Surprisingly, this car needed
little work. Brian, of Future Service Automotive
in Tempe, did the steering and brake work.
The steering had 4 to5 inches of play, but a new
set of pinion
bushings and a re-pack of the steering box
took care of that.
The rear wheel cylinders were leaking, so
they needed replacing. The main problem with these
little cars is there isn't much of a parts
network. But fortunately, someone is manufacturing
new
wheel cylinders that only took a little
modifying. New brake lines were needed in the rear
of the
car because the new wheel cylinders use a
different size fitting. So, I now know how to do
double flares.
The rear side marker lights and the license
plate lights were not working ,so I replaced
the bulbs,
which sounds a lot easier than it is, with no
results. Janice tracked down two broken
wires that proved
to be the culprits.
The brake booster/servo needed a
good cleaning, and a new set of almost impossible
to find
10 inch tires makes this cutie pie drive
like 1972.
I hesitantly replaced the seat belts, because the
old seat belts were a little brittle and outdated.
I installed a modern three point system. The
original seat belt warning light and buzzer system
still worked on this car!
I thought everyone disconnected this system about
five minutes after they bought their cars.
Some other cosmetic work, such as replacing the
dome light cover, polishing up some of the chrome,
using a clay bar to make the paint smooth as
glass, and a good hand rub wax job, has this car
up in beautiful condition.
Many of the rubber components were dry and
brittle. I replace them as I find them.
I found the window run channel at Steele Rubber
Products. Not a hard job, but time consuming.
Snaking through those thin doors, I probably would
have had an easier time back when
I was 110 lbs,
I ordered new roof stripes, from Civic Garage in
New South Wales, Australia. I literally have to
go all over the world for parts for this car.
I recently learned that the replacement seat
panels were originally used in AMC Pacers.
The "Blue Basket Weave" material looks great
with the Honda's Pal Blue exterior.