Nicole's "88/'89/'90 CRX build

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Nykole0408

Member
Okay...
Decided to start the build thread today. Been kinda hesitant because we haven't made a lot of progress, but several people on here have been telling me to start it and go little by little instead of waiting till it's almost done and start posting pics. This will be a slow process- I have an extremely hectic and busy life and building a car seems almost crazy to some of my family, but this is something I have to do!!!

Personal info:
I am the paint and body of my house, hubby is the mechanic. We help eachother as needed, but each has their own specialty. I always get questioned about that, so I wanted to clear that up... :)

The history (yes- this is one of those sentimental builds of sorts).
About 11 years ago I had an '88 crx si, drove it until my son was born in '03, let my ex keep it in the divorce (bad idea), bought it back a year later (in worse shape), let it sit with a blown head gasket until my daughter was born in '06, sold it to a friend. In late 2008/early 2009, my hubby was working at a dealership and a guy he worked with pulled up with a crx on a trailer, headed to the scrap yard. Hubby calls me, "wasn't the tag on your crx this number...?" bad idea lol- needless to say that car on that trailer was my old one. He paid $100 bucks for it and they towed it home. There was... nothing. No interior, no seats, no motor, tranny, NOTHING. My bumpers, tag, and gauge cluster were the only things I recognized. I don't even have pics of this car- it's THAT bad. :(

On to late 2009. My friends- which I have no idea to this day why they were so generous- paid $400 for another shell ('90) and GAVE it to me- just because they wanted to see me get a running rex back on the streets. This one isn't nice by any means- but compared to shell #1 ('88) it's fantastic.

Here's the '90 the day I got it.












I have taken care of the rust- did that right after I got it home. Between moving to a new place and everything else that goes on I haven't done anything to it until a couple weeks ago.

Car #3 ('89) guess what? It's got history too lol.
Friend of the hubby bought an '89 crx- good condition, and wanted to do some work to it. He bought a motor that my hubby built and put in another guy's EF hatch. So, for the 2nd time, my husband spends several sleepless nights pulling a motor and helping install the same motor for a different guy that he built just months before. This guy puts brand new suspension, rims, etc on this car as well. SIX HOURS after the motor swap and new parts go on- he totals the car.
Hubby. Is. FURIOUS. A lot of time spent on a car for 6 hours worth of driving. (yes driver was ok, and there was alcohol involved). Quote: "This is the last time I am putting this motor in anyone's car unless it's one of ours."
So after some trading- this car is also in our yard.






The only thing I will have to buy to replace what was damaged it 1 shock, 1 rim, 1 tire.

SO.... now that you know the history on all 3 (lol) vehicles, here goes the build:
10/2/2010




Both cars are set up and ready to be stripped down. Got all the parts and trash and stuff stored in the black car out and cleaned it out real good with the shop vac. Started taking wheels and suspension off of red car to inspect closely and see what all was damaged in the wreck...

10/9/2010-10/12/2010
Got all the wires, hoses, etc. pulled out of the engine bay in the black car, sanded it, pressure washed it, and painted the engine bay. Also pulled all the front suspension off red car and got motor ready to be pulled.


Painted engine bay. (sorry so dark- we were almost out of daylight when I finished spraying)
 
wow, impressive. keep up the good build thread. plans for an engine yet?

Yep. Turbo'd zc. Thought I had pics of it from the 1st car it was in right after my husband built it, but I can't find them. :mellow: Very nice looking motor- we cleaned, painted, and detailed each piece before it was put back together. I will post pics asap.
 
:hmm::thought: Maybe when I get several sketches ready of paint ideas I will post them up here and let everyone gimme some feedback.
 
satin black? meh, i think of that for more muscle and/or rwd cars.

i would like to see a really clean gun metal with a pearl in it. or maybe even something like the orange from a 350z. a factory color, or something cool that makes it look clean, but without the "show car" feel.
 
satin black? meh, i think of that for more muscle and/or rwd cars.

i would like to see a really clean gun metal with a pearl in it. or maybe even something like the orange from a 350z. a factory color, or something cool that makes it look clean, but without the "show car" feel.

Well yeah it used to be more of the muscle car thing, but now it's coming out everywhere- at least down south it is anyways. Imports, mini trucks, full size trucks on bags, you know...
For me it's not really a "trend" it's just what I really like. I kinda want to keep a little of that "ugly" feel to it if that makes sense. That's why I decided against a factory color or anything like that. My Mazda is my pretty shiny car- this one is gonna be my get the hell out of my way car. lol
Plus- one less to wax.
 
have you ever heard of the paint called hot rod flatz? i went with that for my car and did camo brown by hot rod flatz...they have a ton of colors and the whole paint kit is right around 150....its kind of like a single stage. but it sprays beautiful and lays nice and you dont have to clear and no wetsanding or buffing!
 
have you ever heard of the paint called hot rod flatz? i went with that for my car and did camo brown by hot rod flatz...they have a ton of colors and the whole paint kit is right around 150....its kind of like a single stage. but it sprays beautiful and lays nice and you dont have to clear and no wetsanding or buffing!

I actually discovered that about 20 minutes ago lol. I was looking at that and the brand Kirker...

Your car looks really good! Did you spray it yourself?
 
So I decided to take a walk down to the old '88 and take some pics last night...
When I bought this car, it was mint. Sold it and bought it back 3 years later, and heres what I got:




In the above pic you can see my dog, Turbo. You think I'm joking? That's really his name. lol


I did take the bumpers and hood off this car, and they are going on mine.
 
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