Mad USDM dash yo!

[2ndGenGuy]

So I found this mad tyte USDM 1978 Accord in the wrecking yard today. It's that cool, bright red with all black interior that Honda just loved putting in the Accords.

Well turns out the all-black interior looks MINT! So of course, I asked how much it would cost to get the whole thing. $30 and a 6 pack of PBR tall-boys later, I was out pulling parts!

Now the problem is that the black dashboard is cracked up pretty bad. I'm debating going to the trouble of pulling it out. It looks great other than the cracks. Hell the thing even had the original radio in it, and I'm going to try to retrofit the 100+mph speedometer into my car.

I figure since the dash is screwed anyways, I might give it a go at repairing it the same way Hazwan did his mad JDM dash. Just lookin' for some opinions before I go pulling that sucker out. I do need to replace my heater core anyways, since my BRAND NEW one seems to be leaking....

Anywho here's some pics, aside from being dirty, the interior looks great! The body is rusted out, someone attempted a B-series swap in it, and mangled the engine bay... So I'm pretty much taking all the remaining good parts off of it...

















This car was pretty well taken care of, aside from the paint. I even got ALL four OEM floormats! And they're in great shape too!!!! And I got those taillights. Not a bad deal for $30. I still need to get those mudflaps as well...

[codyJDM]

Mad tyte USDM lol.

I'd definitely snag it, looks great to me.

[forrest89sei]

do it!!

[A18A]

cool!!

[ghettogeddy]

pbr ftmfw

[2ndGenGuy]

pbr ftmfw

+1 qft!

[2oodoor]

awesome find!
& PBR tall ones FTW

[79cord]

Congratulations upon that, could look really sharp.
Wow the Ventilation controls/labels do look stark without the symbols/graphics of other markets.

Its a shame the frt seats won't fit straight to your '81 mountings but worst option the backrest & lower covers could be put on your '81 seat bases.

Always thought the Accord looked slightly strange in that Sofia Red but could never understand why I didn't love it.
Black interior is sooo rare here too I think we only got it with that red paint.

[Hazwan]

Mad USDM yo! I'd say do it! Black interior FTW!

[Dr_Snooz]

Looks awesome man! I love the OEM radio. My '76 had the OEM radio, but it didn't work.

Just some food for thought regarding the dash. My '76 had a badly cracked dash, over which the previous owner had put one of those dash mats that were ubiquitous here in the hot Central Valley in the '80s. The thing was sheltered from the sun, but kept right on cracking. I don't think Honda figured out how to keep the dash from cracking until the 2g Accord.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah, when I look at that dash, I think a lot of the cracking has to do with the structural rigidity of it as well. Looks to me like it starts sagging a bit on the sides, and the top of it starts splitting open. I think sun just accelerates it, but it might be a combination of both.

[Civic Accord Honda]

looks like it should be worth fixing or make a mold of it and do a CF dash haha

[Hazwan]

Yeah, when I look at that dash, I think a lot of the cracking has to do with the structural rigidity of it as well. Looks to me like it starts sagging a bit on the sides, and the top of it starts splitting open. I think sun just accelerates it, but it might be a combination of both.

Exactly. At least from what I noticed on 3 dashboards I had. And the one near the speaker grill is the popular spot for the huge crack. At least yours aren't as bad as mine.

And be prepared to see all the tiny differences between 78 and 81 dash

[2ndGenGuy]

And be prepared to see all the tiny differences between 78 and 81 dash

That's what I'm afraid of...

[Hazwan]

That's what I'm afraid of...

Nah it wasn't that bad. Heres what I noticed:

- metal piece near the glovebox latch and the plastic cover (the one with the light)
- metal piece for the center trim
- wiring harness
- warning lights module plugs in the cluster
- ashtray or whatever it is beside the radio

And probably few others that I didn't notice.

[81vintyminty]

....i got a blue ribbon tall can for that radio!!!! thats wierd you say that int. color is common, ive never seen one out where im at... think ive seen every other color (even blue) ...... any engine bay shots of the "attempted swap"??

[2ndGenGuy]

I'll snag some pics of the engine bay when I go back... Not much really to show... It's the first black interior I've seen.

[AccordB20A]

wish the 1g accord dash and shit would fit in my hillman hahaha. good find 1ndgenguy :P

[lostforawhile]

you can get a plastic molded dash cap to fix that dash, they are a permanent mount, it's a popular repair on import dashes. the cap fits exactly to the dash and covers all that. If you get one,get some sythentic leather,it's really easy to stretch,and cover the cap first. it makes it look like an oem leather covered dash. .

[lostforawhile]

heres a link to one for your car from accuform. http://www.dashcaps.com/mall/honda.asp

[2ndGenGuy]

Wow dude sweet. Thanks for the link... definitely interested so long as they don't look like those fabric dash pads that people put on...

[Lil Mike]

damn nice find looks like it got smashed from the passenger side rear quarter

[2ndGenGuy]

Nope that side was in tact. The whole body was pretty straight really. I would love to restore that car.

[Dr_Snooz]

you can get a plastic molded dash cap to fix that dash, they are a permanent mount, it's a popular repair on import dashes. the cap fits exactly to the dash and covers all that. If you get one,get some sythentic leather,it's really easy to stretch,and cover the cap first. it makes it look like an oem leather covered dash. .

Sweet Jesus, lost. You're a genius! I don't suppose you might be able to scare one of those up for the tops of the door panels would you? I'd be real interested in that.

[2ndGenGuy]

Meh, that dash was in such bad shape once I got it out. I decided that it really wasn't worth pulling. For anybody who is going to want a nice dash, they could just buy one of those caps as shown above. I didn't bother to get pics of the engine bay today either. It was just depressing. The middle section of the crossmember was cut out completely. Both frame rails were smashed up with a hammer, probably to fit the engine. And that B or D series mount was fucking tack welded to the frame rail, and done poorly at that. Posting pics of that engine bay molestation would just be a mean thing to do to that car anyways...

But I did manage to get a bunch of other stuff out of it today. Bunches of plastic parts that were in good shape, door panels, carpets, etc. I still gotta clean it all up, but did clean the seats up and they came out looking great!





And the badass floor mats:



More pics of the rest of the parts when I'm done cleaning them up.