ma nu ca

[Gusto]

1978 Honda Civic 3 door hatch 4 speed man, late 1st gen.

Took it for a test drive late last year. Circumstances changed for the previous owner and now it's in my hands! Will be picking it up within the next week or two.

Here's some photos taken by the previous owner.

[Vilante]

What a beast

Cute little thing!!

[Rots]

That is awesome!

[DexterPunk]

Sweet haha! Did u pay much for it?

[Exar Kun]

Looks like an awesome little car dude!

[SE1Z]

wow... in awesome condition for a car that age!
Nice work

[wobblysauce]

gusty, nice pick up

[pogo]

nice! It's even still got the Honda badge - I mean, otherwise, how are people gonna know it's a Honda??

[Gusto]

Sweet haha! Did u pay much for it?

An acquaintance of mine bought it a few months ago for around 600. I agreed that that was an absolute steal. But apparently soon after he bought it got a blown head gasket . Now he doesn't have time or money to fix it up, and he lives out in the country away from any signs of civilisation or honda-knowledgeable mechanics. He insisted on giving it to me for free. I'll be picking it up within the next week or two (it's currently just over 100k's away) - anyone recommend a place to hire a car trailer from?

I know someone (through Motorkhana) who replaced the head gasket on her '76 civic last month for around $80... Dad had a 1980 gen 2 civic for around a decade, then an 86 civic, then never wanted a honda again because of problems he had with carbies and the general expense of servicing, and has since advised against owning hondas. Hopefully it's just the gasket and doesn't include any cracks. If the engine's totally stuffed, then there's always the possibility of getting someone to create some mounts and sourcing a newer/VTEC engine...

In the meantime, I've also heard that chemiweld works as a temporary fix until a gasket / engine has been sourced... Anyone with experience?

On the exterior the main signs of rust are behind where the bumpers have had a light tap, but that's very minimal. I'll probably find much more if I take the car apart, which I've never done before on any car. The paint's in pretty good nick too.

While the steering is non-powered, it's the lightest steering I've ever experienced! On other thoughts, the stock steering wheel's pretty dam big, and it still has the stock wheels, with you guessed it, honda badges.

[DexterPunk]

nice!

Ive done two mechanical things to cars in my whole life, one is change the brushes on an alternator.... the other is change a head gasket on a 1970 something corolla. All you need is the gasket, one of those big manuals for the car, a timing wrench, and the time to do it. If I can do it, you sure as hell can

[Santaria]

Chemiweld is very temporary and is completely dependent on where the leak is. If it's between a cylinder, it's not going to work.

Not a bad 'buy' so to speak and on the outside with those photo's looks in pretty good nick!

[wobblysauce]

dex, lol..


I agree with Santa on the Chemiweld, as for head gaskets there easy to make. as long as the gasket isn't blown out of whack(ie best if it is in one piece or you need a bit of trial and error to get the right fit).. all you need is some alfoil, cardboard(normally i used cardboard from breakfast boxes) and a scissors/stanly knife

make a template of the gasket on the alfoil(depending on the gasket 1 layer should be fine) and on the breakfast box cut it out(most gaskets 2-3 layers) so you might need 2 boxes depends on the thickness of the original one just and another layer more then the thickness of the original because it will compress down, once you get it about right.. alfoil on first then the cardboard layers and your all set.


you get to know how to fix things out in the sticks, when you want something to work

[Vilante]

MacGyver up in this biatch!!

[w00dsy]

my mum used to have a yellow one with mags. It was called Harry Honda, i spewed in it once going down the great ocean road. That is all.

[Hz-Lab]

haha awesome. Love the old little things like this. Spotted a pretty mint looking 70's (guessing) Galant down at Port Elliot yesterday for 1500, been thinking about it ever since spotting it and thinking about going to have a decent look this weekend and offering some silly amount. This thread has not helped... lol

[VTRacing]

...I agree with Santa on the Chemiweld, as for head gaskets there easy to make....

Wobbles, wrong thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13926

[Rots]

Sweet haha! Did u pay much for it?

An acquaintance of mine bought it a few months ago for around 600. I agreed that that was an absolute steal. But apparently soon after he bought it got a blown head gasket . Now he doesn't have time or money to fix it up, and he lives out in the country away from any signs of civilisation or honda-knowledgeable mechanics. He insisted on giving it to me for free. I'll be picking it up within the next week or two (it's currently just over 100k's away) - anyone recommend a place to hire a car trailer from?

I know someone (through Motorkhana) who replaced the head gasket on her '76 civic last month for around $80... Dad had a 1980 gen 2 civic for around a decade, then an 86 civic, then never wanted a honda again because of problems he had with carbies and the general expense of servicing, and has since advised against owning hondas. Hopefully it's just the gasket and doesn't include any cracks. If the engine's totally stuffed, then there's always the possibility of getting someone to create some mounts and sourcing a newer/VTEC engine...

In the meantime, I've also heard that chemiweld works as a temporary fix until a gasket / engine has been sourced... Anyone with experience?

On the exterior the main signs of rust are behind where the bumpers have had a light tap, but that's very minimal. I'll probably find much more if I take the car apart, which I've never done before on any car. The paint's in pretty good nick too.

While the steering is non-powered, it's the lightest steering I've ever experienced! On other thoughts, the stock steering wheel's pretty dam big, and it still has the stock wheels, with you guessed it, honda badges.

My Dad has used a product like Chemiweld to stop a leak on his GQ Nissan Patrol Turbo Diesel. It worked for him, but, it is only temporary.

[iMAXIBON]

this is heaps sick as gusto!

the head gasket wont be a problem for you, just expect to get oily. i dont think you'll find its a cracked / warped / blown anything, just age.

if you want good advice on what to do and how to do it, you should go over to 3geez.com

its a honda accord forum for 1990 and earlier cars, but many of them have worked on civics just like yours. besides the accord is based in many ways on the civic and the engines are put together similarly, and none of them are ricers. other forums are at 'first gen civic' and 'honda-tech', but i don't have experience of them.

i DO have a 1977 accord hatch which i've posted before, i think. i've had it for about 4 years and have had to fix plenty of things, including the head gasket. mine went somewhat gradually, likely due to be 9000 years old and all eroded. i took it all apart using basic tools and some intermediate to advanced swearing, and the replacement gasket was quite cheap. anyone who tells you that its going to be an expense filled nightmare is a spy! they probably will advise you to get a toyota, which are rubbish you should use your flamethrower to set them on fire

i even re-used the head bolts on mine. you'll probably find the civic goes better than you expect and should be pretty nimble and well balanced. and it looks TUFF too! these cars have a certain i-dont-know-what, like french cars and incandescent light bulbs. unless you're a robot you'll know what i mean

[edit] upon actually reading, i see you didn't pay anything for this. oh my god, jealous. its in wonderful condition my car is much worse.
i also see the word VTEC. vtec can be simulated by driving around in 2nd gear jamming your foot to the floor and stearing rapidly from side to side while squeeling VEEEEEEETEK! "vtax, yo" is an acceptable explanation for all infractions, make sure you write it with a sharpie on all your statutory declarations.

GENUINE real non-fake VTEC is a really bad idea however. the engines are super complicated to get running, with insane amounts of loom of hack your way through. also the driveshafts arent compatible with anything, so all the suspension will have to go, and the entire fuel system front to back, and the gearboxes have all been blown up anyway [see below]. i've seen it done in accord like mine, which is a bit heavier and a lot roomier, and it barely fits.

also its WAY too much power, and i dont mean fuli sik brew, i mean it will ruin the car. the big engines are heavy too, which will totally nerf the balance and make it ride and handle like an overloaded wheelbarrow.

i think these old hondas are best enjoyed for what they are which is simple, elegant and fun. it will haul pretty well anyway [and sound awesome] with nice headers and a big exhaust, and a weber. and domo-kun stickers. fuel injection is a horrendous can of wurmz

keep it oldskool - heres a 1st gen civic with a 1st gen accord motor in it and a few modz:
[youtube]Q7DEOP4nVFY [/youtube]

[nutty]

Chemiweld is very temporary and is completely dependent on where the leak is. If it's between a cylinder, it's not going to work.

Agreed, Chemiweld is fucking crazy stuff, ive seen it plug up a radiator that was spewing out water quicker then we could poor it it, but in terms of a headgasket I would play it safe.
if you trailer it back to your place, just change the gasket.. wont cost you much over $100 for a mechanic to do it if you dont trust yourself, otherwise fine a service manual and go for broke

[Virtual-R]

If its a pushrod engine and not overhead cam, just change it yourself, it's very simple and needs minimal tools, torque wrench and decent socket set is what you need. Head comes off (in sequence, refer to manual), gasket out, new gasket in, head back on (in sequence again, with multiple stages of torquing). I fixed the head gasket on a 202 torana in 4 hours when I was 12 without assistance lol thing's are like lego.

As mentioned in the previous post though, for a non ohc engine a mechanic would charge next to nothing to do it

[Rots]

While you have it apart, adjust the tappets as well. Just make sure you have one of those spacer measurement thingys and know the right gap.

Edit: Also, be on flat ground and leave it fourth so you can easily rock the car backward and forward to get the tappets lifted at their peak for each cylinder.

[spoonsports]

i love that door handle! the details are so cool!

[Gusto]

Dad's sold his mercedes so there's now room in the car port for me to work on it. However, that'll have to wait until I get back from Cairns.

I've read a fair bit on 1stgencivic.com and got some feedback from other owners in Adelaide via that.

Current plan is to DIY replace the head gasket with sub-$100 gasket kit available from car shops. If that's all good, then eventually upgrade the exhaust system + webers.
If the gasket kit doesn't go well, then might get someone to machine the head (in the case that it's warped).
The most common engine swap is from accords, like iMaxibon mentioned, followed by a City turbo engine, which drops in perfectly (but hard to source). When I mentioned VTEC I wasn't really serious, as it is indeed a too heavy engine for a 600 odd kg car, and barely fits in the engine bay. Many people have put B16 engines into their 1200's and hondamatics - the most difficult part of which seems to be the loom and making custom engine mounts. I'm quite happy with stock power anyway. Straight line acceleration alone doesn't win motorkhanas :P

I'll have to get one of those spacer measurement thingies Rots mentioned.

[Rots]

The correct name is Tappet Feeler Gauge, I think.

[petey]

yea thats them, can get them at supercheap or any auto store I believe.