CRX - N00b

Hi everyone ...
Im about to buy a CRX HF in probally about 2 weeks. Right now the car I have is a Ford Escort ZX2. It's a nice and pretty quick car but there is no aftermarket support and i just want a honda. Alot of poeple tell me Im barking up the wrong tree if i want to be fast in my zx2. My "tuner guy" has a CRX HF and he's going to sell it to me for 800 bucks. It has a nice size dent in the passenger door, and just a small rust spot above the drivers door. The drivers side fender needs to be replaced and the tail lights. The car runs but is knocking (which i dont care about the motor). The interior is pretty much gutted. The CRX also comes with a rear disc conversion. I dont care too much about the minor things like needing an interior i just want the body.

I was wondering what are the pros and cons of the car, the advantages, dislikes of this car?
I plan on getting the car in 2 weeks, then working on the body etc..., until i have enough money for a b16 swap. The guy that im buying it from said "if you want to go fast, this is the car to do it in" ...

Welcome me, because hopefully ill be around for awhile!
Thanks and hopefully you all can help me "bark up the right tree"

Well, I would definately begin by saying that, if your looking for speed out of an HF with a stock engine..your "barking up the wrong tree", but i would also note that the HF is the lightest model of all the crx years, with the 88 being the lightest 4g of all, and with a swap will be faster than an SI. If you want to go fast with a honda, this is the car to do it in...as far as engine compatibility and the weight of the car itself. And 800 bucks sounds pretty nice, as long as you really arent concerned with the cosmeticsand interior.

Nah... Definatly not staying with the stock motor. I was thinking of throwing a gsr in, but i really dont have that kind of money. So the plan is to just get a b16. The aftermarket support for honda are crazy, unlike my zx2. My brother inlaw just done a h22 swap in his 4 door 91 accord, and now his car is pretty quick. With putting a b16 in a crx, do you know around about what kind of cars i can keep up with? As for the crx im going to buy, i dont care too much about the interior. I've been around the "ford" thing for alittle while now, and i pretty much know the ins and the outs of my car, is there anything you can tell me about this car? for example, is the hf the worst model?... being that the dash is cracked, i was wondering if they make a fiberglass overlay for a crx? i dont know of anyone to talk to about crx's so i know im going to sound like im coming off strong with questions etc...

The HF is fine, its light because it had to be..it had an 8 valve fuel saver engine that got roughly 52 mpg. It doesnt have disc brakes, or fancy sway bars like an SI and the interior (not that it matters to you) wasa little more basic than the others.

Haha. B16 HF can "keep up" with most cars off the lot. Hell, the only car stock that will run away from you like you're driving a geo metro would most likely be a WS6 TA, LS1 Camaro or Mustang GT and the ocassional turbo car... Evo, WRX with a decent driver... Haha.

Edit: Also, depends on what shape the motor and the rest of your car is in too. I can attest to a nicely tuned sohc spanking a beat b16/18... LOL

sounds like a good buy man i had my old 88 HF for about a year before some old guy hit me..i loved the gas mileage in that car. since youve got the rear brakes already converted to discs youre in really good shape for a swap. I just looked on the forum classified today and someones got a b16 complete swap for $600 with 103k or so on the motor. Id check that out cuz even tho you said you didnt have the cash it sounds like a good deal. My swap should be arriving any day for my Si and a lot of the guys here on the forum will help ya thru your problems. Glad to see another ford person switchin to honda :bigthumb:

haha... Dont get me wrong bro. I like my zx2, But the problem is... well n/m, ya got me. the problem is, its a ford.. lol ... Honda's man, just have so much aftermarket support, and from what i can tell are very reliable. b16 swap for 600?.. why so cheap? So are you saying if i put a b16 on the crx, i could keep up with a gsr civic? ... that would be awsome. Im very excited about getting this car. hopefully i can get the money up quick to get the motor and tranny and all. im glad i found some folks to talk to.. only people i talk to online about cars are my zx2 buds..

If you could keep the traction, and now how to drive...then yeah, you should keep up/whoop up a GSR, its just so much heavier than an HF

Sounds great. Do you know of anywhere i can find pics of an hf interior so i will know how most of it looks.. like i said, the interior in the car im getting is pretty much gutted. until i get the money for the swap, i'll be working on the body, and alittle bit on the interior. I should be able to buy the crx in 2 weeks, and i cant wait till i start working on something other then my zx2...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=563826

heres the classified link for that engine swap. pm the author if youre interested and want info on what all it has and let us kno so we can tell you what else youd need.

as for interior i would recommend looking in AF classifieds or ebay for parts. Id see if you could get mostly Si interior pieces since it has a nice lockbox and "trunk" that you can remove. also make sure what color the trim pieces are cuz some have dk blue and others have black, unless you plan on just painting them.

2poor2tune had a bunch of interior parts for sale so you could see what he has left.

i like the HF. an 85 or 86 crx hf was the first car i ever drove. excellent gas milage. i always knew its engine was kinda underpowered, but the weight ratio of an HF in general is just right for the teeny engine if you're not concerned with "keeping up" with anyone. in other words, the speed limit on most interstates is like 70mph. you can easily do 80 or 90 on the way to work... not that i approve of such heracy.

i like my current 89 DX just fine too.

Hey CRXproject I find it kinda funny how are names are similar... CRXperiment, CRXproject.. Its getting harder and harder to be original these days. Oh BTW definitly get the HF your gonna love it and believe me you aint gonna be getting anywhere with a Fix Or Repair Daily (aka FORD) zx2 shitbox. The HF definitly has got major potential. Good luck with it man.

Ack!! So sorry about the name bro. If ya would like me to change it, i can. :)
Yep where i live, this whole tuning scene is becoming more of a challenge then anything with the folks around here. If you dont have a honda,acura or nissan then you aint really shit. If your car does not do 9.5's and under, you aint shit. There are two different crowds where i live... There's the guys that have just a muffler,intake, etc... minor bolt ons or either alot of bolt ons and still only running 10's and 11's on the 1/8... and there is the different crowd... The gods of the whole tuning scene around here. And they are only running either 9 flats, or 9.5's. And there is one other guy... Thats the guy im buying the car from. He's like the only shop that does swaps and actually knows what hes doing. He's running 8 flat, which he also cant hook either. There was a cammed out mustang running with a beefed up motor (cobra) and a 100 shot. the mustang guy and the guy that i am buying the car from raced... Mustang got beat 5 links... so, yeah... he's pretty much the man around here. So i guess what im trying to say is, anything that he tells me that this is the car i want if i want some speed, im going with it.
Just to let you all know a tad bit about me... I'm 21, married... 2 kids (boy & girl).. and from alabama. If any of ya ever get bored and feel like talking about cars, lol ... Y.I.M. - [email protected] ... MSN - [email protected]

I really appreciate the responses guys. thanks

hey. sounds like you found the jackpot. its hard to find a crx for that cheap around where i live. but as for the cars you could keep up with. my buddie has a 90 crx dx w/ bolt ons and he kept up with a 90-93 accord with an h22. to be honest the accord beat him. started pulling in 4th gear. but you should beat all the 92+ civics with there tips and intakes. no offence to the 92+ its just most ricers find those cars prime for there gay projects.

Ha ... Sounds good then. He kept up with an h22 accord, and all he had was a stock motor and bolt on's? woah... Welp, I guess all i really can do right now is save my pennies. I got acouple things ive sold and am selling on ebay, that will give me over half the money for the crx. Once i get it, ill just have to try my hardest to save up for the swap. (note: im not the best in the world at saving money. lol)
btw: do you know if they make a fiberglass dash overlay, or a complete fiberglass dash for a crx?

thanks again

oh wait my bad. he had just a b16a with bolt ons. sorry. my bad. dont mean to put wrong ifo in your head. a stock motor in a crx could not come close to a h22 accord. maybe if built of coarse but not stock. but good luck with car. and i suck at saving money to. i just have to spent it when i have it. and even if its 12 at night and all the stores are closed. ebay here i come. its how i work

Welp, I've now sold probally about 3/4 of all the performance mods I had for my Escort ZX2. I've gotten close to $800 dollars out of everything i've sold so far. I'm one step closer to joining the CRX world. I plan to pay for my CRX is about 1 week. In acouple days I'll be putting a deposit on that b16 that was in the classifieds. The plan for the exterior of the CRX... I dont want to go all out rice, but i do like the idea of projectors and whatnot. I plan to paint it silver, with black projectors, & my black rims i already have. (ADR 17's) ... Black taillights, & dark tint. I plan on buying most of the interior for the car but no customizing besides putting in acouple guages etc... I dont know what kinda of spoiler it's called, but i plan on adding a spoiler to the back. It looks like it might come stock on some of the models. Can anyone tell me anything about the cluster that comes stock in the CRX. I think i seen that it just does go to 8 grand i believe, i cant really remember. Also i dont know exactly what mph it goes to, but i would probally like to upgrade that as well. Any suggestions? ty

The stock CRX guage cluster goes to 8 grand. IMO you should stick with the stock cluster. Keep your rex as clean as possible, you wont regret it in the long run. I think silver is sexy on a rex, but maybe your 17s will look too big. When you say your gonna buy gauges, does that mean guage faces for your cluster? If so I have some for sale if your interested.

Yeah, stock cluster goes to 8k, the SI-R goes beyond that and can be swapped in and it looks clean.

As in guages... like 3 guage piller pod. I want the mph on the cluster to go atleast past 120 if possible. I would also like the rpm to go to atleast 9 grand. can i see a pic of the guage face you got?

Ive got these kind of guages for sale dont know if your interested: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/pts/160501644.html
Oh and BTW, your stock guage cluster does do up to 120 mph so no worries there

Not really too interested in buying guages or anything right now. I'm gonna tackle things like that once i'm closer to getting the motor. I would like to know how you got the place where you stick your key in to light up, and light up blue for that matter. I like to see interior shots of a crx like that. Just maybe getting some idea's of exactly what kind of route i want to go with in the interior.

Well, Recently I took my wife and kids on a lil vacation. I had to use alil bit of money that was going towards by CRX, so it should be paid off this friday or next. I talked to the guy that im buying the crx from (which owns a shop), and he said probally the best bang for the buck is going with CRX Si motor and boosting it. He said he really doesnt know how much boost it will be able to hold, but i probally can get another motor for around 200 bucks if it blows. What do you guys think the motor can hold? he's wanting 12 psi, on stock. While im waiting to get up enough money to put towards getting the motor put in i'll be fixing up the body (dents). I looked at the passenger door today and seen that the dent was bigger then i thought. So if you know anyone that has a passenger door, please let me know. Also, if anyone knows where i can get a crx si motor for cheap please tell. ty

as for the motor. you can find anyone of them on ebay for close to nothing. about the boost on that motor, maybe 12 for the weekends. but as a daily driver i think 5-8 psi should be good. check out homemadeturbo.com go to the projects section. lots of boost ideas for under 500 bucks. also for the motor check out hmotorsonline.com they have a very good selection of low milage jdm motors that can be had at low low prices compared to they competition. check them out and tell us what you are thinking. later

If your on a budget and saving money is an issue (Isnt it for all of us? And the other guy isnt the only one who goes on ebay after all the stores are closed haha) I might recommend doing a DOHC ZC swap. Its a direct drop in motor and you can use your stock tranny also. Also a DOHC ZC would handle boost a lil bit better than a SOHC d15 or d16 I would have loved to do a b16 swap myself, but the expenses of a swap can kind of creep up on ya, ya sure the engine u buy online from somewhere comes with a warranty, FOR THE ENGINE ONLY... your injectors could be clogged, the TPS sensor and or IACV could be total garbage... and I believe you were going from an HF which means youll need a modified wire harness for your engine and a resistor box etc... I know what its like to have lil ones and wifey that need financial attention, and that would suck for ya to have to stare at your b16 motor in the garage cuz ya cant afford to buy the lil things for it before ya drop it in.

An HF is MPFI, wouldnt need to modify the harness.

Alright. I'm too damn much of a noob to this shit, ya know? ... Can you give me the low down on swaps?... What do you mean direct swap? as in no new motor mounts, just take my motor out, and put the other one in? thats all?.. Is a ZC more expensive? and whats the ZC's rated horepower, and what does it come out of? ... Im doubting a d15 will hold alot of boost, but like i have told my friends. If i can get to about 160 to the wheels, I will be satisfied. Being you all know about this car and what your doing, enlighten me and tell me the pros and cons, etc... ty all, you have been so much help

LOL well just to let ya know I AM FAR from a professional, can only inform you on what I know. The ZC is a direct fit for your car, meaning u keep the motor mounts, tranny etc.... it bolts right up without a whole lot of modification. You take your old motor out, bolt up the tranny and do a couple things here and there and your good to go... no new shift linkage etc. The DOHC ZC came out of an Acura Integra, not exactely sure what years but... the cost on that for the engine is between 600-900 bucks for the engine only... not sure which tranny comes with your hf but I am pretty sure it will bolt on to that motor... stock HP on a DOHC ZC without any mods is around the 130 HP range... I replaced the ECU with the correct acura integra one and had it chipped... and did cold air intake and a couple other bolt ons... so would imagine im at around the 145 HP range which is only 15 HP less than a b-16 ;)

Yeah zc is a DIRECT bolt in. And you have an HF so it all plugs up correctly as well.

Is there any where i can read up on the ZC swap, and just the ZC motor in general? ...

any "shop" that recommends 12psi on a STOCK engine is a shop i wouldn't go within 20mi of. 5 psi is safe. anything over 9psi the stock head bolts can't hang and will result in whats call "head lift" or "head separation"....

the dohc integra is commonly confused with the zc as it is also dohc with the same hp, but it's not stamped zc....zc was only made in japan. more people have troubles than not with the zc. the main reason zc is crap is it's made up of different honda engines. you can't just go to the parts store for a zc timing belt...you have to remeber which part came from which engine :screwy:

the best bang for your buck is a sohc vtec either 92-95 Si/Ex d16z6 or 96-00 Ex d16y8....it works with your stock tranny, motor mounts, linkage, and axels. in addition if you get it complete with dizzy, intake mani, and ecu you have everything to MPFI convert while you're there. $500 engine + $150 wire conversion harness and you're done.

no offense but this topics of "what engine should i swap" has been beaten to death. do a search and i promse every question you have has already been answered.

ok i have some info on this. it might be bad for the guy doing the swap. but it is simple mods that can be done by any noob like me. the hf harness has a round 8 pin distributor plug while the 88-89 integra motor (d16a1) or jdm (88-91civic/crx si swap) has a square plug that only has 6 pins. you will need to remove the pin from the hf plug and put them into the dx or integra dizzy plug. i will show you the diff. look below. i did all this to my car with the jdm dohc zc motor just to find out it had a bad third cylinder. but i got a big turbo out of it so its cool with me. if you need any help just let me know i am pretty sure i can answer any question about the swap but maybe not the actuall engine problems. bottom line its easy. but like the moderator said. i would go for the sohc. those thing can get up there in the hp. and its just so cool to pop the hood and see a sohc after a 11 sec run down the 1/4 mile

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/5715/gf8sh.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Hmm... I know you hear every newbie asking what swap to do, but every question might be alittle different for what each owner prefers. We are just looking for some kind of direction or answer to what we personally should do/go. Also, Those are the things I am trying to learn and looking for, about the bad things of any of these motors. By you telling me the ZC is made up of different motors, Tells me one thing... Nothing I want. If I want to change the belt, I want to be able to go to autozone and get a belt or whatever else for the same motor, not trying to remember every part from which motor. I keep getting these idea's from different people for what to get. The main one that is sticking in my head right now is the crx si motor. One of the problems im having is i want my whp to be around 170'ish. Do you think a d15 with boost at about 6 to 7 psi can generate 170 whp? This is what my "tuner" tech offer'd me... CRX Si motor swapped, Junk yard turbo'd, & installed for right around $2,000.00 ... Is that a good deal? note, this is his motor and his turbo he will be installing. Guys, Im just trying not to make the same mistake i made with the zx2. I kept the stock motor in there, trying to go all motor, and go no where. thanks for all your info and replies.

if you got a guy to do it all for you for 2 grand. i would do it if i were you. but i am getting the hint that you are not to experienced in the honda car world. if he could be able to guarenty the install to be good and the turbo to be good. and if anything bad happens its his fault. just ask him if he will take responsibility for those basic things and go for it. just ask him for a start up warrenty. basicly the motor start and runns your good hes good. k

Well for one..the Si engine is a d16a6, not a d15..and yes it could probably get 170, but thats about it, and probably pushing it on stock internals, and there is no guarantee that it will get those numbers, the turbo is extremely important.

Yes he's real cool about all that. My bro done his h22 swap in his accord, and anytime he has a problem he can just take it to the shop, and the guy will help him with whatever. Im not real familiar with honda's but i know some of the little basic's about motors in general. btw, thank you for correcting me about the si motor. I would like to just get the si motor and throw the turbo on it, at about 7 psi. if i can get like 9.5's or 9.0 flat in the 1/8th i'll be very pleased.

man. i dont know crap about 1/8 mile times but cut the 1/4 in half and you should get those numbers. should be a mid 14 to high 13 sec. car. with those numbers of coarse. so are we now talking about an si motor in the rex? no more zc or d15? around where i live ghetto boost the si motor is what people are doing for cheap easy power. and it could take a b16 crx depending on the drivers.

it can probably get 170whp but thats pushing it. grabbing an engine with 120,000+ mi and add in a well used "junkyard set-up" turbo will work, but for how long? a week or a year? that is great for the self mechanic who can fix things....or it's great for the mechanic who gets to charge to fix things all the time.

you know the old saying...you get what you pay for.

if you're going with the d16a6 you really should stay 5psi unless you plan to rebuild. anything over 5psi for daily driving and you are putting extra stress on the engine. innercooled & management maybe 6-7.

i'm not trying to be a jerk, i'm being realistic. people don't realize there is a fine line between reliable daily driver and pulling all the HP you can out of your stock engine.

check this out: $2300 you can have b16, tranny, AVID mounts, AVID linkage, and everything else you need...shipped. i gaurentee a stock b16 with 30-40,000mi will be 100 x's more reliable than a junkyard d16a6 + junkyard turbo trying to push 170whp....and that is a lot coming from me because i'm all about the cheaper d series.

i would much rather recommend a 30-40,000 japanese d series engine + junkyard turbo...then at least you have the peace of mind that you are starting with a decent low mile engine to throw the stress on.

Im all for junkyard turbos....but not junkyard engines..Ill be the first one to step up and throw together a little junkyard D-series turbo screamer, just not in MY car.

Well im not getting the si motor from a junk yard, the guy just happens to have it laying around the shop. I really like the idea of boosting a motor... But i also like the idea of me being able to drive it daily. I know if i put a turbo on it, i cant dog it all the time. I wish there was a way i could pull some nice horsepower out of the si motor without booth. Tell me if this is possible... d16 crx si bottom end, and d16y7 head = vtec?... my friend has a civic his a y7 ex civic and he has vtec.. maybe i could just change my head out to a vtec head?...

first of all. eberything the moderator siad should be considered twice. and i dont think a y7 has vtec its the y8 that has vtec. a b16 should be right next to the turbo d series but with way more reliability. so if the b16 is an option. i wouldent even think twice about getting it. but if not i would boost the si. but thats just stupid 16 year old me. i dont really care how long it lasts i can always grab another one for 1000 bucks. and i barly ever have money. and you might not be getting the si motor from a junk yard but it could easily be sitting right next to a junk yard motor in reliability and you wouldent even know it. untill its in your car off coarse