Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

1990 Honda Civic SI. A new beginning. Actually the logical development of an earlier decision.

All photos sourced from the net.
Mine was white, but my Brother rushed out and bought himself a red one.
Of course he one upped me as his had A/C.

These little hatchbacks were just so versatile and useful.
Oh did I mention that they were fun to drive?

Part of the SI package were these great Recaro like seats.

The engine was well detailed and had the look of quality construction.

During my youth I had always been interested in Domestic cars. Only Domestic cars. There were a lot of fans of the ubiquitous VW Bug, and there were those of the hardy clan that obsessed over those little sports cars from Olde England.

For me it was always Cadillacs. My automotive fantasies always revolved around those big old American finned beasts. Over time my interests moved up to the newer models. Maximum mojo, just minus the fins.


Then I decided that I wanted to move up to something a bit sportier than a DeVille, so I decided that something a bit smaller might better fit my needs.

That was the beginning of my relationship with the Buick Riviera.

Still, I was adamant when I told my Son "that I would never own a small car!"

I'd tried my hand with a '66 Mustang and found that it was sadly lacking the glamour that I was craving.  It took another thirty five years for me to try them again.

Actually this was all taking place a few years after I gotten married and had moved up north to San Jose. This was a period of time when I didn't have a project car and I had to be satisfied with only having my Harley.

When we first moved back to San Jose we just had one car, we had left my Wife's wrecked old beater behind. That had been my rainy day ride. I had hoped that we would find something better after we had been settled in for a awhile. This plan resulted in an entire rainy season commuting on my Harley wearing a bright orange "Dry Rider" rain suit. I didn't need another year of that!

This time around I wanted to try something different. Maybe something smaller?

So I chose a 1975 Honda Civic CVCC coupe, with a five speed transmission. These were quite popular and were still seen everywhere on the streets. Mine was yellow like this one, but a little bit rougher. But hey, It only cost me 300.00!

Just a mild looking little car.

Under that hinged panel was an almost useful sized trunk.

That coupe led to a nifty little wagon. I even swapped in a new OEM crate motor to replace the original, which had suffered an unusual failure.

Just adding two more doors and a hatchback made for a terrific all around car.
Like all pictures presented here none are of my vehicle. Though this Civic was yellow also.

I've always had a thing for wagons.

These were the perfect answer for a city car.
Much smarter than the car that has carried that name.

I had a lot of experience with Honda motorcycles and my experience with these old Honda Civics was favorable as well. I decided that if these old examples were good, a brand new Civic would be even better.

I was right. I had done my homework. I read all the comparison tests. I'd also considered the Dodge Colt and the Geo Storm. Neither was comparable to the SI Civic. This model came standard with the best performance parts: 100 hp. motor with five speed transmission. Four wheel disc brakes, 14 inch. wheels, stiffer springs with front and rear sway bars. There was a nice cloth sport seat interior with a standard sun roof. All this with that famous Honda Quality.

This was an excellent performance car. It would cruise at 75-85 mph with a top speed of 110 mph. At normal cruising speeds it would return 36 mpg. The highest mileage I recorded at a steady 55 mph was 42 mpg. The five speed transmission was smooth and positive. Civics of this generation were equipped with a sophisticated short/long arm four wheel independent suspension. This was the Golden Age of the Civic platform.

This was also the most versatile of vehicles. I picked up the high school car pool load of four teens. I could fold down the back seats for additional cargo space. I even carried the new doors for my house by moving the passenger seat forward, tilting the seat back as far as possible with the rear seat down.

Perhaps the most outstanding attribute was that it was such a satisfying new car purchase. I felt that I had bought something that was really worth what I paid for it. It wasn't expensive, but it was Quality. That's what Honda meant in those days.

I haven't experienced so much satisfaction again until I bought my new F150.

It might seem a bit odd, that even though I was quite satisfied with the Honda after five or six years I got the hankering for another big old car. The timing seemed right. I had a new Dodge Caravan for the Wife and family. This car was going to be my Anti-Yuppie statement. What could be more offensive to Yuppie sensibilities than a boat tail Riviera? Nothing.

So I got one.

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Abandoning Yesteryear for the present day.

It's always something! Part Two, (of a never ending series.)

I was relaxing last Sunday morning after a very hard Saturday cleaning out the yard and loading my truck for a trip to the dump. I had been cutting up the stump and trunk of a fallen tree into 18 " sections that I could more easily lift. That little 14" electric chain saw from Harbor freight performed like a champ! It was still quite an exertion to get it all loaded in the truck. I was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday after taking the load to the dump. But Fate intervened.

I suddenly noticed that the toilet was not flushing properly. Oh no, maybe I just didn't flush it right. So I tried again. Rising water! A very bad sign. Fast forward to checking the outside sewer clean out. We had one installed a couple of years back, when all of our trees attempted to foil the smooth working of our indoor plumbing.

Always the DIYer, I rented a 75 ft. snake from Home Depot and ran it through the pipe. Right at 75 ft. I found some root blockage. But it still wouldn't clear the line. So I rushed back to Home Depot and exchanged the unit for a 100 ft. line. I ran that through several times, with no real improvement. Well, now it was time to call a "professional." I decided to wait until morning. I was about to pay those "emergency response" rates.

My family spent an uncomfortable night. On Monday I called the same company that had installed our clean out at 8 am, leaving a message. For some reason no one called back. We re-called at around 11 am. and reached the technician. He assured us that he could be there in a couple of hours. I beat feet to the dump and made my way quickly back. Just as I was parking, I saw the rooter van pull up.

Long story short, he ran a 75 ft., snake through and couldn't find anything. He then used a hydraulic water blasting bladder that succeeded in cleaning out the line. Success! All this only ran several hundred dollars, which included the two machine rentals. I did learn something from all this. I'm planning on picking up a drain cleaning bladder of my own.

So what does all this have to do with cars? Nothing, except that I only have so much energy available, and this was just another thing that saps my reserve. No wonder that I haven't had the time to work on my projects. So it's no surprise that I haven't touched the Mark VII in months. However, the garage emptying out process continues at a slow but steady pace. Slow but steady wins the race? Where have I heard that before?

photosource: YouTube and Warner Bros.