What to do with this?

Just picked this up last week with intentions on making it a driver, though it seems like I'm going to have to wait on that for a couple of weeks.

So here's the new ride, now with more 1.2L goodness!

The mystery cam gear...

Guess I should also mention I bought it for well under Challenge budget; only $600

$2011 challenge? Unless you think you can get it done for this year.

Unmolested original? Restore it! When was the last time you saw a non-molesred , non-ricereized, clean body one? At the very least, don't cut up the body/flarer-ize it... How's the underside rust?

cool.

I love it. Those all biodegraded a decade or two ago up here.

Neat. There's a weird old guy that lives near me that drives a black Si that body style.

You could sell it to me.

My first race car was a 79 Civic 1200. I'd love another.

Seems like a neat little car. Maybe convert it to some fuel injection setup? I'd probably tint the windows a little just to keep it a touch cooler inside, spend a day detailing it, and maybe find a pair of lowering springs that would drop it an inch or so just to get it looking right.

Seems like a great little DD and I really like the wheels. Nice find.

What do ya do? GIMMIE!

Seriously, full JNC restoration. Rare to find one so unmolested. Maybe a little period speed equipment, so it's a little more lively to drive, but you could make a real little jewel out of that.

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/

It's no GRM, but they serve a new niche. They've got a Honda forum over there, too (I lurk, looking for a 2nd Gen Lude to snipe..)

Nice find! I've always liked those. Wheels are nice too.

And it's a growing niche. FGC: there's a first generation Prelude in mint condition that comes out to play during the summer nearby that looks like it was delivered yesterday. Stopped me cold when I saw it.

Like the '70s muscle cars that have rocketed--and come down--some in price, the people who grew up with those early Hondas are getting to where they will think of them and go, "Wish I could have that again." This is one of those cars. Quicker than most people realize.

And with an adjustable cam gear.

SillyImportRacer wrote: Neat. There's a weird old guy that lives near me that drives a black Si that body style.

That's probably an '83 S. Different body but looks similar.

triumph5 wrote: And it's a growing niche. FGC: there's a first generation Prelude in mint condition that comes out to play during the summer nearby that looks like it was delivered yesterday. Stopped me cold when I saw it. Like the '70s muscle cars that have rocketed--and come down--some in price, the people who grew up with those early Hondas are getting to where they will think of them and go, "Wish I could have that again." This is one of those cars. Quicker than most people realize.

That's exactly what is happening to me! When I first saw sobedeath's find, I immediately flashed back to one that an old girlfriend in college had. And for me, the whole JNC thing is just getting worse..

The first dealership-new car I ever owned was an 83 Honda Prelude, first of the 2nd Gens with manual steering and those funky little Keihin sidedraft carbs on it. I used to wonder why the Muscle Car prices were getting so weird, until I saw one of these old Hondas on the street two years ago. Hit me like a brick.."I want my berkeleying car back. Never shoulda sold it".

Somewhere in all my crap, I've got a better pic with a very smug 21yr old me kneeling next to it, wearing a felt Fedora and thinking I was the coolest guy on Earth.

I finally get it. It really is about the person, and not the car. If I was Bill Gates, I'd track down the dealership records, find the VIN of my car, and go see if it's still out there. I finally understand the Muscle Car prices..if my checkbook was big enough I'd pay any price to find and restore my own. And if my own couldn't be found, I'd pay any price to have the best existing example of one in the world.

Me, I'll just go Grassroots and see if I can find any 2nd gen that's still reasonably healthy, and just clean it up. I hope I can find another blue one..and did I mention I still have my original factory shop manual?

Here's a picture of one of those from up here:

In reply to carzan:

ROFL! I've looked a a couple not much better. Yeah, you hear a lot of the guys who like domestics talk about "clean Southern cars". What a lot of people forget is that Southern climate doesn't help us import guys very much because Southerners didn't buy a lot of "them damn ferrin cars" back then.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

triumph5 wrote: And it's a growing niche. FGC: there's a first generation Prelude in mint condition that comes out to play during the summer nearby that looks like it was delivered yesterday. Stopped me cold when I saw it. Like the '70s muscle cars that have rocketed--and come down--some in price, the people who grew up with those early Hondas are getting to where they will think of them and go, "Wish I could have that again." This is one of those cars. Quicker than most people realize.

That's *exactly* what is happening to me! When I first saw sobedeath's find, I immediately flashed back to one that an old girlfriend in college had. And for me, the whole JNC thing is just getting worse.. The first dealership-new car I ever owned was an 83 Honda Prelude, first of the 2nd Gens with manual steering and those funky little Keihin sidedraft carbs on it. I used to wonder why the Muscle Car prices were getting so weird, until I saw one of these old Hondas on the street two years ago. Hit me like a brick.."I want my berkeleying car back. Never shoulda sold it". Somewhere in all my crap, I've got a better pic with a very smug 21yr old me kneeling next to it, wearing a felt Fedora and thinking I was the coolest guy on Earth. I *finally* get it. It really is about the person, and not the car. If I was Bill Gates, I'd track down the dealership records, find the VIN of *my* car, and go see if it's still out there. I finally understand the Muscle Car prices..if my checkbook was big enough I'd pay any price to find and restore my own. And if my own couldn't be found, I'd pay any price to have the best existing example of one in the world. Me, I'll just go Grassroots and see if I can find any 2nd gen that's still reasonably healthy, and just clean it up. I hope I can find another blue one..and did I mention I still have my original factory shop manual?

That's why i grin like I just won the lottery when I drive my Spitfire. It's a bit crude, and lewd, but, My first car was a '67 Spifire .I towed it home after paying $250 for it. My parents had no idea. Surprise. I replaced the clutch, fuse box, rebuilt the carbs, etc..in my grandparents garage during my senior year of high school.

My sister recently sent me a bunch of pics with me working on it. I sat spellbound for a half-hour reliving that part of my life, seeing the parts of the car I'd forgotten about...So when I drive my current Spitfire, it just makes me smile......

Yo, sobe!

http://www.1stgencivic.org/1stgeneration_civic/menu.htm

my first new car was a '76 1200... wish I had another one..

Put this on it:

triumph5 wrote: That's why i grin like I just won the lottery when I drive my Spitfire. It's a bit crude, and lewd, but, My first car was a '67 Spifire .I towed it home after paying $250 for it. My parents had no idea. Surprise. I replaced the clutch, fuse box, rebuilt the carbs, etc..in my grandparents garage during my senior year of high school. My sister recently sent me a bunch of pics with me working on it. I sat spellbound for a half-hour reliving that part of my life, seeing the parts of the car I'd forgotten about...So when I drive my current Spitfire, it just makes me smile......

I can feel some love for Triumph. I had a 69 GT6+ in high school. Every time irish44 posts up something about his, I start looking for one of those, too. At first, I had to hide it because my dad was one of those "yer gonna buy Ammuricun, or get out of my house!", but I eventually got to bring it home after my mom insisted (hell, demanded! That was one hell of a fight. I still remember it.) that my sister get a new car. One from Japan, so it wouldn't break down on the side of the road and cause the inevitable rape & killing of the stranded young girl. Ironically for this thread..that car was a shiny new 1980 (1st Gen) Honda Prelude!

I guess the reason I feel a little more nostalgic about my own Honda was because it was my first new car, and it was just so damn cool. I'd always liked Honda's jewel-like build quality, and here was finally a Honda with sporting pretentions. IIRC, the first CRXs came out the same year-I seem to recall test driving one, and deciding on the Lude because it was bigger. I guess I was more into GTs, even back then!

Almost back on topic, one of the funny things I've discovered about the JNC car culture (which I've seen a little of, since I figure that's a good place to find an 83 Honda.. ) is the reaction of the folks who are into the few "established" Japanese collectables. Some of the Datsun 510 and early Z & RX7 guys are running around telling everyone else not to be so loud, so that their own car and part prices don't go up.

The funniest thing about my contact with the JNC movement so far: Mitty 09, I'd gone to see the Gp.44 reunion stuff. Ran across a great bunch of young guys in some sort of JNC club. Struck up a conversation (asking if anybody had a line on a 2nd gen Lude, of course), and during the course of it, I mentioned an old ragged-out 76 Dat B210 I had for awhile when I'd dropped out of TV and worked as a house painter. Their eyes sparkled like kids at xmas. One of em actually asked me if I still had it. I said no. He then asked if I could remember who I'd sold it to.

Damn. I've been looking for one of those up here that isn't rotted out. I'd keep it looking stock, but upgrade the motor to a modern VTEC.

friedgreencorrado wrote: http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/ It's no GRM, but they serve a new niche. They've got a Honda forum over there, too (I lurk, looking for a 2nd Gen Lude to snipe..)

Great, now I have two magazines to read every month

It used to be more, but I've stopped reading about new cars. I think I'm officially an old fart

Kendall_Jones wrote: Put this on it:

OMG YES YES YES! Forget all of the other lines in that movie, that one is by far my favorite!

This will be my 6th Civic in 10 years; my first one was a 1980 wagon, then I owned a 78 civic (former ITD racer), then a 78 CVCC wagon, my 91 sedan, a 96 coupe and now this one.

I also got the bug to get my old Honda back, and it hasn't even been 10 years since it was gone!