323 replies to this topic

[OG Wagon]

Most people take a street car and try to build it for the track.

With this build, I'm kind of doing the opposite!

This past Tuesday I drove down to SC to pick-up fellow RPR member Vincent's '86 Si. It was his dedicated autox car for a little over a year. He purchased the vehicle from another RPR member, who bought it from another RPR member. So, I suppose that I am now the 4th generation RPR owner of this car.

I have been looking for a 1G CRX Si for a little over a month now that I could fix up this summer and turn into a classic looking model to drive around in as my daily driver, and still go to the track every now and again and have some fun. I love the wagon, but the body roll on the car and the fact that it has no after-market suspension support (being that it is a 4WD model) means that it will continue to have to serve as a really cool cruiser-only ride.

Despite this CRX's humble exterior condition, I choose this car for a number of reasons. First, it is in GREAT mechanical shape. Anyone who knows me and is forced to answer my constant barrage of mechanical questions knows that this is a BIG bonus for a moron such as myself. Also, the suspension set-up is killer. It had a new rear sub-frame and panhard bar and mount added a few thousand miles ago, and this part of the car is in EXCELLENT condition (thanks for the heads-up Scott!). Last, but certainly not least, the car is BUILT, and has a LOT of cool parts, as outline below. The motor is so strong and responsive. I was blown away by the cars performance and agility when I test drove it a week or so before I bought it.

Also, I felt the body work would be challenging but rewarding for me. I rather enjoy body work, and I hope to use this project as yet another opportunity to practice and get better at doing this type of work.

Here is the current spec list for the car:

- Rebuilt 12 Vavle EW4 motor in 2003 (about 20,000 since rebuild) 95 HP 94 Tq. to the wheels.
0.040" pistons and rings
Rotating assembly balanced
Head has been milled 0.010"
Port matched
3 angle valve job
New main and rod bearings
New Honda Factory Gaskets
Mobil 1 10W-40

- Si 5-Speed transmission with:
OPM limited slip
5 lb flywheel
Spec stage 2 clutch
Honda MTF

- Brakes
Carbotech Panther AutoX Pads
Cross drill front discs
Light weight CRX HF rear drums
Stainless steel braided brake lines all around
ATE Super Blue brake fluid

- Wheels
13X8 Diamond racing wheels with Kumho V710 (215/50- 13) about 40% tread life
14X5.5 Honda Civic HX Wheels with Falken Azenis RT-615 about 80% tread life

- Pacesetter 4 into 1 header with custom high flow exhaust
- Smaller CRX HF front radiator (half the width of Si)
- Upgraded front and rear sway bar
- Koni Yellow Single Adjustable on front and rear
- 25 millimeter front torsion bars
- 225 lb/in rear springs
- A/C removed
- Radio removed
- Catalytic converter removed
- Momo Cup seat
- Momo steering wheel
- GeFroce seat harness
- New rear sub-frame in 2006
- panhard bar replaced in 2006
- New rebuilt alternator in 2008

And, of course, some pics:







BIG up's to RPR member Vince for taking such great car of the car, and for being a super seller/guy! Thanks Vince!!



And back at home, getting to know the wagon. The wagon is no flusey. She doesn't just take off her top for anybody!



This rex pulls like a bat out of hell!

My job for this build will be to simply get the car to look as good as it runs, inside and out. I'll be painting the car Si red, with black moldings, front lip, and factory '86 rear spoiler (I think it will look better left flat black, to match the front lip). I'd also love to pull a set of rear louvers from someone later on down the road, along with JDM headlights and sidemarkers. My NOS fog lamps will also go on this car as well, rather than the wagon. With the purchase of the vehicle, Vince was kind enough to throw in two sets of phone dial rims. These will both be fully polished this summer per the instructions on this site. I hope that they can come out looking even half as good as Carl's! One set will go on the Rex, and the other will go on the wagon. My Mugen's on the wagon are being sold, along with the Mikuni carb set-up, solely to finance the restoration of this rex. The wagon is getting a cheaper 32/36 Weber set-up this weekend to keep her running strong. Not as strong, but still stronger than stock!

I've got about a month to get this thing prepped for paint, painted, and the interior cleaned up. We'll see how it goes.

This has been "parts gathering week", and I haven't been able to gather much of anything, lol!
Wow, finding CRX Si fenders, rockers, and door skins is like finding GOLD! I had no idea it would be this tough. I would simply repair what I have, but there are too many chunks missing from run-ins with AutoX cones, lol!

Here's what I need. Help a brother out!

Exterior:

Passenger Fender w/ molding
molding only for Drivers side fender
Driver's side B-Pillar (w/ CRX logo)
Both rocker panels and trim
Both sides Door Plastic and trim moldings
Drivers side mirror mount (just the mount, as my mirror ((I believe)) is fine; it just wobbles a tad bit, so I'm think that it is the mount)
Passengers side taillight
Rear CRX garnesh/panel (the panel in b/t the taillights)
Rear hatch and spoiler (really want the SI spoiler, as I don't have one)
Front Lip/Spoiler

Interior:

Headliner (preferably from a non-sunroof model; previous owner welded the sunroof shut, so now I'm trying to cover it up on the inside, lol!)
If there's a way to unweld the sunroof and get it functioning again, I will. In that case, I'll need an Si sunroof.
Headlight/wiper combo switch
Rear hatch area carpet, and cover, if you have it.
Rear hatch speaker mounts and grille, if I can find them.
Radio of some sort.

So, the search continues for body parts. In the meantime, I'll be working on the interior. I have to fix a small rust hole near the spare tire well first. Then, I'll go ahead and paint my door/hatch/jams factory Si red. After that, I'll spray rubberized undercoating on the floor board. Then, I'll be laying down new carpet (probably EK9 red), spray-dying all of the interior panels black to refresh them, cleaning up the seats and dash, rewraping the done panels with red suede, EK9 shift boot, Momo knob and pedals to match the current Momo equipment, possilby rewrapping the passengers seat, rewrap headliner and top panels in black...basically just misc. aesthetic stuff.

Hopefully I'll have all of my exterior panels by then, and I can start on my body work and get it to paint by the end of the month.

My only mechanical struggles as of right now are a slight idle-surge, the temp gauge is not reading, and the speedometer needle bounces around a good bit. So, hopefully I'll have all of that in order before paint.

We'll see how it goes, and I'll update here as I go along.

[OG Wagon]

A few more pics:






Also, can anyone identify my passenger's seat? I don't believe that it is a 1G CRX Si seat. Maybe I'm wrong.
Is this a 1G Teg seat, or possibly a 88-91 CRX seat? I hope it's a 2G rex seat, as some pretty sweet covers are readily available for that seat on Ebay right now. If it is not a 2G seat, is a 2G seat a direct bolt-on into a 1G Rex?

[Vicious]

wow mount your harness correctly that should be #1 mod. and i think the seat is a recaro out of a VW jetta.

[chino101]

Thanks for the kind words Dan. I'm glad you are enjoying the car, and giving it the attention it deserves. There is a lot of good info on this forum. Although I never posted at all, I was able to find a lot of info on this forum and hence never really had to ask any questions.

[OG Wagon]

wow mount your harness correctly that should be #1 mod. and i think the seat is a recaro out of a VW jetta.

Hmmm... I knew that it fit extra snug and held much like a race seat. Has it been re-upholstered?

Can anyone else confirm this, or post a pic of a similar Recaro seat?

[1styearSI]

good luck with the rex!i'm gonna pull my ew4 out and replace it with a z6 teg trans combo if you need a spare motor LMK if that car has a rear wiper than the rear louvers are pointless although i know no body uses the rear wipers the louvers are really for non wiper hatches the wiper don't fit under the louver just tint that bad boy and simplyhonda has the mud flaps front and rear for 50 bucks he also has a hf wing it's black you would have to see it or know what a hf wing looks like i can't explain it but i kinda like them being as how a si rear spoiler is HARD to get unless you get a midevelpro and they cost more than you wanna spend

[OG Wagon]

wow mount your harness correctly that should be #1 mod. and i think the seat is a recaro out of a VW jetta.

Yeah, Vince only used his shoulder harness for AutoX. On the street, I'm using the lap belt harness (mounts at factory seat belt points) and the OEM seat belt over my shoulder. I'll get this sorted out during the "interior" phase, for sure!

[ChrisF-dude]

Quote;
With the purchase of the vehicle, Vince was kind enough to throw in two sets of phone dial rims. These will both be fully polished this summer per the instructions on this site. I hope that they can come out looking even half as good as Carl's! One set will go on the Rex, and the other will go on the wagon.


You can't put polished phone dials on a CRX AND a wagon! That was my idea! That's why I bought the polished ones from Flashmatrix and had another set already. That's why I bought Kewards 4WD wagon. Consider this a legal warning, any time you take the cars out or they are seen, you'll have to pay me a royalty fee. I am channeling the spirit of Johnny Cochran thru my crystal headlight conversions. He says, "if Chris done it, then you must quit!".

[OG Wagon]

Quote;
With the purchase of the vehicle, Vince was kind enough to throw in two sets of phone dial rims. These will both be fully polished this summer per the instructions on this site. I hope that they can come out looking even half as good as Carl's! One set will go on the Rex, and the other will go on the wagon.


You can't put polished phone dials on a CRX AND a wagon! That was my idea! That's why I bought the polished ones from Flashmatrix and had another set already. That's why I bough Kewards 4WD wagon. Consider this a legal warning, any time you take the cars out or they are seen, you'll have to pay me a royalty fee. I am channeling the spirit of Johnny Cochran thru my crystal headlight conversions. He says, "if Chris done it, then you must quit!".

Ha, ha! Hey, great minds think alike brother. That's all that I have to say!

Oh, and I believe old Johnny said "You must A-quit".

[flashmatrix]

Quote;
With the purchase of the vehicle, Vince was kind enough to throw in two sets of phone dial rims. These will both be fully polished this summer per the instructions on this site. I hope that they can come out looking even half as good as Carl's! One set will go on the Rex, and the other will go on the wagon.


You can't put polished phone dials on a CRX AND a wagon! That was my idea! That's why I bought the polished ones from Flashmatrix and had another set already. That's why I bough Kewards 4WD wagon. Consider this a legal warning, any time you take the cars out or they are seen, you'll have to pay me a royalty fee. I am channeling the spirit of Johnny Cochran thru my crystal headlight conversions. He says, "if Chris done it, then you must quit!".

Hey! Hey! Hey! I want my cut,TOO!

To the OP...Found this vid of your new old car.

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

[OG Wagon]

AWESOME!! So cool man!

We'll, I think we found when the speedometer might have gotten pegged!

[chino101]

Oh, yeah forgot to show that video to you. According to the dyno, it hit about 110 MPH in 4th gear using the 14" wheels.

Edited by chino101, 28 June 2009 - 09:52 PM.

[OG Wagon]

Oh, yeah forgot to show that video to you. According to the dyno, it hit about 110 MPH in 4th gear using the 14" wheels.

Awesome video! I was j/k about the speedo being pegged!

Progress: Got the temp gauge fixed! Vince gave me an extra thermosensor with the sale. I went to install it a few days ago, then noticed that the connector going to the thermosensor was all out of wack. The female end had broken and almost fell off the harness wire. So, that had to be fixed. I was hoping that this would solve the problem, and that I could keep the thermosensor Vince gave me as a spare. Unfortunately, this fix alone did not solve the problem. So, I then put on the new thermosensor tonight. Problem solved, gauge fired up just fine!

Now, that pesky idle surge problem is still acting up. More noticable in the high-heat times of the day. So, I think I still need some work on that FIV.

I'm going to get new o-rings from Honda, then make sure that I blow out the hoses with compressed air this time.Vince, when I changed out to the newer FIV last week, I noticed a bunch of black mess in the hoses. Their probably stuck up somehow...

[chino101]

The problem has plagued all of the owners. Also remember, the entire idle air control system has been removed form the engine bay, there is usually a large bunch of electronics that normally located on the driver side of the engine compartment next to the head light. These electronics control the idle if I recall correctly. The idle surge is very dependent on temperature, be it under the hood or weather. Also there may be air in your coolant lines. Try "burping" the system. I did this by having the radiator cap off, while the engine is cold (do this in the morning), and starting the car and letting the coolant circulate through the engine. If there is air, you will notice air coming out to he radiator filler neck.

I was at a SCCA road race yesterday, and saw a 1st gen CRX with an engine converted to to the same fuel injection system found in the 1st gen Si. He had the FIV removed and a block of plate installed in its place. Seeing this car run neck and neck with a Spec Miata made me miss the CRX.

Edited by chino101, 29 June 2009 - 06:52 AM.

[OG Wagon]

Progress:

(1) Parts car will be picked up tomorrow. Original '87 Si, complete. Good fenders, rockers, door skins, rear speakers, full interior, and a bunch of other goodies. I should be able to make one complete car out of the two cars. If the donor car is rust free, I'll put it up for sale as a usable chassis near the end of the summer.

(2) Copped the CRX reflective panel and complete fog light set off of Ebay the other night! I apologize to all of those bidders that I sniped at the last minute.

Those same fogs, and a complete wiring harness with switch, and the covers that came off of that auction will be up for sale again on Ebay soon. So, keep a look out. I just needed the brackets for my NOS fog set. Before you get pissed: I'm going to have my engineering friend try to use these brackets to make a bunch more sets, so others can have them too. I'll also order a bunch of the screws and spacers to accompany these, and I'll sell them for a fair and non-ridiculous price. So, that's the plan with those.

I had a scan of a bracket and we were going to try to make these ourselves. However, unfortunately, they are not a flat piece. Their is a curved/concave area, which is going to make them tricky. It is the part that the light pivots in for angle/direction adjustment. Obviously, for this reason, these brackets were cast from molds. We were thinking it would be best to cut a circle in the metal bracket, and then weld in a concave washer in its place for this section. My engineering buddy and I will figure it out once we get these in the mail...