44 replies to this topic

[mn85crx]

I introduced myself a couple weeks ago. I have a 85 CRX Si that I am restoring. Over the next couple years I plan on fixing/cleaning/restoring every part of the car. This year my plan is to rebuild a blacktop D16A1 and drop that in and also paint the car. This will be my first rebuilding of a car engine, I have rebuilt a few small engines. This will also be my first engine swap. I have done a lot of investigating and scouring this site before I started this project. So far I have not hit any bumps in the project, I hope it all goes smooth.

As I have been disassembling the car I have been very surprised to not have any major rust. There is some surface rust here and there but nothing that requires metal replacement, which is good because I don't have a welder nor do I know how to weld.

Well, on to the good stuff:

Here is the car as I bought it from a really good guy in Omaha, who may be a member of this site, who gave me a stellar deal on the car and it included the D16A1 and all the parts necessary for the swap.





The front end off, including the doors:


The stock motor is out, that was fun. I don't have a engine hoist so I lowered the engine down onto a creeper then my buddy picked the front of the car up and we slid the engine out.



Thats it for now, I will keep the thread updated as I make progress on the car.

Scott

[Stuckey85si]

looks awesome, lemme know if you run into any issues. I just did the blacktop swap in my 85si about 3 weeks ago.


joseph

[mn85crx]

That is great to hear. I know I am going to hit you up on something during this swap. Did you swap over the entire Integra harness or did you splice into the CRX one?

Scott

[squareback]

Wow, a northern car with not much rust? That is amazing. The car does look pretty straight.

I did the D16A1 swap into a carbed Civic hatch a few years ago and swapped over the whole Integra harness. With your starting with an Si, you won't have to do much as far as wiring. It sounds like you've been searching on this site, so I'm sure you know there's lots of info here regarding this swap and how straightforward it is. When I did mine, I had not done a swap before (although I had removed and installed several EW engines), and it was actually quite easy.

What cosmetic and chassis plans do you have for the car?

Good luck with your car! Let us know if you have questions.

Mike

[mn85crx]

Ive made some progress on the car in the past week or so. Ive stripped the engine bay almost bare, the only thing left that I'm taking out are the hard brake lines and the MC and brake booster.




Mike: I'm planning on putting in 24 mm torsion bars up front and Ground Control coil overs in the back and I haven't decided on which shocks I'm going to go with. This will all have to wait till next year though. I have set this project up with ideas of what I want to do every year. Seeing as I live where it is cold half of the year, and no heated garage I cant work on it all year long. This year is getting the blacktop in and painting the car. Next year will be interior and suspension. After that is adding a small turbo, 6 psi.

Scott

[mn85crx]

I haven't updated this thread in a while, I had a really busy April, which meant no time for the car, boo to that. Also, it was great that it decided to snow 4-5 times in April, no heated garage means no work on the car. I have picked up some parts for the D16A1 build so that should start in a week or so.

Well I did get the engine bay stripped down as far as I'm going to take it and I started cleaning it up. I have also started getting some pieces ready for paint. I am going to be using the roller method to paint the car, I plan on doing the prep work as well as I can so the paint job turns out the best it can (I think I'm going to hate sanding by the end of this project).







It is supposed to be nice tomorrow so I should be able to get the first coat of paint on these parts, get the hood ready for paint, and get the engine bay cleaned up and maybe primered, that is ambitious but we will see. I'm going to have to be ambitious, my plan is to have the car running by the last week in June, and I haven't even started building the motor.

Scott

[mn85crx]

I know not too many people view this thread but I'm going to keep updating it as I go, more for self motivation than anything. I was able to get the first coat of paint on the fenders and side skirts, and the fourth coat on the header panel.


I also degreased the engine bay and started on the passenger side, I found a little rust at the bottom of the front wheel well, nothing a grinder couldn't take care of. It looks like the car had some damage in that corner, luckily it is covered by the side skirts and fenders. I primered the section I cleaned up, I'm using Rustoleum rattle can primer, it seems to go on very smooth so we will see how it turns out. I will be top coating it with gloss black.

[Jaminak]

What did you use the degrease the engine bay? What steps to do it?

[mn85crx]

I got a couple cans of foaming engine degreaser from my auto parts store. I sprayed it on and let it sit for about 20-30 min. Then I just sprayed it off with my hose.

It worked better than I thought it would, the boot on my passenger transmission cv joint ripped and flung grease everywhere. All I did was spray it down, let it soak, then wash a away and it took all the grease with it.

[zakats]

lookin good!

[Sgt. Pepper]

Nice job so far. Kudos for painting it yourself - you are braver than I am. Looking forward to more updates. Did you say that was an '85? Interior door pulls are straight and it looks like flush headlights? Just curious. Keep up the good work.

[mn85crx]

I have been thinking that myself. The guy I bought it from said he had two CRXs and that he took all the good parts and made one good car. When I enter the chassis VIN into CARFAX or something similar it comes up as a 85 Civic CRX Si, so I know the chassis and most of the car is that. The previous owner did say he put the flush mount 86 headlights in, he must have used some interior parts too. The one thing that got me looking into this is the gage cluster. It has a 120mph speedo and I believe the Si had a 140mph speedo. The different speedo might work out for me since I am swapping in the blacktop, which needs the gage mounted vss, so I might be good to go there. I do want to get a Si cluster and swap in the vss. Do any of you know someone with a 85 Si cluster they are willing to part with?

Scott

[zakats]

Do any of you know someone with a 85 Si cluster they are willing to part with?

sure do

[tcrow1966]

I have a 86 si and it only has a 120 mph speedo someone must have changed it

[zakats]

I have a 86 si and it only has a 120 mph speedo someone must have changed it

ONLY the 1985 crx si had the 140mph speedo