thanks bruce,
been curious about a transmission swap for a while. i guess then, that i will buy the 77 next week.

By bruce (4.159.56.238) on Friday, November 05, 2004 - 06:16 am:

bluebot, the trannies will swap, I am not sure if the pedal setup will swap over, but everything else will, grab the whole shifter, should just bolt in too. best thing to do about the thermoswitch is bypass it and put a switch in the dash in one of the holes there, keep it on all the time till you get use to it being there, in the winter it is nice to be able to turn your fan off, gets a lil more heat into the car, you just have to remember to watch your gauges and turn the fan on if it starts getting to hot.

By Bluebot (Bluebot) (66.178.128.91) on Thursday, November 04, 2004 - 08:01 pm:

i agree, i'll keep my eye out. it seems you have a bit of experience, so please don't mind if i gleen. if it wasn't the thermoswitch that went bad what else could have caused the gasket to blow? i have heard that these cars have problems with over-heating, what aside from changing it every month can i do to make sure my thermoswitch doesn't keep crapping out on me? also, i found a 77 accord cvcc 5-speed, do you know if that transmission will swap with my 79 civic cvcc hondamatic?

By John S. (68.90.162.255) on Thursday, November 04, 2004 - 07:46 pm:

By the way ,of the aftermarket manuals Haynes is the best. However if you get a chance to pick up a 73-79, 0r the updated 73-83 version of the Clymer Honda book, it has the best wiring diagrams there are...color coded so they are easy to follow...better than the actual Honda ones. Then there is the classic "How to keep your Honda running for the compleate Idiot". which has excellent drawings that are sometimes easier to read the photos, plus a little "hippie" humor to go along as a bonus. He also included the what I think is the best procedure for firing up a new motor that I've ever seen in print. Still the actual shop manual is the absolute best, and has the most information. I guess what I am saying here is you can never have too much information. I see these books on eBay routinely and am amazed that sometimes no one bids on them.

By Bluebot (Bluebot) (66.178.128.91) on Thursday, November 04, 2004 - 06:08 pm:

john s,
you're absolutely right. the fan didn't switch on. i was trying to dial in the air to fuel mixture because it was running rich after rebuilding the carb, fan didn't turn on and, poof. putting a manual over-ride switch in so that doesn't happen again. is the service manual different from the haynes book i have already?

By John S. (68.91.222.230) on Wednesday, November 03, 2004 - 05:45 pm:

Two things I might offer here. First try to get a service manual for your car. I've been messing with these cars over 20 years and I don't do enough "heavy" mechanical work on them that I don't need to fall back on the manual for torque specs, torque sequence etc. If you plan to do much work on your car you won't know how much you need the manual until you have one. Second...and this is important...you must figure out why the headgasket let go. Usually it is from some form of overheating. Don't just button everthing back up and think you have the problem solved...make sure your fan is coming on when it should.

By John S. (68.91.222.230) on Wednesday, November 03, 2004 - 05:45 pm:

Two things I might offer here. First try to get a service manual for your car. I've been messing with these cars over 20 years and I don't do enough "heavy" mechanical work on them that I don't need to fall back on the manual for torque specs, torque sequence etc. If you plan to do much work on your car you won't know how much you need the manual until you have one. Second...and this is important...you must figure out why the headgasket let go. Usually it is from some form of overheating. Don't just button everthing back up and think you have the problem solved...make sure your fan is coming on when it should.

By osminsd@aol.com (208.54.15.129) on Wednesday, November 03, 2004 - 04:49 pm:

I've taken the head apart also, but just don't have to time to mess with them like I used to. So now I just paye the mechanic to do all the work. Only cost me 295.00 for labor

By Bluebot (Bluebot) (66.178.128.91) on Wednesday, November 03, 2004 - 12:28 am:

thanks kyle and sdcvcc, it was that burried one under the oil drive gear. took it out and the whole thing came up no problem. sending the head to a machinist tommorrow. getting gaskets in the morning. hopefully no more hang ups. its a 1500

By sdcvcc (68.101.197.93) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 10:08 pm:

same problem I had. there is one bolt under the oil pump cover. not really do-able with the manifolds still in the car.
mine was stuck a little, so I pried it up.

By -Andrew Smit- (Cvcc_Wagon) (154.20.95.104) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 09:39 pm:

i had this same problem the first time i did a head gasket on my EM1, got me again the next time too. the exhaust manifold as a bracket that braces it to the block, without removing it the head won't budge. it's just a 90º bracket with two bolts on either side that you get at from the underside.

By Kyle Thomson (24.83.12.187) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 06:58 pm:

I don't remember if its the same on the 1500's as the 1200's, but did you see the head bolt thats hidden by the oil pump drive gear? that little bugger gave me some trouble the first time I took one of these engines apart

By Adrian (Evocivic) (203.42.97.141) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 06:44 pm:

It's a cvcc engine so no mechanical fuel pump and the dizzy hangs out the other end of the head.

Either you have a couple of bolts still in place or it's just seriously stuck. I've had a case of one that just wouldn't budge ... It took a sledge hammer and crowbar to get it off, the gasket was that well stuck down (maybe it was put together with gasket goo ... I can't remember).

By Jacob (65.113.241.30) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 06:30 pm:

It's been a while since I've pulled a head, but as I recall there are two bolts (one in either end of the head) that are kind of hidden. Requires removal of the distributor and the fuel pump.

By don (199.2.139.160) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 06:21 pm:

if a pry bar wont move it then you still have bolts in the head.

By Bluebot (Bluebot) (66.178.128.91) on Tuesday, November 02, 2004 - 04:17 pm:

has anyone removed the cylinder head to replace head gaskets? i have the haynes book and am trying to follow it as best i can but it isn't very discriptive. i believe i have taken out all the bolts that could be holding the head to the block but it won't budge. gently tried a pry-bar but even that won't move it. are there any hidden bolts or nuts that i could have missed? never done this before. mad frustrated. 1979 cvcc hondamatic.