Hi, just picked up an 88 CRX HF. Actually my GF just bought it from the guy I sold it to last winter. LOL. Anyway, we are going to be doing some work to it. It is supposed to be a winter car, but we are looking to make it pretty quick as well. Have the engine and the head for the Mini-me swap, but we might go bigger and better.

What we are looking for. Eventually would like to get the car in the high 12's low 13's. Would like to stay N/A if possible, but have no problem boosting it as well. What swap is the best bang for the buck that can get us there. I was thinking along the lines of the LS VTEC for N/A.

Also, the car will see some Auto-X. Want to get it set up well. What will I need to do, being that it is an HF, to make this thing handle very well? Somebody mentioned the need for Type R rear arms.?

I will be doing some research/searching, but thought I would ask as well. So, to break it down. High 12's, low 13's, great handling (near or at the level of my turbo Miata on Tein Flex), and very good driving maners (I.E., reliable and smooth starting and running). Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

-John

 

uhm, you sure you want to drive that in winter? it weighs under 1900 lb's.

the rear LCA's take shocks with an eye instead of a fork. the 88 crx has passive rear steering. do a search on that for sure. it's hotly debated on if it's a good thing or not, even after 16 years. you'll have to make up your own mind on that one.

most people with a crx tend to migrate to kyb agx with ground controls, with 450's up front to counter the extra heft of a b series swap. 300's in back. a b16 stock will get you into the 14's. 13's i would figure would require a b18c. 12's a bolton b18c should do it. but that's all opinion, no facts to back it up.

as for brakes, since you're going to autoX this thing, i'd go hunt down civic/crx dx/si hubs/spindles/steering knuckles so you can get bigger disks up front. for the rear, i'd grab the first gen HF aluminum drums. if you want even bigger up front, you can try to find EX steering knuckles from a 90-91 civic 4dr sedan. they had 10.3" rotors. be sure to grab the calipers with the knuckles. to go even bigger, the type R calipers bolt up to the EX knuckles, and maybe the SI knuckles. then go get yourself some 11" 4x100 rotors off a VW corrado. of course, doing all this brake work will probably send you into a much higher class. read up and figure out what you can and can't do for the class you want to autox in.

as for bushings, people tend to migrate over to the energy suspension master set. they require you to cut/burn out the bushings from the original bushing shells. Prothane however, gives you new shells to use. i've read that after 9 months of use the energy suspension bushings didn't do too well on crxsi.com. for that reason, i'm probably going to prothane. rear swing arm bushings can be had from a honda dealer. it's rumored that they are the same durometer as the mugen bushings. no one's really had an apples to apples comparison of them however, since well... it's hard to get mugen bushings.

wheels, people seem to go for rota slipstreams since they weigh under 10lb's a rim for 15" rims.

as for seats, people typically try to get the crx si seats. i got a pair, and now i see why. they hold you very well, and are quite comfy for a thin sponged seat.

i got a 90 HF, and i'm currently building it up. i've done ludicrous amounts of research. so i'll answer the best i can.

 

some more information since, well... i got the time at work. lol

the crx is going to be traction limited. you'll need to get some traction bars to get it to hook up better. filled or solid poly urethane mounts will help as well, to get the wheel hop down to a minimum. the one's to get at the moment are the jimfab, and the z10. the jimfab doesn't clear a ITR JDM header however. the jimfab bolts up to the mounting spots that the stock crossmember did. the z10 bolts to the stock mounting spots and the mounting bolts for the tow hooks. (i think, not 100% on the z10). the comptech cross member is not recommended by many people. reports are that it binds up the front suspension. doesn't really matter if all you do is go in a straight line, but since you're autoXing....

i'll post more stuff as i think of it, and as i get more bored. gotta get this dang "Trial User" thing off my account. lol.

 

ah more things i thought of.... weird how the mind works.

energy suspension also sells black poly urethane bushings. they are supposed to be graphite impregnated. so they are quieter and last longer. that's what i've read. again, no apples to apples comparisons on that either.

to shed more weight, you can get rear LCA's made of cnc'd aluminum. SPC, SRR, Function 7, are three that come to mind. you also drop unsprung weight doing this.

for a b series swap, you'll need to get motor mounts. place racing makes a four point mount. almost everyone else is three. hasport, hcp, arizona racing machine, ebay, etc.

too bad ef honda people don't have anything like http://www.flyinmiata.net.

 

Yeah, FlyinMiata is great. Been a bunch of help to me.

Been talking to some friends. H22 is sounding good as well. Seems that the weight isn't that much more then a B series. Dunno.

Thanks for the input so far.