Hey guys I'm new. I'm trying to buy a CRX because I totalled my old car. I drove an S13 Hatch with a CA18DET swap. Accident was totally my fault and I wasn't doing anything illegal. I'm sick of the Nissan scene because parts are a pain in the a** to get. So I parted it out and made about $2000.

Anywho enough introductions. I was planning on getting a CRX. From what the owner said it has a clean title, original paint and body, AC works but needs a recharge, and has decent interior. From what I see from the pics, everything is stock but he's missing the rear window-wiper and the exterior pillar panel on the driver side. He's asking $1450 for it. I'm not familiar with pricing for these so I was wondering if this is a good price. He didn't post mileage but I'm assuming its somewhat high.

Apparently he claims it can get up to 38mpg.

 

It looks like a hf with si rims. If it is a hf engine, it wont have any power until you change the engine. It looks good, and I would buy it for 1500. Although I prefer to start with SIs.

 

I'm not planning on modding the engine for awhile. I got sick of the tuner scene because it's so risky. Especially living in California.
I just want a clean looking car (pretty much leave it all stock, wheels, lower on coils and clean up the lights).
I'm planning on eventually getting an EM1 engine swap (my friends said this is the best bang for your buck).

How hard is it to find an Si? I only have the money I made from my S13 which is around $2000.

 

car you're looking at is a dx model, the broken/missing door piece may be hard to find, which would have a d15b2 dpfi engine in it, it has some pep for a single cam, but still gets good mpgs. car looks like a good starting platform, i'd buy it and do basic up keep on it (tune up, brakes, etc) then go from there.

although i am curious as to why it's such SUV status, and why it looks like it has some camber/caster issues in the pix?

take it to a shop if you aren't comfortable/capable checking it over yourself, start low offering a grand due to the suspension issues and the bumper in the rear not fitting right due to a low speed rear end accident of some sort. i think crx's have compressible rear bumper mounts? not entirely sure

 

wow, thanks for pointing that out! I thought that was because it was stock height. I would have never caught that. From what I know everything is bone stock.

As for the missing piece, how hard is it to find and how much would it be to replace it? I wouldn't mind using a replica as long as it has a good fitment and doesn't stand out. If anything I can go to a junkyard.

 

If you do get the car make sure you do your research before you start modding stuff. Don't listen to your friends an em1 b16a2 swap is far from the "best bang for your buck"

 

Well all I asked them was "What is the cheapest Honda engine that's legal and fast?" After driving around an illegal car for the longest time, I grew a little paranoid about cops seeing as how I'm in Cali and cars like these attract TOO much attention.

I know K20 is legal but its a little on the pricey side and they just told me B16A2 is the cheapest and easiest to obtain and get Bar'd.

 

On the contrary, a B-series swap will probably be the best bang for your buck if you want to stay legal. I'm not real familiar with CARB regulations, but the only thing that is going to get you similar/better performance than a B16 for that kind of money is another B-series or a turbo setup for the stock D series.

I would think getting a turbo D series to pass inspection would be difficult. Even if it passes emissions, isn't there a visual inspection that it would fail?

Since you live in Cali, finding a cheap B series or even one from the junkyard shouldn't be difficult.

As far as the car goes, looks pretty good for $1450. I sold a similar DX in good running condition with minor body issues (no rust, messed up rear bumper, scratches, etc) for $1200 just last year. I picked it up for $700 cause the guy didn't know what he had.

Even if there are suspension issues, new replacement parts for these cars are incredibly inexpensive...you can do the entire front end for under $100 (minus rack/pinion). If you need the big pieces, these cars are all over the junkyards. The window molding that is missing isn't hard to come by, however finding a used and unbroken one might be difficult. I believe you can still buy them new.

Finally, 38mpg doesn't seem unreasonable provided the car is in good mechanical condition. It won't be a rocket ship but it will get you around. Just make sure you invest in some form of anti-theft / insurance, these cars are hot targets for thieves.

Don't buy into the Si hype(unless you like Special Interior or need a Sunroof Included). For what you're intending to do, a DX or HF would do just as well.

 

I said b16 not b series swap. What I meant was if he's gonna spend the money to go B don't get a B16, or just turbo the single cam as you said

I wasn't saying a B series was bad idea just a B16

 

In California you are right about the Visual inspection. I had to do some "stuff" to pass my S13 and it drained my money to keep it un-noticed. Anti-theft is a BIG plus and I'm going to HEAVILY invest in it. I don't live in a bad area of SoCal but it doesn't change the fact that these can get stolen easy.

EM1's are super common here in my area and I'm fairly certain I can get a B16A1 easily, but engine is last of my priority. Only things I'm worried about is replacing parts because this is a fairly old car. It was hard enough to get usuable parts for my S13 without looking around I'm not too sure about the CRX.

This is going to be my DD so I'm happy about the 38mpg thing I don't car if its not fast, as long as it gets me to work and school on time, I'm a happy camper for the time being. Si? If I can get one in my price range, sure why not. I don't know whats different about the interior but as long as it's comfortable I'm good. And speed is not an issue for me. I'm over going fast and getting in trouble. I'll eventually get a swap but for now I can wait.

 

Some of the differences between Si and DX are things like the sliding sunroof, nicer factory seats, MPFI, rear disc brakes, and 0.1L. Not a comprehensive list, if you search you can find that, but I think you'll find that none of this is a big deal.

I know what you mean about Nissan parts being kind of tough to find. My buddy used to have a S12 with the CA18ET (I think?) and he had a tough time finding even factory replacement parts sometimes.

This is *not* a problem Hondas have. You'd have to get into the 70's to have a Honda you struggled to find parts for. Anything from the mid/late 80's to current will have parts stocked in any parts store and more aftermarket crap than you can shake a stick at.

Don't take my word for it though, just Google any part you can think of on the car and put "crx" before or after it. As I said before, I distinctly remember replacing all common wear parts on the front end of my CRX for right around $100. Just check out Rock Auto or something.

 

If that car was in my neck of the woods for that price, it would be sold in 5.236 seconds. Of course, you do live in California so I have no clue what can be had for what price over there. Regardless, as stated before - a B16 swap of any kind is usually NOT the "best bang for the buck". If you want to putt around then it will suffice. Just so you know and don't get confused here (you listed different engines)...

B16A1 = OBD-0 (JDM)
B16A3 = OBD-1 (USDM)
B16A2 = OBD-2b (USDM)

As a starting platform you would be better off with a B18A1 (OBD-0), B18B1 (OBD-2a/b), or of course preferably the B18C1 (OBD-1 / OBD-2a/b). Now what you swap in and how you do it would be will determine the cost involved with the swap. I don't have to deal with emissions from any angle so I can't speak of which option would be the best route. All I know is for around me, converting to OBD-2 is just more of a PITA than its worth not to mention more expensive. OBD-1 is the way to go as it has more tuning support than any other OBD.

Aside from all this - the '88-91 models are starting to taper off in the aftermarket world. You used to be able to get a lot more for better deals. Don't get me wrong, there are still parts to be had, but to get anything decent the prices have soared. From a compliance and emissions stand point (as well as wanting to swap/boost/have power) you would be better off with a '92-00 in my opinion. If you want to purchase the vehicle and leave it mostly stock (even though you say rims and thieves like to steal cars just for rims) then this would a good option.

Anti-theft is a must as these cars are extremely easy to get. If you decide to get it, fix what needs to be first then tackle the security before you start to upgrade anything. Good luck.

 

My bad on the "B16A1" part, I meant to type "B16A2", I sorta understand what engine is from what car because of wikipedia...

As for as getting a more recent model, I was planning on getting an EJ8 but I can't afford to get another salvaged title car because I didn't have full coverage for my S13 so I'm using whatever money I have in my pocket to buy this CRX. With that being said, most EJ8's in my range are salvaged or there is something really wrong with them.

Here in California, emissions is everything. I'm trying to avoid anything illegal because of my run-in's with my S13, JDM engines are better to have but not when you have to deal with cops in California. I know you can get away with some swaps because my cousin has a 2001 Prelude with an H22A swap and he got it smog'd and passed easy because it looks almost the same as the H22A4. He only payed $20 to get his car smog'd and passed while I payed $200 to "pass" my JDM CA18DET.

 

Well you people are lucky you can pay to play. In the 2 counties that have emissions in my state: if you fail too many times and use/d the vehicles 1 lifetime waiver it's either sell the car, take it to the scrap yard, or move out of the county. Worst part is you sell it to someone else in those same counties they now have a vehicle that can't legally be plated. They keep lowering the standards and freshly rebuilt and broken in engines with new sensors and cats fail the tail-pipe test. Yet, if it's OBD-2 it can be pouring smoke out of the exhaust and as long as there isn't a CEL it passes.

Aren't emissions great? (EXTREME Sarcasm) Thats typical ignorant government officials for you.

 

From what I know of they are starting to do "Smog Checkpoints" here in Cali, they do this whenever they shut down a smog center for illegally smoging cars. From what I hear they don't impound cars but they give out ref tickets and thats when you're screwed. They do a pipe check and visual.

Just curious, CRX takes 4x100 lugs and how much are coilovers? I don't care about the brand as long as its affordable and good. Is there a way to convert to 5 lug on a CRX or am I stuck with what I got?

 

Decent coilovers can be found used in the socal fs section for 300-500
Five lug is possible but thats expensive
Idk who told u k20s were legal ca swaps there not with out a bar sticker
Theres only a handful of ppl who have done this in eg dc chassis
Its alot of custom work including swaping a rsx gas tank

 

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