it was time for a repaint & stripping it back to factory primer & bare metal everywhere its finish was contaminated by the surface rust, before smoothing its sides of numerous small door dings.






Finally, repainted during holidays!





After all that work I didn't even have a chance to get it polished & fully reassembled before I damaged it seriously.

This was the damage NOT PRETTY




The whole front was wacked accross, severely crushing one frame rail. Well beyond my repair & equipment abilities... I couldn't repair it any time soon!

[79cord]

part 2

Eventually & after buying another Accord & my CR-X I finally start to get it sorted again, stripping out the engine bay & taking it for professional (& expensive) attention straightening its front structure before I worked on massaging it's front panels back into shape rather than just replacing them.
- I had already gone through enough effort in finding some good panels that fitted
properly & thought it worth a try repairing them.
I was surprised how well they turned out.
In the end only the front valance, radiator support, a portion of the LH frame rail & bumper were replaced!



Since it was off the road anyway I also took the time to hide much of its engine bay wiring, relocate its battery, de-badge it (20 holes welded!), remove its rear wiper, de-lock & add a remote fuel-flap release. As well as upgrade its brakes (including rear discs) & convert it to the 4x100 wheel stud pattern more commonly used on newer Honda... & I pretty much repainted it again.




& finally it all went back togeather & back on the road, with some new wheels to make it special, though there's still plenty to do so I've never gotten around to putting all its trim back on!

[2ndGenGuy]

Man that is a ton of hard work! Sucks that it got biffed on the freeway. You've really got the love for that car! I just love those wheels that you've got on it, they're retro, and low-profile cool. And the shaved door moldings and emblems look good. I bet people wonder all the time what that car is!

[Hazwan]

yeah, nice work!

[offthahook]

Man, that is tight. That had to just absolutely suck out loud when it got hurt AFTER you put the work in to paint it. Damn. But, you got after it and hooked it back up repairing the sheet metal parts. Kinda funny how you scored all those spare fenders, but repaired your old ones after the wreck. I would have done the same thing most likely just to see if I could salvage the bent ones. Great work and nice looking car.

[79cord]

I bet people wonder all the time what that car is!

Most can still recognise a Honda, so as a hatchback most assume its a Civic these days, the Integra probably having adopted the Accord hatch's old image most.

The wheels are even cast with 'Honda Motor Company' & I think they suit it so well it looks factory, with 'H' bearing caps from a 3rd gen Civic replacing the bland center covers they were originally fitted with & disguising their usual look.

I couldn't find a 'H' small enough for the back & nearly fitted an Accord badge below its RH tail lamp... maybe a discrete chrome Accord sticker on the lens ?

you scored all those spare fenders

Finding good fenders was a pain!
The picture suggests how much of one!

Panel beaters had mangled the originals irreparably.
I was sold a terrible fitting non-Honda set that I consigned to the junk pile.
And one of the genuine Honda ones I was able to buy was JDM '81 so needed its frt mirror & bumper cap mountings welded closed & had already had a rust repaired lower corner!
I didn't want to face that again!

[88Accord-DX]

Looks like you did a great job on it! Could imagine what the cost to have the work straightened out on the front end is. Good job with the body work, looks like you took some time on sanding & getting everything looking nice. I was looking at the paint, is that a flat base paint? Also, do you plan on putting a clear coat on it? Either way, it looks nice. Keep up the work.
Edit- I forgot, you have any plans on rebuilding the motor? (tech. here)

[Ichiban]

Edit- I forgot, you have any plans on rebuilding the motor? (tech. here)

I do, not factory though...

[79cord]

you have any plans on rebuilding the motor? (tech. here)

Thankfully it hasn't needed it yet...
Hear 2nd gen pistons would up compression a fraction, but 2nd gen engine has slightly bigger valves/porting too.

But spotted a B20 in a wrecker last week & am sorely tempted, & will investigate further, (sorry guyhatesmycar but I'm a DOHC snob; but do like the idea of alloys light weight).
I'd prefer it for an Accord, but one of my '81 Preludes might be easier at the moment.

I was looking at the paint, is that a flat base paint?

It's just a standard tinted acrylic, rarely comes up nice without a bit of polishing, which I don't do enough. Really must touch up/repair a few areas again, since that was a few years ago now
Last time I did a clear (on a metallic) I ended up rubbing through in one or two places !
Never wanted to think about metallic again... will have to though.


P.S
Sooo glad its never really suffered rust & needed surgery like yours guyhatesmycar.

[Ichiban]

I would prefer a B20A as well, but the headache with finding parts, plus the added length of the engine presents more of a challenge than I'm looking for right now. Maybe I'm just pussing out, but after the A series is in, I might put together a B-combo.

[79cord]

After pricing the parts required I'm starting to have second thoughts too, adding up to $6-700aust. for all the engine related parts I would need with better brakes & hubs on top (since this would be for another, currently standard car), for a 320,000km engine of unknown quality, that I can't even be sure will fit, (don't even want to think of the legal/registration/bureaucracy possibilities... )
It starts to get frightening, even though pricing is probably good as it's likely to get.

You simply can't beat the value of buying a complete car.

& for the sake of one major engine mount it won't be long untill B18 Integras are disposably cheap, as I'm sure they already are in many places.