Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance!
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From: CANADA, BC, Canada
Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si *Updates on the last couple pages*
Hey guys, I am pretty much a lurker on here so I thought I would come out of hiding and post some info and pics on my car...
previous car.
This car was nice, but there a couple things I didnt like about it...
-I bought it new so there wasnt much I could do to it at the time to retain my warranty
-freaking heavy and the B16 made it slow
-Also wanted to sell it so I could take the majority of the money and put a downpayment on a house!
With that being said, I ended up buying a house and I didnt have much money left over for a car. I wanted an eg at the time but the guy that happened to buy my car had a rather beat up 89 Si that he was willing to trade to me and he would put cash on top. Thinking that this would just be an "in between car", I made the deal, got $19k for my car and the 89 Si as well. this was back in early 2003
The car...
The car was so beat up, the water pump was weaping, the idler pulley bearing was rattling like crazy, the exh was leaking and the heat sheilds were rattling. On the way home from getting this car, I had to stop at a tire shop to get a new front left tire cause the front tire had a big blister on the contact patch and I didnt think I was gonna make it home hahaha
That weekend, I did the timing belt/water pump/ idler pulley just for peice of mind.
here is some more pics of when I 1st got it.
ripped seat
rusty quarters
stock D16a6
with this many kms on the odometer
1st thing I did after the important stuff was that I recovered the drivers seat and extensivly cleaned the interior. cant really see the seat but I dont have a good pic of it
a little rice is allways nice
before
after
Now by this time I've owned the car for 3 months, put a bit of money into it to make it reliable. I thought, "man this is a pretty fun car! for the amount of money I have put into it it has been pretty reliable too! I am gonna get the g/f a CRX!"
got this for her
clean interior!
I thought since I had such great luck with my car that the CRX would be a great commuter for her, and who knows, maybe another project car!
started building a motor for the civic
rebalanced/micropolished crank lightend and balanced flywheel
D16a6 bottom end, .020 overbored and honed, Arp headstuds
Eagle rods, SRP 8.5:1 pistons
z6 head. comp cams 59300 cam, valvesprings and retainers. Head resurfaced
bottom end assembled
bought a Greddy kit. Hey it was the **** back then! hahaha
So Now the bad news.... My HG blew right around this time and my built motor wasnt ready! I needed this car to get back an fourth to work and couldnt afford any downtime. So I did what any sane person would do... BUY ANOTHER MOTOR ahaha. And if I was gonna buy another motor it cant be juat a single cam, lets make it a B16!
I thought, what the heck, I'll put the B16 in my civic, and we will make the CRX the single cam monster and put the built motor in it.
B16 swap done by me and my dad, along with some wise friends on http://www.vancouvercivics.com Thanks Eli(bluelight) and Ian (Aka Raene on here) my great sources of info! swap was done in nov/03
More bad news! Now the CRX blew a headgasket hahaha! good news is that the built motor is ready so we swapped that in.
Back to the civic, (about feb/mar 2004) I was working out some small bugs, (bad ECU, o2 sensor probs, axle seals) got it all fixed, and decided to clean up the engine bay a bit.
17" rims (what was I thinking!)
At this point I was pretty happy with the civic took it to the local track and it ran low 15's not spectacular but I knew it had more into it. I didnt care anyhow, since the CRX was supposed to be the 1/4 mile racer.
Since the greddy kit isnt made for the ef, I had to make my own chargepipes, and I modified the downpipe to a 2 1/2"
turbo kit installed late 2004
oh yeah, I got a wings west kit for the rex as well
custom made my own 2.5" mandrel bent exh
Meanwhile, its now apr 05 and I was tired of those heavy assed 17's I had on the civic. I traded the IC piping that I got with my graddy kit for a set of 16" ADR ryver G5's Kinda wanted 15's but hey these were free!
bought some neuspeed koni yellows and newspeed race springs
Hey is that at fluidyne radiator in my front airdam?
It is! along with a ITR head complete with ITR cams and valvetrain, OEM headgasket with the middle layer removed, AEBS intake manifold and a custom 321 stainless shortram I made
fast forward a yr (june '06) took the car back to the track and ran a 14.1@97.77
put some kms on it
why do I hear a funny sound comming from the timing belt cover? maybe this is why!
the culprit... one of the bolts from the timing belt cover fell into the bottom and was rubbing my timing belt for who knows how long! Thanks god I checked!
replaced the belt, cut the valvecover soI can see the belt at all times from now on...
Ok too much typing! I have to take a break so I will leave it to be continued for now, Lots of cool stuff to come.
Thanks all for looking
Modified by robx7fcna at 1:08 AM 10/13/2008
previous car.
This car was nice, but there a couple things I didnt like about it...
-I bought it new so there wasnt much I could do to it at the time to retain my warranty
-freaking heavy and the B16 made it slow
-Also wanted to sell it so I could take the majority of the money and put a downpayment on a house!
With that being said, I ended up buying a house and I didnt have much money left over for a car. I wanted an eg at the time but the guy that happened to buy my car had a rather beat up 89 Si that he was willing to trade to me and he would put cash on top. Thinking that this would just be an "in between car", I made the deal, got $19k for my car and the 89 Si as well. this was back in early 2003
The car...
The car was so beat up, the water pump was weaping, the idler pulley bearing was rattling like crazy, the exh was leaking and the heat sheilds were rattling. On the way home from getting this car, I had to stop at a tire shop to get a new front left tire cause the front tire had a big blister on the contact patch and I didnt think I was gonna make it home hahaha
That weekend, I did the timing belt/water pump/ idler pulley just for peice of mind.
here is some more pics of when I 1st got it.
ripped seat
rusty quarters
stock D16a6
with this many kms on the odometer
1st thing I did after the important stuff was that I recovered the drivers seat and extensivly cleaned the interior. cant really see the seat but I dont have a good pic of it
a little rice is allways nice
before
after
Now by this time I've owned the car for 3 months, put a bit of money into it to make it reliable. I thought, "man this is a pretty fun car! for the amount of money I have put into it it has been pretty reliable too! I am gonna get the g/f a CRX!"
got this for her
clean interior!
I thought since I had such great luck with my car that the CRX would be a great commuter for her, and who knows, maybe another project car!
started building a motor for the civic
rebalanced/micropolished crank lightend and balanced flywheel
D16a6 bottom end, .020 overbored and honed, Arp headstuds
Eagle rods, SRP 8.5:1 pistons
z6 head. comp cams 59300 cam, valvesprings and retainers. Head resurfaced
bottom end assembled
bought a Greddy kit. Hey it was the **** back then! hahaha
So Now the bad news.... My HG blew right around this time and my built motor wasnt ready! I needed this car to get back an fourth to work and couldnt afford any downtime. So I did what any sane person would do... BUY ANOTHER MOTOR ahaha. And if I was gonna buy another motor it cant be juat a single cam, lets make it a B16!
I thought, what the heck, I'll put the B16 in my civic, and we will make the CRX the single cam monster and put the built motor in it.
B16 swap done by me and my dad, along with some wise friends on http://www.vancouvercivics.com Thanks Eli(bluelight) and Ian (Aka Raene on here) my great sources of info! swap was done in nov/03
More bad news! Now the CRX blew a headgasket hahaha! good news is that the built motor is ready so we swapped that in.
Back to the civic, (about feb/mar 2004) I was working out some small bugs, (bad ECU, o2 sensor probs, axle seals) got it all fixed, and decided to clean up the engine bay a bit.
17" rims (what was I thinking!)
At this point I was pretty happy with the civic took it to the local track and it ran low 15's not spectacular but I knew it had more into it. I didnt care anyhow, since the CRX was supposed to be the 1/4 mile racer.
Since the greddy kit isnt made for the ef, I had to make my own chargepipes, and I modified the downpipe to a 2 1/2"
turbo kit installed late 2004
oh yeah, I got a wings west kit for the rex as well
custom made my own 2.5" mandrel bent exh
Meanwhile, its now apr 05 and I was tired of those heavy assed 17's I had on the civic. I traded the IC piping that I got with my graddy kit for a set of 16" ADR ryver G5's Kinda wanted 15's but hey these were free!
bought some neuspeed koni yellows and newspeed race springs
Hey is that at fluidyne radiator in my front airdam?
It is! along with a ITR head complete with ITR cams and valvetrain, OEM headgasket with the middle layer removed, AEBS intake manifold and a custom 321 stainless shortram I made
fast forward a yr (june '06) took the car back to the track and ran a 14.1@97.77
put some kms on it
why do I hear a funny sound comming from the timing belt cover? maybe this is why!
the culprit... one of the bolts from the timing belt cover fell into the bottom and was rubbing my timing belt for who knows how long! Thanks god I checked!
replaced the belt, cut the valvecover soI can see the belt at all times from now on...
Ok too much typing! I have to take a break so I will leave it to be continued for now, Lots of cool stuff to come.
Thanks all for looking
Modified by robx7fcna at 1:08 AM 10/13/2008
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: My Garage
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (robx7fcna)
Looks like you have some nice projects there.
Damn dude you must not like your GF very much getting here a Y49 crx. The headgasket is just the beginning....If I drove one I would keep crutches in it too..haha.
Damn dude you must not like your GF very much getting here a Y49 crx. The headgasket is just the beginning....If I drove one I would keep crutches in it too..haha.
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Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: CANADA, BC, Canada
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (harmonator84)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by harmonator84 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like you have some nice projects there.
Damn dude you must not like your GF very much getting here a Y49 crx. The headgasket is just the beginning....If I drove one I would keep crutches in it too..haha. </TD></TR></TABLE>
hahaha, you are correct on the headgasket being the beginning, I have some good stories to tell about the y49, just wait hahaha
Damn dude you must not like your GF very much getting here a Y49 crx. The headgasket is just the beginning....If I drove one I would keep crutches in it too..haha. </TD></TR></TABLE>
hahaha, you are correct on the headgasket being the beginning, I have some good stories to tell about the y49, just wait hahaha
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 248
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From: CANADA, BC, Canada
Re: (Ready Set Go)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ready Set Go »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i like how her daily commuter becomes your new toy.</TD></TR></TABLE>
yeah, funny how that worked out eh? hahaha
Modified by robx7fcna at 12:46 AM 4/15/2007
yeah, funny how that worked out eh? hahaha
Modified by robx7fcna at 12:46 AM 4/15/2007
Thread Starter
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: CANADA, BC, Canada
Re: (Jerms)
Hey Jerms, yeah I had an EM1 SiR before, nothing special... JDM recaros, ITR cams, greddy evo exh but I shouldnt be talking about that car in this forum hahaha.
Anyhow, on with the projects...
So as I said to harmonator84, the y49 CRX was having some problems. I worked on it for a month straight trying to figure out a grounding problem since the ground was so weak that it wouldnt start. I eventually found the problem... I relocated the battery, and never made an engine to chassis ground! fixed that but since I was trying to start the car without that ground before, all the ground traces in my cluster burned up...
Fixed that, drove the car on a basemap for 3-4k kms and all was well. Even on 6 lbs of boost the car hauled! One day I was driving out to my parents house and all the sudden the car started bogging randomly. Then I look in the rear veiw mirror and see a shitload of white smoke...
Turned around and limped the car home, pulled the head ans saw a huge crack in #3 sleeve. That pretty much concluded this build on the car as I was so dissapointed and didnt wanna put more money into the car. I parted out all of the goods and put a stock A6 back in and focused on the civic, and the g/f had a daily commuter car again!
which brings us to the present! In Dec 06, I started gathering parts to do a full exterior restoration, using all OEM parts and all fresh metal.
I came on here for inspiration to see what ppl had done and what colors would be good for me. I wanted it to stay black, but maybe black with pearl or flake. Then I saw this in appearace/cosmetic forum
Java black pearl!
picked up a new front end EF9 front with a mugen lip moulded in
I wonder what these could be???
maybe this is what they are!
New OEM front fenders
Power folding mirrors
EF8 cluster
Sideskirts
JDM tails
New wheels, 15" rays Gram lights 57c's
Matching lugnuts Rays dura-lugs
So I gathered all of these parts and started looking for a reputable bodyshop. Once I did that I started gutting the car for paint. I'll post more pics in a little bit.
Anyhow, on with the projects...
So as I said to harmonator84, the y49 CRX was having some problems. I worked on it for a month straight trying to figure out a grounding problem since the ground was so weak that it wouldnt start. I eventually found the problem... I relocated the battery, and never made an engine to chassis ground! fixed that but since I was trying to start the car without that ground before, all the ground traces in my cluster burned up...
Fixed that, drove the car on a basemap for 3-4k kms and all was well. Even on 6 lbs of boost the car hauled! One day I was driving out to my parents house and all the sudden the car started bogging randomly. Then I look in the rear veiw mirror and see a shitload of white smoke...
Turned around and limped the car home, pulled the head ans saw a huge crack in #3 sleeve. That pretty much concluded this build on the car as I was so dissapointed and didnt wanna put more money into the car. I parted out all of the goods and put a stock A6 back in and focused on the civic, and the g/f had a daily commuter car again!
which brings us to the present! In Dec 06, I started gathering parts to do a full exterior restoration, using all OEM parts and all fresh metal.
I came on here for inspiration to see what ppl had done and what colors would be good for me. I wanted it to stay black, but maybe black with pearl or flake. Then I saw this in appearace/cosmetic forum
Java black pearl!
picked up a new front end EF9 front with a mugen lip moulded in
I wonder what these could be???
maybe this is what they are!
New OEM front fenders
Power folding mirrors
EF8 cluster
Sideskirts
JDM tails
New wheels, 15" rays Gram lights 57c's
Matching lugnuts Rays dura-lugs
So I gathered all of these parts and started looking for a reputable bodyshop. Once I did that I started gutting the car for paint. I'll post more pics in a little bit.
Last edited by robx7fcna; Jan 1, 2009 at 02:09 PM.
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Joined: Jul 2004
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From: san diego, ca, US
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (djphonics)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn this thread rocks. Great projects! </TD></TR></TABLE>
i agree, keep it coming
btw, what sideskirts are those and do u have pics of them on the car?
</TD></TR></TABLE>i agree, keep it coming
btw, what sideskirts are those and do u have pics of them on the car?
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Posts: 11,129
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From: GO AUTOWORKS DOT COM
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (djphonics)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn this thread rocks. Great projects! </TD></TR></TABLE>
agreed
</TD></TR></TABLE>agreed
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 188
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From: Tokyo, ... i wish
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (teewhy55)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn this thread rocks. Great projects! </TD></TR></TABLE>
x3
wanna see it all put together
x3
wanna see it all put together
no joke
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,514
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From: Long Island, NY, USA
Re: Yet another buildup thread! My 89 civic Si/89CRX; 56k not a chance! (No2Pencil)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by No2Pencil »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> SOB... NICE man </TD></TR></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TABLE>
