Can This Seized Vintage Honda Run Again For Next To Zero Dollars?

Meticulous restorations are cool, but can these guys resurrect a Dream for less than the cost of a cup of coffee?

49:10

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Sep 19, 2024 at 7:24am ET

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There's something visceral about a first-start video.

Especially when you consider that the last time this bike actually ran, Jaws was the highest-grossing film of the year at the box office.

And also, that sometime in the past 49 years, this poor thing's engine was completely seized.

The bike in question is a Honda Dream CA95 that started life with the 150cc engine but was later modified with a slightly larger-displacement 161cc parallel twin instead. And to make things even more interesting, this particular bike also has two tiny little carburetors to go with its two cylinders. I can almost hear Count von Count laughing now, can't you?

Anyway, the point of this video isn't a meticulous, no-screw-left-unpolished restoration. Not even a little bit. No, instead, it's more of the kind of thing that a random fan of vintage bikes might realistically do on their own (or with a buddy). It's finding a cool old bike that's been neglected for decades, realizing the engine is seized, and seeing if they can get it running with minimal expense.

Granted, the guys at Brick House Builds also have the benefit of experience and previous knowledge on their sides, not to mention a reasonably well-outfitted workshop with all the tools they need. So, when they accidentally break a piece off an intake manifold and have to figure out a good way to put it back together, they're able to do so. It's not concours-perfect, but that's not the point.

Is it good enough to hold together and run? Because that's both the fun, and the goal.

This is a project that's more about skills and perseverance than perfection and polish. Although there should also be a bit of polish on the paint in the future, says BHB, but that's for another video.

What do you think?

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The question here is, can you kill a 60-plus-year-old Honda if it's basically been neglected since the '70s? And while I won't spoil the ending for you, I will tell you that you get an answer in this video.

An answer that should make the ghost of Soichiro smile, wherever he is.