Bought a 1991 Civic Si

[Rob.]

Recently in October 2009, I managed to finally buy a really clean 1991 civic si.
I had been haggling with the owner since January 2009...
There were only 2 previous owners, with the 2nd owner only keeping the car for 2 years and putting less than 5,000 kms on the car.
Believe it or not, the original owner was a gentlemen here named Bill Gardiner of Motoring TV television show on TSN here in Canada. I managed to get a hold of him through email right after I bought the car. He told me it was never winter driven, stored in heated garage every winter, and had no body or paint work. He used it for long trips to his cottage in Ontario Canada and Florida as well. Most of the time it sat in his mechanics shop covered.
The second owner who bought it in 2007 only put 5,000 kms in 2 years.
The car is in amazing condition ! It currently has 108,000 kms or 66,000 miles.
Mechanically it's all original including the original 19 year old Honda muffler !

I had sent the shows host some pics of the car in its current state, for an episode of the TV Show Motoring TV here in Canada. Heres the clip via Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6HtNC2i42U

Anyways, heres a few exterior pics a day after I got it to my house.









I had a bunch of maintenance work done to it, because alot of parts were still on the car from the factory !

- replaced timing belt + water pump
- drained engine block and radiator, added new Honda type 2 Coolant
- new thermostat
- new alternator belt
- new fuel filter
- flushed old engine oil using Amsoil engine flush
- Changed engine oil and filter used Amsoil 10w40
- changed original distributor cap and rotor
- 4 new Honda spark plugs
- replaced original spark plug wires with new NGK Blue wires
- replaced original air filter
- did emission smog test and passed with flying colors.
- car didnt need anything for safety certification.

Heres some recent pics:





















The engine bay was really the only thing that needed attention !
It had a buildup of 19 year old dirt and rustproofing, and a few nuts and bolts needed replacing as well due to corrosian! Well I spent 4+ days cleaning the crap out of the engine bay and engine itself ! Believe it or not, I basically used 2 cans of WD40, along with a paintbrush and a bunch of microfiber towels.

Here's what the engine bay looked like before I got to it. :unamused:





[img]http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/3554/4561/33884780026_large.jpg



Lastly I bought some rare center console pockets. The dealer said only 2 left in Canada so I bought both.
I also bought the last available rear center garnish.
Some pics.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3388478/3

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the pics.

cheers

[Ryland]

Nice!
I bought a civic vx from Colorado (they don't salt roads there) and I found that a few cans of spray on undercoating were needed as the undercoating was starting to flake off and get thin.
Do a tranny flush, the oil should be changed every 2 years, check the timing belt as well so you don't rune the engine.

[pgfpro]

WOW That thing is clean!!! "

"Lucky"

More pics!!!!!!!!!!

[Christ]

*drool*

[MetroMPG]

Wow, yup. Nice barn find! (My black Firefly was a barn find, so I understand the excitement.)

Looking forward to reading more about it. Looks lowered?

5-speed I presume? Too bad about the SI gearing, but you can fix that pretty easily

[srortega]

Nice find, it should be a fantastic car for you.

Is that the difference with the SI models, are they just geared different or is the engine different as well? How do you "fix" it.

[Rob.]

Yes I replaced alot

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by srortega

are they just geared different or is the engine different as well? How do you "fix" it.

Engine is different too.

"Fix" the gearing by replacing the transmission with a taller final drive from another model! The great thing - as I understand it - about Hondas of that vintage is they're pretty plug 'n' play in terms of drivetrain components.

[Christ]

Metro - absolutely correct.

Even better, the HF kit is basically a direct swap, with only wiring for EGR to worry about, and a few small pinout changes. No real wiring to do.

That would be an 8 valve 62HP D15B8 engine, 5 speed long-ranged transmission, and PM8 (I believe).

[Clev]

That is amazingly clean. Great find!