1988 honda crx DX project

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tunercrazed

tunercrazed

HS Official Hippie
I have a 1988 Honda crx DX (obviously) and am going to be doing a complete revamp on it. Basically everything but the custom paint job and some audio conversations on the vehicle are stock. It is a automatic and I will be converting it to a manual, doing an engine swap and working something out with the front suspension. I bought this vehicle about 9 months ago and before me it was poorly taken care of, left sitting out in an old garden. I bought it for $1,000, the car already had the custom paint but as stated above was left sitting so its chipped, and rusting in the quarters. As for alot of crx's this model the glove box latch is broken, the climate control unit is broken, it has the wrong door glass in the passenger side and has no passenger side window crank. I've just been using as a daily driver to and from work but I now have another vehicle so I can sit this one in my garage and give it a complete face-lift. I don't really know much about these types of engines, I grew up around the big v-8 classics (camaro's,mustangs, trans am's, nova's,etc...) so I was hoping I could maybe get some advice from you guys here, you all seem quite knowledgeable at what you do. Now my goal for this car is to have it finished by next year to enter it in the nopi car shows and drags but that is not a must, I want power and as much as I can possibly squeeze out of this thing, I'm not entirely sure of what type of engines would be compatible with the crx, so far from my research I have found that I can go with a b16 or a b18 if theres something I could use with more power and torque please tell me, I will be extremely grateful, I'm just in the planning stages at the moment and I'm trying to figure out exactly what I will need. I'm picking up a manual transmission from another 88 crx from a nearby junkyard this Friday then I will start the project and begin the transfer, I'll try to keep pictures posted as updates occur/
 
sweet, be sure to share before/during/after pics :thumbsup: i don't know anything about your power/torque stuff but i'm all about drooling over some CRX work.
 
well heres a few photo's of what it looked like when I first got it....(note some of the pics are really blurry, I was using a picture phone...)
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1913.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1920.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1918.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1919.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1921.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/04-26-07_1917.jpg

at this point all I've really done is set it up with a system and fixed up the interior a bit. Heres what the interior looks like now, the exterior is virtually the same
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b132/hvymetalcrzd/08-25-07_1344.jpg
 
You have LOTS of work to turn that into a decent car. GOOD LUCK and hope you can get it looking good again.
 
first off if u wnat power gsr or typer, or if u want serious power k24 or k20 but youll need modifcations mounts grinding and bullshit, uhhh if u have budget i guess go hat u can afford but main thing that count is what u like and want.... good luck, and u have alot of ork head of u thats all
 
Thanks guys I appreciate the support enormously. If any of you run across anything you think i could use feel free to message me and if I think I can I'd be glad to purchase it from you. I'm building my dream car here :cool:

Edit: After some research I believe the k20A2 to be what I'm looking for, however I'm not sure if it would work in my crx or not because of the 6th gear and a few other small issues, it would be wonderful if I could get some opinions on this.
 
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tunercrazed said:
Thanks guys I appreciate the support enormously. If any of you run across anything you think i could use feel free to message me and if I think I can I'd be glad to purchase it from you. I'm building my dream car here :cool:

Edit: After some research I believe the k20A2 to be what I'm looking for, however I'm not sure if it would work in my crx or not because of the 6th gear and a few other small issues, it would be wonderful if I could get some opinions on this.
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Why would the 6th gear not work in your car?

By the way, if you're thinking you can just bolt up a K20 to your existing D-series transmission, you can't. You have to use a K-series tranny on a K-series motor.
 
yea I realize I'll need a k series transmission as well, which is why I asked about the 6 speed, its not the gear or anything, what I meant was, will I have to do any cutting under the car for that transmission to fit.
 
Check out Hasport's site (Hasport Performance, Inc.). They have the mount kit you'll need, plus instructions on how to do the swap.

EDIT: Here, I found it for you: http://hasport.com/tech/installs/efk1.pdf

Apparently you have to put a dent in the rear cross-member, hack off the the original transmission mount and weld a new mount in place, and cut a new hole for the shifter to come through. So yeah, not exactly a bolt-in swap...
 
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thanks man thats exactly what I was wanting to know.:thumbsup:
Now I hate to be a hindrance but as of this morning something was brought to my attention, I found a c32a6 engine from a 01 acura TL 3.2L at a ridiculously cheap price, but before I commit to it I want to know is it worth it? I mean I've heard alot of bad shit about the c-series, what is your take on this?
 
do not buy the c32a6, it wont fit unless you are a highly trained fabricator, if your gunna put that in it, than you mid-as-well put an ls7 in it lol, if i were you i would buy a B18 ls cable tranny, low compression forged pistons, rods, either studded guarded, or sleeved block, headwork with the normal valvetrain upgrades, slap a drag turbo kit on it and call it a day
 
yea I kinda had a feeling I was going to hear something along those lines. Thanks for the tip though, I don't believe I'll go with it, I think I'll just continue looking for a B18c5 or K20A2. Whichever I can get my hands on.
 
I'm shooting for upper 10's-low 11's on the quarter, I think I should be able to hit my mark without too much trouble.its just going to take some time to get up the cash for it. I just got laid off last week -_-
 
how ya figure? like I said I know practically nothing about Honda engines and accessories
 
I think you can hit a 10 second quarter mile with a cheap ass D-series Vtec engine with a lot of tuning and the right turbo kit. You can get a whole D-series vtec swap complete for less than a grand, and for just a couple hundred if you know where to look. A fully built D-series Vtec motor with a turbo and pretty much all the works, you should be able to hit 10s but I'm not completely sure I know you can hit more than 400whp with it.

10 seconds is entirely do-able with a cheap b16a swap if you just build and turbo. Hmotors sells the complete changeover for a crx (or any 88-91 civic/rex) OBD-1 first gen B16 motor/trans/ecu/axels/just about everything you need for around $1400 I believe. And that's almost a bolt-in swap. You definitely don't need an expensive GSR/Type R/K-series for 10 seconds.

Here's my only advice: research, research, research, and research some more. And research.
 
Yea thats what I've been trying to do, I appreciate all the help you guys have given me and I apologize if I seem completely helpless with this stuff. The few things I do know about these and everything I know about domestics I have taught myself, The import scene is pretty small here in TN and its difficult to find like-minded people to get advice from. I guess now I'm off to read and research....:ph34r:
 
93civicracer said:
I think you can hit a 10 second quarter mile with a cheap ass D-series Vtec engine with a lot of tuning and the right turbo kit. You can get a whole D-series vtec swap complete for less than a grand, and for just a couple hundred if you know where to look. A fully built D-series Vtec motor with a turbo and pretty much all the works, you should be able to hit 10s but I'm not completely sure I know you can hit more than 400whp with it.

10 seconds is entirely do-able with a cheap b16a swap if you just build and turbo. Hmotors sells the complete changeover for a crx (or any 88-91 civic/rex) OBD-1 first gen B16 motor/trans/ecu/axels/just about everything you need for around $1400 I believe. And that's almost a bolt-in swap. You definitely don't need an expensive GSR/Type R/K-series for 10 seconds.

Here's my only advice: research, research, research, and research some more. And research.
Click to expand...

The first gen is obd 0 not obd 1
 
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