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Hello,

I just bought a "new" 1983 Honda Civic a couple weekends ago, so I thought I would get on a forum to learn as much as possible. I bought it from an old lady who was a school teacher on Victoria Island in Canada. It was has been very well taken care of and looks great. It has low miles, at only 43,000 km and is 100 percent stock. The only thing I have done to it is lightly tint the windows to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the interior. I originally planned on it being a commuter car, however, it is in such nice condition not sure if I want to drive it everyday. Anyways, I plan to keep it mainly stock, although in the future I may lower it and put different wheels on it. I'm just basically here to meet Civic enthusiasts and learn as much as I can about this 2nd gen civic. Any recommendations and advice would be greatly appreciated!

 
Rep Power: 368

welcome!

the.... hard part is to find a member that actually knows about these cars...
most have no idea what a carburetor is...

maybe ezone and me only have dealt with them? ah, stock99 too, if i am not mistaken

 
Rep Power: 368

don't like pointing to other forums if not needed, but in this case, i would recommend signing to this forums here:
http://honda-tech.com/forumdisplay.php?f=106

 
Rep Power: 519

Too old for me.
No personal experience with much that old.
(I rebuilt a CVCC engine back in about 1986 though, does that count?)

At work I would never admit to knowing what a carb is.

I doubt there are even any books that old at work, and there sure isn't any tech info on Hondas ISIS website covering anything that old.

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Back when they were simple fuel metering devices that inaccurately poured gasoline into the airstream, they were all somewhat similar and relatively easy to figure out.
Simple 1 bbl, 2bbl, 4bbl. A farm of 1bbls. 3x2. 2x4.
Solex, Stromberg, SU, Quadrajet, Thermoquad, Weber, Holley, etc.

(I'm leaving out Toyota and Ford VV carbs. Those are reserved for a completely different list.)

See, once manufacturers all devised their own methods of vacuum, thermal, electric and electronic add-on controls in the name of meeting ever tightening emissions regulations, carb work went to hell because it took a lot of self study and info (that was often unavailable to anyone but a dealer tech that happened to be around at the time those controls were introduced) to thoroughly comprehend all the nuances of each. (In the mid 70s it started getting bad IMO)
The carbs themselves weren't so much the problem, it was all the other stuff that made them a problem.

During my time at a Mazda dealer, it took me a few years and actually owning 2 before I really understood how everything worked together as a whole. On one version of their carb and two emissions versions. And that was just on ones I owned.
(A bad running 2.6 Mitsubishi/Mikuni with Mazdas emission controls stacked on top was just a nightmare for me. Most didn't run well when they were brand new. There was one of those trucks I just could never figure out.)

EFI simplified and standardized so much, it isn't even funny. EFI kinda leveled the playing field again, to a certain extent.

 
Rep Power: 368

^ Word! and oh, yeah. my carb experience is mostly on VW, beetle and some other models that were never sold in US.

 
Rep Power: 205

Sure I'm familiar with the '83 Civic....

My '81 was much more pimping though...

 
Rep Power: 519

^^I'm diggin the raised white letter tires!

 
Rep Power: 205

I must too....look at the wheels on my truck

 
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good score... beautiful car ridiculous mileage..if it was mine I wouldn't change a thing and only drive it occasionally.

I don't know what your plans maybe though...life is short drive it like you own it is a good plan too. You'll get tons of comments on it everywhere you go since almost everyone learned to drive on a Civic just like that, lol.

Too bad about the red interior though...that would have been a deal breaker for me even if the car had 0 miles and a glovebox full of cash...sorry that's just the was I feel about red interiors. I think red and white interior looks a lot better than just red though...maybe some seat covers are in order and they will save that cherry interior as well.

http://www.fastcoolcars.com/Int/interiors-076.htm

I've never seen a set of aftermarket rims I've ever liked on these older Civic and I'm thinking probably because there aren't many rims that will probably fit that car... it started with a stock 13"x5"(?) rim I believe. Selection seems pretty limited on rims until you're in the 15" + area (probably too wide for your car). I was trying just to find 14" for my '99 and there's not much out there. I'd try to find some older Honda mags that they used on SI models. Might be able to find a 14" Honda rim that would look pretty sweet. I know Honda made a 11 spoke SI rim in 15" perhaps there's a 14" out there too. I don't know if you'd have much luck lowering it either for same idea there probably just isn't much available that would just bolt on.

Should spend some time figuring out what you really want before you start tearing up that classic car...

Speaking of that you also might be able to get a 'collector' plate for that car and pay 10% of what your normal insurance cost would be. Can't modify it after though.

keep us posted!

 
Rep Power: 519

You dang kids.

68 Chevy Nova, 307/4-speed
68 Pontiac Executive, 400/auto
63 VW Bug, 40HP/4 speed
73 Buick 225, 455/T-400





/Lawn. Off.

 
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hah I know, i hate the red interior. The only positive is that it is in pretty good shape. I would typically never buy a car with red interior, but considering I only bought this to commute with, I was willing to put my ego aside. Even though after I bought it I realized just how good of shape it was in and debating if I want to drive it everyday. I wouldn't mind changing the entire interior to black, but it seams like it would be a lot of hassle and I haven't had too much luck finding clean, used interior parts. But for the time, I may just get the seats reupholstered with black and change the red carpet to black. At least make me feel better for the time being.

My overall plans is to keep it basically stock. I did smoke the windows to give a little privacy and reduce sunlight from fading the interior because I am unable to park it in a garage at the moment. Might lower and new wheels later down the road, but THAT IS IT! Other than that this car is staying stock as ****. I have seen some of these lowered, and they look good, but just haven't done enough research on them yet. Same with the wheels. Although I do like the gold ones lower in the thread, I haven't done enough research on what I want yet. And right now I'm trying to reep the benefits of good mpg.

And I did get collector plates for her

 
Rep Power: 205

Good score on the collector plates...style.

Maybe just try changing the carpet out without doing the seats first. It would still be a shame to alter the original seats or try to find some other seats from a wrecker to reupholster.

I'll bet it's no easy task to find anything for that car anymore though.

good luck!

 
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The only problem is the driver's seat is going is getting to the point where there is going to be a hole in it. The passenger seat is perfect, the driver's seat just has been worn to the point where it'll tear sooner or later. I'd like to keep the stock look if I get them redone, but not sure if they would replicate the original look.

 
Rep Power: 314

That red is stock? That's awesome.