Let the ranting begin...

It's been 2 1/2 months now since I haven't had my CRX running. It's nothing special, just a stock 1990 CRX DX with stock manual D15B2 engine. If you've read my other thread(s) you know the story. To make a long story short, I blew a headgasket after overheating twice last December. I bought another stock CRX DX for its' automatic D15B2 engine and various interior pieces. It was driven over an embankment and down a long hill resulting in a bent frame and screwed up driver's side body. I've been waiting forever for my dad's friend (an ex Honda technician) to pick up both cars so he can swap the engines for me and do some other minor work. Yesterday I find out the guy received a fine and a letter from his town basically forbidding him from fixing cars in his driveway/garage anymore so I'm kinda FUBAR. I'd swap the engines myself but I have little knowledge in that area and with it being FREAKIN cold out and not having a garage, I'm stuck until it either starts warming up or I find someone in the Poconos who can help me out. What would you guys do? I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of driving my dad's 92 Civic 4 door and having to drive them around, yet I can't afford to pay some garage big bucks to do the swap.

Thanks for reading.

 

why not have the guy come over and do the swap ay your house? only other think is to save up the cash and have a shop do the swap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by beyondspecs_jamar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why not have the guy come over and do the swap ay your house? only other think is to save up the cash and have a shop do the swap. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Seeing as my dad's friend (and his brother I believe) are both ex honda techs, having them work on the car is ideal. I'm working on having them come work on it in my driveway or my dad's. Wat I forgot to mention is the parts CRX is in my driveway here in the Poconos, and my broken down CRX is sitting in my dad's driveway in NJ, roughly an 1 1/2 hours away! There is always the option of having the guy pull the good engine out and then driving to NJ and putting it in there. The main problem though is the cold!! Thanks for replying!

 

I know what you mean. I has been FLIPPN cold here.

Best of luck man.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goCRXgo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Let me get this straight....your thinkin about paying a shop to swap a Stock DX motor into a DX Chassis?

My advice: If possible, part out all that you can from both CRXs. You'll likely come up with enough to buy a clean running CRX with high mileage, probably around the $1000-$2000 area (depending what you get from parting it out). Part em out, throw down some of your own money, and take that route. I dont see the point in a DX swap, so why bother? Just get an SI.....</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm not looking at building this as a car for the track. I just want it running... NOW! And with my commute of 184 miles round trip every weekday, I need something with good gas mileage, not something that will yield fast times in the 1/4 mile. I've got a non-running 90 Toyota Corolla and a non running 91 Dodge Caravan that I am planning on selling and thinking of purchasing a Civic 4 door or maybe a hb to serve as a daily driver and building up my CRX as the weekend car. But that's just a thought right now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goCRXgo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you've got to commute like that, get an HF NOW, 184 miles a day is no joke.</TD></TR></TABLE>
For real that's like a weekly oilchange...

 

It's been 2.5 years since my crx has ran, 2.5 months is nothing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by *** Sniper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
For real that's like a weekly oilchange...</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ahhh I see. I was thinkin like "hmmm this guy is building a DX engine, thats a new one...."

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goCRXgo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you've got to commute like that, get an HF NOW, 184 miles a day is no joke. I'd do that, keep one of your DX's and strip it for parts and rebuild it with SI parts and an engine of your choice.
My other advice would be to get a Haynes manual and some basic car mechanics books, so you can start to failiarize yourself with all the systems and parts of a CRX and then how to work on/fix them.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, oil changes are quite common, roughly once every three weeks to a month.

I've got the Haynes manual and I even printed out all the pages of the online Helms manual. I'm trying to familiarize myself with all that I can about our little cars. I can do minor things but swapping engines is a bit out of my league, even if it's a D15B2 for another D15B2. Inregards to getting an HF, when my car was running, I was averaging about 35 to 40 MPG so it wasn't too bad. My dad's 92 civic, well, that's another story!

Thanks again for the replies!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goCRXgo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
See thats where your wrong. I've never done a hybrid swap, but I've done plenty of engine exchanges.
Think of it like this: your engine's a big hunk of metal, all you gotta do is pick it up and move it 6 ft to another place.
If you can stay organized while doing it, it is very easy. And you've even got a 2nd CRX to pull parts from, so if you lose a bolt or something youve got a spare.
I'd go for it, borrow or rent an engine hoist and get yourself some jack stands, and get to work. You could take the whole project out in a weekend.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

The more you reply to my posts, the more I feel I can do the swap myself. We'll have to see. My dad is closer to borrowing a flatbed from his work (he's a forklift mechanic) this Saturday, picking up both cars and then bringing them back to the forklift shop where he works and then he and his friend can go to town swapping engines. I coach my sons' indoor soccer team on the weekends so I may not even be able to partake in the engine swap festivities. If this plan goes to heck, hopefully the weather will cooperate an spring will come soon!

 

Wish I could help you but you are too far away. You've got all the parts you need so it is going to be an EASY swap. Shouldn't your dad/you long at all, especially if they are ex honda techs. Good luck