First, before I get a stream of; an interior in a race car? a stero? an engine swap - you'll never be classed competatively?!? Those seats aren't SFI apv'd?!? etc. Let me explain.

This is a track car for AutoX, Drag Racing, Time Trials, HPDEs and everything BUT wheel to wheel racing. I wanted it street legal and reasonably comfortable since it will be driven to the track (some tracks like VIR are 6 hours away). Plus it is really loud, so an interior and some sound deadening are just needed. Think of it as a poor man's Lotus Elise. I bought/built it after running my M3 on the track and then doing the math on the maintenance cost and potential risk of tracking an E46 M3. I decided I liked the cheap route, but I still wanted something as fast as an M3.

So I bought a b18c1 swaped CRX on eBay. Turns out the engine was great but there were many other issues (Door and bumper supports cut off for "weight savings", body pieces that rattled and were attached w/ half the fasteners, paint that was literally falling off the car, electrical gremlins, and tons of half-a**'ed stuff). It looks OK in the pictures, but once you were w/ in 10 feet it was a complete POS. Here it is "before";


So I did many brake/suspension/other upgrades and then stripped it down;


Then after hunting through eBay and Honda Part Connection (ATL area salvage yard). I had it painted, correctly, fixed a bunch of stuff, and put it back together (took about 4-5 months);





It is fast as hell and has immediate steering response - a complete blast to drive. I take it to Roebling Road w/ THSCC on June 17-18 and then to Road ATL in July w/ BMWCCA. The end result - an expensive CRX? or a really cheap Lotus Elise?

Mods; b18c1, forged rods/pistons, ported/polished intake, AEM CAI, AEM cam gears, Crane cams, Greddy Exhaust, RMF Header, Full-Race traction bar, GC coilovers (Eibach/Koni), Rear GSR brakes, Front 11' brake kit (Fast Brakes), Autopower roll-bar, trunk mounted battery, Lexan sunroof replacement, b-quiet sound deadening, EDM gauges, Suspension Techniques rear sway, F7R strut braces, + more ...

 

Nice. Much better in white!

 

looks good.........

 

I like it.

 

car looks like it puts in alota work on the tracks... i like

 

I don't know why but I've always loved fast CRX's. I guess they just embody the spirit of the game so effectively.

Don't forget to pad the rollbars.

 

very very VERY nice...i like your methodology to build this as well

 

Thanks for the comments, now some of the things I learned;
-There are some complete idiots on eBay (went through 3 separate auction disputes)
-What someone else considers good condition and what an **** retentive like me considers good condition are two completely different things
-An angle grinder and enough discs will cut through anything
-Even the crappiest junkyard part once scrubbed and soaked in armor all (plastic/rubber) or WD-40 (metal) will gleam like new
-Body work is a PITA - nothing lines up easy. I'd rather rebuild 3 transmissions than put one fender on
-Spending money on safety equipment make me feel smarter
-There is immense satisfaction in passing a $60K + car on the track in a 17 yr old CRX
-If I graduate to wheel 2 wheel racing I'm gonna buy a preped car - not build it
-Having a track car is great (not risking your daily driver/I can leave it at the shop and not care about getting back til track time)
-My wife must really love to put up w/ this

 

I understand your joy in owning a B18c CRX. I have one too although my still is ugly as to paint job and dinged right door and off kilter rear bumper cover. I will get around to painting it some day. A CRX that has power is such a blast to drive and mine (especially) is a sleeper. I will say this if you set up the car right it can run down and passs a Lotus Exige. I did that at the ALSCCA HPX in April at Barber. I had a Lotus Exige in front of me and a limited edition 220hp (Rover Engine) Euro Elise that looked a lot like an Exige with a tall wing and a nice splitter up front. As I was told there were only 60 made of that car. The Elise was behind me. On the first green lap the CRX passed the Exige and pulled away from the Elise. I should have footage in maybe two weeks on that. Oh yeah, and ran down a single turbo supra as well.

I tell people my stripped out, fully caged, B18c CRX is my wrong wheel drive japanese version of a Lotus Exige. You just have to stay on top of them when driving it and don't lift once in a turn.

Your car looks nice. Have fun with it.

Barry H.

 

sweet!! sounds like what i want to do to my civic. street legal race car! looks good, have fuN!

 

10x nicer than mine. Your post makes me want to spend money.

Here's me:

Wee!

 

I am planning on doing something similar with my sunroof. How did you do that?

 

What header is that?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rex_boy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What header is that?</TD></TR></TABLE>
The picture shows a DC sports one hanging down, but it has been replaced w/ an RMF header (shorty style) from Import Powerhouse. It is a better quality and makes more overall power. Plus it doesn't hang down so far. My brother runs one on his monster civic (supercharged w/ somewhere around 400whp).


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ED9man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am planning on doing something similar with my sunroof. How did you do that?</TD></TR></TABLE>
It is a kit on eBay for around $200. I add tint to it so I don't get sunburned. You unbolt the CRX sunroof frame, carefully place the lexan so the spacing is even all the way around (this is the most important step), then drill a couple of holes to hold the lexan in place and use it as a guide for the other holes.

I found a CF one I liked better on eBay, and all the drilling was on the inner flange (not into the roof), but I'd already bought this one and the CF kit was around $350.

 

completely stunning. seeing threads like this and reading on the CRX forum really make me want another CRX. but i cant cause i am moving out of the country in 3.5 months

 

I couldn't find the kit on ebay. Do you know who makes it or what it's called? Thanks.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ED9man &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I couldn't find the kit on ebay. Do you know who makes it or what it's called? Thanks.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I just did a search for "CRX sunroof" and found it. The seller's ebay name is "lexancreations". I believe he makes them as ordered so you might be able to contact him directly. It is a pretty good kit. I switched the one-way screws for some shorter slot-heads and had to trim a couple of the rubber bushings to get it to fit, but it worked out OK.

 

awesome car man...Rex's however are notorious for strong motor swaps and POS chassis'...hate that you learned the hard way, however, your end result is VERY nice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ...Lost &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">awesome car man...Rex's however are notorious for strong motor swaps and POS chassis'...hate that you learned the hard way, however, your end result is VERY nice </TD></TR></TABLE>

WTF do you mean POS chassis? CRXs still kick *** in road racing today. Fun to drive but they require paying attention and being smooth on the limit. I love mine. CRX is such a POS it runs down and passes Lotus Exiges. OK.

Barry H.

 

The car looks awesome! The "before" pics don't really do justice to what a POS that thing was (even by my low standards). The "after" pics also don't fully show how perfect it is now. After seeiing it in person, I don't think it looked that good brand new. Now get that thing over to Howard and get it tuned. I'll probably be over there in a couple of weeks for final tuning on my new setup, I'll let you know and maybe we can get a volume discount on dyno time. Send me pics from Roebling, I will be stuck on vacation with my family and unable to make it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by apexinghonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

WTF do you mean POS chassis? CRXs still kick *** in road racing today. Fun to drive but they require paying attention and being smooth on the limit. I love mine. CRX is such a POS it runs down and passes Lotus Exiges. OK.

Barry H.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

THANK YOU!! couldn't agree more. I love mine to death!!

 

looks good

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rmcdaniels &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I will be stuck on vacation with my family and unable to make it </TD></TR></TABLE>

So how much $ to make sure your wife doesn't see this quote?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by apexinghonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> CRX is such a POS it runs down and passes Lotus Exiges. </TD></TR></TABLE>
stock CRX vs a stock Exige and the Exige is getting passed? I'd say bad driving on the Lotus owner.

anyways... I think Lost is probably an ITR owner. Those guys hate anything that doesn't have "type r" on it...especially better performing swapped CRXs

mine:





nice CRX thread author... pretty similar to mine in what you have done... b18c1 swap, rollbar, etc, etc. I tried to set mine up where I could do autocross, drag racing, and time trials and be competitive.

 

RPM_69 your car looks really nice. Do you know where the bumper lights came from? I would like to get a set but can't find them anywhere.