I just moved to Portland and I've been seeing a few of these older (mid to late 70's) Civics pop up lately. Naturally it got me thinking, what are the possibilities? They almost look like a poor man's MINI Cooper. How do they drive? What kind of performance can you get out of these things? Engine swaps (bike engines, d-series, etc)? Any aftermarket parts?
Buy now, Ask questions later
Good answer, that was my initial thought.
Just before the forum was revised, we were discussing these cars in a thread.
My first race car was a 79 Civic 1200 and it was a lot of fun. The 1200 was the base model, non-CVCC, 4 speed and no tach. The CVCC (1500) was the higher end model. The CVCC was a little longer. The front fenders were different.
They were slow but light and handled well. They were easy to lower. The aftermarket sway bars that I had were pretty cheesy and had lousy mounts. Headers and Weber downdrafts were available.
The hot setup was to start with a CVCC and add a Canadian non-CVCC 1500 head. They were available as a hatchback or with a trunk (like an original Mini), but the body shape was the same. The trunk cars were lighter and stiffer.
Parts came from Jackson Racing or A-T Engineering.
Rust was an issue.
Woodyhfd wrote: Just before the forum was revised, we were discussing these cars in a thread. My first race car was a 79 Civic 1200 and it was a lot of fun. The 1200 was the base model, non-CVCC, 4 speed and no tach. The CVCC (1500) was the higher end model. The CVCC was a little longer. The front fenders were different. They were slow but light and handled well. They were easy to lower. The aftermarket sway bars that I had were pretty cheesy and had lousy mounts. Headers and Weber downdrafts were available. The hot setup was to start with a CVCC and add a Canadian non-CVCC 1500 head. They were available as a hatchback or with a trunk (like an original Mini), but the body shape was the same. The trunk cars were lighter and stiffer. Parts came from Jackson Racing or A-T Engineering. Rust was an issue.
I figured this had to have been covered already. Oh well. With the new layout there's probably not going to be a search function, huh?
Are any of these parts still available. I'm just thinking that one of these lowered on some panasports would look sweet. Maybe even some old school fender flairs too.
Then comes the engine....how hard would it be to swap a later d-series in there? Although I'm sure someone has already mentioned that too...
Jackson Racing had an awesome set of flares for the early 1200. I badly wanted to put them on the '73 I had when I was a kid.
Anything's possible as far as engine swaps go, as long as you have a big hammer, welder and a shitload of butter. But, a ZC swap would make one hell of a grocery getter. :twisted:
A 1980 Civic w/ a bunch of fab work--just lovely.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gaRrA9daX54
...and the Jeremy Enigk tune makes it even better!!!
'82 VTEC Civic:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R-RURWDHYzE
I had a '79 1200 sedan. It burned a lot of oil (probably more oil than gas). Otherwise it was a terrific, if basic. car.
I used to see them race up Chimney Rock.
http://www26.brinkster.com/drzoom/civichowto.htm
http://ns.netmcr.com/~mdouglas/civic1200.html
Check it out. Lot's of info in the first gen Civic. I love these crs. My sister has a few of them, stock and custom.
And a discussion board for them:
...and the Jeremy Enigk tune makes it even better!!!
Sunny Day Real Estate?
CanexicanStig wrote:...and the Jeremy Enigk tune makes it even better!!!Sunny Day Real Estate?
I didn't know if the song was SDRE or Enigk solo. Leaning toward solo Enigk, though.
Chris_V wrote: http://www26.brinkster.com/drzoom/civichowto.htm http://ns.netmcr.com/~mdouglas/civic1200.html Check it out. Lot's of info in the first gen Civic. I love these crs. My sister has a few of them, stock and custom. And a discussion board for them: http://www.1stgencivic.com/world/c1zr/m1/forum/index.php
Hey, thanks for the link....I was on that 1stgen site and it looks like a ton of useful information. It seems like an Accord or Prelude engine from that era would give a nice little kick with minimal work.
If I find one cheap, I'm snagging it.
I just bought a 1977 Civic this morning. :nice: The plan is to make it the 2009 BABE car and the $2010 Challenge car. How could I pass it up for $150.
GRM had one of these early Civics as a project car back in the day. I am pretty sure that a guy I know has that car rotting in his back yard now. It has a full roll cage with tech decals from all over the SE on it. He got it and another 76 I think for $500 about 4 years ago and never did anything with either of them.
We just scored a cage for one last night for $30! Hopefully we can "adjust" it enough to fit well in our LeMons CRX:
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/pts/674707235.html
These cars seem to be popping up a lot lately. I've seen a couple on ATL craigslist, and (Les) here on the board has(?) one for sale for $300.
I bought the Civic from Les. Wanna sell the cage?
jwdmotorsports wrote: I bought the Civic from Les. Wanna sell the cage?
No.
Dang. I guess that's what happens when you get behind on reading craigslist.
New guy here... I have owned 3 1st Gen Civics and absolutely love them. I had one in the garage from 1988 until 2004 and a majority of that time as a DD. I would still have one in my arsenal if I could find one locally with out rust (impossible in the mid-west).
Myself I have always preferred the 1200 over the CVCC. Not just from a styling aspect as I think the longer nose ruined the lines of the car and from my own personal experience I thought the EB series was a better engine than the ED. I know my 1200 could run rings around my 1500 CVCC and was far simpler to work on. Something as simple as disconnecting the air injection pump on the 1200 turned it into an entirely different animal.
You'll need to log in to post.
