10 replies to this topic

[thebigsleaze]

Hello RPR.

Been lurking about this forum off and on for years. Great place, not so much activity as other forums but a lot less BS and drama. A lot of Canadian content in this forum, too. Cheddaj is just a nice drive down the road...

Had an 87 civic sedan with like 385,000km on it oh, about 12 years ago. I got to appreciate the simplicity and reliability of these little cars.

Fast forward to last summer. The car that turned my former apprentice (electrician, not sith) into a "Honda guy" (long story) is offered to me. As I didn't really have a pile of money sitting around or need another project I lowball the guy (the owner, not my apprentice) and pick it up for $300 canadian dollars.

Car ran like a bag of $h*+ all the way home, but it ran. After the nuclear winter that resulted from bringing home another car, I changed the spark plugs as two of 4 had been rendered inoperative by the center electrode's porcelain condom coming loose and completely shrouding the plug gap. No sparky. I still have them kicking around somewhere as I had never seen this before, let alone two in 1 motor.

Was hoping that the remaining running issue was due to a hung valve, but after adjusting the valves twice I found that one of the exhaust valves was burnt. Can't remember for the life of me which it is. Not that it matters. Still drove the car for the rest of the 3 months of insurance I paid for. Sucked to drive in town but was a blast on the highway (98% of my driving, lucky me).

As my employment situation has changed, I'm finding I have very little spare time but more money than I used to have, rather than no spare time or money.

The CRX is going to be a bit of a budget project, but I think it will be a fun little unit and still have the OEM look and feel to it.

Going to keep it EW2, carbureted. Not going to put on a CAI or anything like that in order to keep the engine bay looking factory as it is all there, even if I'm not.

Planning on shaving the head about .050", a colt tri-flow stage 3 cam, and an adjustable cam sprocket. Going to put some ARP rod bolts in as that 8K rpm bit sounds like fun to me. Replace the clutch with something civil, tidy up whatever needs attention and have it ready to go for the spring. Obviously going to replace the burnt valve. Maybe all of them. Possibly a bit of homebrew porting in the head to help with the CFM factor.

It already has Tokiko dampeners all around (Honda guy said so), almost new 185 r13 tires, and a crazy tribal-splash decal right up both sides of the car. Somebody put a bit of time and effort into the aesthetics. I'll post some pix when I figure out how.

The plastic is cracked, the nose piece (I know there is a word for it, but it escapes me) is missing a big chunk, and there is a bit of rust in the floor pan and kanjo-kut area behind the front quarters that will probably be fixed over winter but the car is in fair shape otherwise.

145,000km on it and nothing I have found has been bastardized save for one of the main fusible links under the hood being replaced with some 14AWG house wire. Gotta fix that...

If you have managed to read to this point, congratulations! Any questions/comments/hate for any of these ideas would be welcome.

Steve.

Edited by thebigsleaze, 30 October 2018 - 10:10 PM.

[gtpilot]

Spinning to 8k with a stock intake manifold will be...disappointing?  There is not enough volume of air going through that tiny carb to make any power up there...let alone the restrictive exhaust?  Find a CDM PE3 head to replace the USMD DX head - much better starting point and you can still keep it carbed.

[thebigsleaze]

Car has the full CDM treatment from the factory... Exhaust had previously been modified to be bigger and louder than it needs to be.

Running on 3.5 cylinders the car was fairly peppy up to about 6000 so with a moderate cam and a bit of tidying up it should pull well past that.

[gtpilot]

Car has the full CDM treatment from the factory... Exhaust had previously been modified to be bigger and louder than it needs to be.

Running on 3.5 cylinders the car was fairly peppy up to about 6000 so with a moderate cam and a bit of tidying up it should pull well past that.

 

Sorry mate - didn't look at your sig to see that you are in Canada!  You are on the right path already!

[thebigsleaze]

No worries, easy to miss that bit of detail in all that in all that gibberish.

In the thread below I found some good info on raising compression. I believe you lend some perspective, gtpilot...

http://www.redpepper...ion#entry513329

I am also planning the CDM keihin carb and distributor mods eldo lays out in this thread. Post 29 has the goods.


http://www.redpepper...ic=12926&page=2

I'm having trouble accessing the FAQ section, where I know the carb mod post is supposed to be. The "get a gallery" bit is also MIA. Sometimes I get "page not found", sometimes I'm directed back to the forum index. In an effort to make the information I'm basing this madness on accessible, the links are above.

I dont have any plans for big brakes or any radical suspension changes. I had a cart put together at rock auto at one point and for like $400 the car would have new brakes (everything), timing kit, filters, valves, gaskets, motor mounts etc... basically everything outside of the cam regrind and head work. Unbelievably inexpensive.

The interior is in good shape and I have absolutely no intention of removing it to shed 20 pounds. I might even add a small powered subwoofer to compliment the Alpine CD player (aah, nostalgia) and Boston acoustics 4" door speakers. If I make it to an autocross, I might just throw out the spare tire and jack.

Gonna cut the rant off here. (Climbs down off soap box)

G'night.

[gtpilot]

What about a cam if you are thinking of a compression raise?  Valve springs to keep up with a cam?

 

As well, if you really want to spin those kind of RPM, find 10 extra head studs/washers/nuts and replace the main bolts on the block with the studs...and torque them to 45 foot pounds (just like the head), not 33 like the main bolts get.  Your center main bearing on the crank will like you for the extra clamping pressure.

[thebigsleaze]

Planning on a Colt tri-flow stage 3 cam.

Using a stage 2 5.9 cummins cam from Geoff in my... 5.9 cummins.

I know the Stage 3 is "race only", but for the tiny amount of city driving I do I can deal with a few bad manners. I figure the compression will offset a bit of the bottom end loss. I dont mind putting premium in it if it performs.

I have been trying to find a definite recipe for the dx outer/si inner valve springs. Not sure as yet if I would need a set of si upper and lower spring collars (maybe wrong term) in order to use them on the PE3 head. Or maybe some other factor that I haven't considered. It's been over 10 years now since I switched careers and the (internal) knowledge isn't quite as accessible as it was.

The main bolt studs vs. bolts is a new revelation to me. What you are saying is the crank main bolts are the same size/thread pitch/length as the head bolts? Or that I would measure the main bolts and buy equivalent studs from ARP? Either way it sounds like a fine plan to keep the crank where it belongs.

From what I have read in more than 1 thread here is that the head bolts are adequate for holding the head down, at least. Perhaps further review is necessary.

Anything that would make the little piggy more reliable at such unreasonable engine speeds is a good thing.

Ordered up all the brake components (less calipers and rotors, recently replaced) to renew the stop system on it yesterday. Planning on dragging my daughter down to the shop and having her put a little work in on the car. In a year and a half she will likely be (legally) learning to drive in it.

Gotta clean out the bay in my shop before it moves in as a lot of shrapnel gets left there like wire, conduit, guitars, amps, beer cans...

I have also been wondering about gaskets (particularly head), piston rings, main and rod bearings, and other things of that nature. Will regular replacement rings and bearings from rockauto work, provided the bores only need deglazed and journals are good?

Not looking to build a brand new motor but if I am in that far you can be sure I will be renewing the bits and bobs in there. Hoping I have a set of straight, unscored bores and a flat block deck to work with. Stranger things have happened, I'm sure.

Cheers.
Steve.

[gtpilot]

If you want a "lumpy cam" I have a custom ground cam from one of my GTl/GT5 motors that would be more aggressive than Geoff's cam.  I am NOT knocking Geoff's cams, he has done very well be me over the years and I would not hesitate to recommend him...but this cam I have is a one off piece that is beastly.

 

Springs - I should have all of the sets of those springs plus the collars...that means I would have to get my act together in the garage (we moved in about 3 months ago and I told myself I was enjoying the pool while it was hot).  I need to get after building shelving in the garage and get to all of my race car stuff.  What is your time frame for the head build?  ...(and I do like the comment about beer cans in the garage)...

 

The head studs are the right length out of the box (do not use the head bolts...there are three studs and seven bolts in the factory configuration) - no need to do anything other than thread them into the block and then use the hardened washer and nuts on them.

 

I have reused head bolts/studs numerous times in my race engine builds and I have never had a failure of any kind, including never having a head gasket leak.  They are not torque to yield bolts and as long as you don't over torque them they should be fine.

 

Bearings...I really liked using Honda Red bearings every where in my race engine builds (as loose as they could be) but I would bet that you are going to have zero luck finding any.  I would start with trying to find the loosest color bearing you can and get as many as possible and then use some of the other aftermarket stuff to fill in the gaps.  It will probably be tedious to figure out the best plan for the bearings.

 

Use APR rod bolts, have the big end checked for size/roundness after they have been installed.

 

Cheers mate!

 

Kirk

[thebigsleaze]

I will definitely take the cam/springs/collars combo off your hands. Head build timeframe looks like sometime in the next 4 months or so. The snow melts around the end of March. Usually...

Comprendo on the stock head studs being right for the main bearing caps. Same for the factory big bearing situation. I'll do some measurement when the crank comes out and see what I can find. Those red bearings (and what I assume are funny words for upper and lower) are hard to find.

If the only thing I need to buy from ARP are the rod bolts, I'll be just fine. I have mics and bore gauges so I should be able to determine if the rods need a little love.

If I find a little spare time this weekend I might even get the car in the shop. Maybe...

[thebigsleaze]

Making an honest attempt to learn how to add pictures for flavour in posts. Probably going to move this whole thought process over to a project thread. Will link there as soon as I make it happen.

Friday night. At last.

[thebigsleaze]

Ha HA! This must be the reason I pay for a website. Hosting pictures of diversions...