1989 Honda Civic Si

1989 Honda Civic

*1989 Honda Civic Si*

This is a really great car with some unique attributes that will likely only really matter to Honda nerds (like me) but nonetheless contribute to the car’s rarity. I purchased this car with about 203k miles roughly 2 years ago. In that time I have added another 20k miles to that but the car is definitely in better condition now than when I purchased it. It was purchased in Maryland and then it made it’s way down to the Carolinas and basically changed hands down here a few times. so it’s a very clean Southern car. it even has factory A/C that the previous owner refitted with r134a.

since purchasing the car I have done the following:

replaced:

-front upper ball joints/control arms

-a/c idler pulley (bearing was really noisy)

-accessory belt

-valve cover gasket

-distributor: replaced. there’s a common seal failure issue on Hondas and it blows oil everywhere so that was part of the reason for replacement

-plug wires

-plugs

-fuel injectors and injector seals

-brakes: front rotors replaced fluid bled rear brake cylinders

-sunroof switch: the sunroof would sometimes not close traced issue to a switch w worn electrodes

-hood release cable and striker/latch replaced w OEM parts

-4-wheel alignment done. rolls straight no uneven tire wear

- compression test done between 120-130psi across all cylinders

includes new OEM parts: thermostat t-stat seal timing belt timing belt tensioner crank bolt

purchased a set of Acura Integra mesh-style OEM wheels. they are 15” and have 195/50-15 Falkens on them. tires have plenty of life left in them.

installed a JVC bluetooth/USB deck. handsfree calling.Also replaced all 4 speakers with matching Pioneer speakers. these cars had the rear hatch speakers as an option and the Pioneer speakers fit great under the OEM grilles. the whole system sounds very good for just being a head unit and speaker setup.

just had the windshield replaced. it was cracked down the middle.

ok so some interesting quirks with the car. at some point the rear hatch assembly was replaced. seems like it was probably a rear window replacement more than anything as someone just found a hatch assembly cheaper than a piece of glass. however the hatch assembly was from a STD model and it does not have a wiper. but it does have the defroster which works. i could not find any crash damage in the rear so that’s what I think happened. also when I bought it it had cheap garbage eBay taillights. it took me a fair amount of time to track down the correct 1989 taillights and center garnish (the 1990-91 lights are different and do not fit correctly and the wiring is not exactly the same either) I bought at least two sets from eBay sellers who did not understand this and had them listed as 1988-1991.

the car was also repainted in a white that is not an exact match to the factory color. it’s a decent paint job without any overspray and you have to try to notice the color difference but the paint is no longer original. I did have the front end torn down at one point and found no crash damage up there either. the rear seat does have a small chunk of material missing. it’s not terribly hard to find a replacement seat I just never got around to it.

no evidence of rust aside from a small bubble near the gas filler cap.

for Honda nerds: as far as the rarity part of this car I wish there was more solid information but in 1989 Honda moved production of the North American Civics over to Canada. but the early production run was made in Japan. the manufacturing process was not identical and the JHM-vin cars were around 75lbs lighter due to thinner metal used. and also the 4th generation Si was not made in 1988 (at least as a 1988 model for North America). and the model underwent significant exterior/interior changes for 1990. So this is a one-year only version of this car as well as being a low production number manufactured by Honda in Japan. this is for North American cars. Japanese market cars are different of course.

This is a great car. it is NOT brand new but it is very clean. aside from the non-original paint I’d call this car a survivor/driver quality car. these old Hondas aren’t late-sixties American car status yet but they’re starting to get extremely rare to find in unmodified condition or even at all.