Civic 1200 How-to`s
Jetting for a single weber 40 DCOE:
- First off, You must have the float level
adjusted perfectly. Webers are extremely sensetive to float
level. All of these jetting recipies are meant to work with a float level of:
-BRASS FLOAT 26 grams Closed: 8.5mm from top of float to top
plate with the gasket installed and not compressing the ball
spring. It should be just touching it. Open: 15mm from top of float to top plate with
the gasket installed.
-PLASTIC FLOAT Closed: 12mm. Open: 19mm.
STOCK
Chokes:
28-32mm
Mains: 140
Airs: 200
Emulsion Tubes: F7 (very important)
Idles: 45F9
Accelerator Pump Jets: 35
Accelerator Pump Exhaust: 0.00
(closed)
Fuel Inlet valve: 2.00
CAM/HEADER/EXHAUST
Chokes:
29-32
Mains: 140
Airs: 190
Emulsion Tubes: F7 (very important)
Idles: 45F9 or 50F9
Accelerator Pump Jets: 35 or
(50 with 0.55 accelerator pump exhaust)
Accelerator Pump Exhaust: 0.00 or (0.55 with 50 accelerator pump
jets)
Fuel Inlet valve: 2.00
CAM/HEADER/EXHAUST/PORTING
(works with 1335cc crank
too)
Chokes: 33mm
Mains: 145
Airs: 150
Emulsion Tubes: F7 (very important)
Idles: 50F9
Accelerator Pump Jets: 50
Accelerator Pump Exhaust: 5.5
Fuel Inlet valve: 2.00 or a little bit more (2.50)
Scrapyard Hunting?
Honda/Acura
The earliest Honda Civics with the 1170cc engine suffer from
terminal anemia; while the chassis is decent, the engine is not
quite up to the task. Honda bumped the displacement of the
Civic's engine to 1238cc in 1973 by increasing the bore to 72mm.
In 1976, the Civic was blessed with a new head that offered
significantly larger valves and a domed combustion chamber to
match the new domed pistons. This popular big-valve head will
bolt right onto the earlier Civics.
Another good trick is to use pistons from Honda's GL1000
motorcycle in any of the early Civic blocks with a 72mm bore.
These pistons offered a substantial compression increase without
a huge weight gain. With some minor clearance modifications, the
crank from a 1980-'83 Civic 1300 can be installed in the early
blocks. The additional 6mm of stroke that this crank yields turns
the little Civic motor into a torque monster.
If you don't want to screw around with swapping parts, just grab
an entire engine. The 1975-'79 Civic engine can be transplanted
into an earlier car with a minimum of modifications (mostly
mounting hardware).
If the four-speed blues have got you down, fear not. The
five-speed transmission from the 1975-'79 Civics will bolt right
onto any other 1973-'79 Civic. The hot five-speed is the one from
the 1975 Civic Wagon, as it has good first through fourth gears
with a nice fifth for cruising. The one problem with this swap is
that you lose the great 4.93:1 final drive gear that the
four-speed comes with. There's a solution to this dilemma: just
get a final drive from a 1980 Civic 1300 five-speed.
Coincidentally, this is also a 4.93.
The 1975-'79 Civics are longer and heavier than their
predecessors, so they feature heavier springs. The front springs
from these cars will fit any Civic from 1973 to 1979. Just cut to
the desired length and pop 'em in. For the rear, use Civic 1200
front springs cut to the desired length.
For some real improvements, bolt Civic Wagon (1975-'79) steering
knuckles onto the bottom of your Civic 1200 struts. This allows
you to bolt on Accord front brake calipers, which are much
stronger than the stock Civic units. With some work, the wagon's
rear brakes can be adapted to the 1200 Civic. Early Accord front
lower control arms also can be fitted to the 1200 Civic for an
increase in track.
The early Civic also had the complete wiring harness in place for
a tach and auxiliary gauges. Consequently, the gauge cluster from
the Civic five-speed can be easily installed in the 1200.
*Found on the web
from a Grassroots Motorsports article. I thought it would be an
interesting read. For those of you that dont know Grassroots
Motorsports its a great magazine full of cheap tricks and really
caters to the grassroots level racer.
Koni inserts with Ground Control coil overs.
What you`ll
need:
-Koni inserts. Wet kits
should also do the trick (wet kits are just the guts of the shock
along with some oil.). Inserts are shocks that need to be put
into a casing in order to become a complete strut.
-Call Ground Control and order a kit for a Honda Civic 1200cc. Heres
a picture of my bill. I spoke to
Aaron. If not Jay should also remember. Tell them I sent you. I
was the test guini pig and my kit works fine. Theres only some
minor welding, and one piece to fabricate.
-Openable strut casing from 73-74 for inserts. Openable 75 casings for wet kit
shocks.
Where to
start?....
-Open up the casing and remove the stock Honda contents. Gently
place all these parts into the trash. Watch out. The oil inside
stinks worse than any ex-girlfriend you ever had.
-Cut off the stock Honda spring perches at the weld. Be careful
the casings real thin. Once again gently place the perches into
the trash.
-What you have to keep from the stock Honda suspension isn’t
much. You need the rear shock top plates with the bushings and
you need the bump stops. For the front you keep the top plates,
bump stops and the bearing assemblies. The rest.....you guessed
it. THE TRASH.
- Take out the trash.
Lets start the
assembly.
-Take your G-C weld on
perches have them welded to the casings. The perches come with a
spacer to make them fit tight around the casing. Make sure that
their level to the stock Honda weld and straight. Don’t
forget to leave in a water drainage hole at the bottom of the new coil over perch. I drilled in a little
hole after I had mine welded.
-Go get them sandblasted and paint them to a color of your
choice. Not pink!
-Their dry right?....Ok. Now its time to put in the inserts. I
put in about 50ml of synthetic motor oil (Mobil One. 5W30) into
the casing to help with cooling (this will also help with seizing
later). Screw down the inserts nice and tight to Konis torque
spec.
-You have wet kits?... Well I didn’t have wet kits. But I
would imagine that it’s as straight forward as taking out
what they tell you and put in what they give you. Then fill them
with the new shock oil and screw it all back together.( I have
seen these in an old Koni catalogue. They come complete with all
the guts. Piston rod, seals, lower adjustable piston assembly,
oil, ect...)
The rest of the
hardware:
- For the rear its simple.
With the G-C kit you will get a new top spring perch (thick large
diameter washer) made out of steel and a spring locator
(urethane) pad. Take the new top perch and have it welded to the
Honda original one. To keep the spring locator pad center you
will need to put in some type of a washer to replace the Honda
bell shaped locator. I used the Honda bell shaped locator but I
cut off the bell part and only used the washer. I then grinded
its diameter down a bit to fit. *((This bell thing I`m talking
about is the thing the bump stop is shoved up in to. The top
washer attached to it is the thing that holds the shock piston
rod from going right through the factory top mounting
bushings))*.
-Once you have all this done the rest is real straight forward
assembly. Adjust your shock, slide down all the hardware
including the spring and top plate, tighten it all up and there
you go. (Don’t forget the bump stop)
- The front is also simple but there’s a bit more to it. The
new smaller diameter aluminum top spring perch doesn’t
exactly mate up to the stock Honda strut bearing perfectly.
There’s a trip to the machine shop you have to make. The
piece that has to be made looks like 2 washers of different
diameter stuck together (like a squished magicians hat). Its easy
to see right away what you will need and any machinist should be
able to make them for you. Mine are made of stainless steel and
they cost me $40.00 to make.
-Once you have all this done the rest is real straight forward
assembly. Adjust your shock, slide down all the hardware
including the spring, strut bearing (grease it now), top plate,
tighten it all up and there you go. (Don’t forget the bump
stop)
There you go. Now you should have a cool set of adjustable shocks along with ride height. If it seems you have made something else. Please dial 911 and reserve your ride home before your first test drive.
Remember:....More HP = More
Chicks.
Adjustable suspension = even more Chicks.
-One more
thing: All my welding was
done by a pro with a Tig welding machine. Blowing holes in your
casings and grinding off 2 pounds of extra steel is not a good
choice. If you pay more than $50.00 for all the welding needed
here your getting severely ripped off. I think it cost me
$25-$30.00. So go put that 250 amp Heli-arc welder back in
grandpa`s tool shed and leave it to a pro.
How to install 1335 crank and rods.
This is a complete bolt in as if
it was the original replacement. You need the crank, and the 1335
rods wich are shorter to compensate for the 1335 cranks longer stroke.
The bearings are the same as the 1200`s. I used the select fit
ones from Honda and ordered the main bearings from an EB3 and
ordered the select fit rod bearings from an EN1. The 1200`s wrist
pins are the same and will fit into the new 1335 rods. The front
and back crank oil seals are the same as the 1200`s too.
There is a clearance problem on certain models of blocks. I
personally didnt have this problem but I have heard of it. Its
simple to repair. The clearance problem is in between the bottom
of the new rods and the aluminum main bearing girdle in the
1200`s block. The new longer crank swing takes the new rods real
close to the girdle and in some blocks it might touch/bump into
the girdle. All you have to do is grind/file out a space for it
to pass and your done. Mine passes with 1-2mm to spare. This
clearance problem might be a difference between certain castings
of the block or a EB1, EB2 problem. Mine is an EB3 and I didnt
have this problem.
I have heard of having to use the 1335 flywheel? My EB3 1200
flywheel was the exact same as the 1335 one so I used it (Canadian model car).
How to install the Honda Goldwing motorcycle higher compression pistons.
The Goldwing
piston will give you the compression bump you need to make that
extra power you want. The Goldwing pistons start off in the same
size as the stock 1200 piston (EB3). 72mm. They are also
available in the same oversizes too, 0.25mm, 0.50mm, 0.75mm and
1.00mm. Just order the size you want and the Goldwing rings to
match. I ordered 1979 Goldwing parts A.K.A GL1100.
The pistons fit perfectly. The Civic 1200`s wrist pins, 1335
wrist pins and the Goldwing`s wrist pins are all the same. You
can order wichever model you want. There is only one clearance
issue to do first to the pistons. The Goldwing motorcycle has a
skinnier/thinner rod end up top due to the lower crank swing in
that motor, so the piston is cast with meatier wrist pin bosses.
The 1200 rods and 1335 rods are fatter/thicker up top in
comparison to the Goldwing rod due to their longer stroke. They
need the added strenth.
What you have to do is have a machinist remove some of this
aluminum in between the meatier wrist pin bosses of the goldwing
piston in order to get lateral clearance in between the wrist pin
bosses and the Civic rods. Its not much to remove and I paid
$40.00 CAD to have it done to all 4 pistons. It has to be done right
because it will unbalance the piston / pistons if not. Once this
clearancing is done, your ready to install them on your Civic rods
and go play.
Part Numbers: Honda Motercycle dealer. My dealer looked up 1979 Honda Goldwing A.K.A Honda GL1000. These are the part numbers from my bill. My pistons & rings were .75mm oversize.
-Pistons:13105-371-000.
-Rings: 13051-371-014.
*Specify oversize at the time of order. Use stock Honda 1200 wrist pins or
Goldwing. Both wrist pins are the same.
Jetting for Dual Mikuni 36PHH cars. Close for Dellorto DHLB 35mm
This is what I run in my car with all the mods listed on my main page. I have tried these jets with a stock 1200 cam and they worked great. Stock Mikuni 36PHH venturis are 30mm. My auxilary venturis have been machined to the size in the list below (32.5mm). You might be able to machine the Dellorto 35mm DHLB venturis to match.
-Main fuel jets: 130
-
Main air jets: 160
-
Idle jets: 50
-Acc pump jets: 35
-
Emulsion tubes: Stock. From what I know, all 36PHH had the same emulsion tubes.
-
Fuel Inlet valve size: Stock. No number stamped on mine.
-
Auxilary Venturi size: Custom machined to 32.5mm.
The Mikuni 36PHH carbs are discontinued. Parts are hard to come by but can be found. Some parts are the same as the old Solex version of the carbs. The Solex ones came on some Lancia models including the Lancia Fulvia. Carb kits from the Fulvia are a great source for gaskets and o-rings including the top gasket. The needle & seat valve is the same too. I bought some kits via a seller on Ebay. Great cheap kits. Lots of usable parts for the Mikunis. The needle and seat from a larger Mikuni 40PHH can be installed CAREFULLY with some modification and reajustment on the floats to compensate. Some other parts come from other or larger Mikuni carbs and are still available today.
Heres a list of the Mikuni parts and their part numbers found in these
carbs. Some of the parts can still be ordered via Mikuni dealers. The list is
incomplete but its all I got. Most everything that you would need is there.
-Needle & seat alum sealing
washer: N114.001
-Fuel atomizer o-rings: N102.044
-Acc pump jet aluminum washers: N102.065
-Inlet fuel filter: N101.092
-O-ring for acc pump 1 way valve: B21/156
-Acc pump diaphram:N107.030 (Been told that its the same as Mikuni 40PHH carbs)
-Acc pump body gasket set: N107.012
-Acc pump gasket: N107.048
-Throttle shaft end seals: BDC36/325
-Fuel inlet brass sealing washers: N101.080
-Top main cover gaskets: N102.234
-Jet inspection cover gasket:N102.035
-Main air jets:B42/55 +Jet size. (Been told that its the same as Mikuni 44PHH
carbs)
-Main fuel jets: N102.221 +jet size. (These jets are used in ATV and PWC carbs)
-One source I know for Mikuni parts
is: Overseas Auto in BC, Canada. Ph: 604-879-1791. Ask for Jim.
-Also, Mikuni America. Ph: 818-885-1242.
-This Ebay
seller has alot of carb parts. This is the seller I got my Lancia Fulvia
carb kits from.
Weber DCOE Jetting for ZC / D16A1 Integra / Civic DOHC
A long time ago, I got some Weber jetting info for an early 1.6L DOHC Integra. These were Weber DCOE jettings from 2 different cars tuned on a dyno. I dont know the full mod/setup list. I thought I would post it as its nice to see what a carbed D16A1 left the dyno running. A ZC / D16A1 is a popular enough swap engine for a 1`st gen Civic, Why not post the info here.
Street motor: (I dont know what mods the
engine had. Just recorded as Street Motor):
-Choke size: 34mm.
-Main: 135.
-Air jet: 175.
-Emulsion tube: F15.
-Acc pump jets: 40.
-Acc pump exhaust: 50.
-Idles: 55F9.
Race motor: (I dont know what mods the
engine had. Just recorded as Race Motor):
-Choke size: 36mm.
-Main 140.
-Air jet 175.
-Emulsion tube: F11.
-Acc pump jet: 45.
-Acc pump exhaust: 50.
-Idles: 55F9.
Here is the jetting from a friends 79 Civic. This is his carb setup on a D16A1. 2X Weber DCOE on a TWM manifold, Stock head, block and internals from 87 Integra, Mugen header, 2" pipe back to Dynomax Super Turbo muffler.
-Choke size: 32mm.
-Main: 125.
-Air jet: 190.
-Emulsion tube: F16.
-Acc pump jet: 35.
-Acc pump exhaust: 0. Closed!
-Idles: 55F9.
-Needle valve size: 200.
Have a Civic 1200 How-To you want to add?
E-mail Jim.