I want to be this cool too one day...



A friend commented I should collate stuff on my S Coupe all in one place, rather than throw it anywhere as I've been doing, so along the lines of the big daddy of car-specific threads - the resident Hako - here's some stuff on a little gray Honda S800M Coupe (also known as a Mk 2 in some markets).



Having been built in late 1969, she was sold new in Birmingham as a 1970 model, and only 400 more cars followed. I am her forth owner, and the present objective after living in the UK for 42 years, is to get her in condition for a drive back to the factory where built. Undergoing shaken here.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Rather than try and find a replacement radio blanking plate, I installed a radio. Though with no power, or speakers, it does nothing more than fill the ugly hole. Plus, to date, that glorious engine sound provides more than enough entertainment.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Love it, what a cool ride.

Look forward to more updates.

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Mazda T600, R360, Carol 600, Familia 800 and 1000.
1960s Mazda piston power!
1989 HC10E 929 & Luce Turbo hardtop
1977 Honda Z50 J1 Mini Trail
Then there are the three, sorry now four, fire engines.......

While the OEM handle is glorious in style, it hits my legs getting in and out, so a period after-market was a nice 1:1 trade with a fellow driver.



Surface rusted floors under-going bitumen removal and repainting with POR15. Heck that's a messy, smelly, hot and dirty job.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Finishing rehoning rear brake pistons, and replacing piston cups (total price \3000), a new 'C' meter and sender were S800 delivered from Spread Tools. Using new internals, a rescreened face, and a new sender the Spread Tools version is more accurate and very smooth. Note the marking calibrations are a bit different over the OEM version. But, as there's a great gap in the safe zone, you get a better indication on active temp range.



In rebuilding the rears, I noticed two improvements over my previous classic (a 356) in that the shoe adjusting stars move in the same direction for leading & trailing (as opposed to different like a VW or Porsche which always confused), and you do not need to leave the driver seat to either top up fluid or lock-off the right rear bleeder - you simply lean out and reach both. Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Thanks! Warming up for a drive (according to the very specific owner manual a critical process for the S), presented a good photo op.



As did stopping at a local butcher.



Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

The M has supposedly US Federalized indicators and side-lamps, but for some reason the set fitted to my car lack the chrome bezel, giving them a cack-eyed, misaligned look. So I took a drive down to Yokohama meet some fellow enthusiasts to pick up a set from the Mk 1. To be fitted next weekend maybe.



With no deadening, no mats, and floor bungs removed, it was ahhh... 'interesting' with the noise and air flow, watching the Tomei speed by a few cm under my arse through the holes...



The OEM wheel centers have been made into 6 inch wheels (original 4.5 inch) to support 185/60 tires (original 155 I think). Rather wide for the little Coupe, and with the present ride height she sometimes looks like being Paris-Dakaar prepared.

With some surface rust on the wheels I either need to replace (Watanabe RS perhaps), or repaint with a more appropriate wheel paint. The body colored stuff has not weathered brake dust or weeping wheel cylinders well. Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

The carburetor rubber mounts appeared original and showed deep cracks, and as the hose clamps were bent and misaligned too, a new set of mounts & clamps were installed this last weekend. A job that was going to wait, but when I saw some parts on YAJ for cheaper than usual, I grabbed them. Old:



Clean the port faces. Largish I suppose for a mere 800cc, but churning over at 8500+ rpm, I suppose some volume is needed!



New mounts, O-rings, with a smidge of grease.



New stainless bolts...



New:



Next for the intake system fix those rusty pot screws, and some sort of motorcycle cone air-filters, or perhaps a rebuilt foam system for the original style... Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

I love these things

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best topic ever... loving every minute of it and i wish it were me.. one day..

Fantastic car and some great photos!

Great idea, a lovely car and a true classic. Mmmmm... I especially like the Tomei shot!


A few more questions if you don't mind:

Why did you choose an S800 coupe?
How did the car come into your possession?
Why did you buy a car from the UK, given the likely rust issues?
Do you know anything more about the car's past? Any old documents?
Was it easy to re-import it into Japan?

Me too! Certainly having to recalibrate my sports car expectations, but very happy to date. The Tomei shot was a GR21 (21mm lens) on Kodak Ektar, cramming as much in as possible of the small insides of the Coupe. As to why a Coupe, roadsters are a bit more cramped I think. I was thinking of a GT-style (no soft-top, just a hard-top), but Yoshimura curved tops are a lot less common that flat racing-style tops - which I cannot fit into. So, when this gray Coupe popped up, it was done.

It was bought it from a nice gentleman who needed some garage space for his classic motorcycle collection. The car checked out very well, as a moderate restoration was undertaken a number of years ago and much was solid accordingly, including the chassis. There was some rust in the floors, but it was only surface rust, and in removing the sound deadener this weekend was also surprised to see clean, shiny steel under the bitumen sheets too. Before:


The worst rust found to date:


Lightly spotted fresh gray steel under old bitumen covering (with genuine stamped floor rust removing steel brush, and Nissan R32 Skyline inertia rear seat belts):


POR15 pics to follow before seats get reinstalled. I should also make a Dynamat / cotton wadding decision too I suppose. What's the general consensus on Dynamat or similar, as I rather like the thermo properties of it over regular old-style wadding sound deadening?



I also replaced the export-only M-type front indicator lenses, with JDM M-type lenses. A lot more fitting style I think over the chunky US federalized style units. Another job this weekend was an oil & filter change, updating to a modern style filter too, as though OEM S800 filters can be sourced they are four times the price of the modern HAMP (Honda After Market Parts for bike) style. But it will take ten or more filter changes to recoup the new filter system cost, but I assume with modern Motul ZDDP 4-stroke bike oil, the modern filter technology (right) is at least a little more efficient over the older style (left). Plus, they're a lot easier to change.





Fitted smoothly, runs up to temp, no leaks:



I've got some documentation on the car, back to everyone except the first and perhaps second owner, which the UK DVLA will send to me if I lived in the UK it seems, not Japan. It was however just as easy getting the S800 on the road as it was our new CR-V, including the import & shaken. Thanks all for the interest and encouragement. Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Great stuff! The smaller indicators are a great mod. I need to get my Coupe a set. Keep the photos coming!

s800m

The JDM S800 indicators fit on all S800 grilles I think. The export M-type front indicators simply wear a larger bezel that covers the JDM mount. Remove the large, bolt the small straight on. That's what I did anyway. Interested to know if this is the same for US market cars. Post pics!



Floors half finished. I thought I would be smart and use gray / silver POR15 to potentially match the original floors, but it's way too luminous. Black would have been better for sure. I'll have to drop some matte black rattle-can over the top. Old floor bungs cleaned up well and most sit in their old holes nicely. Work needed on some (hammer).



A lot more efficient job (if not very sexy) are the R32 Skyline rear belts installed. At about only 20cm, the reverse tang buckle end is a perfect length for the low low S800 buckets (reverse needed as the mount is on the tunnel, not the floor), and the inertia reel sits perfectly on the rear wheel hump on the usual shoulder mount. I was going to install the usual, he-man, red stitched racing harness, but my wife sensibly reminded me the same system in my 356 was only ever used on the track and was an annoyance everywhere else. Logic prevailed, plus I saved \40,000.



Next: a battery tie-down, clean up the ignition system, replace heater hoses, and a general wiring tidy-up... Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Old rear-end look:



I had a friend over and he removed mud-flaps (reduces that off-road prepared look), removed tail-pipe chrome tips as they rattled, particularly as the full stainless system looks fine on its own:



We also removed old trunk area sound deadener, an easy job with four hands particularly with the hot-air gun process, and prepped with that ghastly silver POR-15. It will be under new sound deadener & carpet, so I suppose it does not matter how bad it looks.





Like the passenger compartment, the rear trunk floor was in great condition with only a few surface rusted spots under the bitumen. Carpet clean-up, new old-style needle felt sound deadener chosen over Dynamat or similar, as it was only \2000 for the whole car, and is easily replaceable if it gets wet again. Engine compartment wiring, and wheel clean-up pending, as is a gear-box & diff fluid change... Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

Looks like you got a great example there.
I also drive a UK S800 coupe and it is a surprisingly suitable car for London's narrow streets.
Quite like your R32 seatbelt idea. The current belts I have are more of a placebo than anything.

I guess it is a very different car to your previous 356 but are there any experiences on the Honda you prefer?
Any plans for upgrading the carburettors? : )

Anyway, enjoying your updates..please keep them coming.

^ Thanks! Great to see another S800 Coupe then, post photographs if you have them? Always good to see other examples... The narrow streets of Tokyo and winding Japanese roads suit the car at my end too.

It took a bit to source some appropriate seat belts, but as the previous three-point set were not inertia reel, and similarly did not much more than tick the 'seat belts fitted' box, a change was needed. The R32 belts are much better, being perfect in size and operation. The dated style of the buckles and fittings do not look too modern either.

On comparing it to my 356A; Porsche are notable for body integrity & style, but with four-wheel drum brakes, steering box, and a push-rod engine. Whereas the Coupe has disks up front, a steering rack, and that glorious twin-cam. Body integrity, and quaint Japanese styling are perhaps less appealing on the Coupe, but the equivalent engined 356 - the twin-cam per bank Carrera - costs a minimum of ten times an S800. Curiously, they've both got a less than optimum rear suspension configuration, but neither have given me any problems with my tame driving style. The driving experience in each though is equally enjoyable, just different - looking at the 356 gave me satisfaction, listening to my twin-cam rev out gives me satisfaction.

No plans to upgrade carburetors... Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.

^ after some fresh oil, filters and plugs.

Great pic! Such an English England scene...Tremendous. I like those style alloys too. Hard to get at this end, where Watanabe and Cosmic are common. There is however one or two cars with Audi TT steels. What size tires are you running, as I need get rid of the massive 185/60s fitted to mine now... Something sized in proportion - 165/70 or 175/60. Another English scene I like below. Thanks! Neko.

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The Black Cat - S800M Coupe.