Want to see what oils looked like in the 1970's...

[lars11]

those old mags really have a feelgood air! And, the issues seem to be the same! Amazing.

 

[fdcg27]

My wife owned a 1976 Civic CVCC 4 spd, which she had bought new, when I met her. It had ~80K then. It had had typical girl maintenance, in that she asked me to check the oil one day, and I had to add two quarts to that ~3.5 qt sump. She asked me to look at the brakes and I found one of the calipers seized. The bore looked okay and a piston kit and new pads were pretty cheap. I personally rebuilt the carb, and was very pleased with the improvement in the way the engine ran.
I used 10W-40 of whatever brand in it at 3K intervals, with no need for top ups (how long had it gone to have been two qts low?), and it had reached 160K when we sold it.
This was the first Honda I had ever driven. I was very impressed with the free-revving, smooth little engine, as well as the go-kart handling. Of course, there was also a go-kart ride. The first gen Civic shell also had remarkable interior space for such a small package.
The minimal output of the engine still yielded decent acceleration, due to short gearing and low (<1800 pounds!)weight. Fuel consumption averaged 34 MPG, IIRC.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
My wife owned a 1976 Civic CVCC 4 spd, which she had bought new, when I met her. It had ~80K then. It had had typical girl maintenance, in that she asked me to check the oil one day, and I had to add two quarts to that ~3.5 qt sump. She asked me to look at the brakes and I found one of the calipers seized. The bore looked okay and a piston kit and new pads were pretty cheap. I personally rebuilt the carb, and was very pleased with the improvement in the way the engine ran.
I used 10W-40 of whatever brand in it at 3K intervals, with no need for top ups (how long had it gone to have been two qts low?), and it had reached 160K when we sold it.
This was the first Honda I had ever driven. I was very impressed with the free-revving, smooth little engine, as well as the go-kart handling. Of course, there was also a go-kart ride. The first gen Civic shell also had remarkable interior space for such a small package.
The minimal output of the engine still yielded decent acceleration, due to short gearing and low (div>


Cool story!

My step-mother had a 1977 Civic CVCC 5-speed as well. When I asked her about it and how reliable it was when I had my Civic, she said that for the first 6 years she owned it, so did NOTHING but a break job, and 3750-mile interval oil changes.

 

[Doug Hillary]

Hi,
I also purchased the then revolutionary Civic - around 1972-3 in New Zealand - soon after they were released. It was an excellent car and so easy on fuel

 

[addyguy]

That reminds me, my Aunt in Australia had a 1975 or so Civic in white in the early 1980's.

While I was visiting there in 1982, she traded it in a brand new Suzuki hatchback - a very, very early Forsa. It was bright yellow, and real cute....

 

[CharBaby]

A girl friend of mine purchaced new a 72 CVCC w/2spd auto. It was orange and slow but, seemed to be a decent car in the day. I was driving a 68 LeSabre 2dr w/350-4bbl. A Buick 350 at that! Almost the same body style as the WildCat.

 

[Stanley Rockafeller]

Funny, while scanning thru those ads for car parts and tools, I realized that none of my current cars require/need their timing set! Not even my old 88 bmw requires it done!

 

[chad8]

i too had a 1979 civic. i ruined the axle trying to pound it through the rotor hole to fix a bad rotor. I was young and dumb and didn't know much about pressed bearings and calipers. I remember that a water pump went and i whined about the cars not being reliable compared to my 12 mpg 1976 monarch so i dumped it.
that thing was a rattle box ,but got great mileage.
I also remember coming home after catching 2 15 pound salmon off a pier in Michigan with the tails sticking straight up in a 5 gallon bucket and still fitting in the hatchback. My dad was impressed.