Krazy the Face

Since Freemana...anana..na (Did I get them all?) was so helpful in my "CRX Swap" thread and has been begging for pics, I figured I'd do a proper build thread, just for him

I'm finally going racing, and as I want to keep things cheap to see if I can handle the time, effort, and expenses, I'm joining the Hornet class - stock 4 bangers.

And if you're gonna race 4 bangers, is there any other choice than a Honda? And if you're gonna race a Honda, is there any other choice than a CRX? =D

Being from the Buffalo area, finding a CRX that isn't A)made of 100% rust, or B)crushed and in a scrap heap, is nigh on impossible. But after 5 months of searching, I found an old Honda nut, far off in the woods. He had 5 of them. FIVE. And not wanting to ruin some of the cleaner models he had, I picked up this '89 DX from him that he had listed for a tick over a grand.



Pay no attention to the 95% of the car that looks pretty nice. That rear quarter tells the real story.

I couldn't use the rims, tires, or the body kit, so I returned the rims/tires and promised to give him the body kit in exchange for him dropping the price to $700. Once I got it home, I immediately began stripping.



The asshat that owned it prior was one of those system guys that packed a nuclear reactor's worth of wattage blasting sound, and as such, plastered the entire interior with Dynamat sound deadening pads. And I mean the ENTIRE interior. A pillar, B pillar, floor, doors, walls, roof,...there was nary a square inch that wasn't covered.

Dynamat is like a quarter inch of adhesive tar covered in sheet metal. It was by far the biggest, most horrible job of this project. Even after I bought a sonic spatula to assist with removal, the entire job took well over 40 hours to remove. Both I and my g/f were rendered bloody and shredded during this month of the project.



We needed breaks doing this, and said breaks were used to work on the rest of the car. The first order of business was removing the body kit, and the extent of the previous owners douchebaggery became even more apparent. The rear quarters were little more than insulating foam covered in bondo. The entire rear of the car from the doors back were completely stuffed with foam. COMPLETELY. It was then shaved into shape and bondo'd over to look nice. For as much work that he put into the car, is was shocking how big of a corner he cut with this.





The end of summer was mostly body work, getting the dusty jobs done before I was forced to go into the garage from the weather. Both rear quarters got bondo'd back to somewhat normal, the entire thing was sanded and ready for paint, and all the windows save the windshield got punched out.



Once the weather came, it was time for the mechanical stuff. First order of business was replacing the axles, which led me to Honda Tech. After an epic battle with the axle nuts, removing them revealed that I not only needed new axles, but control arms, bearings, ball joints, tie rods, brake rotors...in short, nearly the entire front end was disassembled and rebuilt.

Krazy the Face

Suspension set, it was time to move inside. I managed to get a cage fabbed up for a tick over $500, and within the week, all the bars were delivered to my porch. I had a small window of time where I had neither work nor hockey nor childcare to attend to, so I rented a MIG, bought a dozen cutting wheels, and set to work.

In about 30 hours over three days, I had the entire cage in save the driver's side door bars.





The driver's side bars needed to be measured and ordered, so while I waited, I fabbed up an exhaust. In trying to keep things cheap, I just used the exhaust I pulled off it. I cut the flange off the converter, cut two pieces out of the pipe, angled em off, and welded it all up. 2 hours later, I had an exhaust for $0 coming out just behind the passenger front tire.



A few days later, the door bars arrived. A day after that, the bars, the window net, the seat, and the racing harness were completely installed.



Next came the tires. What else but Toyo Proxes R888s?



The last order of business is the engine. Although it came with a D15B2, it had been replaced with a D15B7 that had a blown head gasket and low compression in one of the cylinders. Rather than have it rebuilt and spend $1,000 on a 102hp motor, I bought a JDM D15B VTEC for $756 delivered to my front porch and set about swapping it myself.

With much help from Freemanana..nan...a, I set about stripping the harnesses and getting everything wired up.







Now, I've got the D15B7 completely unplugged and the entire front of the car off. The D15B's VTEC and MPFI is completely wired, converted, and ready to go.

Now all I need is a hoist, a hand, a few hours and a case of beer., and this pig will be swapped over and ready to rip.

instrument

jeeze that's a lot of time and money just to get to a starting point.

Did you ask what the dd stands for?

Mister Clean

http://www.ddaudio.com/

^They make SPL competition subwoofers

Krazy the Face

Time? Yes. Money? That's subjective.

I got this on 9/11, and other than a period of being sick and a week spent in Wyoming, I've worked on it a few hours every day. It is surely way more work than I had anticipated.

But it's constructive, it's productive. I'm learning new things and new skills every day. I don't have TV, and one can only play so much hockey. It gives me something to do. With a few exceptions, it's been a very enjoyable project.

All told, the entire race team is gonna cost about $6,200. Keep in mind, a lot of it is startup cost. Some of this stuff I can use as I move up in class (hauling trailer, seat/harness, fire suit), and a lot of it is stuff I can use always for anything (60gal air compressor, 220v welder, a number of air and other assorted tools).

But yeah, car wise I still spent $4,000. Track tires, cage, seat, engine... it adds up. Some of you may have just died seeing $4,000 spent on a beater CRX. But I look at it as that's not even half the cost of a new race 4wheeler, and I'm going to be able to race competitively, hold a NASCAR license, and complete a dream I've had since 1982.

Perspective is everything

davegt27

Any updates?

Davegt27

ProjetEF

Look like your on the good way to build the car you want.
cant wait to see more progresss !! if your a good welder, you can do anything :D

Pro-SeriesFab

Did you sink the cage below the floor to weld the top of the bar?

Krazy the Face

No. The cage was supplied with 6" plate. Weld the plate to the floor and the cage to the plate. That was one of the hardest parts of the cage build, as 25yr old, NY CRX's floors don't have the best integrity. But I managed =p

Several. It's been pretty dramatic.

Just a week after my last update, mid winter rule changes made both my $800 tires and my $1,000 engine/ECU combo illegal. All that money and all that work - gone.

I was so disgusted and put out that I didn't touch it for almost two months. But I had to finish it, so I called the Competition Director and plead my case, resulting in him allowing me to run it with possibly a weight penalty, depending on how dominant it was. I was chuffed to bits, so I started right in again.

I had no help whatsoever, not even my little boy to hold this or that. But still, I managed to get the blown D15B7 out by myself.



My new engine didn't have a flywheel, so I had to swap that from the old. I managed to get all that done, my stage 2 racing clutch, and the tranny reattached with little to no problem. It took forever without help, as I had to keep putting it in the hoist to hold at different angles for every step, but I got it done.



All I had to do now was put it in, and I still didn't have any friends and therefore, still did not have any help. So I got a case of beer, took a day off from work, and tried to do it by my onesies. It was an epic dance; 40 pumps to life the engine, a 100 step dance to get it in position, lower it, and it was crooked. 20 more pumps to lift it, 100 more dance steps to align it, lower it, and the bracket won't clear. I did that for hours, taking stuff off and putting other stuff on trying to get it to clear. I mean, I didn't have anyone to pull and maneuver it as it dropped, you know? I was doing it all myself. I had parts and bolts and brackets in every one of my pockets, ready to jam home in case a miracle happened and something lined up. And some 5 hours and 12 beers later, I jammed home the last bolt. It was in.



I was pretty drunk, but I rode that wave of accomplishment and got all the mechanical connections connected. Control arms, axles, new brakes, shift linkage, exhaust... I banged it all out.



By the end of the day, it was back on its wheels for the first time in 4 months. It was a car again.



For the last two weeks, I've been doing all the final stuff to get it running. Fuel, cooling, wiring, all the little niggles. As soon as I got everything plugged in, I touched the key for the first time and it fired right up. And it's so loud, it makes your brain tickle and your eyes water. What a racket! I love it!!



So now, I'm in my other thread just trying to iron out the last few gremlins. It has a coolant leak which I believe we've narrowed down to a faulty water pump. It runs and idles fine, save for a bog and a surge between 1,000 and 1,250 rpm. I've already cleaned the FITV and IACV, so I'm trying to figure out the vacuum lines to address that. And other than those two minor issues, I've just got to take it on a shakedown run to make sure I wired those two VTEC wires properly, and the build is done.

Once I solve those three minor issues, I've just got to do body, paint, decals and tires, and it'll be race ready.

45 days and counting until it hits the track for the first time.

Krazy the Face

I'm just here to put this link somewhere I can find it again. Finding a parts list for the JDM 15B is harder than the rebuild itself =p

JDM d15b vtec Honda Part Numbers (official!) - D-series.org

Anyways, since I bugged you all with the necro bump, I suppose I could update in case any are interested.

Pretty much all of the problems I had at the end of this thread I just kept. It still surged, it still said it overheated, and I didn't give a ****. The surge was only at idle and I don't idle while racing. And the overheating had to have been a faulty sensor or wiring. It was already buried dead in the "H" while still on the grid, and remained there for every single lap of competition. And hey, it never blew up or failed, so I guess it wasn't actually overheating =p Oddly, I could cure the surge by pulling the accelerator pedal up with my foot. It would drop to 900ish rpm and ran as smooth as butter. Dunno why, but whatever.

The day before first practice, I loaded it up and blew the brakes out of it. Once I replaced the lines, I just could not get them bled. I had to shop it for a pressurized bleeding and missed all of the practices. Oh well. She ran, she had brakes, and I had my race car.





The first few races were crazy. I hadn't driven FWD or a car period in over 9 years, and I was just running a balanced street setup. The track is also severely banked, unlike most asphalt short tracks, so it was a total trial by fire. Still I managed a string of top tens for about the first 3-5 races.

She got a little banged up here and there. Mostly it was incidental contact, what most hicks would call "rubbin'". I'll tell ya, that **** hurts. This door rub was enough to knock the wheel right out of my hands. Since he did it on the straight out of T2, I punted him good entering T3 because F him. Tearing up my Rex is not allowed =p




Slowly the car started coming around. Tire pressures were adjusted, eventually settle on as high as 46psi on the RF, while I was just at 16psi in the LR. That helped a good deal. In trying to solve the crazy amount of push, I also removed the front sway bar trying to soften and plant the front. That was a revelation. I was no longer stuck running one line and was able to move around.





By the time our 50 lap main event rolled around, adjustments had given me a Top 5 car. I ended up leading a few laps of the 50 before falling and battling for 3rd. In the battle, I got on the throttle too early exiting 2 and had an option - roll out to save the car thereby falling to 4th, or keeping my foot in it and hoping the wall was softer than it looked. And you know, ain't no fecking way I'm letting up! I slid up and kissed the wall, rebounded, saved it, and still held third. Of course, with our 1" camber rule, our tires get destroyed and I hadn't yet had a long race like this. I ended up burning down the RF and came home about 6th.




Pumped about the performance, I put my weight aft of the rear axle in one more attempt to loosen her up and save the RF. 1st lap out, I damn near wrecked it. That loosened her up! But once I figured out entry, it was bad fast. It was the weirdest thing ever. Throttle off oversteer is common as the weight all gets thrown forward. She definitely had a whole bunch of that. The weird thing is it had throttle on oversteer, too! It was almost like driving RWD, and that's my specialty. With my new found looseness, I monstered the heat, winning my first ever and doing so by an entire straight




All amped up for the feature, I was off to the races again. I led a bit before again falling into a battle for third, and I again got on the throttle too early. I again had a choice, and I again decided to just mash the wall. This one... this one didn't end as well...










Fortunately I was able to weld the LCA and the only other damage (besides the tire and rim) was the axle. I had a spare rim, I had a stash of tires, so I got her all fixed up over the week for a cost of about $44 after tax




But after that, I ran into issues. She was beginning to smoke some and was leaking gas pretty badly. The second to last race it just began cutting out. I could run the entire RPM band in 1st and 2nd, but coming down the straight at about 4,800rpm in third, it would just die. Complete cut out, then full bore, then complete cut out again. Coming out of the corner it had full power again, and then it would die down the straight again. All I could fathom was a fuel pickup issue. Perhaps with the leaking tank? Maybe it was fine in the corners because it ran to the pickup? I didn't know. But right at that time I lost my job, and it no longer felt right spending the money. With hockey season starting, I hung up the keys and sat out the last race.

So now I'm in rebuild mode. I have the tank off and have identified the leak. I have a setup that works with the car and my driving style. The only other question mark is the engine, hence the reason for me tacking the 15B parts list to this post. I reckon the rings are going on account of the smoke, so a freshening up couldn't hurt.

We'll see how that goes

Tyson

v4lu3s

thanks for the update, very enjoyable read.

Krazy the Face

Back again about the mess posted above ^^

So I did decide on a rebuild (rings and seals) and it's all back together again. But I'm now stuck doing all the troubleshooting. I need some help with a fuel issue.

After a bunch of faffing with the ground, relay, etc, I got the thing to finally deliver fuel to the rail. But, when I crank it over, fuel squirts all over the manifold and engine compartment. It's coming from the injectors somewhere, though I cannot say definitely where as I'm doing this alone (I have to turn the key, can't see what's going on.) The squirt appears to be very low in volume though very high pressure, as it's but a thread thin stream yet soaked the whole mani.

It's the JDM D15B VTEC, and it was A-OK when I pulled it and tore it down. The only molestation of this particular area was separating the manifold from the head. I never touched the rail, injectors, nothing anywhere on this assembly. And yes, it's coming from all four injectors and not a line or hose or anything. All four **** this tiny stream of high pressure fuel into the engine compartment on the manifold.

Any idea what could cause this? All the Googling in the world hasn't shown me the solution.

Thanks for your time, guys

Deaf_Dougie

lmao holy **** that's pretty crazy but I'm pretty sure it's quick fix...Hope to see you to get back to racing! Oh is there any video of you racing around the oval track?

stocker2shocker91

Very cool read, I have always wanted to try this with an older Honda chassis but time would never permit. Looks like so much fun.

Krazy the Face

Quick indeed! I guess I'll post the solution in case anyone else happens upon this.

What I did was... wait. Came out a day later, hit the key to get it to spray and start diagnosing, and not only did it not leak, it fired up! Sounds like a goddamn John Deere, but we have ignition

So I guess I post this query for ***** and giggles - Why the tractor performance?

It's not an exhaust leak. I mean, I have tons of those, but it's always leaked and has ran like a raped ape regardless.

I lapped the valves and all 16 are 5-by. No chips, no bends, nothing.

I suppose it's timing, but I'm not a mechanic despite having built this project. The #1 cylinder was fully up when the head went on, and the cam pulley was lined up with the head and the big "UP" stamp was on top. I guess I assumed that's all I needed to do to get it TDC and that would suffice. Please advise if timing needs to be more fine tuned than that as I'm a bit out of my element here.

I did try rotating the diz to and fro, no change.

I still have to check plugs, wires, and all that, so maybe I'll be back here with another "NVM IT'S PERFECT!" But feel free to toss advice and chat in the meantime

I have footage of all my races save one, so I can easily supply some of the better ones. Maybe tonight after some wrenching if I don't get to involved with the car (aka, get drunk and pass out under it. You Rex owners know what I'm talking about )

Krazy the Face

Thanks! I tell ya, it's tons of fun, but if you're going to do a weekly league instead of sporadic or track day events, make sure you can foot another full time job. I reckon I averaged 30hrs a week during the season working on this mess. Granted, a majority of that time was spent at the PC either researching a problem or trying to find set up tips, but it was work nonetheless. She was quite reliable and only needed the axle fixed when I tried knocking down the wall, but if you're gonna race, you're gonna be tweaking and tweaking and tweaking. Moving weight around, changing tire pressures, messing with sway bars,... it very quickly becomes an obsession. If you have a g/f wife, either ensure she's into it, or trade her for a dog. That there's my pro-tip for the day

And it cost me ~$1,200 just to run the full 14-ish week schedule. Gas to race, gas to tow, gate fees, a new RF every race, it adds up. Definitely do tons of research before getting started. You don't want to budget $5k, hit it, and find there's still $2k of incidentals left to go. Then you either gotta spend money you don't have, or let your $5k dream sit unfinished and rot. OK, two pro-tips

Think my beer's wet, gotta get to work. I'll be back with vids soon.

Krazy the Face

Apologies for the (complete lack of) editing. There's a lot of pace/caution lap tedium, but reckon y'all know how to use the YouTubes well enough to skip it =p

Here's my first heat win. It's pretty boring as I led almost the whole thing, but I post this because some guys want to know/see more about the car than the action. This was my first race after taking some huge whacks at getting it to turn, as these things push like, well, a 1700lb FWD car =p

To get those sweet drifts you see towards the end, you pretty much have to make it undrivable on the street. My tire pressures are 42 RF, 36 RR, 22 LF, 16 LR. The front sway bar's been totally removed. The front springs have had a link and a half chopped off them. I cut an inch out of the left LCA and added it to the right LCA because we're not allowed camber kits and I'm a cheate... er... race car driver I run a 50lb steel brick under my left thigh, and a 45kg plate where the spare used to be. The tires were a pretty big adjustment, the sway and springs less so though still noticeable. But that plate... that f#$%ing thing almost killed me my first time out lol. As big a difference as that made I'd have to think you could gymkhana one of these things just by filling the tank


It's all pretty smooth and controllable by your onesies, but it gets sketch bags as hell in the pack. I don't use the brakes at all; that's all just throttle off OS. If I do have to hit the brakes, or come off the throttle sooner/more than expected, you get real close to running out of talent. In the following vid, you can see it happen (around the 12 minute mark) when some guy passes me low. I expected him to have created more distance than he did, and when I started sliding, he was still in that space. Full throttle off I just couldn't stop the slide and ended up lightly tagging him, which of course got me tagged from behind. Had I been around a different caliber of driver, that could've gotten messy (aka expensive) real quick.


Now if I could just find an HF/Si tranny so I'm not bogged all the time and can run 7k+ all day...