1987 CRX Build

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Celerity

Well-Known Member
Timeline:

1997: Buy used, Silver CRX Si from roommates grandfather. 150kish miles, $200.

Later '97: Install stereo, Crutchfield buy, plug and play. Clarion 7475 TAPE DECK with 12 cd changer, pro-audio installed in rear panel. Enjoy 40 mpg daily.

1998: Decide to experiment with 4WS from 89 Prelude. CRX is hung up in shop for 3 months while I angrily attempt to graft linkages and steering components onto it. It's a failure before it's begun.

Later 1998: KYB struts installed, Head is brought to performance shop for 3 angle grind ("Where's the other one?" the shop asks). ISKY megacam installed. Fuel injectors upgraded by Mostly Mazda.

1999: Car gets painted. 1995 Civic Horizon Silver with lots of pearl and deep blue. Results astonishing, car missing for 4 months when the painter took off. My bondo work is replaced with fresh steel in the rear quarters.

Late 1999: Car rolls over 250k. Engine eats distributors every 3000 miles. Chikara header installed, Tuning begins ! Car gets 35 mpg town, upwards of 50mpg highway. case of 10 used distributors is purchased.

2000: CRX is laid up for another 4 weeks while I tune the exhaust like an instrument. Many bits of different length and diamater pipes are used. Supertrapp installed. Car is a fucking rocket. Mostly Mazda in Stratford CT performs headgasket replacement.

Spring 2000: Car is driven to Colorado, head gasket blows in Albany. Fire Extinguisher activates outside of Pittsburgh. Wiring endangered. Car makes it to Indianapolis before completely dying. Headgasket replaced alongside road. Head bolt snapped, car is loaded onto U-Haul for remainder trip to Colorado Springs. Later found that headbolt was re-used, even though I asked for and was billed for new ones from MM. Those fuckers screwed me.

Summer 2000: Import Auto Care in Colorado Springs replaces headgasket, and shaves head. ".060" is engraved in gasket surface.

2000: Car is used sparingly, distributor is needing replaced again, I have no money. Car is loaded into storage space and paid for monthly until..

2003: Return flight is made from CT to Denver. On the way to the airport I stop at Airjockie's house, where he graciously donates a distributor for the project. Flight is boarded, Terrorism watch lists are notified as my distributor sets off every alarm at the airport, and jams the luggage rotisserie. My friend and I get to the CRX to where it is laying under a thick veneer of dust, replace the distributor in the parking lot. A fuel leak blows apart the fuel rail, and the ground is searched until we find a small, thin piece of rubber to make a new cap gasket. New gasket is made with superglue. (This gasket is still holding to this day).

Later that night: 80 miles out of Denver, distributor pops out of the engine. Bolt is sheared. Key ring is stretched out to make temporary "c" clamp. Clamp still in place today.

3 days later: Chicago is taken by storm by CRX with no less than 7 parking violations. Parking on sidewalks, re-using parking tickets to park in loading zones. Chicago sucks, no Cubs paraphenilia to be found. Robbed at Ohio tollbooth.

Danbury CT: Distributor gives out. Limp 14 miles to home.

2003: Garden Trim airdam installed, autocross entered, ranked poorly. CRX hosts first ever "Penna CRX meet". Car makes it out there, on the way back, pops distributor. Races 6 Audis in an Audi meet, beats them all.

2003-2004: Continue driving pizzas. 7:00 pm CRX begins to run wildly hot. Car is run in red until midnight.

2004: Car is parked.

2006: CRX is bought by Turbomirage, headgasket is fried, radiator has pinhole. 3 days of continuous work to find a good radiator and re-do headgasket. 4 radiators attempted, all with problems. One finally works. Headgasket blows in Hartford again. Turbomirage replaces headgasket and sells back to Celerity.

2006, 1 month later: Decide to give car to my father. Headgasket blows on the way to his house. Car is back at my parents house.

Christmas 2006: Buy it new wheels. attempt head work. ".060" is shaved completely out, imagined .1 + shaved off gasket surface. What a wild ride this is going to be.

2008: CRX is finally towed to my house for rebuild. 285k miles logged. almost 20 distributors eaten, Work begins.


Pics to follow today.. lemme get out and take them. It's got another THICK coat of grime on it. The tow truck scraped the shit out of the fender, and one of the wheels got damaged.

The build ?

Plans are inspired from motorcycle engines. High compression, now has adjustable cam gear. Intake will be fabricated to mate Suzuki SZ 1000S individual throttle body intake, individual exhaust pipe with 4 02 sensors feeding info to each corresponding throttle body. Intake has 2 butterfly valves, each with its own TPS and actuator. Box of TPSs ordered (8 all together). Megasquirt to be modified and run on dedicated PC to control all 4 intakes. Exhaust 4x 1" to individual tailpipes, no catalysts. Electric water pump and relocated oil filters round up the engine bay.

Interior re-wire to include Bluetooth remote activation system from cell phone to PC for booting, starting. Ignition will be points, coil-on-plug with off-the-shelf Megaspark capability. Spark is 1 farad cap with multiple spark discharge (But likely not MSD)

Stereo is non-existent, with Infinity 1000 subwoofer box (built-in digital amp) with gain control through USB control knob. Radio slot is now Nissan cupholder with Neo MP3 jukebox faceplate mounted to front. Audiovox XR9 XM unit coded for service installed. Flushmount Cobra radar detector with front and rear sensors, installed in the rear nameplate and overhead console. 7" touch screen mounted in Tape rack. Husco armrest, aftermarket seats. Spring-loaded HVAC vent plate for gauge mounting, Mugen steering wheel, raised shifter (Long shifter) with Skunk2 short shifter linkage.

Body ?

Seam welded front end, gussetted radiator support and inner fender wells. Gussetted firewall and panhard bar. Radiator support relocated forward to house half-width dual core radiator, allowing for extreme curve of exhaust manifold. Bumper supports removed, fenders, hood and both bumpers quick-release with pins. Aluminum bars and tow hooks installed under plastic.

So yeah, I'll take a few pictures today, and focus on washing it before it gets in the garage.
 
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lol sounds like you have had some interesting times with the old girl. So are the joys of the gearhead I suppose. Keep us updated on how everything is going. I'm building my 88 crx . See the smart people know that the crx is where its at.:D
 
To start off:
 

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Some more
 

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Some of my issues:
 

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The head: I wonder if those springs will clean up ?
 

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that car is nice. I love the car and interior.

too bad your not closer. i love that style. Nice for turboed D16z6 if i had it
 
god damn i love that car. was that how the head looked when you popped it off?

you could just run oil through it and the springs will clean up alright. those cylinders, idk.
 
that car is nice. I love the car and interior.

too bad your not closer. i love that style. Nice for turboed D16z6 if i had it

I have one of those. FMIC too.
 
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god damn i love that car. was that how the head looked when you popped it off?

you could just run oil through it and the springs will clean up alright. those cylinders, idk.

No, the head was greezy and all. It went to the machine shop for "The most precise decking EVER" because I'm done replacing heads.
 
Yeah, I'm sending the block off too.

If I can get a job before too long I'm looking into cryo.
 
subscribed. i wanna see a damn carwash though. and some damn foamy engine bright on the rest of your engine bay. ;)
 
Parts wish from Airjockie:

Mugen steering boss
Speaker grill panels
Mugen wheels
Transmission / LSD
RPR shifter knob

If I think of anything else, I'll let ya know :)

I just washed it. Yeah, ice, ice baby. I'm going to snap some pics. bback
 
Frostbitten... some interior goodies
 

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