A collecting forum. CollectingBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CollectingBanter forum » Collecting newsgroups » 8 Track Tapes
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old February 26th 08, 04:57 AM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
DeserTBoB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,541
Default Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:39:11 GMT, "William W Western"
wrote:

with the manual choke. Youngsters these days don't seem to get the
concept. Neither do they understand what a carburetor is and does.

Hard to imagine you would need a rich mixture to get the thing lit
in your climate. I do not miss carburetors all. snip


Ah, but you do. You see, the stratified charge engine, successfully
mass produced by Honda after Ford said it was impossible, uses a "pre
combustion" chamber near the plug, fed by an auxiliary, small "rich"
venturi, complete with separate manifold runners, running at around a
13:1 mixture, which is easily ignited under all circumstances. The
main venturi, actually the primary (it's a 3 bbl., actually) feeds the
main combustion chamber through a more conventional intake valve from
conventional manifold runners, and has a mixture of around 16:1 or
higher. Such a lean mixture cannot be successfully be "lit" by a
spark plug, but is well ignited by the wall of flame coming from the
auxiliary chamber. Thus, Honda was able to forestall installation of
catalysts on their CVCC (Controlled Vortex Combustion Chamber) until
1979 in California, and the early '80s in the rest of the US. Canada
had the conventional engine sans CVCC on these cars.

With such a light mixture, a choke must be used to keep it running
smoothly during warmup. Prior to 1978, Honda hadn't yet devised an
automated system using an electric choke element that would satisfy
all conditions, so a manual, calibrated choke was used..."one click"
for mild weather when starting cold, two for colder weather, and full
closed for very cold or long periods of sitting.

It's a fascinating engine, really, misunderstood by most, but once one
gets the gist of the design and knows the tricks and foibles, it's as
good as any other. One thing that gave the CVCC a bad rep with
careless owners were the auxiliary valve body seals for each cylinder.
The o-ring material wasn't up to the heat generated around the valve
body, and they'd shrink, causing excessive oil consumption. Fel-Pro,
some years ago, developed tougher Viton® o-ring seals that obviated
regular replacement. Ditto the stock camshaft timing belt; the OEM
belts were notoriously weak and would peel apart at 30K miles or so,
and 24K mile belt changes were recommended. Aftermarket belts last
50K or longer.

The kid just got the Accord with a new timing belt and tensioner, plus
a whole set of Fel-Pro valve body seals, so I expect he'll get quite
good service for some time to come, as long as he keeps the car
maintained well. My '75 Civic CVCC got over 180K miles on the
original engine with little problem, and I'd expect this one to get
even more. Weak spot: cracking exhaust manifolds, an expensive
problem to fix through swapping out for new, but the manifolds can be
drilled and pinned in the usual fashion, thus saving around $700.

It's still getting 29-30 MPG around town...try THAT on a new Honda! It
doesn't happen. Oh yes...the AC still works quite well as well, as
I'd just installed a new expansion valve about three years ago. Frigid
air, every time.
Ads
  #12  
Old February 26th 08, 09:06 PM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
William W Western[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 107
Default Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?

With such a light mixture, a choke must be used to keep it running
smoothly during warmup. Prior to 1978, Honda hadn't yet devised an
automated system using an electric choke element that would satisfy
all conditions, so a manual, calibrated choke was used..."one click"
for mild weather when starting cold, two for colder weather, and full
closed for very cold or long periods of sitting.

Good explanation, I had forgotten of the unique nature of
the engine.
maintained well. My '75 Civic CVCC

Or "rotting honda" as some would dub them.

  #13  
Old February 27th 08, 02:29 AM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
DeserTBoB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,541
Default Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:06:28 GMT, "William W Western"
wrote:

With such a light mixture, a choke must be used to keep it running
smoothly during warmup. Prior to 1978, Honda hadn't yet devised an
automated system using an electric choke element that would satisfy
all conditions, so a manual, calibrated choke was used..."one click"
for mild weather when starting cold, two for colder weather, and full
closed for very cold or long periods of sitting.

Good explanation, I had forgotten of the unique nature of
the engine.
maintained well. My '75 Civic CVCC

Or "rotting honda" as some would dub them. snip


Well, Deludo Nudo, aka Charlie Nudo, has a challenged sense of reality
anyway, so no one can take anything he says with any assurance of
veracity, as everything he even thinks in his mercury shorted brain
defies credulity. Funny thing about Noodles' descriptor is that, even
now, there's not a speck of body rust on that car at all, mostly owing
to California's 75 year ban on road salt, arid climate and abundance
of volcanic cinders, which actually work better on ice anyway. In the
toxic cesspool of NE Pennsylvania, these cars didn't last very long,
owing to the toxic sludge smeared on the highways and byways every
winter. Hell, neither did the big iron monsters from the '40s and
'50s, as pictures of Noodles' junked '49 Olds showed in stunning
detail. Another car famous for getting rust lobsters early was the
Chrysler F-body, and just about every Chrysler product from the 1950s.
There's a '76 Aspen 4 door running around town here that's in fairly
pristine condition, driven by the original owner...again, not a speck
of rust to be seen anywhere. Funny thing about that Aspen...the doors
bolt up to my Fifth Avenue exactly. After all, the long produced
M-body, the "cop car" of choice in the US for about 12 years, was in
reality an "F-body stretch" without the rust problems, along with a
better suspension.

Noodles should be apprehensive about his Saturn WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGON, as
well. Although the plastic body panels don't rust, the cage
underneath surely does...and his Saturn WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGON probably has
more rust on it than my former 32 year old Honda has now. But, then
again, when you're as mentally challenged as he is, he probably can't
see it anyway.

I have a request from the kid down the street to record some 8 tracks
of all his favorite "alternative rock" stuff, so he can play the tapes
and blow more minds, so I have to do that tonight. Should be
interesting to hear about some of the reactions!
  #14  
Old February 27th 08, 09:13 PM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
William W Western[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 107
Default Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?

Noodles should be apprehensive about his Saturn WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGON, as
well. Although the plastic body panels don't rust, the cage
underneath surely does

I have had more than one pimply faced youth show off his
newly purchased '84 Fiero 2M4 he "stole" for $1600 who happily prattled on
about plastic body panels and no problems with rust. Since most of these
have gone through several owners while eventually trickling down to the
lad's (ie, his old man's) price tag and been driven year round through slop
and salt and treated roughly for the last 24 years, I am hard pressed to
show much enthusiasm. I show him the underpinnings and point out the danger
of his cancer ridden almost nonexistent engine cradle. He claims that is
okay as he was contemplating dropping an LT1 with a brand new custom made
cradle in it. For the next few years I see the car with cables and wires
hanging out the bottom perched up on rickety blocks at some local grease
monkey's establishment. Then it is gone, never to be seen again. Fact -
plenty of steel to rust out down below.....fact - engine swapping requires
more than part time gas jockey wages to pull off.
I have a request from the kid down the street to record some 8 tracks
of all his favorite "alternative rock" stuff, so he can play the tapes
and blow more minds, so I have to do that tonight. Should be
interesting to hear about some of the reactions!

That kid's having a ball, eh!

  #15  
Old February 27th 08, 10:00 PM posted to alt.collecting.8-track-tapes
DeserTBoB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,541
Default Is Akai CR-83D Really Worth $150-$200+?

On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:13:05 GMT, "William W Western"
wrote:

That kid's having a ball, eh! snip


Aye! He just got his 90 minutes of "new music" on some Ampex 385
"20/20" tape. He jetted by for a second to pick it up, and it
sounded pretty incredible indeed for 8 track, owing mainly to the neat
100 W system I'd installed in that car. I ran it off on the Wollensak
8075A...sans Dolby, of course...which still probably has less than two
or three hours since a full electrical and mechanical alignment. After
my day of engine work on the little beast, it runs like a Swiss watch
and isn't showing any signs of using oil at all now.

I really do have to figure out what to do with all this 8 track crap
stored about. It's simply too fun to throw away, and I've several
hours invested in restoring that 8075 (and a nice little Lafayette) to
as-new condition. All the rest have been junked or Sally Anned.

I've tons of blank carts, some of which are rare high bias/low noise
of various brands. Perhaps I should start taking orders? Literally
boxes of Memorex abound, a really good "best buy" cartridge as any I'd
tested back when I was doing my "8 track research project." I threw
out all the BASF, Certron and Tracs junk as being worthless. Not only
that, the cheap polystyrene cart cases aren't recyclable!
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Akai CR-80T Rare? still_trackin 8 Track Tapes 13 November 17th 07 08:56 PM
Akai 81D vs. Akai 82D vs. Telex Viking 811- there's more to it than frequency response duty-honor-country 8 Track Tapes 3 March 10th 07 05:47 PM
Akai M-8, the word is getting around ! 455 Pontiac on premium Sunoco-chariot of the gods 8 Track Tapes 23 August 16th 06 03:02 PM
AKAI 80D-SS this is cheap ! trippin2-8track 8 Track Tapes 0 May 2nd 04 03:15 AM
AKAI GXR82D vs. AKAI 81D...interesting... trippin2-8track 8 Track Tapes 15 November 27th 03 02:07 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 02:18 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CollectingBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.