Coatchawa

Hello all! I am new to the Honda world.

I have had several imports, and have had many opportunities to work with the Subaru EA81/82 and EJ22/25 motors, the oh-so-wonderful 88-92 Ford Festiva 1.3l (Mazda motor), and others.

I made a trip out to Montana, to scope out a $400 Subaru EA82T I had found on Craigslist. I made it out there with my truck and trailer, ready to pick the car up. The car cranked and ran under it's own power, but the turbo housing was cracked, and belching oil into the engine bay. There were several other electrical problems along with much more rust than the seller had realized, so I opted to pass on the opportunity.

This bloke's property went on farther than the eye could see, and it was obvious that he hoarded cars. That Subaru if I hadn't mentioned, had been sitting for a good 4-6 years. Under some trees and in a few bushes, I saw a gem. Something I've always thought about, but never got around to buying. A 6th gen Civic hatchback.

The paint along with the glass was covered with a layer of muck and moss, but with a little spit and my shirt sleeve, I found that it scrubbed off easy enough to reveal what looked to be a "still okay" factory paint job. I asked the gentleman if he had ever considered selling it, and he said that he had long forgotten about that car.

After battling twigs and bushes out of the way, the driver's door was unlocked, and I was able to sit inside. The interior looked to be in good condition underneath a good layer of dust and suit, with no major holes or rips to be seen. I reached up to wipe the cluster to see the mileage, and what I saw next really surprised me. "000006" on both the odometer, and trip meter. Going by what I have learned at the past, I examined the two screws holding the bezel in place for the cluster, and the screws looked to be untampered, and never removed. I remembered hearing that screws holding in those bezels are usually made of extremely soft metal, and any attempts at initially are meant to be extremely visible. No shiny metal, no nothing.

I talked to the man, and he said that car had been sitting for a good 17 years now. (which would be at some point in 1997-1999). It had been his father's, who had passed away, and the car had sat ever since. From what I gathered, he had quite a will and estate to give away on his death, and nobody bothered with the nearly new 1997 Honda Civic. I did not mention to him how many miles the odometer said it had for obvious reasons, and he said I could have it for $350, which is about what the junkyard would give him for it.

I grabbed a chain out of the back of the truck, unhooked my trailer, and yanked a silver 1997 Civic hatchback out of the bushes, with four completely flat and rotten tires. Loaded it up on the trailer, and left.

After getting home, I looked up the title, got some reports, and the man's story seemed to be true. There had only been one registered owner of the car, and it was the man who bought if from the Honda dealership. On the way home, I stopped at a carwash, and washed the car off. After a good 15 dollars or so in quarters, I had the exterior scrubbed enough to reveal a fairly nice silver paintjob. After a claybar and a generous amount of wax, I'm sure it'll actually look very nice. After a trip to the pullapart, I found four "okay" factory rims with tires that held air, for about $20 each. Money well spent.

I opened the hood, and found the baseline D16Y7 motor, no vtec, nothing fancy, just a housecat compared to other Hondas I've seen. But hey, it had A/C.

Here are the following things I have done to this car, before even starting it up or checking compression:
- Spark plugs
- Spark plug wires
- Fuel filter
- New manual transmission oil
- New motor oil/oil filter
- Cap/rotor
- Radiator flush (drain and refill, anyway)
- Brake fluid flush
- Clutch fluid flush
- New gas, old (very stinky) gas disposed of
- New battery + terminals
- New oil pan gasket, cam gaskets
- New belts
- Checked valve clearance, new valve cover gasket

And probably a few other things I'm forgetting off of the top of my head. I did not replace any sensors. Let me also mention that this car was still full of 17 year old oil, and did not leak any out through the years.

Before putting in the new spark plugs though, I'm letting the cylinders soak with a few ounces of MMO each, in hopes of freeing up any frozen piston rings. Tomorrow, I'm going to turn over the engine w/o any gas or spark plugs, to flush the MMO out of the cylinders. Then we do the "first known start in 17 years". Any important tips anyone has before trying to start it?

That's all for now!

ezone

WOW cool find! Keep the story going with updates

Welcome to the forum

Bar the engine over with a wrench before letting the starter do it? You checked valve clearances so this was already done?

Timing belt condition: It could be dry rotted and might not survive initial crank and run. Strongly consider replacing the belt now instead of bent valves shortly after the first attempt at starting.

Pulse the fuel injectors, make sure they click? Fuel pump runs?
Check engine light comes on? Other idiot lights come on?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Great find! Any pics?

Welcome.

Coatchawa

Yes! I have taken plenty of pics, and I will take a video of the attempted first start. How many other "97 Civic - First Start in 17 Years" videos will you find? None! :P

Coming soon.

Yes, the motor has been turned over by bar to check the valve clearances. All is well, and the valves were still within spec! In hindsight, I should have put some oil or MMO in the cylinders before turning it by bar to check the valves, but I don't imagine that would have scored the cylinder walls too awfully bad, as little as I had to move it. Definitely more turning by bar in the morning before the starter, though.

Timing belt was replaced along with water pump. Forgot to mention that. Oops!

Haven't checked the fuel injectors, but I will do that tomorrow before the initial startup.

As to the fuel pump, check engine light, etc, I haven't hooked up the negative side of the battery yet, so I have yet to find out if the electronics work, and the wiring is well. Hopefully no little critters have gotten hungry in there!