With this build, I'm kind of doing the opposite!
![laugh.gif](style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
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:
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/DSC08386.jpg)
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/DSC08387.jpg)
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/DSC08388.jpg)
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/DSC08395.jpg)
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/DSC08396.jpg)
BIG up's to RPR member Vince for taking such great car of the car, and for being a super seller/guy! Thanks Vince!!
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/IMG_0365.jpg)
And back at home, getting to know the wagon. The wagon is no flusey. She doesn't just take off her top for anybody!
![](http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww63/dantaylorjr/IMG_0366.jpg)
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.