'99 Honda Dischord Coop - Brake-ing Down Again

[Bear]

Sometimes, there comes a moment in your life where the idea of a Honda automatic with a 2.0 engine and beige interior seems like a fantastic idea.

 

That moment comes either when you collect your bus pass, or the thought of a functional, comfortable American coupé getting scrapped seems horrifically offensive. When the superstar formerly known as Mister Shitpeas stepped in to save it, it seemed like a highly rational move, so the discovery that bills of doom waiting for the next MOT ensuring it came up for sale again struck accord. I mean a chord. Anyway, with a ridiculously generous asking price including time taken to resolve a potential no-go issue, a snap decision had to be made!

 

Keith kindly offered to run me up to the East of the North, choosing the elegant comfort of the C6 (which at 109,000 miles and about 10 years old has an astounding lack of interior trim rattles and made excellent, relaxing progress on the tedious M1). The trip up was uneventful with a lot of setting the world to rights and a stop for a Canadian Burger Thing before finding the first irritating jam of the day.

 

 

Getting to Cullercoats was easy, and we were greeted before we'd reached the door. Time taken to admire the 405 and Rover GTi probably added up to more time that checking the Accord over - there's a saying about gift horses. Though naturally* in proper buyer style, I was SHOCKED and APPALLED to find the Honda was not, in fact, a brand new car. With all the dents pointed out it still looked like an amazing bargain car.

 

 

After making the vital stopover for fish & chips at the beach (oh my god, best fish supper EVER. I practically inhaled the fish), we set off back down the road. Stupidly I ignored Keith's advice to take the A1 down rather than the M1, but more on that later.

 

 

The Accord was running great but a vibration mentioned at 65 seemed to be coming in earlier, and the brakes were violently pulling to one side. With low fuel, first stop looked like a garage but was actually a car wash - after chatting to the guy and discovering the offside rear wheel was hot enough to fry eggs, and the nearside front (diagonal split brake layouts FTW) was also pretty warm, the Honda was violently braked in forward and reverse a few times, before it would idle & roll in gear. Since we were near Washington Services in my (useless) brain, I figured we'd get it there then I'd jack up, remove the offending wheel and try to free off the caliper.

 

 

After the stuff around the Tyne Tunnel (who forgot coins? Yep... it's £2.60 to pay by card, but infinitely more annoying for the people following you) the brakes were dragging again. Couldn't see smoke or hear sad bearing noises, so decided to press on; the sign said "services 19 miles" as the orange light flashed on.

 

 

Impressively we made it to Durham services, where the car was given £30 of green pump, and 500ml of Red Bull for me. Bought a can of WD40 and in true responsible adult form, drowned the brakes in the stuff. And for the most part, it seems to have worked; the only time the brakes grabbed again was after too long in the 50 zone.

 

 

 

The C6 looked amazing on the road at night when it passed. We stopped for coffee at whichever services was after the insane delays near Sheffield - Woodall I think - then the rest of the drive was dealt with at a healthy pace. Brakes still violently pulling, but not dragging. Temperature stayed bang on, radio sounds excellent, sunroof is great open with minimal boom, heater works and the seats are fantastic. Cruise control works well and reliably, too.

 

 

This morning the Honda was given a proper wash, including directly the wash into the calipers and watching huge amounts of brake crap washing out, and after it had had a chance to dry out the engine bay (only a quick blast to tidy up) it started first time and sounds great.

 

 

 

 

 

It is frankly obscene that this comfortable, economical car is worth so little. Yes, it needs almost £1K spending on it if you don't DIY, cleaning up the North East coastal surface rust on everything and fixing the brakes & ABS, servicing and exhaust, but all cars need those things at some point. This is luxurious, sensible transport. If it weren't for the dents and driver's seat wear you could be convinced it was half the age.

[gadgetgricey]

Any pictures of the fish supper 

 

Looks great by the 

[Jim Bell]

Sorry about the brakes man. I would have mentioned it if I'd noticed it.  I obviously misdiagnosed rather massively!

 

Glad you enjoyed Bills fresh fish and sorry I couldn't join you, It was a right nice old day.

 

Car scrubbed up well!  I'd deffinitely have another as I really liked it.  Just needed too much for me to manage financially or skill-set wise.

 

They're lovely things to drive and I'm glad it got you home (eventually).  Feel guilty about the NON DESCRIBED fault, so fish supper is deffo on me next time.

[skattrd]

Sometimes, there comes a moment in your life where the idea of a Honda automatic with a 2.0 engine and beige interior seems like a fantastic idea.

 

My current car of choice is a 2.0 Honda automatic with a grey (velour) interior. Although mine is a little older I must say they can be a very nice place to be. Decent handling and ride, good engine, well screwed together a very good package all round.

[purplebargeken]

First dibs when the time comes as it looks absolutely ace.

[cort16]

Looks nice but I was expecting some of this

 

[Bear]

Had some time to go around the car a little bit more and start planning what will be done when. If I stuck to my usual fondness for Mercedes, this would be a CLK 200 - which of course wouldn't answer the issue of farm tracks and RWD in snow. I reckon a CLK of comparable age would be in much worse condition overall.

 

First, a faintly hopeless attempt at cleaning the wheels. I really like this complex design and diamond-cut finish, but it's probably very hard to restore/refurb fully.

 

 

Handsome & understated, I think.

 

 

I like the tail light design on these.

 

 

A scout around for areas to check.

 

Cleaned inside the fuel door

 

 

Under the arches:

 

 

 

OSR has some paint loss and surface rust - catching this now means the car won't need extensive welding in a few years.

 

 

NS has a little loss above the mounting point also. A small work to save a BIG problem.

 

 

Sunroofs. All cars should be convertibles or have sunroofs.

 

 

 

Cream leather is also high on my list of priorities.

 

 

 

Perfectly Practical or Practically Perfect?

 

 

 

 

Well, not quite perfect.

 

 

Japanese cars. Always with the coin tray.

 

 

I like this sort of interior detail, trying front and rear spaces together.

 

 

Easy to live with - gadgets & gears. All working.

 

 

 

 

[Bear]

Sorry about the brakes man. I would have mentioned it if I'd noticed it.  I obviously misdiagnosed rather massively!

 

Glad you enjoyed Bills fresh fish and sorry I couldn't join you, It was a right nice old day.

 

Car scrubbed up well!  I'd deffinitely have another as I really liked it.  Just needed too much for me to manage financially or skill-set wise.

 

They're lovely things to drive and I'm glad it got you home (eventually).  Feel guilty about the NON DESCRIBED fault, so fish supper is deffo on me next time.

 

Was an awesome day, sorry you couldn't come for chips too. I'd probably be 30 stone if I lived near Bills, the fish was incredible. And seriously, do not worry about the brakes - lack of use, rusty calipers, is an old cheap car and that's what old cars do. I was pleased when they freed off and motorway speeds were vibration free, a few miles of "Hmm" then plain sailing was much nicer than being vibrated/limited to 60 for the whole drive! Dead chuffed with it, you'll see things happening fairly soon.

[purplebargeken]

That seat should be easy for a trimmer to fix as it is a separate panel that is damaged and only a small one at that. Bloody ace car.

[Jim Bell]

Wheels look a lot better man. You could certainly get two whacked wiseguys in that trunk (its American) and maybe space for another two with the seats down (who needs a ScotchVolvoEstate?).

Very practical car for a two door.  And that interior is just very very nice.

[Bren]

Our roads would be full of old jap chod if it was'nt for the horrific cost of non service items.

 

The galant I once had was great but the price of mitzi parts is horrific.

[overrun]

Never mind the car, that's a beautiful house.

[Bear]

My current car of choice is a 2.0 Honda automatic with a grey (velour) interior. Although mine is a little older I must say they can be a very nice place to be. Decent handling and ride, good engine, well screwed together a very good package all round.

 

An Accord Aerodeck of proper '80s pointyness would be about the only thing I'd consider as an alternative to this, as it happens - I had one long ago, but it was not in good health. Previous owner had tried to use an egg to fix a radiator leak.

[Jim Bell]

Y NO TRADEMARK KEY HANDOVER SHOT?

[Bear]

It's in the other camera and I've been lazy and using the laptop with no card reader

[vulgalour]

Well saved.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one, it has the makings of a very, very smart vehicle.

[Honey Badger]

Glad to hear it all went relatively well on the way back down south.

 

The seats really are topnotch but they all seam to tear there, Stu at the owners club recently got a new set of seat covers for the top half for his drivers seat from a contact in the US for around £40, might be worth looking into.

 

Theres a couple of 2.0 breakers on ebay at the moment if you want to try for some cheaper rear brakes or other parts.

 

They look better from the rear i think, i do prefer the stock spoiler to the plain boot, but maybe thats just my inner chav trying to get out. I prefer the 5 stud star design on the 3.0 V6, they both had the diamond cut finish so you never see a decent set anymore.

 

They are really underated cars and apart from a few dreamers seem to have hit rock bottom price wise recently, a couple of decent low milage V6s went for under £600 in the last week, i struggle to think of what i could replace mine with that had the same level of space, comfort and a decent turn of speed.

[Bear]

Well saved.  Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one, it has the makings of a very, very smart vehicle.

 

No big plans, but as it's got a double DIN space for head units, things may happen relocating the headlight height and washer button.

 

First job is getting it off the ground and fixing all the brake issues at once. That'll be discs, pads, clean/derust/re-seal calipers, fix ABS-whatsit. Whilst under there I might see if I can do something to de-rust the suspension parts, and will sand, prime, stonechip and paint under the arches where there's paint loss.

 

Driver's door sounds clangier than a Fiesta and I have no idea why, as the passenger side doesn't. Will strip both doors and dynamat, and have a go at teasing out a couple of the dents. The dent on the passenger door I might just fill, it's quite a sharp gouge.

 

If the engine and gearbox stay healthy for a while, given how comfortable and pleasant it is to drive, it could get kitted out for "main use" which would be double-DIN carplay unit, hands free and more proactive work on tidying. But ultimately, the car's main appeal is in being something I don't need to worry about like I do the SLK - it'll be parked anywhere it fits, driven anywhere, into towns, carrying stuff.

 

Cannot overstate how well it drove outside of the initial brake thing. Super smooth, tracking straight and true, refined and quiet and stress free. All those little irritations on older cars are really well contained - the screen has some road rash, but no big chips or deep pitting or wiper scratches. The lights are bright and clear. Only one bulb has gone inside - the clock (which confused me trying to find a clock). Doors haven't dropped. Rust is actually good given how cars rust in the region - arches have only minor bubbling.

 

It's like being a stuck record. Maintenance does cost money on old cars, but the UK is crazy in how determined people are to undervalue and write off old cars - Jen's Saab was £395. It's been perfect for six months, even the A/C works. The Honda has potential. Both would be fantastic cars if the budget to maintain them was spent, and indeed the budget when spent with mechanics really resulted in honest, sensible work. Such insanity.

[brickwall]

Great cars and quite nondescript although yours is a good bit posher than the one I had.

[Bear]

Having had a few days to recover from the excitement get some work done, the Accord got a quick run out today to Rugby. Jetwashing the brakes does seem to have helped a little bit, as the car rolls freely but once underway the telltale drag and ability to slow down just by removing foot from pedal returns after about 10 miles. No more diagonal pull, though, and the wheels were evenly warm, rather than one hot, 2 cold, 1 warm before.

 

The leather has been the test subject for some leather soap, and given the car's smell it's clear an admirable effort at cleaning the interior has been attempted already - there wasn't a "revelation" style lifting of grime, but it did restore the passenger seat to a very appealing cream and also, make the leather feel a lot nicer.

 

Other than that there won't be anything to report until I get it up in the air and strip the wheels & brakes. What it is though is just a wonderfully comfortable old slipper of a car. American influence is clear in the spacious cabin and big, excellent seats. Not sure if the bad handling of potholes is exacerbated by the brakes, but the ride is so good outside from that I'm sure it's "something". Trying to get into the head of who would buy this new, and I struggle a little. It has good, well proportioned lines yet somehow has little visual drama or interest, it's very refined, yet still feels a touch basic and low-spec in the dash materials and finesse, it is thoroughly competent. Yet there's nothing to make it stand out against the other coupés offered - I'm prepared to bet that if I tried a Ford Cougar it would have something to make it more interesting than the Honda.

 

Still, I'm glad they did buy it new, because now I get to drive about in it without the fear of OMGHGF and rampant structural rot that comes free with a Cougar.

[Lacquer Peel]

The calipers on my mum's Swindon Accord are always seizing.

[Bear]

They look like they're made of something that rusts like nowt else. I'll derust and lacquer them.

[rainagain]

 

Driver's door sounds clangier than a Fiesta and I have no idea why, as the passenger side doesn't. Will strip both doors and dynamat, and have a go at teasing out a couple of the dents. The dent on the passenger door I might just fill, it's quite a sharp gouge.

 

 

 

Out of interest where do you recommend buying dynamat from? I want to add some to the doors on my Racing Shed (Punto)

 

ps this car is awesome, I've been looking at some on Gumtree this morning, but giving my sixty mile commute I'll probably have to pass  

[Bear]

Shop around - I know I've seen Amazon sellers asking more than the RRP for the kits, it's also sold direct. The 2-door kit has enough in it to do a lot more than 2 doors, unless you want to use it both as a resonance damper and a replacement for the membrane on the door (to reduce rattles).

[Mr_Bo11ox]

WTF is going on with the colours in this picture?

 

[Bear]

Massive faffery with Snapseed. It was an excruciatingly dull image and I wanted to capture the dreamlike quality of waiting to enter the glorious Tyne Tunnel in a luxurious, powerful automobile; it also echoes that searing light that you get when the passage of time and distance forces you, like an infant, from the cosseting womb of the sodium-lit underpass and into the outside world - momentarily overwhelmed by the light.

[Pillock]

Oh, I thought it was the smog from the Gregg's factories.

 

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[Eddie Honda]

I wanted to capture the dreamlike quality of waiting to enter the glorious Tyne Tunnel in a luxurious, powerful automobile; it also echoes that searing light that you get when the passage of time and distance forces you, like an infant, from the cosseting womb of the sodium-lit underpass and into the outside world - momentarily overwhelmed by the light.

Think there a big, fat * missing from all that.

[Bobthebeard]

Being now on my fourth Honda I can safely say that the brake calipers can be a problem due to age etc. Most of the expense on my lot has been either brake or suspension related.

[Bear]

Got bored and took the OSR wheel off. Wire brush, rubber mallet, and lots of things you're not supposed to spray on brakes, followed by a lot of jetwash, then silicone vaguely waved at the sliders. Result - took it for a run and now it's just the NSF that sticks.

 

Might get this behaving faster than I thought.

 

But the brakes. How. How do they get so unbelievably lumpy and corroded, and how do you get them back to actually looking like calipers!