My 1st saloon; terminal(?) '81

[79cord]

Just spent most of Saturday being silly & dragging home yet another Accord.

We have a 1981 Honda Accord available for spare parts. It is in good condition but was driven with the red oil light on with the inevitable result of a seized engine! The rest of the car is in really good condition. Free to anyone willing to take it away

Was advertised with my local old Honda car club, I left it for a week in case anyone else in our little old club wanted to take it on before I could stand it no longer & emailed / rang up to find out more... I don't really have room for another...even my parents place is getting cluttered. But who could resist a freebie and while the '81s might have many differences to make things aukward for earlier model usage many are desirable. Like dashpads seeming slightly less likely to crack, H4 non-sealed beam headlights(here), colour matched seatbelts, plastic front wheel-arch liners, front wheelbearings retained by circlips (possibly better for 4x100 conversion)

Turned out to be a Hondamatic Saloon; least useful to my 5-speed hatchbacks. Grandfather having given it to his grandchildren to use as their first car some 3years ago until finally something went wrong.

So I borrowed the Toyota Landcruiser my sister has been stuck with by her boyfriend, a trailer & went to collect the remains:




One of my favorite Accord colours.
Haven't even considered trying to start it yet; dipstick & top of radiator were bone dry.
Door handles seemed to be sticking making getting in a challenge! Complemented by missing those little door latch rubber thingies on both left doors so they won't latch unless really slammed & then probably still rattle. Drivers door hinge check absent.
Surface(?) rust in a few places of roof.
Obvious body filler in right front panel & whacking great lump of it surrounded by rusted hole at the left lower corner of the rear window applied by grandfather... that obviously leaked so rust bubbles forming all along right side of boot lid, top left of tail-lamp & lower edge of rear 1/4.
Also appears right rear 1/4 was professionally replaced sometime earlier... Gap to rear door could possibly be better(?) but fit to tail-lamp is terrible & dents still remain below it to tail-lamps also let water into luggage area (which actually still looks ok)


Interior looks pretty nice too: un-cracked dash, nicely fitted period radio/cassette, drivers seat only showing a little wear & small tear, rear seat top sun-damaged & split.

Still far too tempting to fix it!

[cvcc1979]

Thats a nice very nice car and in very good condition. My doors were also missing those rubber pieces but luckily I was able to find it at a local junkyard...good luck!

[2ndGenGuy]

Hey it's just like what Hazwan's car used to look like!

Those headlight covers are sort of a neat accessory! And that interior is mint. The rust looks scary around the C-pillar though. Nice you didn't get the US-style hoods either. Those look so much better. What are your plans for it?

[Civic Accord Honda]

WIN!! looks pretty darn clean!!
go add oil and coolant and try to start it up!!

(take a video

[eduardo i.]

A freebie?,It looks amazing; I would definately fix it.How much cars do you currently have( I remember you had a hatch and two preludes; would that make them four? Which are in the rain?

[79cord]

Sorry for the slow reply.
Sadly I really don't have any plans for it.
It just feels like I should be grabbing anything I can in case l might need it, since most wreckers couldn't even be bothered with them these days for anything but scrapmetal, so parts are already difficult & only likely to get worse. And having had my '79 hatch for almost 20 years now & despite owning supposedly better alternatives I don't EVER intend to let go of it!

I'd even like to save the saloon though I don't think I could cope with a Hondamatic, and I already have more car projects than I want to admit, but would be reluctant to give up on:
http://www.cardomain.com/id/79cord
Honda's

'79 Accord hatch, beige, daily driven.
'79 Accord hatch, beige hondamatic, -would love to do "modern" engine transplant on, needs panels/paint.

'79 Accord hatch, burgundy, was mine-then sisters, worn engine & g/box, paint & more.

'78 Accord hatch, silver, needs g/box, panels/paint & more.

'77 Accord hatch, white, quite nice nearly sorted for club/historic road use.

'81 Prelude, bronze, club/historic road use. Could still be improved.
'81 Prelude, bronze, stalled project.

'89 Integra red, nearly sorted for daily road use (awaiting $ for rego, insurance etc).

'89 Integra red?, ? needs paint.

'74 Z hardtop 360 purple, could do with some body work. MUST sort for club/historic road use.
'73 Z hardtop 360 green, needs paint/engine.

'65 S600 convertible red, needs paint/engine/assembly & more.


Lancia Beta coupe's '75 Yellow, 1 awaiting engine rebuild, another needing old "repairs" rectified.



That said I spent Sunday scraping off flaking paint/rust & applying rust neutralized/converter in preparation for a supposed anti-rust paint & taping over the more gaping holes in an attempt to slow its progress. More rust under the rear bumper & its side pieces. Fitted door latch rubbers I got from wrecker (identical year/colour/spec & sticking door handles {never knew they were such a problem on saloons}).
Drained remaining coolant, virtually no Oil in it. Squirted oil in to stuck cylinders, removed cam cover for a look - couldn't see anything unusual there.

[1GCustomAccord]

Take the bridge onder the engine off, the oil pan off, a rod cap and a main bearing cap off and see the crankshaft. That will give you a good idea of the damage.

[EM1 ADCT]

Thumbs up!

[OzAccord81]

G'day 79Cord, any progress on the sedan? Any chance you'd part it out? If so, send me an email at [email protected].
Cheers, Glenn.

[81vintyminty]

wow nice freebie!! those headlight covers are pretty unique, are they aftermarket or one off pieces?

[79cord]

The headlight covers are a period aftermarket addition, fitted via screws into the grille.
Car hasn't received much attention recently & its future does not look good with such extensive rust damage damage to the left rear quarter that also affects surrounding panels; many @ the window corner making it particularly difficult to repair effectively... And the poorly replaced right rr... and.. and...
:Unhappy:
Though I don't like destroying things so it will probably wait until I run out of space or projects..