OK, at the risk of being berated, LOL’d at, and various other ‘vintage’ jokes I am going to post a few questions here and hope that cooler minds prevail.

I just purchased a rather nice 91 CRX SI and I am now deciding whether to keep the car or not, as I have a tendency to buy and then take off on a freshening/restoring tangent with every purchase. I currently have 10 cars, all under roof, so it is not as if I am hurting for a project, only that I must decide if this car is worth the time and effort that must be expended to bring it into what I would consider well-mannered drivability.

The good points:
It is perfectly rust free; Dallas is a great place to be a vintage car owner.
There are no real ‘wild’ mods to the car, so I do not think it ever abused.
The A/C is intact and working well (again, important in Dallas)
The color scheme, red with black interior is appealing
The interior is intact and in good shape, save the driver’s seat
There are no leaks, no smoke, no knocks, no problems in the engine at all
The car tracks straight and true up to speed even with worn tires
There are Prelude wheels on it that are very nearly perfect and look great
All electrical components are functioning well, lights, no CEL, gauges good, etc
The car is quick, strong, and agile as hell.

The not-so-good points, and my questions:
The suspension has been stiffened up, way past my comfort level. While it can literally be thrown into a curve and come out with aplomb, it is too stiff for my old body and a daily commute. Does anyone have any stock suspension components that have been removed from their car that are not worn out and that they would be willing to sell? Alternatively, can you tell me where the best sources for these parts are?

The short-throw shifter works well in all gears, but it is ‘notchy’. This is not too much of an issue, but I was wondering if this is the norm, or should I look at different gear oils and bushings on the linkages?

The exhaust is decidedly not a fart can, and sounds rather throaty and not bad overall. However, there is a resonance frequency at certain speeds and RPM’s that are brain numbing. Has anyone added an in-line resonator to counter this phenomenon successfully? If so, what brand/type please?

The passenger fender and drivers door needs skins or repair. Just lightly bruised really, but if I keep this car I will fix these. Are aftermarket skins available for the door, and if so are they worth a darn? The same question for the front fender applies.

Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any replies that may be helpful.

Ed Fisher
Dallas, Tx

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ed Fisher &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
The not-so-good points, and my questions:
The suspension has been stiffened up, way past my comfort level. While it can literally be thrown into a curve and come out with aplomb, it is too stiff for my old body and a daily commute. Does anyone have any stock suspension components that have been removed from their car that are not worn out and that they would be willing to sell? Alternatively, can you tell me where the best sources for these parts are?</TD></TR></TABLE>

depending one what you have i might be willing on tradeing suspensions with you

 

I will investigate and let you know what identifiable markings I can find on the components. Don't give up on me though, I am going to be out of state for 2 weeks. I will update upon return.

Ed Fisher