Hi !

So let's start a build thread for my Honda CRX EE8.
As progress on the build up moves on, I have some questions from time to time that I would like to combine in one thread.

But first some history...
Back in December 2016 I bought this EE8, blade silver (NH-95M).
EE8 type's were only sold in celestial blue over here.
While it's actually an import from Greece I bought it local.

Here are some pictures of how it looked before any work was done.
I actually never saw the car in this state but acquired these pictures later on while searching for parts.

 

So back in 2016 I was looking into CRX's, checking from time to time what's on the market and quickly realized I only wanted a VTEC model to start with.
This didn't make the search easy as the offers were limited, and most examples for sale were in need of major body work.
Long story short I ended up checking out a car that was not listed online but was in the process of "restoration".

From my point of view this car was a mechanical mess, everywhere I looked it needed something.
Not sure what the goal was of the guys I ended buying the car from, they did the import from Greece and it was in some kind of body restoration process.
Only it needed much more than that, doing a complete overhaul was the thing I was looking for.
At first I was a bit reluctant to buy it because of 2 things.

I'm not a big fan of silver on a car.
But as time moved on I really don't regret it, somehow this type of silver has grown on me.
It makes all the black parts on the CRX pop out good.

And secondly buying a car that was partly in pieces, dismantled by someone else was not going to be easy to put back together.

But being an import from Greece, rust was almost non existent and this is kind of rare over here.
I was able to get a good look inside the body with all the interior removed, underneath looked solid and no major damage anywhere.
So I bought it in the state below.

 

Next I started disassembly of the entire car until I ended up with a bare body.
It needed a paintjob for sure, so for me this meant outside, inside and underneath.
Also removed all of the sound deadener from the floor to get good access to the inside of the body.

Obviously the disassembly part took a lot of time, organizing and stocking all parts away for later use.

 

With most of the suspension looking like this, Greece has not been kind for my CRX.



Pretty much everything rubber related was worn out.
All bushing got removed and the entire suspension (among other things) got sandblasted and received a powdercoat.

Here is the subframe after lots of degreaser;



And below are some of the parts back after sandblast/powdercoat

 

Some parts of the car needed a more detailed overhaul so one of first things I completed was the steering rack.

I started with this...




I disassembled the entire thing and gave all parts a good cleanup.
The teeth on the rack were in good shape, I ordered some replacement parts from Honda and put the entire rack back together.
One of the main issues I encountered during the rebuild is that you can't get the pinion seal new anymore, so I ended up buying one for a newer EG model Civic and made it fit with the help of a rasp

 

Nice job on rebuilding the steering rack. I just did mine too, but didn’t go as far you. I didn’t remove the pinion because like you said the seal is discontinued and I didn’t want to damage anything and then be stuck trying to make something work. Did you replace the pinion bearing as well? I ordered one but never got to it.

Good luck with the rest of it - you have a lot more time, money and patience than I do haha.

 

you have a long road ahead of you
but this is great and really worth doing
its a great project and looks like its going to be a lotta fun
good luck ^_-

 

No I left the bearing alone, it seems fine and I believe no part number exists for it.
I did replace the needle bearings on my rear brake calipers.

And thanks

Thanks, I'll be posting some more updates soon.

 

The shell and all of the body parts left on a trailer to the body/paint shop.



Here I was able to assist with some small work.
I sanded the inside of the hood, the inside of the doors,the rear end and engine bay.









Also managed to prep some of the smaller parts like battery tray, door handles, etc.

 

Looking forward for this build.
Good luck!

 

The rust on the inside of the floor was grinded and received a first coat of primer.





The front windshield got removed as well to inspect the body which offcourse also needed some work.




The hatch window was tinted (multiple times) and it was easier to source another hatch window.
So also that one got removed.



At the same time the doors, fenders and bumpers were prefitted to check the gaps and adjust.

 

The primer that was already present on the body got sanded, and the body received (not sure) an additional 1 or 2 coats of primer.








Same for the fenders, doors, hood, sunroof and bumpers

 

The inside of the shell got painted




bumpers, hood





And eventually the entire body.





At the end the underneath also received a new coat




And after this was done, back on the trailer and headed home.

 

this is disgustingly beautiful and awesome. i applaud you as this is PERFECT. i redid mine but nowhere near this level. hats off and i CANNOT wait to see this completed.

 

Loving the build! Keep up the great work. Really looking forward to the next update.

 

yea that crx looks great
they did a good job

 

Time for some updates.
I rebuild my sunroof tray.

Started with the one that came out of the car and ended up buying 2 more broken trays for parts.
Disassembled the entire tray(s), as you can see lot's or dirt build up over the years and several parts needed replacement.

 

Cleaned all the parts and the tray itself got sanded and repainted.

 

Greased and rebuild the entire thing with good parts, works great now (at least by hand) but still needs some adjustment while sitting in the car now.

 

Most of the suspension is already done, the car is a rolling shell now.
All suspension rubber parts, bolts and nuts are new.
However I will post pictures of that later as I didn't manage to create good overview pics while doing so.

The remaining bolts and nuts were also sandblasted but at another place this time.
Afterwards they were put into a bath for protection.






Had a lot of fun organizing them again for the second time when they were done :-/
What do you guys think about the brake calipers ?

Leave them like they are now or put some paint on them ?
I not looking for fancy colors on them but just interested whether it would be better to paint them for extra protection or leave them be.
I guess they are already good now without additional paint.
But wheel cleaner might brake down the protection and make them rust again ?

 

Depends what the protection is that's been put on them. If they've been plated, i would just leave them plated.

Awesome build mate, really love these in depth projects, they're few and far between!

 

Thanks for the positive comments everyone.

I don't know the exact term in English but I believe its called "pickling and passivation".
I had the option to do them in gold or silver, and chose silver.

 

This build has been a pleasure to follow. The attention to detail is top notch.

Personally I have had really great luck with Dupli Color brake caliper paint in silver. It looks OEM but has withstood many Fargo ND winters with salt, still looking new.

 

I have a few updates, but first up the suspension.
All suspension parts have been fitted with new bushings.
I managed to buy all parts and almost all is OEM Honda new or NOS.
Only the front upper control arms, no more parts are available for that one.
I could have opted for an aftermarket upper arm, but decided to go with the OEM one and rebuild it with some aftermarket bushings.

Started out with installing both front subframes.





I also bought a SPOON rigid collar set (front and rear) after reading some article about it a few years ago.
Not really sure if it will make any difference but anyway if there was a point it time to install it, that would have been now.




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The front subframe has some big rubber bushing inside.
They were pretty hard to come by, I had to get these from a local Honda dealer in France...
Seems no more are left in the Honda warehouse.



They come with inner and outer bushing, here is a comparison old vs new.