Barn Find Mystery: Can We Get This 1979 Honda Running? Japanese Classic Weber Carburetor Upgrade

Today on Americana we've come across a Japanese classic. It wasn't in the barn, it was next to the barn! its a 1979 Honda Accord 1.8 5 speed cvcc motor. Come along for the ride as we tear into this old neglected daily driver. we have ditched the crazy octopus carburetor for a Weber conversion and i will show you how its installed.

[@shahidnazir3597]

I had this in 1985. It was 1979 that I bought in 1985. It had only 27000 miles. I enjoyed the car, very reliable. It was almost new. Have it to another student when I moved to Phoenix Az

[@Americana777]

Great little cars, fun to drive

[@rickloera9468]

My parents had a 1979 Honda Accord from New. It was one of the first 4 doors sold out of San Jose California. Our mechanic referred to this as THAT CRAZY HONDA. This car was a never ending money pit, but we loved it. These used to be everywhere. You couldn't drive a mile without seeing one back then. The neat thing about this car is all California cars had to run on unleaded from 1975 on. Honda didn't have to until the 1980 model year, so this car ran on leaded regular grade gas. There were a few others. I think Volkswagen Rabbit still burned regular til like 77 as well as Subaru. Not bad for a California legal car.

[@Americana777]

Awesome story and interesting!

[@FuckSlowShit]

With ethanol in gas nowadays one of the reasons why these cars are long gone. it eats up the carbs, and fuel lines, that's why I use Sta-Bil 360 Protection for every refill at gas station. For my 85 Nissan Sentra sedan it's a box I can't get rid of it's a family member for a while now . New cars won't last that long that's for sure people already ruined old cars . So will the new cars with poor or no maintenance and their driving style will effect it too fast fast fast fast fast fast

[@MOUSEBOWEN]

I just bought exactly the same car last week 1980 Honda accord LX same color with 72000 original miles in amazing condition. Paint is like brand new . Front seats needs to be redone . The grand kid who inherited the car from his grandmother cut the muffler and is little loud. Not as loud as yours. My is automatic too. It has one fart when I turn it off. Has the same carburetor as the one you installed. I replaced the coil from a high performance one MSD BLASTER 2 (red one) it made a big difference more power now . I keep the original just in case. Next week I’m going to take it to install a new muffler to make it quiet. I absolutely love it so much. Water pump got replaced last week and timing belt and gaskets. I replaced the front tires

[@Americana777]

Nice, they are awesome little cars!

[@MOUSEBOWEN]

@@Americana777 I absolutely love it . The only problem I can find parts for this little cars . eBay or Amazon nothing that scares me if something goes wrong how the hell I can fix it without parts . I guess solution will be engine and transmission swap

[@robertvance1873]

I'm glad you are trying to get her going, good little car.

[@Americana777]

Thanks for watching!

[@exebassman]

I have a 81, same color, currently working on it, this video helped a lot, thanks man!

[@Americana777]

Awesome! Love these old hondas, they are getting hard to find.

[@96g20t]

Pretty sure the 1st gen, 76-79, was originally meant to run on leaded gas. Due to it being phased out, the valve seals suffered if you didn't use an additive. The 80-81 model had hardened seals to run on unleaded, no more issues. I was a kid, I just know my friend's dad had one, and he told me this.

[@Americana777]

Interesting, thanks for the info!

[@matthewanderson7766]

The drums just need to be adjusted probably would make a good daily cool little car

[@Americana777]

More parts coming for it, thanks for watching!

[@carinoe1]

taking out the fuel pump relay and just adding a jumper wire would of fixed the issue, i had the same thing but the weber is a good direction to go tbh

[@Americana777]

Thanks

[@georgio3674]

I just finished putting a Weber on my 1980 accord about an hour ago. Just need to connect the fuel line.

[@Americana777]

They run great! Love it!

[@Chappomusic]

This Accord has one of Honda's best ever engines runs 500.000 km with no problems. Really enjoy watching your vids . What's you story ? You have your own shop ?

[@Americana777]

Yes hondas tend to be extremely reliable. I run a shop with a good friend of mine we started it a couple years ago.

[@timothyballinger6280]

Must be a 79 Honda day cause Watch JR go just did a video on a 79 civic. Looks like the accord was a better vehicle than the civic in 79. Awesome car👍

[@Americana777]

Thats weird! Thanks for watching! It is an interesting little car.

[@JT-dx1qk]

Those carbs are easy , just remove the top screws and lift the top , everything you need to access is right there , we never removed the carb

[@Americana777]

Nice!

[@robertscott6277]

Hey man I really like your video and believe your a smart and talented dude. I'm sorry for the super long comment and not criticizing you in a negative way. But I have a 1980 accord that I've had since I was 18 (27 now). But anyways I ran the original Kehin carb and drove the car daily for 4 years and went on many adventures with it. But I had it sit in storage for another 4 years and recently pulled it out. It was NOT easy to make it run and drive again with countless times pulling the carb apart in half and doing my best to clean all the junk fuel out. But finally I made it run and drive well for about 4 months daily. But when it started getting hot this summer it eventually just would not start and would just flood the engine so bad it would lock it up and fill the crank case with gas. I could NOT for the life of me get it figured out again. But I did the same thing you did and bought a Webber 32/36 Redline kit and I could not be happier. But.. For 1. The factory electric fuel pumps in these cars ONLY pump when you are turning the engine over and when it is running (kind of simulates a mechanical pump) and should only pull a maximum of 3-4 PSI. For 2. From the best of my knowledge and research you have the carb itself backwards. The electric choke should be facing towards the front of the car because the way the intake ports are shaped for primary and secondary. But your adapter plates are correct! And for 3. You didn't HAVE to use the heat shield between the intake and the adapter plate. It dose not effect anything having it or not. But In my opinion it's cleaner looking without it and less gaskets you need to use. But ANYWAYS! That's just my experience and I have subscribed! PS. I heard in the end of your video you are selling your Nova. I have a 71 2 door street car with a pretty roudy small block and 4 speed with a 12 bolt and 4.11 rear gears. Been building it since I was a teenager. But once again sorry for the long comment. I just liked your video and had to share my experience. Peace!

[@Americana777]

Thanks for watching! I did find out about the fuel pump later haha i felt like a dummy for that one, and on the carb orientation, i wanted to install the weber so the secondary butterfly (the one that opens later in the throttle range) was aligned where the "auxillary barrel" on the kehin carb was. I know thats not how most people installed them but i couldnt help but install it that way because i thought that would make the most sense, hell, maybe i did it wont tho.

[@rgeniec]

I’m going to run my heat shield and put heat reflective tape on the underside or possibly wrap the whole thing for looks. The carb sets right on top of the exhaust manifold so I bet it gets pretty hot.

[@jamesmichael3998]

If it flooded as much as you say then the oil is diluted with fuel causing it to smoke. Cheers from Jacksonville Florida 🌞

[@Americana777]

Ah good point, ya needs an oil change at this point.

[@robertj2]

Those were great cars. My family had an 81 and it took a chick in her Bonneville smacking it to finally kill it. People waited over a year for them.

[@Americana777]

Aw that sucks! Yea they would be great get around cars!

[@carinoe1]

get a sync link kit for the car and itll open both throttle plates wide open, itll fix that problem

[@Americana777]

Interesting thanks

[@user-vl5dz6oc9g]

Also look for a cataletic converter.

[@Matteo-xm6xo]

Good video.new subscriber 👍

[@Americana777]

Thanks for watching!

[@angelodimas4116]

can you make a video about the fuel pump please? i have a 81 accord with a fuel pump issue and idk how to set up a universal fuel pump lol. If you cant I appreciate it anyways and I luv the vids!

[@Americana777]

I dont have this car anymore, BUT i have learned that the original fuel pump wqs probably just fine, they somehow can feel or sense the backpressure and they only pump when the carb starts to empty so if you can get the car idling it should starting clicking or running, or maybe it gets power when there is rpm but i encountered the same thing on a hond motorcycle and thats how i learned, it was basically the same pump on the bike. If you change to a universal pump just wire it to a positive wire that is on with the key on and off when the key it off, a relay is recommended. Then just ground the black wire to the chassis somewhere

[@angelodimas4116]

@@Americana777 much appreciated! i'll definitly give it a try!

[@user-vl5dz6oc9g]

I thought the 1979 honda accord engine had a precombustion chamber. They did this for lean burn.

[@rgeniec]

Question. I’m doing this swap on my CVCC civic. Same issue with throttle linkage hitting Brake booster vacuum line. If I flip carb around problem is solved. Fuel line on correct side and throttle cable perfect. My question. Does the primary/secondary have to be be in the same location. Stock is primary back/secondary forward. I would like to reverse that and go primary forward and secondary rear. You think it would work this way? Seems like it should. Thanks for any help.

[@Americana777]

will it work? yes i think it will work, but the design is that way so the rearward barrel will create more torque due to the runners being longer, when the forward throttle opens the runners are shorter this creates more top end power, so yes i believe it will run, but that is why i went out of my way to get mine to fit like the original.

[@saidalhamadi]

Hello my friend, can my 1979 Honda Accord be returned? I would like to modify it again. Thank you, Saad from Morocco.

[@Americana777]

Thanks for watching

[@hsaereh7585]

Do you think you could do a carburetor to fuel injection conversion with that honda accord?

[@Americana777]

Anything is possible, but at that point might be worth just doing a D series swap or something i havent seen it done but im sure someone has done one, with the weber carb the car runs great fuel injection conversion wouldnt be worth it. Thanks for witching.

[@hsaereh7585]

@@Americana777 alright, thank you for helping

[@MOUSEBOWEN]

Where did you get parts for this car? I look on Amazon and googled for parts and I can’t fine nothing at all. Couple things on eBay

[@Americana777]

I got the carb kit on ebay. But you correct parts in general for these are not easy to find

[@chinlbc]

Big question is the Honda accord the same engine as the civic ? Cause I need some new head bolt cause I got my block re surfaced

[@Americana777]

I would assume yes, but i cannot give a definite answer, thanks for watching

[@kevinkobayashi]

how many miles does this above honda have? is it possible to find a low mledge honda on this car for a 79-81

[@Americana777]

Gosh i dont remember i think it was under 200k.

[@FXCartel]

I have a 1980 accord 1.6 el engine and want to do this what did you have to do for throttle?? I hope to just plug and play with the 38/38 is this the 32/36

[@Americana777]

I dont remember what carb exactly it was, it was pretty near plug and play. Dealing with the throttle cable on carbs can sometimes be a pain

[@FXCartel]

I've got my carb an it fits perfect but I'm not sure where to fit the tube from the brake booster as I don't have the adapater like yours for cvcc the original adapater I took off for the klehin did have holes but my new adapater doesn't