By q2team@swbell.net (Q2team) (65.64.138.79) on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 06:27 pm:

Ok I have owned 9 1st gens. I never really got into what you can can not push the motors to do. what is the big difference between them(1200-1500) besides cc. I have owned both enjoy the 1500 so much more.

By angus (205.188.196.56) on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 07:15 pm:

the 1200 is a pretty straight forward overhead cam engine with eight valves which lends itself to hop ups more so than the 1500, and later 1300 cvcc which are honda's proprietary design in which initial combustion takes place in a prechamber, which is fed a relatively rich mixture by it's own miniature valve, which then in turn ignites the main chamber which has a fairly lean mixture. honda called this "stratified combustion". it is relatively fuel and emissions efficient and stayed around for quite awhile after most other makes had gone to fuel injection. look for the book "rebuilding honda engines" by tom wilson. one was listed on e-bay last time i looked. it has lots of info on engine specs and interchange.

By Phil Stapert (64.12.107.28) on Monday, November 05, 2001 - 07:39 pm:

There is a big technological difference between the two engines. The 1200 is a simple 8-valve engine with a two barrel carburetor. The 1500 is a CVCC engine, which was an innovative design unique to Honda.

The CVCC engine has a small auxilary combustion chamber that contains the spark plug, a small auxilary intake valve, and a hole into the main combustion chamber. An auxilary barrel in the carburetor feeds an extra rich mixture into the auxilary chamber so the spark can ignite it easily. Then the fire spreads to the main combustion chamber, which has a much leaner mixture. This way the overall mixture is leaner than in other engines, so you get better gas milage and cleaner emissions from a smooth running engine.

Phil
'85 Civic, '89 Integra, former owner of '78 Accord, '80 Accord, looking for 1st gen. Civic

By Rexman (66.44.70.219) on Tuesday, November 06, 2001 - 06:39 pm:

the CVCC is a pain in the a!

By natcho (208.195.243.199) on Wednesday, November 07, 2001 - 09:15 am:

Gotta disagree with that, Rexman. No smog pump, no side-mounted distributor to mess with, and no worries come smog inspection time make the CVCC much less of a pain. Although, I must concede that the 1200 is much easier to hot rod than the 1500 CVCC, and that finding parts for the CVCC can be difficult if you live in an area that didn't get many of them. 1200s are still pretty rare, comparatively, out here in California. I suppose we ultimately wind up liking what ever it is we've got, eh?

By Jon (24.67.209.73) on Wednesday, November 07, 2001 - 04:19 pm:

Thats funny up here in victoria bc canada i have only ever seen 3 cvcc's and about a billion 1200's

By Rexman (66.44.68.18) on Wednesday, November 07, 2001 - 06:30 pm:

mine won't start in anything less than 50 degrees. it sucks, i can never drive it now because of winter. i had it tuned, and everything is running OK. but i do have a blown head gasket and the thing belches oil. i think it's time for a ZC..

By oblivion (66.20.145.13) on Thursday, November 08, 2001 - 10:35 pm:

so what happens wheh you put a weber on a cvcc? It doesn't have this auxilary barrel to feed the cvcc does it?

By Ramon (207.5.4.95) on Friday, November 09, 2001 - 07:23 am:

The weber adapter feeds the entire manifold the same mixture.

By Phil Stpaert (152.163.201.67) on Saturday, November 10, 2001 - 09:31 pm:

I believe I read somewhere that Honda at one time sold CVCC engines to Triumph. Can anyone confirm this? If so, what Triumph cars are they in, and has anyone seen one?

By oblivion (66.20.145.13) on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 06:12 pm:

so does that mean that a weber totally kills the advantages of cvcc??

By errol (64.12.102.174) on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 09:46 pm:

what I've done is to turn the DGEV carb around on the adapter so the primary is in front. Take a die grinder to the adapter (where the auxilliary port goes) and grind out a small channel to help feed the aux valves. Otherwise your primary feeds the secondary throat of the manifold.
I've even seen a slot cut into the bottom of the primary 'throat' of the manifold to feed the aux part of the manifold.