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Update 2024: 17th Annual Road Trip 1987 Honda Crx - Dallas To Panama


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#76
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
Hello Zack! hope everything's been good w u. I have to get a hold of Jason some time soon. miss the local meets.

Sinub, I'd love to make it out there sometime. lots of members I'd like to meet up w in ur neck of the woods. Went to riverside to pick up the straman back in like 2000. so that's the only time I'd ever been w a crx in Cali.

Came back from trip over weekend. 40mph winds and 6"+ snow. so I delayed trip until roads were at least dry. did get salt sprayed pretty good from mountain pass Raton and Colorado mountains. self washed asap. Fun as hell mountain driving. Love this car!

Car ran great. o2 sensor came on once turned car off and it never came on again. this would always come on if I'd drive 85 plus sustained on the highway. came on going 65. mileage good and drove smooth. leaving it for now.

Fender and header repairs did well.

new tires eliminated all vibrations I reported over the past ten years. old eagle gts were now 14 yrs old and I actually wore them down to the indicators. Well past time for rubber change.

no cop profiling this trip. Drove mostly at night. Saw two 89-91 civic hatchies and an integra and del sol same vintage.

Pumping fuel in home town a yesterday. guy next to me said he picked up an 87 Toyota Cressida. Sounded real proud and shared pix.

Each year I make these drives, my car just feels more and more out of place, and micro-small, out there on the highway. Wish I could convert to HID headlights. Looking to finally break my vow of no aftermarket or add-on parts and planning some fogs of some sort. So much night driving, I could use the visual aide. Too many near misses w deer on the Michigan trips. have oe fogs, but thinking led to reduced wattage on alternator.

cheapest fuel 1.89, but was 85 octane. most expensive was 2.39. average ~2.10-15.

Just placed car back in storage. had nasty golf ball sized hail here in Tx while I was gone. Neighbors cars left outside all have 50 plus dings. More severe storms coming tonight and this weekend. Figured I'd better keep my DD car in the garage and put the beater back to sleep until the next trip

clocked 1600 miles. ~241500 on clock. She ran so smooth the entire trip. I just don't think this car will ever die

packed an extra ecm based on some recent post involving bad computers. also sheet rubber and hose clamps to temporarily patch radiator hose leaks just in case
Keepin' it OEM

#77
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
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    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
Have had the Rex in the garage for a good part of the past 6 months. Been running errands with it when I can. Encourage my daughter to drive it. Drove it so houston, Austin, Witchata Falls test driving cars for my daughter. Been trying to rack miles on her.

Drove out to Denver last month wo issue. Clocked another 1700 miles on that one. sorry, no pix. Just a family trip.

She's at 247,100 now. 5500 since the last post.

Repairs since last post...

Rear end had been riding low for the past decade. swapped another set of used stock si springs that were rust free, added an inch or so via a spacer and replaced the 31 yr old shocks w kby's. I have the rear a little higher to support the extra loads I carry on road trips. rides a lot better now.

exhaust manifold started leaking about six months ago. that's the next project

31yrs old and I'd have no reservations of driving her Xcountry.

until the next roadtrip.... later
Keepin' it OEM

#78
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion

Great to have the site back up. Kudos Tom!

UPDATE 2019

Did the annual dallas to Detriot hunting trip this past November. Unfortunately, the rex sat this one out.

DFW had several mini meets thanks to Bad Penny’s coordination. On my way to Ft Worth to a meet end of 2018, my water pump bearing got so loose, the impeller began to shave away at the cylinder head breaking off several impeller fines. Shut her down ASAP, got the dolly and towed her home (thnx Gimp for ride to the meet). My bad, pump/belt had about 130k. PITAto flush system of the aluminum shavings. Engine saved.

During the flushing process, i finally took a serious look at the rad cap and stat. Rubber no longer pliable. i’ve never replaced since owning car since 1993. worked well beyond its service limit. Replaced w honda oem.

Flushed and vinegar soaked the ND radiator (last replaced ~1996ish). Borrowed my neighbors thermal hunting scope, poured hot water through the rad and only one flute channel had some blockage

Then my daughter was driving the car around and the brake light went on. MC leaked into the booster. These were also original 1987 parts. Replaced MC w Honda oem. I couldn’t rebuild b/c bore was pitted. The booster had just enough salt corrosion on it where i bent the housing trying to open it up. so i grabbed another clean used one and rebuilt w a honda rebuild kit. (Challenge was to adjust the booster plunger just right to not drag the brakes while having proper brake pedal pressure from the vacuum). i rebuilt front calipers and replaced the 1987 rubber hoses w honda oem

At this point, i don’t have confidence in driving the car out of state. So i dive into the other issues.....

1) removed exhaust manifold and replaced failing gaskets, all new studs
2) removed ac comp, hoses, cond for a later rebuild
3) Replaced o2 sensor to correct occasional 01 engine code.
4) dizzy original, so removed the rusted phillips screws holding the igniter, replaced w nos. used allen key head bolts to replace the philips. igniter common failure after 200k, so i replaced knowing it was going to fail. And after realizing i couldn’t removed those phillips screws so removing bumper and radiator
5) Maint parts: 5 plug wires, cap, rotor, cylinder cover gasket -all nos honda and finally 1990’s vintage nkg plugs
6) coolant bleader has been seized for years, had pullled the aluminum outlet assy from a junkyard and replaced
7) addressed the steering clunk and tire edge wear issue. removed the steering rack and replaced w one from a 130k ish car i had. completely disassembled the rack, rotated pinion 180 out of phase and adjusted the tie joints to clock the rack over by about 1 tooth. (did this since my old one had some serious wear at the center steering point from all the highway driving). The rack clunk was fixed by tightening rack guide nut/spring to factory spec. Also, one nut securing the steering shaft yolk to the rack was loose. AND the steering wheel nut loosened up!, had one inner tie joint w some slop. i laid out 4 of the racks i had in storage (77k-150k range) and selected the best original honda inners/ outer joints w new tie end seals and put back in service. I figure if my oem parts lasted ~250k, I should get another 100k out of these used Honda parts.

 

51668224597_84f2721320_z.jpg

 

8) Performed self alignment in garage - post for another time, this is my fourth car i self aligned and have had good success
9) alternator light came on. took apart. slip rings worn bad plus brushes shot. Replaced w ND oem off my 129k car w new brushes. Based on slip ring wear, i assume to get 50k out of this alt

Been driving the car as a DD since the water pump issue back in 10/18 to ring out issues and regain confidence in the car. She’s at 254,200 - added 5-7k since last post. Several mini trips to Ft Worth, Austin and Houston.

I had been having slight cold engine sluggishness on a growing basis over the past 2 years. What ever i did in items 1-7 above cured that. My guess is the igniter was going, or just the plug/rotor/wire?.

The car feels tighter and punchier than before. Best i can remember it driving in a long time. Even my daughter noticed it.

My philosophy has now changed from “reliability study, wait to see what breaks” to “33yr old car w254k, it’s time to replace”

Pending service

1) replace original fuel pump and metal fuel lines (severe salt corrosion inside pump cover under wheel well)
2) source replacement rubber fuel lines at pump and filter
3) drop fuel tank for cleaning and reseal
4) drop subframe. replace original control arms, seal and bushings. front suspension sag, torsion bar adjusters bottomed out. remove 254k rods, replace w 100k from another subframe and reclock. keeping ride height original spec - need all the comfort i can get for long road trips
5) ac rebuild. have several <100k tr70s. Going to self rebuild and run on r12 as they were designed

monitor wheel bearings as they are original factory. my camber was negative .6 to .8 degrees all around - pretty even. not sure if it’s bearings evenly wearing, or bushings somehow? Most suspension bushings r still original

Im ready for the next out of state adventure. Confidence is regained. 2020 Roadtrip planned for Denver next month. Will let you know how it goes. Planning on a snow free weekend to reduce salt exposure


Keepin' it OEM

#79
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
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    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
2020 UPDATE: 12th ANNUAL ROADTRIP: DALLAS to DENVER

Well, COVID hit. i never made it out to denver earlier this year

Been driving her around quite a bit for QOVID therapy (5k miles and loving it). im now at 259,200. mostly around town, country road wondering detours and 2 trips to austin

water pump and refurbs from january all good. Tore my inner axle boots. ended up rebuilding both axles w cherry picked used oem axles from storage. did a post on this - wont repeat here. basically reduced my backlash/rotational slop by 2/3s

my ball joints are original as installed by factory. i used the opportunity to replace the boots and regrease. w the boots off. i turned the ball joints w my fingers. the frictional resistance felt better that i thought. when i rebuilt the steering system, i had a loose inner tie joint. it was very easy to turn. its my belief if theres reasonable friction, and i cant get it to move w a crow bar, im leaving it in service

Pending trip to denver again. Setting up to meet Vitamin J of rpr as well as friends and family before salt starts going down

keep you posted
Keepin' it OEM

#80
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
Yet another smooth trip. Clocked about 1600 miles. now at 260800.

cheapest gas was $1.51, most exp regular 2.39.

No rain, just a little windy. 60’s-70’s, nice driving weather


Car ran well. was getting a vibration and reoccurring steering wheel shake. Pulled over and rotated tires front to back and it went away. Glad to carry 2 jacks....

Had 2 people comment on the trip how they never see old honda anymore, especially crx’s. they weren’t previous owners, just had friends who had them and brought back memories

met up w Vitamin J, a long term member. he use to race crx’s but he’s been out of it for a while. He’s moved on to newer civics and miatas. Works and tunes them. I picked up 2 Xmissions from him. Bought them like last year - thnx for holding onto the so long!!!. apparently he’s rebuilt them before in the past

I put the toyo extenza tires on my car back in 2015 and the other 2 in 2017. These don’t seem to be lasting as long as the tires we were able to get in the 90’s. M/S tires, no special performance compounding. Maybe it’s just me, but i do need to see how many miles i have on them

I did have a slight pull to the right down the highway. i’ll bet when i popped out the ball joints to rotate-test for resistance/looseness, i must have a flat spot that misaligned the camber. That was purpose of hand twisting the ball joints, to feel for any worn spots. Plan to drop the subframe and redo the bushings and rekey the torsion bars to get more height. i will replace the lower arms when i do this now i know i have some wear

Post trip work = alignment and balance tires

u til the next road trip......
Keepin' it OEM

#81
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
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    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
i forgot, i topped off oil before the denver trip. just took a side trip to austin. put another 600 miles. now at 261400.

no oil leaks. burned just under 1/2 quart in 2200 miles. cruised 75-80.
Keepin' it OEM

#82
zakats

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How are you doing at that speed? With my last civic's exhaust and si trans, I couldn't do those 80-85 MPH Texas highways without wanting to plug my ears.
He who dies with the most toys, wins.

#83
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
I drive w the sunroof open most of the time. The CD player is turned up enough to hear the music. so yeah, im pretty def. Its a pita to have a cell convo even w the windows up

I35 from dfw to austin is crazy. if you drive less than 75, you get run over

Spoke w BP last week. sounds like hes doing well. Hope alls been going well on ur end Zak

This was cool... when i was in austin the other day, there was a red Toyota MR2 same vintage as our cars. Was parked a few blocks from my kids house on the street.. Was dark, but looked decent under the street lights

Then a black 2nd gen passed as i was in the bank the day after i got back.
Keepin' it OEM

#84
zakats

  • 1980's birth control, brought to you by Honda.
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Thanks man, I'm doing pretty well: I have a pretty cushy gig, bought a 77 T/A, and I hope to get another 1 or 3g after I buy a house.

 

I was just going through some of my old media and found a video I took on the aforementioned Drive. Let's not say that I was.... responsible by recording this the way I did, but I guess it's fun to share it anyway 


He who dies with the most toys, wins.

#85
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
Cool, house means more parking space...... More cars..... Have fun w the TA!

I remember u posting that video. Loud! Was it exhaust?

I buzzed down to Austin again today. I have the hum of the engine through the firewall. but nothing like ur video. Drove down w sunroof closed. Easy to have conversation w my daughter. Drove back w roof back, Still nothing like ur video. i bought some resonator and muffler bolt on assemblies from bosal before they discontinued production ten years ago. my car currently has that bosal standard street set up. I hear the engine, not the exhaust
Keepin' it OEM

#86
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
13th annual road trip. The double D again. Dallas to Denver, then up to Utah for a river raft trip in about a month

Going to replace the tray w a 100k one ive got in the garage and redo the clutch/seals w oem. differential bearings been clicking worse. the original 265 k tranny synchros doing well. i’ll plan to redo bearings on that one at a later time

it’s time to replace the front wheel bearings since they are original. i think they are fine. 35 yr old grease has served me well. hoping to do this before i leave.
Keepin' it OEM

#87
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
got back last week from denver. clocked 1600 miles. purred like a kitten. now at 269,450. cheapest gas $2.61, most expensive $3.76.

pretrip did oil change, found hole in my muffler, replaced w an old stock bosal bolt on. ran out of time to swap out transmission. have concern running 34yr old wheel bearings. i have a microphone system that clips on various locations to the car to listen for noises. my driver rear bearing doesn’t sound smooth. going to instal new rear bearings as soon as i can. front sounded smooth so far, but still plan to replace in near future

picked up another stone chip. glad i held off on replacing the windshield

drive was smooth and uneventful. drove through the night mostly.

we rafted down the san juan in utah. i felt it was better to leave the car in denver instead of parking it in the middle of nowhere. put on less miles than expected.

easy trip. really nothing else to say. had a few people comment on the crx at the gas stations

i’m planning on another michigan bird hunting trip next month. keep ya posted
Keepin' it OEM

#88
CSPCRX

Glad she got you through your trip. Very cool you journey that far with her!


Victor
86 K24 Powered CRX SI (SMF Solo2, HPDE-4 NASA & TA-A Time Attack

85 CRX DX totally original
07 Harley FXST Softail

2021 Tacoma Tow/Daily


#89
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

  • Leadfoot
  • PipPipPipPipPip
    • Group: 2018 Contributor
    • Location:Foreign national in TX
    • Drives: 9 crx's: #1 228k 87si beater, #2 concours 25K, #3 108K 87si, #4 98K parts car, #5 213K 87si parts car, #6 84 straman, #7 86si 150k #8 67k parts #9 129K si for straman conversion
Road trip 13B! Double D. Dallas to Detroit

Prepping the ol girl for the michigan trip.

pulled the 269k original tranny w clicking diff bearings (i have a hitch on the car and pulled a trailer a bit w it back in the day. accelerated the wear. synchros actually fine).

had a 43k si tranny in the garage. the junkie had nice covers over the axle openings. the diff bearings and gears looked really clean and shiney. replaced the axle, shift rod, speedo and shift lever seals. put on a new shift boot. the pilot seal requires opening the case. too much work. didnt do. drained the remaining oil and bits of clean water drops came out. was clean. must gave been condensation sitting for 20yrs on the junkyard shelf.... added and drained oil 3x to make sure all clean. used my drill on the input shaft to mix it up really good. no discoloring. i assume no rust. all seals and boot replaced w Honda NOS.

my old shift rod joint was pretty loose. the bitch pin was even worn. i replaced w another shift rod pulled years ago. popped it on and was snug as hell. cant wait to feel how this shifts

excessive oil on my pan. so i removed the fly wheel. no rear main leak. i pulled the engine in 2004 and redid all the rubber seals on the motor/tranny., clutch, etc... replacing seal since its been 17 years. i dont think i did the oil pan seal in 2004. ill do it later

clutch release bearing very smooth and tight - still usable. fly wheel looks great. teeth are great. pressure plate diaphragm springs deflected slightly from age - still usable. i measured the clutch. new appears to be .330. mine was at .270. honda service limit says .240. i think its .220-230 til the rivets, was a 4 spring oem instal back in 2004. the 4 springs had permanent compression so they rattled. replaced all three components w honda NOS

one of the larger 2 bolts under the dizzy gulled up. worked it back and forth for an hour w wd40. finally got it out. but cracked 1/2 chunk of the head off.... damn. bolt threads had aluminum embedded. im putting all bolts back in w anti-seize.

one dowel pin stuck in old tranny. damaged it trying to get it out. have 6 other trannies in garage. grabbed a dowel, applied anti-seize as well

leaving original 269k starter in service, curious when it will fail. easy to jump replace and i carry a replacement

i lightly sanded the ground connections to ensure no problems. the stater boot looked great and the starter connections shiny metal.

will fill w 10w30 oil, run it a day or 2. then swap in honda manual xmission oil.

my rear tranny mount beginning to tear. other 2 look fine. replacing w Honda NOS

now reinstalling all components. not back on road. crossing my fingers on new tranny.....


i ordered a BCA rear wheel bearing/hub set. bearing NTN, seal NOK. i ordered another. when it arrives, will replace. theyre from a lower mileage crx rear axle i parted out 15 years ago (installed the entire axle assy a few years ago). the drivers rear has a slight audible noise when i use my stethoscope. i leveled the car and check camber on all 4 wheels. LR -1.1, RR -.7 degrees. (spek -.75). if this does not correct camber, then a shim kit is in the works. the rear wheel hubs i did not source back in the day. the NOK seals i did. i wasnt thinking about 34yr old grease

another oil change. put 2100 since last one. this trip will be over 2400 miles
Keepin' it OEM

#90
CSPCRX

What shim kit do you plan on using?  Seems now days the only option is the plastic disc types.


Victor
86 K24 Powered CRX SI (SMF Solo2, HPDE-4 NASA & TA-A Time Attack

85 CRX DX totally original
07 Harley FXST Softail

2021 Tacoma Tow/Daily