Talking to a guy on the phone, he's got an '89 CRX, straight body, no rust. Stock steel wheels and hub dubs. Car shows over 200K miles. Engine is a JDm 1.6 DOHC, header, intake, race clutch, adjustable cam gears, no catalytic converter. Interior has Integra seats, no A/C, CD player. Asking $3000. My question is, if you were looking for a daily driver and had the money, would you buy it? When I go look at it, what should my main concerns be about a "swap" car? Thanks.

Justin D. Fender

 

My main concerns would be maintenance items. Find out when he did the swap and what all he changed (timing belt, water pump, cap, rotor, etc.). Check the engine compartment for oil leaks. If it leaks bad he can't hide it. Find out what tranny he used. Check and see what kind of RPM's your turning at 55 in 5th gear. That will verify the tranny. Listen for bad axles and brakes. Ask which ecu he is using. Ask a lot of quesitons. By the way is it an Si, DX or HF. That will weigh into the value as well.

Good luck!

 

As for the tranny, what kinda RPMs will each tranny be up to at 55? What ECU should I want? Hmmm, I'll be looking at it and driving it tomorrow morning, so any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Justin D. Fender

 

i wouldn't buy it for a daily driver. racing clutches aren't (imo) much fun for daily commuting, and no a/c can be a real drag in the summer (depending on where you live). also remember, a lot of times high performance means lower reliability.

 

At 55 the RPM's should be:

Si - 2700
DX - 2400
HF - 1700

As far as the ECU, here they are in order of preference:

PM7 - ZC
PG7 - 88-89 integra (D16A1)
PM6 - 88-91 CRX (D16A6)

Hope this helps.

 

The guy told me this was a ZC swap, I'm still learning so tell me about it. The guy said it was a racing clutch, so I asked to make sure it wasn't a 3 or 4 puck or something, he assured me this was a street performance clutch and not a true racing clutch. as for A/C it gets hot here in NC, but I never use my A/C on the vehicles I got, I just let my back get sweaty! haha As for reliability, the last owner of the car was a mechanic, he used this car as his daily driver for about 5 months, driving about 40-50 miles a day. He got rid of the car because he passed a cop doing 125mph and has a big ticket and court cost to pay off.

Justin D. Fender