Hello to everyone

I finally got my step dad to sell me his 91' CRX. This thing (stock) is fun as hell to drive.

Im looking into doing some minor preformance and show upgrades.

I'm not in the market to get a new engine yet. However, my step dad is paying for a new transmition, and I'm going to be buying cold air intake and new exhaust, any recomendations on what my purchases should would be helpfull and appreciated.

For aesthetics, I want to start by replacing my tires/rims. Anyone know a good diameter rim/good wheel size for my car? I want to put in after market seats and new gauges. Since I'm new to the scene I would love if you guys could throw some good vendor/brand names and suggestions to fix up this beauty

Synopsis-What are some good parts (im pulling in around $400 a month) to fit my budget:
Cold Air Intake
Exhaust
Tires/Rims
Racing Style seats that will fit (ive heard horror stories of people not fitting into their cars with new after-market seats)
Main Dash Gauges

Thnx all!

 

Welcome to HT

My advice, in order:

1) use the search function and the Knowledge Base buttons on the top of the board. There is a TON of information out there on exhaust, intakes, and everything else you mentioned.

2) before you buy anything, make SURE that it does not compromise safety on the road. Many people on this forum have stupidly dangerous parts on their cars that are there to "look cool."

3) don't buy anything until you know why you need it ("looks cool" is a good enough reason, but see #2). This will save you money. Don't accept the "I put it on my car and it was WAY faster/cooler/whatever" argument.

 

rules of thumb: dont go any larger than 15" wheels. dont buy guages that you dont need. intake+exhaust dont mean **** without a nice header. and most importantly. If you just got a honda and plan on adding something that looks cool; in 4 months you will sell it for 1/4th what you payed, caus eyou realize you dont like it.

 

What model CRX you have?

 

Not gonna replace engine at this point here's what you should do:

1. Get helms or similar manual on your car
2. Tune the car up based on manual:
a. replace air filter
b. replace fuel filter
c. replace distributor cap, rotor, plug wires
d. replace plugs
e. adjust valves
f. maybe replace O2 sensor
g. seafoam treatment (see instructions)
h. change oil and oil filter
i. check brakes and replace parts as needed
3. upgrade suspension (search for various suggestions) springs, shocks, bushings in necessary
4. Wheels and tires (do this after above). No bigger than 15s unless you are more interested in looks than ride/handling

After you have done this you will know more about your car and how to fix it work on it. Drive it around some and start thinking about an engine upgrade. The money you save on having a shop do above will pay for the tools and stuff.

 

Thanks for all the great tips!

 

Cut the springs and dump that biatch......No but really what model crx is it? And you should post some pics up.......

 

i bet its an Si DX and HF aren't fast or fun at all

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sinfultrends &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i bet its an Si DX and HF aren't fast or fun at all </TD></TR></TABLE>

i wouldn't say that

 

I think one of your first mods should be a good spring or coilover/shock setup, I have progress springs that cost like 150 shipped, and KYB AGX's are extremely affordable adjustable shocks.

You might want to start thinking about a direction you plan on taking w/ the car, learn the in's and out's of naturally aspirated set up's as well as forced induction(turbo, supercharger, nitrous) and decide what works best for you and what if any kind of racing you want to do w/ the car (autocross, drag, etc). This way rather then wasting 500 bucks on a header if you decide to turbo in the long run you save yourself the trouble, and if you get serious about NA power you'd prob end up investing in a custom built header anyways.

 

Welcome dude, here is another message board for CRX people in NorCal that you may want to check out:

http://www.norcalcrx.org/forum/

 

Do places like kragen or napa carry "helms" manuals?

 

yes. my personal option is get service manual straght from the dealer TRUST ME it will be worth it. some of thise hayes or helms cover 3-10 years of the same model car so the info bout a searton topic is deminished.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 91BlueCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do places like kragen or napa carry "helms" manuals?</TD></TR></TABLE>

No, the corner auto parts stores generally carry stripped down manuals like Haynes. They're good for many projects but you'll find yourself turning to the Helms manual more often than not. It's a good investment.

 

Sorry to ask more about the helms manual, went to their website and there are a bunch of manuals on 91crxs, which one should I get for the tasks that tolnep suggested

 

someone has the factory manuals for download off the internet for free, ill try and find the addy for you, or pm me and i can email them to you

 

Helms Welcome to Honda-tech!

 

Welcome man! Crx's are great, fun and easy cars to work on. Just remember, read read read before you do it and everything will be fine. The guys on this site are pretty cool and always willing to help you out, just remember to do a search first.

One tip: IF you replace your dizzy's rotor, use thread locker on that screw! It'll save you a possible tow charge!

Best of luck

 

dont listen to all them. there is nothing worse than a slow light car. if you dont have the money to go big than save the money till you do(b16 or better). i have a 1990 crx HF with a b16a. im not spoiled, it took me a year to save money for the motor and theres no better fealin than bein untouchable. SOHC's just waste money. who ever would tell you to waste money re-building a d anything is a jerk

 

Just going off the username, I'm guessing the car is an HF or a DX. There was no blue Si offered, at least in the US, for 1991.

91BlueCRX: Get the car in tip-top running condition first. You don't need to be worrying about engine swaps or hop-ups just yet. Take your time, figure out what YOU want the car to be (not what your friends want for you to want it to be), and then approach the build-up that way.

If your CRX engine has Dual-Point Fuel Injection (DPFI), it's a DX. If it has Multi-Poin Fuel Injection (MPFI) and does NOT have an electric metal sliding sunroof, it's an HF. If it has MPFI and the metal sunroof, it's an Si. There are lots of other differences, but for the US market, those are quick ways to figure out what's what.

If you've got DPFI, one of the first things you're going to want to do is switch over to MPFI. It's a better injection setup, and will allow you to get more power from the existing engine, as well as getting the best results from any future swap you may decide to do. There are plenty of good tutorials online about how to do this.

If you don't have an Si, you want to look into your transmission options BEFORE you buy anything. The DX and HF have crappy (but in different ways) gearing in their stock forms. Well, crappy from a performance/fun standpoint; great for cruising and fuel economy, though. There are transmission options aplenty, whether you go with a simple Si transmission to replace a "lesser" gearbox, or go all-out and go with a custom-built "hybrid" transmission that can offer even greater performance and fun. I sell such hybrid transmissions, and you'd be surprised at how little they can cost - especially when you compare them to the price of a basic tranny rebuild through someplace like AAMCO or another national chain. I not only build them, I use them in my daily driver CRX and in a couple others I have as weekend toys.

Stick around, and we'll help you get on your way.

Oh, and welcome to your new addiction. First step is admitting you have a problem. Second step is not crashing your car. Third step is EMBRACING your CRX addiction!

Mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by No2Pencil &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dont listen to all them. there is nothing worse than a slow light car. if you dont have the money to go big than save the money till you do(b16 or better). i have a 1990 crx HF with a b16a. im not spoiled, it took me a year to save money for the motor and theres no better fealin than bein untouchable. SOHC's just waste money. who ever would tell you to waste money re-building a d anything is a jerk </TD></TR></TABLE>

not true. my brother has an 89 crx hf that he put a SOHC Vtec motor in. He had your basic bolt ons like i/h/e and a lightened flywheel. There were not many cars, even with b series, that could keep up with him.

Two of our friends, both who have crx's, one with an ls motor and one with a b16, couldn't even beat his fastest time out at an 1/8th mile track. (fastest time for my brother was a 9.5 and that was with his car running sh*tty. timing was off and car was running really rich) the only way for the guy with the b16 to even match his time was to run a 60 shot of nitrous. now people can blame it on poor driving but you you can easily get into the low 9's with a d series motor which is respectable.

so don't think you have to do a b series to be fast. just do some research and decide what's best for you. now don't get me wrong b series is fun, i have an ls motor and it's a blast, but if you don't have the money for it right now, doing a d-series is pretty inexpensive and fun.

to do a b series you're looking at a minimum of around $1500 if you buy everything separate and get good deals on your parts, and if you do the labor yourself. now you might be able to find a wrecked crx or hatchback with a b-series already in it and get it for like $500 - $750 which is what i did, but again you still have to do the labor of pulling that motor out, pulling your motor out, and then putting that motor in.

so again, just do some research and find out what is best for you and your budget. and most importantly, do it for yourself and what you like, and not what everyone else tells you to do, because in the end it's your car, and you are the one that has to drive it everyday.

welcome to H-T

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by No2Pencil &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dont listen to all them. there is nothing worse than a slow light car. if you dont have the money to go big than save the money till you do(b16 or better). i have a 1990 crx HF with a b16a. im not spoiled, it took me a year to save money for the motor and theres no better fealin than bein untouchable. SOHC's just waste money. who ever would tell you to waste money re-building a d anything is a jerk </TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah this is totally untrue, there is a lot that can be done w/ d series engines, with an adapter plate the HF exhaust mani makes a good log manifold for a turbo kit, and they're are plenty of awesome (and cheap!) combos w/ d series parts, i bought a b series, but they are by no means necessary

 

i never said that you cant make a SOHC go fast. no doubt! but he dosent have alot of money and he dosent want to wast any, so dumping 3g's into a SOHC and maxing out the options. instead i sugjest that he save the time and money and buy a better platform than put sum **** in it. look , sooner or later your gunna want somthing better than a 7k max redline, track car.

be sure to write back!


I LOVE THIS GAME!
dont be scared im new too...

 

my $.02..... modding your car is good. BUT learn the car now. Learn its limits and almost "become one" with your car. I had my car for a year and a 1/2 and i knew ALOT about it by feel and sound. I'm not saying it was fast enough to beat a B16 swapped civic HB, but i gave him a decent run on a stock CRXsi because i knew my car and took care of her. Now that i learned her i decided to take it a step up and go DOHC ZC and improve the suspention. Then maybe after a year of re-learning everything again i will move up to a B or H series swap...

My point is to know the car, and what potential it has NOW before changing it and adding on

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Welcome to HT

My advice, in order:

1) use the search function and the Knowledge Base buttons on the top of the board. There is a TON of information out there on exhaust, intakes, and everything else you mentioned.

2) before you buy anything, make SURE that it does not compromise safety on the road. Many people on this forum have stupidly dangerous parts on their cars that are there to "look cool."

3) don't buy anything until you know why you need it ("looks cool" is a good enough reason, but see #2). This will save you money. Don't accept the "I put it on my car and it was WAY faster/cooler/whatever" argument.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

that should save some headaches later