My 1981 Honda Civic
It's definitely worth more than what you paid for it brand new in '81. By chance, did you buy it from Hardin Oldsmobile/Honda in Anaheim? I've seen plenty of Honda Accords, Civics and Preludes from them back in the day. My brother has our late dad's 1980 Civic Wagon 5 speed. That wagon has taken a beating; it needs a carburetor repair now, and some minor body work to get back on the road. The wagon has new NGK plugs and wires I ordered from AutoParts Warehouse. A local mechanic in Cypress installed NGK wires on my Toyota truck, and told me these wires are usually longer lasting than the Borg Warner or Bosch wires sold in auto parts stores. The NGK blue wires seem to fire better than the Bosch wires my brother had on the wagon. The car passed the smog test with flying colors shortly before it started flooding. I've seen your car around OC several times.
Last edited by myfoxmystere; Mar 15, 2014 at 02:02 PM.
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Joined: May 2007
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From: Laguna Niguel, California
It's definitely worth more than what you paid for it brand new in '81. By chance, did you buy it from Hardin Oldsmobile/Honda in Anaheim? I've seen plenty of Honda Accords, Civics and Preludes from them back in the day. My brother has our late dad's 1980 Civic Wagon 5 speed. That wagon has taken a beating; it needs a carburetor repair now, and some minor body work to get back on the road. The wagon has new NGK plugs and wires I ordered from AutoParts Warehouse. A local mechanic in Cypress installed NGK wires on my Toyota truck, and told me these wires are usually longer lasting than the Borg Warner or Bosch wires sold in auto parts stores. The NGK blue wires seem to fire better than the Bosch wires my brother had on the wagon. The car passed the smog test with flying colors shortly before it started flooding. I've seen your car around OC several times.
I paid around $5,500.00 with the optional air conditioning. I bought it from Long Beach Honda in September 1980 when we moved out here to California.
Last edited by Lagunatic; Feb 23, 2019 at 05:51 PM.
That was another big dealer back in the day; the wagon also has the optional AC which was the only option my dad ordered with the car. My dad bought the car in August 1980. I bought a stereo from Radio Shack the following April 1981 and installed it myself. If my brother decides to fully restore the car, I have a new digital tuner cassette radio that I bought from a clearance sale at Kragen Auto Parts ready to install: a Jensen with front & rear speaker controls and an RCA amp hookup. I'd like to see the wagon back on the road, fully redone with fresh green paint and perhaps whitewall tires like it came with. I retrofitted it with a third brake lamp when it got rear ended back in 1986. I also remember Mr. Rowland, the salesman my dad spoke with, telling me it was smarter to buy the radio from an aftermarket place rather than the stock ones to save money and get one that you really like. I also installed fog lamps in 2009 under the parking lamps; it made a huge difference in nighttime driving. I had given the lamps to my brother one Christmas for his 1995 Civic, but then we decided not to install them on his 95 sedan. I got him a factory styled set about a year or two later, which we did install on the car. These lights sat around a few years in limbo until I got the Fit and saw the difference between it and the wagon's sealed beam halogens. The only thing I didn't use in the kit was the switch. I bought a lighted toggle switch to use in the dummy plug hole under the driver side.
Last edited by myfoxmystere; Mar 15, 2014 at 06:45 PM.
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 4
From: Sicklerville, NJ
Wow, what a beautiful car. There's nothing like that here on the east coast. All of them rusted back into the Earth. On another note, I also always loved that California License Plate design for some reason.
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 108
From: Laguna Niguel, California
Hondas will last forever as long as you don't go messing around in snow country
Amen
Lagunatic here's a great way to make the engine compartment look like the rest of DX. Purchase a 16oz spray cans of WD-40 with the red nozzle attached and cut up an old terry cloth towel into 12"x12" and 18"x12" then spray one of the lager ones w/ WD and wipe down the under side of your hood. After you see the before and after results I'll bet you'll have her looking so good in there it'll be time for another photo shoot for us!
The WD will not harm the stickers or paint. Use a small brass brush to will take years of oxidation off the aluminum parts too.
JK.
But this is what I like to do!
The first pic is one I just picked up, 91 Si.
The second is 1990 std., "Lil Red" that me and my youngest are finishing up for the car shows this year.
Mike :D
Last edited by Perrenoud Fit; Feb 28, 2015 at 05:48 PM.
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 108
From: Laguna Niguel, California
That was another big dealer back in the day; the wagon also has the optional AC which was the only option my dad ordered with the car. My dad bought the car in August 1980. I bought a stereo from Radio Shack the following April 1981 and installed it myself. If my brother decides to fully restore the car, I have a new digital tuner cassette radio that I bought from a clearance sale at Kragen Auto Parts ready to install: a Jensen with front & rear speaker controls and an RCA amp hookup. I'd like to see the wagon back on the road, fully redone with fresh green paint and perhaps whitewall tires like it came with. I retrofitted it with a third brake lamp when it got rear ended back in 1986. I also remember Mr. Rowland, the salesman my dad spoke with, telling me it was smarter to buy the radio from an aftermarket place rather than the stock ones to save money and get one that you really like. I also installed fog lamps in 2009 under the parking lamps; it made a huge difference in nighttime driving. I had given the lamps to my brother one Christmas for his 1995 Civic, but then we decided not to install them on his 95 sedan. I got him a factory styled set about a year or two later, which we did install on the car. These lights sat around a few years in limbo until I got the Fit and saw the difference between it and the wagon's sealed beam halogens. The only thing I didn't use in the kit was the switch. I bought a lighted toggle switch to use in the dummy plug hole under the driver side.
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Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 86
From: SF Bay Area, CA USA
Wow! That's where I bought my '85 Honda CRX when my ship was homeported there.
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