Login Register Sign up for the GRM e-newsletter

Subscribe: One year subscriptions to Grassroots Motorsports magazine are only $19.95. Try a free issue of Grassroots Motorsports, No cost, no obligation.

A New Car! Sep 4, 2007

It photographs well. That’s original paint, by the way. No, that’s not my driveway.

Okay, it's not exactly new. In fact, hard to believe that a second-gen CRX can be almost 20 years old. Anyway, I picked this up this evening. It's a 1988 CRX HF, which was the super-efficient model. I don't think this one will be that thrifty, however, as it's powered by a B16A twin-cam. It did well on the maiden voyage home, although I miss not having a right-side mirror. You'll see this one in GRM some time next year, as it's destined to become a track rat. 

First baby photos Sep 5, 2007

Not bad looking, huh? That’s original paint, baby. This is an ‘88 CRX HF, which was the lightest second-gen CRX available. It didn’t even get a right-side mirror. The interior is clean. Thank you Mr. Previous Owner for keeping the car so tidy. The seats are recovered Si buckets. The steering wheel needs to go, however. The back of the car is gutted. That doesn’t hurt our feelings. Someone painted some the interior plastic blue. That also doesn’t hurt our feelings. How’s this for power: 160-horsepower B16A. We were surprised to see so many good deals on B-series Civics and CRXs. It’s almost a buyers market.

Please welcome our latest project car, our track rat. The premise is quite simple: build a safe, reliable, practical track toy without going broke.

The CRX fits that bill just fine. In typical Honda fashion, they age quite well. This one has covered more than 200,000 miles yet still feels and looks pretty darn solid. It also has a hatch, so it can easily carry a set of tires plus assorted other gear to the track.

CRX prices are also fairly reasonable. We purchased this '88 HF for $3200. This is how the car looked when we brought it home last night. We haven't even given it a bath yet.

This series is slated to start next season in GRM. If you behave, we'll probably give you some sneak peaks online. 

Smoother runnings Sep 10, 2007

The CRX is now rolling on some Rota Circuit 8 wheels and Toyo Proxes T1-S.

The CRX didn't exactly come with great tires. One was corded and the rest were heading in that direction. None felt balanced.

As a quick fix, we threw on some wheels and tires we already had mounted. It's amazing what a set of tires can do for a car.

We also weighed the car this weekend--kind of. While at the dump we took the CRX across their scales. With a full load of fuel, the car weighs 1960 pounds. We'll get it on our proper Longacre scales soon. 

Some Quick CRX Updates Sep 12, 2007

In a highly unusual occurrence for a Honda, the CRX wouldn't start this weekend. The starter sounded like it was spinning the engine just fine, but the engine wasn't even trying to fire. We figured it was spark or fuel and checked all of our connections. Everything looked good.

Then we remembered something the seller told us: Every now and then the car would have trouble starting, and for some reason he figured it was one of the battery cable clamps.

They looked and felt tight, but we put a little torque to them---and the car started right up. Then we over-tightened the positive clamp and snapped it. Doh! A couple of bucks later for a new one and were back in business.

Long-term, we wanted to do something about our stock battery. For one, it's heavy. It's also positioned pretty high in the car and forward of the front wheels.

The traditional solution would be a battery box in the back of the car. While that improves the weight distribution, it also adds a few pounds thanks to the longer cables. It also robs us of some precious storage space.

The modern solution is a lightweight battery under the hood. We have a 6-pound carbon fiber battery from Braille Auto Development on the way. It's 5.8 inches long, 3.4 inches wide and 4.2 inches high.

By the way, the head guy at Braille is Blake Fuller. We have known Blake since he was just a tike and have featured some of his cars in GRM. He was the guy with the infamous Sonny's BBQ-sponsored Civic hatch that ran up Pikes Peak.

Braille offers several lightweight batteries, as well as lightweight battery tie-downs.

We also have a new Sparco steering wheel on the way, as ours just sucks. The Sparco wheel is covered in fake suede so we can be cool yet PC at the same time.

The faceplate of our climate control is also broken, which apparently is common with these cars. We figured that one from the salvage yard would be the answer, but then we saw what may be the coolest thing ever

We have talked to Todd, and we're going to meet up during this weekend's NASA Championships so we can get a plate.

We'll post some pics of the new equipment once it arrives. 

More CRX news Sep 17, 2007

Not much work occurred on the CRX while David was up at the NASA Championships this past weekend, but he did some recon and intelligence gathering while up there.

Things learned:

  • This car is going to make a killer HPDE car.
  • NASA's Time Trial program looks like too much fun. Don't be surprised to see the car run some events.
  • HASPORT mounts are more comfortable than our Place Racing mounts. We hope to upgrade soon.
  • If we ever go full-circle and prepare this car for wheel-to-wheel competition, we're only an engine swap away from having a great base for a Honda Challenge H4 car.