Accord Hatchback in UK

[Hirst]

Hello there! Just obtained a MK1 Accord Hatchback so I thought I'd use it as an excuse to sign up. I own a few other old Japanese cars but this is my first Honda.



I don't know what trim level it is, I think there was only one trim-spec for the UK market. It's a 1.6 CVCC with a 5-speed manual gearbox, it's very well-equipped for an essentially 70s car and everything seems to work bar the radio which I'll investigate later. The choke pull is a bit loose too, I had to fiddle around with it a bit to get the choke off, will have a look at that tomorrow maybe.



It needs some work before I can start using it properly, largely some welding at the back. I have to say I'm impressed with what I've experienced so far. It drives very nicely and I like the handling. Looks pretty mean at the front too!

Plans are to leave it pretty much as is (bar tidying up), though I'll probably give the wheels a repaint and a set of trim rings to brighten it up a bit. I notice the mirrors have been changed for some little flat round ones, they quite suit it so I think I'll leave them on I reckon.

Will keep you updated with the progress!

[AccordB20A]

sweet, looks like a tidy 1g and good luck with it

[Hazwan]

Nice hatch you got there. Post more pics!

[Civic Accord Honda]

looks nice! welcome!

[Dr_Snooz]

Pretty sweet man! Welcome!

Be careful with the choke cable. On my 1g it was held into the dash with a cheesy plastic threaded nut. It broke within the first month of ownership and flopped around thereafter until I sold the car 4 years later.

[carotman]

Nice car!

[2ndGenGuy]

Clean hatch! Welcome to the site! Can't wait to see some more pics of your work!

[Rendon LX-i]

nice...welcome aborad

[-$MOKIN-]

nice

[Hirst]

Thanks! All I've really done so far is tidy up the inside and have a bit of an inspection. The rear of the sills need welding but the rest of it seems OK. Unfortunately I've got a lot of other projects on at the moment so this one might have to join the queue, but I'm excited to see it reach completion.

[2ndGenGuy]

Is that an 81? I wanna say that it's older, like a 78 or 79. With the 1600 in the CVCC design, and that older-style grille. But maybe that's just the UK spec grille. Not really sure. Especially the silver with black interior doesn't seem 81 to me. But yeah still could be a UK thing.

[Hirst]

It was registered in April 1981, but I suspect the build date is a fair bit earlier - often cars sit around unregistered before they sell, not usually more than about a year though.

Any way of checking the build date for sure, off the VIN or something? I need to know for sure as it needs a front pipe and there are two kinds for sale: 76-80 and 81-82.

Actually I'm not even sure it is a CVCC now, I just assumed it was to be honest. This is all getting confusing!

[-$MOKIN-]

Hirst what other cars do you have? Older japanese cars? Id like to see some pics of them.

And its hard to beleive that dash is that perfect.

[2ndGenGuy]

Check the engine code on the upper radiator support in the left side of the engine bay. It will say EK1-XXXXXXX or EL-XXXXXXXX or maybe EF-XXXXXXXX. That first group is the engine code. I don't think you guys got any CVCC motors over there, but you never know, import laws don't seem to be nearly so anal as they are here.

I'm sure there's a way to know by VIN, but I don't know where to find that information. Maybe 79Cord will chime in here in a little bit and shed some light. He is the vintage Honda human encyclopedia. He knows everything there is to know about any old Honda.

[Hirst]

I'll check that out when I'm with it next (kept away from the house at the moment), on reflection it probably wouldn't need to be a CVCC as the emissions standards weren't very strict here at the time.

Other cars? Here's the rundown as quick as I can make it.


1982 Colt Galant 1600 GL (daily driver and what I came to work in today, n.b. really a Mitsubishi, but they were known as Colt here until the mid 80s)


1983 Daihatsu Charmant 1300 LE (my absolute favourite, wanted one for years, barely any left, based on the old RWD Corolla)


1985 Mazda 323 1500 Station Wagon (full length high-roof, off the road as needs welding, this is to be my parts hauler)


1982 Datsun Stanza 1.6 GL (unloved FWD obscurity, looks worse than it is, not finished yet)

I have a thing for old cars in general, but Japanese stuff seems to fall into my lap, including the Honda. Old cars are uncommon here so my stuff is pretty rare - I'm told the Accord is one of 16 left registered, but I don't know whether that is just hatchbacks or if it includes the 4-door.

And yes, the dashboard is fine, doesn't seem to have any cracks or anything, the interior in general is a strong point - the seats are nice and everything seems to be there and work bar the radio, which I'm hoping has just been disconnected.

[-$MOKIN-]

Wow thts cool.. You like old cars like me...Very nice. Welcome to 3geez ...Im for sure youl get the support you need here to do what ya need to do. Im glad that the old fird still flys.

[Hirst]

Check the engine code on the upper radiator support in the left side of the engine bay. It will say EK1-XXXXXXX or EL-XXXXXXXX or maybe EF-XXXXXXXX. That first group is the engine code. I don't think you guys got any CVCC motors over there, but you never know, import laws don't seem to be nearly so anal as they are here.

Just checked things out through the documents, apparently we had two engines in the UK, the 1598cc "EG" and the 1602cc "EL". Don't think either are CVCC.

My car comes up as 1602cc on the vehicle logbook so I'd assume it's the EL, is that good then? 78hp apparently. Seemed quick enough!

[79cord]

That looks really nice, congratulations upon its aquisition.
I like the unusual mirrors, though they look tiny.

I think it looks like an '81 model year (starting oct'80?) guessing from the g/shift console... bit hard to see the shape of the ctr tunnel but I presume it rises up from the firewall to the shifter for the revised shift linkage & '81 EK engines Cat.converter, where earlier it was a consistent shape. You should be able to tell from the chassis number too but I don't know the codes well enough either. Lots of plastic trim pieces will have date codes on them too, & I found some inside my wheels too! The Non- American Accords didn't get quite so many grille & wheel changes over the years - but that didn't mean they didn't get changes every year.
For the 1st gen Accord's final year of '81 they had a unique floor, g/shift linkage, frt seat mountings, frt seat buckles, radiator & its mountings, brake-pipes & proportioning valve, revised crank & flywheel & though interchangeable, slightly revised head-casting, starter, alternator, distributor.... I wouldn't have thought the front exhaust pipe should have needed to change for non-cvcc '76-'81 models but Honda might have revised the mounting hook locations underneath when they reshaped the ctr/tunnel.

The EL 1602 saves the complexity of the USA/Japanese emissions oriented CVCC EK 1751cc with its additional stratified-charge valvetrain & carburettor mixtures without any significant power loss. It has a shorter stroke & wider valve angles than the EG of '76-78 models so it reputed to be is smoother, happier revving & with a broader torque spread. (Some of the lazier after-market service manuals never even got around to registering the change), The later 2nd gen accord '82-3 EL 1602 has other significant differences like bigger valves, swapped intake & exhaust locations & relocated head studs, again aiding flexibility since outright power claims never changed much .

Australia only got one trim level too -midway between the two US spec's, we did get standard stainless wheels trim-rings though, but judging from some scans of European brochures you might have missed out there.

Sad to hear the UK has so few surviving examples... though there'd be few places they'd be common now! Honda reputedly made more than 1.5 million, presumably mostly bound for America, as it set a new benchmark for its class in most markets.

I'm still sad a "friend" recently scrapped a really nice '84 Mitsubishi Sigma 2.6 after he removed the engine & stripped the interior with race/rally fantasies before he lost interest...

[blue_accord]

wow..
nice ride..i like your side mirror..

[Hirst]

Thanks for the info! The mirrors are quite small but provide surprisingly good visibility. I was pondering changing them back to the standard ones, but they do look/work alright so I'll probably leave them.

With regards to trim rings - usually UK brochures show stuff without trim rings, but aftermarket ones were reasonably popular back in the day. I trial-fitted a generic one (off the Stanza) and it looks very nice with all the other chrome, so I'll pick up another set off eBay or something.

The rarity of these cars will be largely down to rust issues and this one is no different, it requires work to the sills but luckily everything else seems fine. I've done some digging and found sill panels available for the 4-door model - I wonder if they could be modified to fit onto this? Otherwise some metalwork will be required.

[79cord]

I don't think saloon sills should be any different apart from the door cutouts. Wheelbase, floorpan (except for boot extension) & front panels were shared so the section shape should be the same ? One-piece body-sides tend to confuse things.

Original chrome mirrors tended to rust out anyway & usually only drivers-side were standard (though '76-8 mirrors weren't "handed").

[2ndGenGuy]

I knew 79Cord would close the case! He is the MAN! I strive to have his knowledge, and huge collection of nice Hondas!

[Hirst]

Worked out nicely hasn't it? I've seen a diagram of said part and it should be all good then, it just has the door cutouts which would need amending. This should make things a lot easier.

However, I've also found 2-door Accord sills on the stock list at some old repository of panels - the list it isn't kept updated very well so they might not exist anymore, but it's nice to know that if not, the 4-door ones should be OK!

It'll probably be a while until I get hold of some sills and have them welded on but it's nice to get things planned out in preparation. Providing the money situation remains OK, it should be nice and tidy by the summer.

[Ichiban]

I actually recommend getting sill panels bent up out of 18 gauge "black iron", as the local sheet metal shop called it. I purchased a pair of europarts brand rocker panels, and besides being tinfoil thin, they barely resembled the originals. For almost a third the price, the local sheet metal shop made me 2 rocker panels, these fit exactly as the OEM had, were thicker material, and easier to weld. In fact, the europarts panels completely lacked a crease that the original panels had.

[1GCustomAccord]

Sweeet car! Wellcome to the forum!