Vtec or CVCC - Vtec is much better in my ‘76

This is my 1976 CVCC which was purchased from Dobbs Honda in Tucson, AZ.

It now sports a high compression D16Z6. 

I joke that I started the Honda swap craze, I did one of the first Honda swaps in Newport Beach, CA in 1989. I put a JDM Accord EK into a yellow 1979 CVCC 5 speed which also had dealer installed A/C.  We brought our first son home in that car. We then outgrew it & moved to a 4 door Accord & many many Honda’s & Acura’s & swaps since. 

That same son is currently doing K swaps & turbo charging Civics in Panama City, Florida.

Many years ago I found a running 1976 CVCC in the same yellow color as the 1979 that we had.

I couldn’t leave it stock so we built a 1994 D16Z6 for it which was from my 1994 EG coupe which I had had just done a GSR swap into. 

I also built rear discs for it using Prelude parts. It has a CRX Si 5 speed with lsd, BCR coilovers tuned to the Civic in England, running on Hondata. The list of upgrades is extensive & it is a hit at car shows & Cars & Coffees. It’s taken years to get it to this level.

The last picture is during the move to Florida, the powerstroke van tow beast, towing the CVCC & MR2 on the home made ex-5th wheel camper trailer. 

This thread seems to have fallen through the cracks and deserves a bump.  That last photo alone is very GRM - An extended cab E-Series truck with a utility bed towing a custom trailer with two Japanese classics fits in great here!

The tow beast was my ideal of a prefect rig for most of my life (seeing the dodge customs in the early 70’s)but my wife has “made” me go for more traditional pretty.  I love it. 

Btw, I’m just N of ya, east of Daleville. How long y’all been in Panama City?

I had a friend in high school that had a twin of that CVCC, down to the  yellow paint. As I recall, it was a blast stock. I'm sure this is a riot. Great stuff.

In reply to 03Panther :

We actually live in Port Saint Joe. Our son lives in Panama City. The CVCC is at our son's since he has a car port cover. We don't have a garage or cover here. 

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :  

Yellow was a popular color. It is a lot faster, handles better & stops much better than stock. 

That is beautiful.  Love the oem crx wheels - they look retro perfect.

In reply to 84FSP :

Funny story about those wheels. We went to a wedding up in the mountains in Idaho & by the side of the road were these wheels with a for sale sign. Got them for $80. 

I love this car.

This car looks like so much fun. I spotted an early CVCC in the junkyard last week that was mostly stripped to the shell. For kicks, I lifted it off the jackstands by hand.

I tried to find on of these in the north east quite a few years ago without much luck. This car/swap is stunning.

I wish car companies could / would build cars like this. 

I LOVE this car.. such a neat build!

OjaiM5 said:

I wish car companies could / would build cars like this. 

You can buy a new Chevy spark for 12k, probably similar power:weight.

Mdshaw, absolutely love this car and makes me wish for my '83 wagon back!

I had an 83 also. Wagons are cool but I like the hatch better. 

I had a '79 CVCC. So much nostalgia.

Neat project!

When I was a kid, we had a '79 Honda with a CVCC engine.  It was an Accord, not a Civic.  Are you guys pronouncing Civic as CVCC, or is it assumed that Civic means CVCC or vice versa?  I've heard people adopt this convention for four decades now, and it's always baffled me.

The CVCC was an engine.

It could come in the Civic, or the Accord.

Not all Civics had CVCCs.

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

The CVCC was an engine.

It could come in the Civic, or the Accord.

Not all Civics had CVCCs.

I'm with you, Skinny. I'm trying to figure out why so many people refer to an early Civic as "a CVCC".

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

The CVCC was an engine.

It could come in the Civic, or the Accord.

Not all Civics had CVCCs.

It was in the 1st gen Prelude too.  I had an 82 with a 1.8 CVCC engine. 

My second car was a 78 CVCC. Red, manual. That car started my love of hatchbacks and little small things. I followed that with a slew of Rabbits, bugs and buses over the last forty years. Love your car.

Sometimes I just say Civic because a lot of people have no idea what CVCC means. I believe the CVCC was more than just the motor though. The non CVCC (Civics) in Canada were/are a different size. 
In 1986 I drove my '76 Accord with a friend from Southern California to Vancouver BC for the worlds fair. After we left, we went to a wrecking yard & I got a non-CVCC head & smuggled it back in the US. Had it rebuilt & put it on the Accord. Learned this trick from Jackson Racing. I use to stop by their shop in Huntington Beach & had some of their parts on the Accord. The head made a huge difference over the awful CVCC head. Was a great running car with the Weber, higher compression, a cam, cam timing & JR's full wave ignition or something like that.
Took that motor out & put a stock JDM in so it would pass smog when I sold that one to a friend's daughter.
Put that non-CVCC & Weber & other bits in a '79 Civic -also yellow.  Another friend & I went up to Yosemite camping & were passed by a BMW & Porsche. We actually caught up to them right when the blue lights came on. We all pulled over & Mr. policeman walked up to our car & said "you can go, I'm after those 2". Like saying "your silly little yellow car, whatever it is, couldn't possibly have been going as fast as the German sports cars, get out of here." We slowly drove off...on to Yosemite.

This is a really funny story about selling the Yellow '79 in Perris, California. This is probably my favorite Honda story.

We just had our first son & since it was our only car, we needed a 4 door. Got a green '81 Accord.  Desert Storm had just started & gas prices shot up. Everyone was looking for little commuters. I listed the Yellow '79 for sale. A lady came over in her big Buick with her 2 kids. She had never had "an import" she said, & asked a lot of questions. I had already written everything different it had so someone could actually get parts for it. Oh this one also had the dealer installed a/c which was super cool & worked really well. She wanted to go for a drive but wasn't confident about driving a manual. So her kids got in the back giggling with excitement. I started it up & as it warmed up I showed her that everything worked, even a/c & she was surprised it had a stereo also.  So we pull out on the road & she asked if it went ok & that she had been in imports that  "didn't go good".  
I told her it goes just fine. We get out on the road & I run up through 4th gear, full throttle, 6,000rpm every shift. The kids are laughing their heads off, she is almost screaming hanging on for dear life. At about 70mph I say "there is 1 more gear, do we keep going", she says "No, No it goes really good, I'll take it".  We slow down & drive normally back home. 
We get home & she pays me, I hand over the title & keys & say goodbye to a great car that I still miss. She had to bring her husband back to drive it home.
That's why I found this yellow '76. 

Neat story - neat car!

How did I miss this the first time around-it's so cool!

What kind of LSD are you using?

What kind of setup are you using for the axels and suspension?

Did you make the motor mounts, or are they available?