So, I bought a Honda

Like many car stories, mine starts like this:

screenshot_2016-08-22-20-16-44This is why Craigslist is dangerous! One day I get the idea that these things are cute and in a couple days I’ve found a dirt-cheap car, read my fill of the 1stgencivic.com forums, and somehow am still interested in a car with a blown head gasket.

screenshot_2016-08-22-20-16-59Before this, I’d only bought two cars, and they’d both been running. I’d done maintenance on them, but that only went as far as brakes or wheel bearings, certainly nothing like a head gasket. Nonetheless, the idea was in my head and couldn’t be banished. I ended up going to look at the car, and it was unfortunately worse than the ad made it sound. The valve cover was in the passenger footwell and the air cleaner and distributor were hanging out of place under the hood. Nothing was labeled, and nine of the ten head bolts had been removed. I didn’t take a photo at the time, but it was pretty scary. Nonetheless, I liked it too much. $250 later and it was mine.

img_20160823_184531This photo is what it looked like right after getting it home and into the driveway, exactly like I bought it. It’s not a pretty sight. I also don’t have any photos of waiting for AAA or of unloading it at home, but this is what it looked like the next day:

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The car is a 2nd generation Civic, in the 1983-only “1500 S” trim which put the larger 1.5 L CVCC engine in the 3 door body style with a 5 speed transmission.

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Since this car is so small, getting it in the driveway wasn’t too difficult, and it was in its home for next few months.

img_20160823_184527In my next post I’ll go over what we started with, what the plan for it is, and how we got started on it.

3 thoughts on “So, I bought a Honda

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  3. Pingback: Dabbler : Installing the Head on my 1983 Honda Civic

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