Transmission interchange?

[2ndGenGuy]

I have been looking desperately for a 5-speed transmission for my '81. Can't find any on Craigslist. I know that I can use a transmission from an '81 Prelude as well, but I can't find any of them locally. I searched car-part.com, and called every wrecking yard in town. I'm wondering if the 2nd gen Civic transmission won't work, from something like a 1500. Has anybody seen or heard of anybody putting anything else in a 1g Accord?

The transmissions from the '79 and '80 Accords are different, as they don't show interchange, but I'm guessing that could be things like gear ratios, etc. As long as the tranny bolts to the block, it's got a hydraulic clutch, and the axles fit, I don't really mind otherwise. Does anybody know if any other transmissions will bolt to the '81 EK1? I just want SOMETHING.

EDIT: Okay I just realized... People who put the '81 Accord motors in their 1g Civics hook the EK1 motor to their Civic trans. So now if I can find a 1g or 2g Civic trans with hydraulic clutch, I can check if the CV shafts will go in. If so, this might be my ticket to shorter gearing as well...

[2ndGenGuy]

w00t! Never mind, I found one up in Tacoma. On the shelf, 30 day warranty, $150! FTW!

[offthahook]

Snag it FTW.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah I noticed a bit ago that the fork for the clutch master cylinder is missing. That lever that the master cylinder pushed on that actuates the throwout bearing... Grr. Well luckily I got an email from a guy on CL who is selling one out of his 1st gen Prelude. So I'm gonna call him and see whats up. Sounds like he's got a couple old Preludes!

[AccordB20A]

Typical John Turk allways has 3487589 projects going at thew same time.

FTMFW!

[offthahook]

Typical John Turk allways has 3487589 projects going at thew same time.

FTMFW!

Yup. Thing is, when you have that many projects going... you have to multiply 3487589 times about 4 to get the COMPLETE parts you need. So, if past performance predicts future results, he'll need about 4 trannies and their parts to make one complete and usable one. It's frustrating, but fun all at once. I wish people could just leave the damn old Hondas alone so it would be easier to score parts. We think we have a good part, but someone's rigged it up or a vital part is missing. John's whip will be OEM or better when he gets it all done.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah, dude with the 'lude didn't call me back. Don't know why he e-mailed me his phone number if he doesn't want to make phone contact. Gonna try to get a hold of good 'ol Josh today. More parts to pull out of the woods in his yard. That's FTW.

[carotman]

Nice.

It's getting tougher to get parts for the older Hondas

[AccordB20A]

So getting these old school accord gearboxes is about as hard as finding a 5 speed B20A gearbox? Man its gunna be ghey in 10 years time trying to find a box for me. Best Start Collecting them now lol

[2ndGenGuy]

So getting these old school accord gearboxes is about as hard as finding a 5 speed B20A gearbox? Man its gunna be ghey in 10 years time trying to find a box for me. Best Start Collecting them now lol

Yep you should. Store them in a warehouse! It's not like this is a 60's car, it's an 81 Honda! It's not THAT much older than your car!

[AccordB20A]

haha. Have you got a box yet?

[2ndGenGuy]

I got that box from the wrecking yard I was talking about. I called them about the clutch fork, and they said that they had it at the yard, but they usually don't sell it with it. What BS. They're cool enough to give it to me though, so I gotta go pick it up Saturday.

[lostforawhile]

go to thisoldhonda.org see if that helps think thats bad,try finding parts for a 1972 electric motorcycle,of which only 500 were ever made.

[offthahook]

John... if this ONE transmission from they yard is usable and is the only one you need, consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky. I'm sure you knew that, but salvage yards are generally not the best about pulling off parts in my experiences. "Just use your old 'insert part they broke off' from your car" is their favorite saying. They say that after you tell them you need the whole damn thing and tell them how to remove said part and what might be tricky in removing it. "We do this all the time; we're pros..." Man I hope this works out for you.

[2ndGenGuy]

go to thisoldhonda.org see if that helps think thats bad,try finding parts for a 1972 electric motorcycle,of which only 500 were ever made.

Man, I don't even wanna try that! Having fun with the '81 is preparing me for the N600's, which should be even more fun, but at least I have a parts car.

John... if this ONE transmission from they yard is usable and is the only one you need, consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky. I'm sure you knew that, but salvage yards are generally not the best about pulling off parts in my experiences. "Just use your old 'insert part they broke off' from your car" is their favorite saying. They say that after you tell them you need the whole damn thing and tell them how to remove said part and what might be tricky in removing it. "We do this all the time; we're pros..." Man I hope this works out for you.

Man I hope it works out too. I'm going to crack the case and inspect the bearings and make sure everything looks good. The good news is, they left the shift linkage bushings in, which I was searching for all over hell and back. The bad news is, yeah they took the clutch fork out. I just hope to god that it's the right one when I get it back home (40 miles away), AND I hope it's not missing something or is broken like you said. If it is, then I'll try to get a hold of that guy who called me with an '81 Prelude tranny, and drive BACK to Tacoma and get his.

[offthahook]

If dude's 81 Lude tranny is cheap, fairly close to you, and halfway decent I'd get it too!