One million pardons if this is a redundant thread, if so, I would welcome a link to threads dealing with this issue.

Back story:

I bought my 89 CRX DX with question marks in my eyeballs - the ad said "CRX 4 speed" and I thought "Whaaaaaaa!?" Weren't all CRXs 5 speed?

Well it was priced decently and was not modified according to the ad, so I went to see anyway. Long story short, I picked it up despite the 4 speed trans and a bit of surface rust. The body is straight and it runs well enough for me to adopt her and make improvements.

The previous owner said that he had had the transmission replaced due to some leaking, but didn't realize it was a 4 speed until he was already long away from the shop that did the work, and he didn't feel like making a fuss about it.

The details:

I'm not a fan of the 4 speed myself - I'd prefer to have the 5 speed, so I went ahead and poked my local CRX group on Facebook to see if anyone had a spare. Low and behold, there was a 5 speed SI trans available, so I scooped it up.

Reading the forums here and doing the usual Google sleuthing, I have come up with some concerns when it comes to this swap.

Questions/Concerns:

I believe the 4 speed is from a Civic STD, however I cannot say for certain. Is there any way to tell, while the transmission is still in the car, what donor car the transmission was taken from? Pics below.

If the transmission is indeed from a Civic STD, will I need to replace my clutch and flywheel when I do the swap to the SI 5 speed?

If the transmission is indeed from a Civic STD, will I need to do anything with axles/hubs?





I just don't want to tear her down to find out I need a few hundred dollars more in parts if I can avoid it. I hope I can tap this community's excellent knowledge pool and avoid buying incorrect or unnecessary parts!

Thanks in advance for your help, guys!

 

I won't shift into 5th if it's a 4 gear tranny.... This is not hard to figure out in the car or out of the car....

 

Yeah, I know that. There is a 5 gear shift **** on it and it is 4 gears only. I wasn't questioning whether or not it was 4 or 5 gears, but which car it might have come from so I can possibly determine whether the spline count is 21 or 20, and also whether or not I have to worry about hubs/axles. But thanks for your comment anyway.

 

It only came on a STD hatch.

 

chances are pretty good that the previous owner didn't change the clutch when he installed the 4-speed which means that it was probably not an 88 model 21 spline 4-speed - Count the splines on the Si transmission and if it is a 20 spline, you should be good to go - the axles/hubs/shift linkage you have will be no problem with the Si transmission

 

Thanks.

 

Thank you so much for being very specific. I'm fairly certain the SI trans is not 21 spline without counting - it has the single groove indicating it is an 89 - but I'll count to be sure. Never can be too careful!