So I went from my 1991 Red Civic Si with lsvtec, which I still have as my DD. Then I bought a 1990 Black CRX Si which has a partialy taken apart engine, the interior was good in some places but bad in others, and half of the body was ****. So I planed on fixing up the 90 CRX Si and I knew it was going to be a very long haul. I got discouraged and stopped working on it for a couple months, not knowing what to do with it or even if I could get it done in my life time.

So I went searching on craigslist like I always do just to see what CRX stuff is up there. And to my suprise there was a blue crx DX up for sale for 500 bucks. The engine aparently needed a new ignitor and a major tune up and then it would be running. But the hood and bumper were screwed up. I talked to the guy but a person bought it the next day. So I missed out on that one. Then I saw another CRX for sale in portland. They said it was a Red 1990 CRX HF. So I thought I can get that one and put the Si interior that I have into the HF to replace the blue. But through my research I found out that all red crx's have black interior.

I thought what the heck, might as well save another crx. I went down to portland and grabbed it on Sat. He said he hit a van and that messed up the bumper and hood. Oh and not to mention this dufis ran the engine out of oil and it siezed. But the engine is none of my concern.

Here is what I did so far. I got the car and saw the interior was black, which is good, but I didnt know that HF didnt come with the hatch cover and a few other things. So I grabed my hatch cover, broke off the plastic pieces that were covering up the holed to fit the hatch cover in and it went right in. The next thing was the lock box. Instead of the back rest looking thing having the carpet to go back the lock box had it and there was no back rest thing. So I grabed my spare lock box switched over the lock and put the back rest thing in there with it. I also took out the HF tac and stearing wheel and put the Si stearing wheel and tac in. I took out the vent with out the clock in it and put the clock in. I swaped the center consol as well because my other one looked better. The HF climate control was not cracked!!!!! I thought that was great. So now I have a spare Si one that is also not cracked that I will be selling.

The HF seats are just bad looking and they were worn right in the usual place. The passenger side wasnt too bad though. I am going to keep the seats in there for now because my civic si seats will be going in there.

Here are some pics of the car since I put the interior in there, and you get a look at the exterior.












Future plans:
Since the exterior is so sunfaded and the hood and bumper are messed up I will replace those. The paint Im not really sure about. Im not going to spend a grand on a paint job because I will be auto crossing the car a lot and my friends civics paint job is getting messed up from that. So im thinking about doing a rattle can job on it. I know what your thinking those look like ****. But I think if you do it right and prep it good it will turn out just fine. And im not going to just get some wal mart multi purpose spray paint. Its going to be primer, car paint, and clear coat on that. So it should turn out pretty good.

The engine I will be swapping out for my lsvtec. And when I take the engine out I will probably put some new seals on it, LMA's, valve seals, and new piston rings because im not getting great compression and im burning a tad bit of oil.

The 90 Si brakes will also be swapped to the HF. Both the front and the back disc brakes will be taken out and swapped. Im not to sure about the suspension if there are many differences from HF to Si. But either way I will be puting Ground Control coilovers and new shocks on there.

So tell me what you think. And any suggestions would be good to. Thanks





Modified by jakscivic at 7:26 PM 4/15/2007

 

Looks like you have a nice start. So are you going to use this one as your DD now?

 

No the engine is shot. In my other crx there is an hf engine in it. Not sure why the people before me put that engine in there but they said it was running. So I might be able to put that engine in there and getting running so I will be able to move it easier. But my main goal is to get my lsvtec in there and use it as my dd/autoX car. I have a spare crx Si engine sitting in my garage I will be puting into my civic and then selling it.

 

Nice HF! I wish I still had mine!

 

Thanks. Yeah I think I lucked out on the interior, but I couldnt have that unless I had the spare Si interior sitting around. By the time Im done with it it wont be an HF. There will be Si brakes, Si interior, lsvtec engine, after market suspension, etc. But my god is it light!

 

nice platform

now pimp Z auto

 

Yeah thanks. With my income tax return I will be buying a hood and bumper most likely from certifit. Not many people have the 90-91 bumper for sale, and most hoods I see are dented and hoods are pretty hard to get dents out of. So I think Ill just buy it from certifit.

 

Well I was busy last night and today. Last night I got the wireing harness, exhaust manifold, and intake manifold off. Today I got the bumper, bumper suport, charcoal canister, valve cover, and one headlight off. I also switched the HF's map sensor looking thing for the si map sensor.

I tried to start the car last night but it sounded like when you take all the spark plugs out and try to start it. The pistons just moved really fast. So I was thinking, I dont think this siezed because the pistons would have siezed. I thought about it a little then said screw it. After I took the valve cover off today I found out what was wrong with the engine. The timing belt snapped. It looked like it was the stock timing belt from 175,xxx miles ago because it was OE honda. So no wonder it snapped. Now im just wondering if the pistons hit the valves at all. Im crossing my fingers because its always nice to have a spare engine sitting around. I will post up some pics of how the car is now later.

Oh and I think I need to take the dash off and replace the heater motor under the dash. Not sure if you can get it off with the dash on or not. But yesterday when I put my battery in the car the fan just made some weird noises and died. So Im thinking I just need to replace it with my spare one in my Si.

 

Since my last post earlier today I got a hold of my friends power sander. So that should help out a lot on sanding down my car to get ready for paint. A few months ago I painted a spare fender black. here is how it came out after I used rubbing compound to get rid of some scratches it had on it. I didnt prep it the right way and I was very impatient. So now I know what to do after doing some research.

Here are the pics of the car as it stands now and the fender that I painted.
The bumper, bumper support, and the head light off.

Broken timing belt which I really hope didnt bend any valves.

The exhaust manifold, intake manifold, and valve cover off.

The Si map sensor put in.

And here are 2 pics of the fender. You can still see some scratches that I didnt get rid of properly. They were from scratches on the metal. And mind you this is done with the Wagner HVLP spray gun with Rustolium black paint.

 

Oh yeah, and as you can see the map sensor wires dont quite reach lol. So im going to have to cut off the ones on my other crx and solder them in on this one so they can reach it. I also took out the charcoal canister. Dont need that *****. I will see how the engine bay turns out after I clean it up. If it looks really dull then I will paint that red as well most likely.

 

Im going to be gone for the weekend because my automotive class is going t oa competition and I will be compeeting as well. But I will be back on sunday and will probably take the head off on sunday and see how the valves and pistons look. And through out next week I will be getting the engine out. Maybe the weekend after this one I will head down to seattle to pick up my bumper, bumper support, and hood. Then I will start taping it off and getting it ready for paint.

 

So I decided to say screw it to trying to memorize a speach and I went to take off the head of the HF. I was just too interested in if the pistons hit the valves at all. Here is what it looked like when I took it off.

Block

Cylinder 1


Cylinder 2


Cylinder 3


Cylinder 4


All


Head

Cylinder 1


Cylinder2


Cylinder 3


Cylinder 4


So all in all everything looks good to me. I will be taking in to my automotive class to take apart fully and measure the valves and see if everything is in spec. I just ordered a gasket kit for the head for about 20 bucks. The head gasket on the head looked good but I want to replace it. I think Im going to put it all back together once I make sure everything is good and then take it out as one and keep it off to the side for a future project.

 

So I guess I should put up a pic of the engine Im going to be putting in the rex.

B16a head
GSR Cams
B18A Block
P30 pistons
Shot peened rods
Arp head studs, rod bolts, and crank bolts
Moroso oil pan
GSR Oil pump, water pump, and OE timing belt
Y1 tranny
b16 flywheel
ACT stage 1 clutch
Megan 4-1 header
2.25 inch exhaust
Magnaflow muffler and resonator

 

to saving a crx.

the engine must of been shut off in time, looks ok from the belt breakage event.

 

nice

edit: i love that VC

 

Yeah, Im thinking the head is just fine. There is just some dirt in there from me not putting the valve cover back over it and its really windy here now. So some dirt got in there. So I need to take it to my class and put it in the parts washer and get everything cleaned off.

Thanks 91ed9, Im painting another valve cover just like that one but the lines are a lot straighter and evenly spaced apart.

 

I just ordered a new timing belt and a head gasket set. So once I get those I will put everything back together and see if it works. If it does then im going to barrow my friends engine hoist and take it out as one piece and keep it for a future project.

 

Interior is clean!

 

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

 

Yeah, I was really happy how it turned out. I just need to shop-vac that ****

 

looks good

 

man you are lucky to have all the interior pieces. for clean interiors!!

 

yeah, it was nice to just be able to put in the interior and not have to search around. There are some pieces like the back rest looking thing that is broken and I would eventually replace. But all in all Im happy with it.

 

 

awesome start!! looks like a good project!! keep it up!!