WTF Honda?!

[Dr_Snooz]

I realize that Honda has a lot on its plate these days, what with making crappy Civics, underwhelming SUV's and misguided NSX's, but you'd think that a multinational auto maker with 144,000 employees could find someone, somewhere to support collectors.

Restorers of American cars enjoy an aftermarket nirvana here in the US. Mercedes Benz provides factory parts and support to restorers. Honda...does nothing. We scavenge the junkyards for a set of cupholders and get all excited when we get the last NOS rocker panel in the US.

This is ridiculous. We keep sending thousands of wildly popular, well made cars to the crusher every day while clumsy American trash gets restored. Why is it so hard to get parts for these cars and what can we do to lean on Honda and get them to do a better job of supporting us?

[ShyBoyCA6]

Nothing really... after all the accord doesn't have much reputation of being a street car enthusiasts, like the civic, del slo, prelude, integra etc etc... also the car is 24 yrs old and people lose interest in older cars that will be a money pit to get it running properly or to their standards. If somehow we could get our cars in a magazine maybe there will be interest in the market for these cars. Maybe.... one can dream lol but oh well. But yeah I agree that Honda should make parts for our cars to keep the accord running.

[247shuer247]

Nothing really... after all the accord doesn't have much reputation of being a street car enthusiasts, like the civic, del slo, prelude, integra etc etc... also the car is 24 yrs old and people lose interest in older cars that will be a money pit to get it running properly or to their standards. If somehow we could get our cars in a magazine maybe there will be interest in the market for these cars. Maybe.... one can dream lol but oh well. But yeah I agree that Honda should make parts for our cars to keep the accord running.

they definetly should. honestly thats was my goal from the start to build
a accord hatchback worthy of a magazine maybe even the cover.
For now all we can do is dream though and keep scavenging the scrapyards
looking for that new old stock .....

[2oodoor]

Did Nissan/Datsun ever do this for the Z cars?
I would think that was one of the more eclectic collectable Eastern imports (spanning over 4 decades), so if it didn't happen for them...I don't know if it did or not at the moment.

[niles]

It seems like VIntage Parts Inc. is the only company that agrees. Unfortunately they are not a manufacturer.

[conozo]

Don't worry guys, when I win the lottery I makes parts for everyone.

[Vanilla Sky]

Honestly, Honda doesn't care about making parts for old cars, as they want to sell new ones. I'm willing to bet they'd be happy if everyone that had an old Honda went out and scrapped it and bought another. We really should be courting aftermarket parts manufacturers to make quality parts. There's a higher likelihood of that happening. That's how most cars have stayed on the road, even a lot of old American iron.

In the mean time, I stockpile parts. We're not at a critical point with these cars, but we likely will be in another decade if no one catches on and starts making this chassis more popular with enthusiasts. It won't bring factory support back, but it will bring aftermarket companies in to build parts.

[DBMaster]

Where's Gabriel when we need him? He's an economist. I'll do my best. It's called "supply and demand." If there's no demand there will be no supply. You can't expect a company to continue manufacturing parts and/or having them manufactured if they don't sell enough.

I don't want to become embroiled here, but very few people are going to spend substantial bucks on these cars at this point. We (meaning, you, not me anymore) are a very small, devoted minority. That was why my mechanic had to go to a specialty company in California and I had to pay $2,100 for a rebuilt transmission. The recyclers around here don't even keep those things around anymore.

I have a better insight about this after working for Lennox for a few years. I buy parts for furnaces and air conditioning systems. At some point you end up with parts that can no longer be carried because the OEM stopped making them. There may still be thousands of people out there with the units, but certain parts cannot be inventoried due to such low demand that no one is willing to manufacture them. It is the same with our cars.

[senna89]

I dont know why Honda is so carelesss about their youngtimers... I recently called Honda Europe here in Offenbach, Germany for some parts.
All they could tell me eas, that they have destroyed all old parts and there is no support for them...

[lostforawhile]

this happened with the early 80's civics everyone thought they were crap, now I'm seeing more and more with late model engine transplants as Honda modifiers start to notice them, you have to do what every other person with an unpopular car does, they hoard stuff, and the stuff they can't find they fix or make their own parts, for every popular car to restore there are a hundred that no one seems to care about, yet somehow people keep them on the road. There are even Yugo clubs and Yugo's still running,and you couldn't get parts for them when they were new

[DBMaster]

Look to Cuba for inspiration, folks.

[Dr_Snooz]

I think the parts issue is a chicken and egg problem. We don't buy parts because no one makes them. No one makes them because we don't buy them. It's circular.

Here's the problem with that logic. Right now on SummitRacing.com, you can buy more parts for an '84 Buick Skylark than for a 3g. At PelicanParts.com, I can still buy door moldings and front grills for an '83 BMW 3-series. Neither of these cars was nearly as popular as the 3g. Why do we go without?

I don't believe that Honda has no way of influencing parts availability in the aftermarket. Of course they do. If I go to the local Chevy dealer and ask for an obscure part for an old car, they call around the country to find it for me. Honda just tells me "sorry." If I ask them to call around, they begrudgingly call one other store in town. If aftermarket suppliers get this kind of reception from Honda corporate, then it's any wonder we can't get parts.

Honda should be supporting us, unless they are satisfied being seen as a maker of disposable cars - like the Yugo.

Honda's corporate headquarters is in Torrance, CA.

American Honda Motor Co , Inc
1919 Torrance Boulevard
Torrance, CA 90501-2722

310-783-2000

If we sent them a petition with 100,000 names on it, would they notice? If we organized a letter writing campaign that sent in 25,000 letters, would they change? Is it worth a try? Work with me here guys. Don't just be sad.

[DBMaster]

Paul, you're missing my point. It doesn't matter how many of the cars sold while they were still being made. It doesn't even matter how many are still roadworthy. All that matters to a supplier is how many units can be sold and how much profit can be made. There you have it.

[lostforawhile]

look over on thisoldhonda.org sometime there are people who still make parts for all these old cars and parts hoarders too, the dealer will always say something isn't available, but I have found a lot of stuff through persistent looking

[lostforawhile]

http://www.classiccarpartsgiant.com/...ondaparts.html it's a little tricky to use the site it will look like nothing came up then BAM it will pop up I found discontinued stuff already

[obdriver6]

Snooz, I know where you are trying to get at but it will be very tough to get all those people to cooperate. I think we should start talking to companies that already make replacement parts for other classic honda and get them to make some for our cars. Once in a while I see parts that have been made that are discontinued like this 5th gear.

[Vanilla Sky]

I think the reason our 5th gear set is in demand is because the gear set fit in other transmissions. I know it's a popular swap with a lot of the B series crowd.

[Dr_Snooz]

Snooz, I know where you are trying to get at but it will be very tough to get all those people to cooperate. I think we should start talking to companies that already make replacement parts for other classic honda and get them to make some for our cars. Once in a while I see parts that have been made that are discontinued like this 5th gear.

Thanks bro. I'm not really prescribing anything, just trying to get some ideas about how to attack this problem. We're already seeing collector interest on this board. It would be nice if we could get some parts for them to do builds with.

That 5th gear is awesome BTW.

[elpuma]

I think taking our cars out to car clubs/shows and trying to get peoples attention is a start. This weekend i took mine and lots of ppl didn't know what it was. I had to explain it and the mods... I saw lots of civics with b18c1 and i was the only accord and the only pre 90's car at the show.

[MessyHonda]

I think the reason our 5th gear set is in demand is because the gear set fit in other transmissions. I know it's a popular swap with a lot of the B series crowd.

only the 1st gen teg and 2nd gen ludes could fit the 5th gear. no b series

[lostforawhile]

I wont agree with this, honda has a lot of great classic car models

yes they do but they don't make parts for them try going to the dealer and getting parts for a very early eighties or late seventies Honda? Thankfully the really old ones have aftermarket suppliers now, there are companies that make items for the old 600 even

[King Peetis]

I realize that Honda has a lot on its plate these days, what with making crappy Civics

Ah Dude, that hurts. I got a 2007 Civic and I absolutely love it. I have 115,XXX miles on it. I blew the engine at 105,500 and I took it to my local Honda dealer and they replaced the bottom end, gaskets and fluids for zero cash!!! There was a defect in the coolant passages and the fluid drained into the case.

[Dr_Snooz]

Fair enough. But what to do about parts availability?!

[79cord]

According to may Honda's parts support policies really changed with the death of Soichiro Honda, when older parts -especially for S600/800 could still be bought... at a cost. Specialist support for these is re-emerging, but probably only because they are worth serious money.
Not sure what to suggest. & it's even worse for older models being largely pre-computer while suppliers become over computerized & develop a computer-says-no attitude where they assume that just because a car is not listed they do not have parts for it, and parts books no-longer include basic dimensions of simple parts like they used to. So you cannot find parts such as basic hydraulic brake/clutch seals that are also used upon thousands of other cars and ARE readily available.

[2ndGenGuy]

Ah god that kills me, not being able to reference parts by their size. That's the thing I love about the NAPA near me, is that it may be the "old guys" in there, but they have a shelf of parts books and are actually able to measure my parts and match things up for me once in a while.