Music City Matt's 1989 Civic

Hi All

I hope this thread will be reaches the community well. These cars are getting hard to find and fly well under the radar of many car guys. I think we are one viral bit (Jalopnick, YouTube) away from an explosion in EFs. In 2009 you told me square body Chevy's, RWD Volvos, E30s, EGs, I would have laughed. So, everything has its turn. Is it ours?

I hope this is the community to make it happen in.

Why these cars are great one might ask?

Well........

They are well built cars- Seriously! Surprisingly rigid, trick suspension, fit and finish etc. Put it next to a contemporary chevy corsica and you get the picture.

They're relatively cheap- Have you priced a well sorted square body Chevy, RWD Volvo, E30, EG, lately?

Huge aftermarket- Honda D/B/K is the Small block chevy of our generation

Easy to modify- Easy to jack and support bc of light weight. Simple design with minimum electronics.

Fun to Drive- Once dialed in, they are as fun to drive as any small RWD car.

Well styled- These cars posses a quirky lines and angles that serve as a refreshing counterpoint to the current trend of jellybean cagers or beetle-esque crossovers.


With all that said, Let's talk about my car in the next post!

Comments

  • edited November 2019

    8/21/2019

    Here it is on the way home. Bought it as a Non-running project, was told it needed a distributor (don't they all?). Once home, the tedious part of troubleshooting electronics began. While the battery was charging I threw on a spare dizzy, checked the fluids, drained the old fuel out, killed a HUMONGOUS wasp nest and aired up the tires.


    Nothing....crank, no fuel, no spark. *Raises eyebrows*

    Nor was there a happily blinking LED from the ECU laying sojourn in the floor like a pad of sauce on a pile of spaghetti.

    Enter the prime suspect:

    Along with a spare dizzy, all Honda guys should keep one of these bad boys on hand. The culprit was verified via the FSM (you have that saved to your computer, right?). New one in and BOOM! We have liftoff!

    I cleaned up the harness with some solder, heat shrink and electrical tape. I also had to cut an ear off the ECU so it would affix to the stock posts.

    PS- glass cloth electrical tape is a game changer! No gooey mess like vinyl/rubber types and its easy to write on for when you need to label something.


    So here it is pulled off the trailer. Too low, too dirty but fresh all in the same.


    TBC....

  • Looks like a great start! Also thanks for the heads up on the the glass tape, I havent heard of that before.

    Whats your vehicle history look like?

  • Welcome to the forum, glad to see new members and more activity!

    I also suspect that interest for these cars will sometime (soon?) take off. Unfortunately I think there's too few of them available (and too few manufactured in the first place?) for it to become mainstream like the other cars you mention.

    What are your plans for the car?

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