Thanks for your input guys. Im afraid that these are some of the uphill battles we are going to be facing if we attempt to keep this rare little treasures of Honda history running. EPA ratings of 57MPG back in 1986 are worth it - to a certain extent.
Looks like as the years pass and people move on with their lives, changing of the guard etc...info and advice gets forgooten and falls by the wayside.
I got this from a post here on RPR way back from 2004;
"The HF's have completeley different pistons, pins, rods, and crankshafts than the DX or Si models. They are made MUCH lighter in weight and strength. You need to remember that these weren't made for horespower, they were made to be as economical as possible. By making them as light as they did it was easier for the engine to accelerate without using as much fuel.
FWIW, the HF piston pins are 0.677" in diameter as opposed to the 0.748" in all the others."
So, The engine as a whole is the same 'ol EW-1 that there are a million rebuild kits out there for, but If you wanna keep that same 60 Mile a gallon thing goin' - you need the lighter weight pistons, rods, bearings, crank etc.
Im hoping mine will just only need rings - or more . Not sure if using Mobil 1 0-20W oil fried my motor at only 180K miles but its blowing clouds of oil smoke out the back but it needs a rebuild. I have heard you can send a piston to Arias or Wiseco and they can measure and make you replacement pistons but that leaves rings, rod bearings etc.
Thats the info Im looking for, vendors and availability. All long discontinued from Honda of course.
Not sure if its worth it to tackle this. Money I dont mind, but the time chasing all this down is something else.
There might be an extremely clean 1986 CRX HF body for sale cheap here if this doesnt pan out Im sad to say...