I just [Feb 10/17] picked up a 1988 CRX from this guy up north and it's already my favorite CRX I've owned. It does have some minor problems that I will be addressing and documenting here. First here are some pictures after washing her up and popping in some new corner lights and a new passenger front bumper signal I had laying around.















As you can see the paint is fairly decent, and there is minimal rust - however sooner than later I would like to address all the minor issues and get the car repainted it's factory color "Superior Blue Metallic". It once had a body kit and there are a few rivets around the bottom of the rear quarter panels on either side which will need to be ground down and filled and the passenger side rear quarter has about 3-5" of surface rust which will need to be cut out.

The front end was hit by a tire that came flying off an oncoming car on the expressway. The damage is minor however still needs to be addressed. The hood was smashed in and the bumper is misaligned a bit.

The trunck latch doesn't latch and needs to be adjusted - I will likely install a different one if I have it laying around.

The front doors don't have the plastic housing for speakers however the rear speakers work great! The driver door handle doesn't really "pop" the door open like I think it should, it could use and adjustment.

The radiator needs to be replaced. The motor that is in the car is a D16A6 with a valve cover that appears to need new gaskets. Though the engine runs very strong and idles well, there is a check engine light which I need to look into. I will likely swap a JDM B16A OBD1 into this car.

Other than that the car came with a full interior and it's blue! I love that the seatbelts aren't in the doors as well. I have a few questions that I hope can be answered and I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the future;
Do '91 Si seats bolt right into my '88?
Does a '91 Si dash bolt perfectly into an '88?
Does a '91 CRX Si Rear Disc assembly bolt right into an '88? (I vaguely remember hearing the 1988 CRX had an exclusive geometry to the other 2nd Gen CRX models - my car is a DX model)

Thanks for checking it out and I will do my best to turn it into something comparable to my Tahitian Green legend. Stay tuned for a JDM Front End swap, B16 swap with YS1 Cable trans and Spoon appointments (TB/intake/flywheel/header) I am open to any and all suggestions and am excited about this one!

 

the issue with the 88 is the rear lower control arms are the ITR type with an eye shock bottom instead of the fork type shock bottom. but the trailing arm will bolt right up, so a disk brake swap is no problem. just remember when ordering shocks for the rear that 88 Civic ones are unique. you can swap the lower control arms to any Civic or integra ones (EF, DA, DC, or EG), and then the 88 will be exactly like any 89 and up Civic.

I went to DC rear lower control arms on my 88, yes, it loses some of the 88 appeal in a sense, but there are way more suspension options that way.

 

bbarulo, Thank you! This is the information I've been looking for, I was sure I'd heard something along those lines back in the day. Just to be clear, as I understand it, I would need to swap my lower control arms to bolt the '91 rear disc brakes in.
On the other hand, you're saying an ITR suspension bolts right up? Would it be easy to swap, say, a full 2000-2001 ITR suspension, brake system, wheels 5 lug and all?
Also what do you mean "loses the 88 appeal"? Does the geometry change? Are the LCA measurements different for each model/chassis?

I'd like to try and retain the original design but if the modern ITR suspension is a direct bolt-on, I would consider converting to 5 lug wheels. It's something I hadn't considered before.

 

nice pick up. welcome

 

looks like a great buy really like how your keeping the factory colour as well i always liked that blue

 

ITR suspension doesn't just bolt right up. It's just referenced because it's a similar design.

The LCA's can be swapped from 88 to 89-91 with no geometry change.

The dash will bolt in, but you'll need the cluster and to do a bit of repinning, because the dash harnesses are different.

I'm not 100% sure on the seats, but i would say they'd be a direct swap and if they weren't you could swap the seat pans and bolt them up.

 

So I've got a Progress Competition II Coilover system from my '91 CRX and, of course, the rear disc assembly with original LCAs. I'm thinking that would all be a solid swap and I can install some "Energy Suspension" bushings and paint the components at the same time. Will I need to convert my e-brake cable over as well? Along the subject, I would very much consider upgrading the brakes altogether to a larger diameter but I also like the idea of being able to use my factory wheels. If the dash harness is different, I'll likely try and retain the BLUE interior that it came with. I have a full mint '91 black interior including Si seats, but I also have nearly the whole blue interior. I'm missing the tail light covers (I have black ones installed now) and I would like to find some nicer door panels. The center console and e-brake cover that came with the car are black, not sure if there are blue ones, but if there are I'll need to track that down. I'm real excited about this thing - I LOVE that the seatbelts are where they're supposed to be! That's got to make this my favorite CRX ever!

 

Tomorrow, I will be spray painting my JDM bumper flat black to at least look decent for the time being and I will be taking some pictures of the interior as well. I also need to get a new radiator and valve cover gaskets.

 

So I painted up the window trim and JDM front this afternoon, the front end support bar needs a lot of bending and persuading - it's been a long time since I've had it on a car. The hood is only slightly misaligned and for this car I converted the JDM headlight lenses onto the USDM housing. I'm proud of my paint job of nothing else... I'm considering getting the carbon fiber hood painted Superior Blue as well as the bumpers.

 

So no... you can do JUST the trailing arms using the 88 LCAs, no problem. The width of the outside bushing didn't change, and that's the interface point between the LCA and the trailing arm. However, you can also swap the rear LCAs in at the same time, that's no problem either since there was no change in length of the LCA and the inside bushing width also didn't change (so it interfaces fine with the car).

No, you can't do a full ITR suspension. As I documented in my build regarding an EG/EK suspension, for one it's too long. Just too long. So right there the project shouldn't be done. People that do 5 lugs on EFs use a 5 lug hub pressed into a Civic bearing/spindle. Not to mention, the front spindle is totally different on the DC platform. You have to stay with an EF spindle, or some people claim a DA spindle, but I haven't compared the two. Apparently an inch difference in spindle height, which affects upper/lower control arm angles relative to each other, which means it changes the roll center of the car.

The rear dynamic camber is unique to the 88/ITR due to the rear control arm design. But I would doubt anyone on street tires could tell you which type of rear suspension you have. I made the change to the 89+ design (actually I used a DC integra rear control arm to gain a sway bar mounting point), and I don't regret my decision. I am keeping the 88 control arms since they are rare and one day if I want to restore it, I'll have all the stock parts. The LCAs are identical in length between the 88, 89-95, and DC and DA integras. There are variations in bushing sizes and whatnot, but only in bushing diameter, not in width. So order the bushings accordingly; I had some 89-95 energy susp bushings and they were too small for the DC control arms.

The EF suspension is by no means outdated... well depends on who you talk to... but no, an ITR suspension if it did fit, still wouldn't be an 'upgrade' per se. The two are so closely related, not worth the effort. Even for the big brakes, I'm doing 280mm brakes that are even bigger pistons than an ITR and the rotors are even fatter than the ITR. All based around a TL caliper and modified rotor... and all on the 242 mm DX knuckle, not even the EX knuckle. With an EX knuckle I could build monster 300mm brakes around that, but for my little 1.5L auto, I don't require THAT much braking and I don't want to move away from 15 inch wheels for good.

 

I just got some Expanded Antique vehicle plates for ol' blue, I got "8 8 C R X" which I'm stoked about! The car is up and running today, though I still need to source a new radiator for her. I got the front end better aligned and the lights are properly aimed.
Next on the agenda is working out the interior bits. I've discovered that the center console and e-brake housing have been painted black by the previous owner over the factory 'blue' plastic. Is there a good product for stripping interior paint on plastic?
​​​​​​​Also I'm going to need to disassemble my drivers door and adjust the door handle rod's - when I open the handle all the way, it's BARELY enough to get the latch open. So I'm hoping to find a good write-up on an '88 Door *with the seatbelts on the B-pillar*

Thanks again for all the great information "bbarbulo" - you are the best! I would be interested in copying your braking set-up for my car if you wouldn't mind comprising a list of parts and necessities.

 

As soon as we get nice weather, I'll install the brakes and verify all my calculations are correct. If all is satisfactory, I'll let you know. It's all very simple so far, TL calipers, Saab 900 rotors with holes modified for 4x100, and hubcentric rings that are custom made. That would really be the only issue with copying what I have, the hubcentric rings. I asked around, no one is making a Saab to Civic ring.

for stripping interior paint, yes, it should be pretty simple to restore the original blue. Use Tilex bathroom cleaner. Spray the whole thing down, wrap it in a garbage bag, and leave it for 30 minutes or so. Come back and check to see if the paint has started to peel. Before you do this, try it on a junk piece of the same plastic. I don't know if Tilex will affect the blue color ABS differently than what I've used it for. I used to use it to restore tail lights that people 'blacked out' and stuff.

Another alternative is brake fluid. Soaking the part in brake fluid... that's an old body man trick where if they got a car where some previous dummy lets say painted the grille or the part under the wipers in body color. They would soak the part overnight in brake fluid and it would all wrinkle up and wash off without damaging the plastic. Again, test on a scrap piece first...

 

beautiful color. Thats similar to the original color of mine that i want to switch back to.