ChR1sCRX

I bought this little turd for $350. I over paid. It did not run when I got it. However, with a minimal investment it is now running. I also installed a Walbro 255 and a Half Rad both of which I paid a total of $80 for.

The motor fix was simple - people before me who worked on it did not put a gasket between TB and intake (You know who you are!). Retarded monkey nugget! There was also a problem with the DPFI's dashpot and the IACV. I just made my own 'gasket' for the TB and fixed the other two pieces parts and wala..... she purs like kitten. It runs great and the motor is very very quite. Fresh oil and filter as well.

So now that it runs (The D15 won't stay but for now it will have to - just to get around and get it inspected.) I started work on the super cancerous body. The passenger rear well was mangled. In addition to being majorly rusted somebody had chopped it up with some dull kind of shears. Made it worse. It had rust in all the usually places and the rock panels were mostly gone on both sides. The drivers side door and the hood are so badly bent that there is no getting them straight - at least not without a ton of mud, in which case it is just better to get a new hood and a new door. So that leaves the passenger door, the fenders and the roof that all need to be straightened and all the rust cut out and new pieces parts welded in. So far I've done the fenders to about 85% straight (you can see in the first picture that the passenger fender is a bit fubar and the driver's side was no different) and I've welded in the wheel arch on the passenger's side.

I still need to fix both rockers (Cut them out entirely and weld in my own replacements. I'll fab them) the passenger door needs tweaking. The roof has two dents, good sized dents, in it (How does someone do that when they live in a city with no trees!? - Again, retarded monkey butt nugget MF'r!) The bumper supports are rotted pretty good - Maybe repair them, maybe not depends on what I can find cheap.

Well - That's a good start anyway - So here's my pig soon to be princess with an attitude..... I will be updating this thread extensively. I have quite a few little tricks in store for the body - of which I will show all you folks! Stay tuned...


Here's what a New Jersey neglected car looks like (Salt water air)

ATC CRX

Wow looks like a shark bit the 1/4 pannel in that first pic, haha. Looks much better now though. Good work.

theorigkav3

Im happy to see someone showing some love to a run down crx =]
makes me smile.lol
well done

$3civic

I have had my fair share of beat up cars, the reason i think you are crazy is bc if you sink a ton of money in this car you would need to get a glass top or something bc that after market sunroof looks like A$$!

k20rex

nice save my frist crx was a silver dx with pop up sunroof, is that ebay 1/4 panel patch panel? if so i was wondering how the fitment is on that? looks like lower front near the door is not that great but could be picture

wreckin-rex91

Man... some rust on these EF's is no joke! Honestly we don't have the rust issues in the Pacific NW... I could not image the neglect it takes to have a CRX or Hatch rot to death. Good luck.... and like an other dude said.... Sunroof... looks like A$$ lol. BUT if you like it... keep it, its your build.

EL Vap133

Not bad at all, I love project cars! Good luck with the build!

ChR1sCRX

After what I just did to the wheel arch you think replacing a moon roof with a sun roof or closing it all together is a problem? So far I have less than $400 into this car. When it's done I'll still have less than "poor condition" retail tied up into it and that will include custom paint, custom body and an LS or LS/VTEC. I can do all the work myself. So I'm not sinking **** into it as far as money is concerned. Just time, and that I have too much of right now. Its our slow season.

I never sync of ton of money into cars - even our show winners. I sync what I have to and then do the rest up myself. It works out much better that way as you have one-off material and if you know what you are doing - professional reworked and reconstructed/fabricated parts are typically more expensive if you were to hire someone to do the work, than aftermarket pieces parts.

ChR1sCRX

Na, I don't like it, I just haven't decided what we are doing up there yet. I have a stock sun roof somewhere around but I may just got with a closed top.

I'm so jealous of you folks with no rust issues. And yeah, it takes a real lazy piece of human poop to do this to a car but his loss, my benefit.

I guess the only good thing about having the rust issue is that it makes a really clean car all that much more rare here.

Thanks for the well-wishes folks! I'll keep you guys updated as I go. Progress will be slow but steady. Like I said, I'm not dumping money into this thing so I have to source parts where I can get them for next to nothing and fabricate or restore everything else that I do - or don't want to be stock.

ChR1sCRX

This is actually my second CRX. My first was a 1988 Yellow Si that I picked up in 1990 for $650. It needed a radiator, condenser and a rad support. When I got rid of it, it had yellow Koni's, GC coil overs and a Wings West kit on it with the little spoiler riding on 16" Konig Tuners. The wells were cut in 5, radial lines, bent outward and then stitch welded. This accommodated the 16s nicely and also brought the rear out to meet the door skirts. I hated the way the skirts looked with the stock wells. The body was Yamaha Blue and the interior was polar white and lemon yellow. It actually looked good. It had power everything installed aftermarket and a bunch of other little things. Not much more than that but back then no one even had that much going on - at least around here.

It's the same panel, I got it from www.fixmyrust.com. They were very fast (I ordered it Sunday and I had it Wednesday or Thursday of that same week) and it was only $31.05 shipped.

As for fitment, yes, the bottom piece was not bent as it should have been but it's not a problem as the all goes behind the trim anyway - however in my case I just shaped it as close to what it is supposed to be as I could doing a quick fix on it. I'll post a picture of that later but it is now tied in on the bottom. I wasn't too concerned about that area because I am putting in rockers too.

Where it mattered, the piece fit great - sure it needed a little tweaking but this kind of work always does - even if you are using a piece cut from a donor car.

ChR1sCRX

One question - was your pop-up stock? I thought Honda offered these pop ups on the DX. Someone said it was aftermarket - I don't think it is. I could be wrong.

ChR1sCRX

Thanks Brother!

I am so surprised at just how cheap these cars are especially in today's day and age. Pretty soon you won't be able to get your hands on one because they are all:

1.) Rusting out
2.) Crashed/Totalled
3.) Body Kits / Permanent Seamless Body Kits - Non-original - Usually go to junk yards
4.) The D series motors usually quit around 300K and no one who has kept the car stock all that time wants to dump in the money to put in a fresh motor - or freshen the existing one up.

My point is, Honda isn't making any more of these and they are beginning to drop like flies. Pretty soon a clean all orginal CRX is going to be hard to find. I wouldn't be surprised if we are at the apex. Meaning the CRX is as cheap as it will ever be and it is going to go up in value very soon.

That's just a guess - but it makes sense. Demand can stay the same however as supply drops - the prices will definitely rise sharply, quickly.

So grab 'em up boys! Haha.

theorigkav3

I KNOW! thats so true.
id LOVE for myne to be original exterior, but im going to have to get new doors and such, cuz of the previous owners shitty bodywork making into a ricer. haha.

i love to see people keeping there crx in shape, and making others nice as well =]

ChR1sCRX

So some updates.... I've been slammed with folks doing their winter rebuild on their sportbikes... so my business has had me away from this rebuild for a while. However this week we are quiet so I took some time off to do a few things to the CRX. One was welding up the rear bumper support after cutting out 1/3 of it due to rust. That is not pictured here as I didn't bother documenting it. I've cut out literally about 1/16th of the car due to rust. About 75% of that has been repaired and welded.

For the last 3 days I've been busy cutting and welding the roof. The previous butt nugget owner had an aftercrapmarket moon roof installed. So, I cut around that and started to lay in a factory tray and sunroof... A lot of work but it turned out decent enough. I will need just a very small amount of "All Metal" filler (Aluminum paste essentially) to protect the metal where the welds are and even out the work in general. No more than 1/16" at the highest points. Here's some pics of the chop job. I assume the DX was never equipped with a sunroof? Just the Si? Or am I wrong about that? I ask because there are a few nuts that are not welded in at the factory to install the tray..?? I had to do it my damn self...

ChR1sCRX

By the way, even with the tiny CRX in my garage it's like trying to work on a golf cart inside a bathroom stall. I'll post some more updates when I get a chance to take a few more pictures of what has been done to this $350 investment. Put it this way - time wise I probably have about $5k into it already doh - however total cash wise including the car I'm barely over $500.

Boosted Chemist

iTrader: (1)

Cool dude

ChR1sCRX

I wanted to add... obviously I will trim the lip so it is even all around - It is much easier to cut those little strips when they are weld stiff than doing it with them flopping about. I sure could use a picture of the inside if someone has one of their roof open.

Thanks BC - looking forward to testing with your motor.

(Not ! His 'engine' his Sunroof motor... Doh)

jdmhonda23

good luck with the restoration

akinas-crx

i agree with the death of the crx. i had a clean 88 hf that i sold to a buddy of mine. and the second i handed the key to him i was really regretting it. so the first thing i did was find another one. unfortunately, this one needs paint struts hood new sunroof motor and climate control and some body work. they are hard to come by, and like dude said, im happy to see you spend the money to give it a second chance. CRX.

ChR1sCRX

Thanks folks.. I'm jazzed about getting it back to road worthiness but it has required a sh|t ton of work.

ChR1sCRX

I just confirmed only the Si came with sunroof - so did I just upgrade? Awesome... Lol. Long term plans for this are just mild tweaks. Molding delete for the center door pieces - I want flush metal all around. I'm going to flare the stock wells just a tiny bit using the same technique I did before - I will cut five radial slots in the wells, bow them out and re-weld them. This way it looks stock but with a slightly wider stance and will accomodate a wider wheel - which it will definitely need in the long run. I'm also going to stretch the front and rear bumper covers to give it a lower look, nothing aftermarket, just tweaking the stock pieces for the look I would have given the car had I designed the body.

Old goat

funny, I dont think the sunroof looks that bad

ChR1sCRX

I didn't either, but after a few weeks with it I realized it leaked plus the handle and the hinges were broken.

I was either going to plug it or do what I did and since I got the roof and tray for nothing - I figure what the heck. I haven't seen anyone try it so perhaps it's a first... Anyone??

Here's an update on that terrible passenger wheel arch. When filling over top of panels that are welded I always use this stuff - it is called All Metal filler and it rocks. It's basically aluminum paste but it spreads well and is even unaffected by gasoline. I used it when I'm doing gas tank repairs on motorcycles - Stuff rocks!

CrX15b

Friend i dont believe the Si was the only CRX's with a sunroof.. I currently have a 100% stock 1991 crx and it has a Manuel pop up sunroof.. Now I HAVE NOT CHECKED my crx roof, but im 99.99% sure its a factory sunroof. Glad to see your enthusiasm to rebuild something I would take to junkyard. Repspect the X... crX that is.

da9jake

looks like you got a good projct there. keep up the good work, and keep it alive.