Look what followed me home

I've been building and racing ministocks for about 8 years now. But a recent job change makes getting every saturday night off a bit of a challenge. So I decided to aim my interests in a different direction and build a street car that I could drive when I wanted, not just Saturdays that I can get off work and that aren't rainy.

So this is what followed my home last night after an exchange of $400.

1978 Honda Civic. It is mostly complete, just stripped completely down. Though I do seem to be missing the rear bumper, and possibly the grill. It was someones project that stalled for 8 years, and the wife insisted it had to go. Some kid bought it, did nothing with it for 6 months, and him mom made him sell it. And then I bought it.

The body is in amazing shape considering the year, and where I live. Who ever started the project had collected lots of spare parts as well, I have extra tail lights, marker lights, a fender, a couple of flywheels, couple of brake boosters and master cylinders and extra chrome bezels for around the headlights. Also some brand new parts such as new strut bearings, distributor parts, and valve seals. I'm still going through all the boxes of parts. The entire car has been stripped out and is in boxes inside. The engine is completely disassembled, I believe it is the 1200cc motor. But I have plans in my head for a SOHC V-Tec to squeeze in there. I wanna keep it looking stock, but with upgraded engine, and suspension. Probably all from a late 90's Civic. The wheels are only 12 inch, and they still have bias ply tires on them! Three of them are steelies, but one is an aluminum one, that is suppose to be ultra rare.

I'll get better pics later, I just got it home late last night. This might turn into a build thread.

Rollerskate-HP per pound is your friend.

In today's world, that's the size of a Yaris. I love it!

Sweet little project there! One of my favorite CHiPs! episode is the one with the big guy pulled over in the CVCC and he's so upset he rips the car apart.

In reply to HappyJack:

Great Find. I Love those things. Even stock, as slow as they were, they were a blast to drive. Happy cars.

Awesome! Welcome to the club! Do you have a picture of the alloy wheel?

Sweet. My first car was a '79 Civic CVCC which I bought from a friend for $250.

The 1200s with a hemi head breathed quite well. With a cam, a header & a pair of Mikunis & the 5-speed out of a CVCC you could p--off a lot of people in smog carbed V8s.

gjz30075 wrote: In today's world, that's the size of a Yaris. I love it!

Actually it is smaller than a Yaris. While towing it home we passed a new style Mini. It was huge compared to this Civic.

And unfortunately it isn't a CVCC, just a 1200. A CVCC would of been nice since apparently there is 3 inches more room under the hood for them. I think I'm gonna need every inch I can get.

Looks like a fun project car with the later model engine.

There is an 80' 4-speed car for sale in the Philly region if anyone else is interested in one; http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/2045151243.html

sobe_death wrote: Awesome! Welcome to the club! Do you have a picture of the alloy wheel?

If I had the other 3, I'd consider keeping them, but I think I might go 15 inch. Here is a pic of a 195/50/15 sitting beside the car. I think it will look cool. But not on those rims, it was just what I had around.

Ooh, my first car, too. A 1200cc Sedan (really, really small trunk, eh?). I wanted a CVCC Hatch with 5spd, but they were too spendy.

Cleaned out the boxes from the inside to get a better look at the floor, and take a quick inventory. Seems I'm missing the grill, carpet, and the key! This is why the tie rods were disconnected to move it around. I'm hoping the key shows up in one of the boxes, but not likely. Roof liner is in tact, but is dirty.

Great find! My younger brother had the CVCC version.

Man, as light as that thing is it will FLY with a D16 or similar, again for cheep.

Awesome!

My first race car was a '79 Civic 1200.

You can tell from the front fenders that yours was a 1200. The CVCC's had a slightly longer fender. Also, the trunk cars (non-hatchback) were lighter and stiffer. That's the one to have.

If you happen to have a 1200 smog pump in your pile of parts, I might be interested in swapping a little cash for it.

Woody wrote: If you happen to have a 1200 smog pump in your pile of parts, I might be interested in swapping a little cash for it.

I'll have a look and try to figure out if I have one. The entire engine is torn apart, but I'm sure it is all there. Infact I'm finding doubles of parts. I have a couple intake manifolds, and a couple flywheels, as well as master cylinders. I have to take inventory.

I'm assuming you have a 1st Gen Civic too? Maybe we can work out a trade for something I might be missing. But first let me see if I have what you need.

I'm assuming you have a 1st Gen Civic too? Maybe we can work out a trade for something I might be missing. But first let me see if I have what you need.

I don't have my 1st gen Civic anymore and all the parts I had went with the car.

I want to build a supercharged CT70 Mini Trail and I'd like to keep it all Honda. An early Civic 1200 smog pump would be perfect.

Sorry Woody, no smog pump.

Thanks for checking. Have fun with the car.

For those interested I started a build thread for my 78 Civic at 1stGenCivic.org. The plan is to keep it looking like 1978, but with a newer vtec motor and upgraded brakes, suspension, and wheels. Here is the link. 78 Civic build

Fifteen inch wheels will be a tough fit on there. And I think it won't look too good, either. Looks like you have your work cut out for you. I'm finally almost finished with mine after 4 years on it.

1200's came with twelves. Fourteen is a pretty big jump from there.

Back in the day, the hot setup was to find some early Accord 13" steelies, the four hole ones. They would bolt right up and they were half an inch wider than the later Accord rims.

Don't listen to the naysayers. My car came with 12's and now has 15's. Not one person who has seen it in person has disliked the look.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying, "Nay", I was just offering an observation.

The wheel size is still up in the air. I got a ways to go before I worry about it. As for rims though, I'm going with Diamond race wheels. They are steel wheels, I've used for my ministock, but I can order them in any size/ bolt pattern/ and off set. And fairly inexpensive too.

I plan on having fender flares, and bringing the wheels out to fill them.