Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The CR-X

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The CR-X

    The story so far

    I promised I would start a thread on this car once I began making progress, and that day is here. What follows is a brief run down what the car and I have been doing since I bought it and I'll post up some updates on where I am at afterward.

    I had known for a long while that I wanted to build a slightly more brisk Honda than the DC5R, something that I could use at the track with less fear of damage and a car I could make some silly modifications to, things that I wouldn't do to the DC5. Enter the CR-X.



    Purchase

    I looked for some time for a suitable car for my project but decent CR-Xs aren't as easy to find as they once were. After a couple of foiled attempts (I nearly had a complete SiR rolling shell from Queensland but was beaten to the PM by mere minutes), I ended up buying this car from South Australia early last year and driving it back to the lair.

    The car had a lot of roadworthy issues and a few reliability issues that needed sorting, so it was unregistered for months until I finally got everything fixed. Once I had it registered I drove it straight up to Shepparton the next day for a motorkhana with the EXE crew where the story continues..

    EXE DECA

    For those unfamiliar with it, DECA is a facility on the north side of Shepparton that hosts various things from driver education, to car clubs hooning around cones and a section of closed roads. I was pretty nervous heading into this day, as the reliability of the CR-x up to this point was at best uncertain. The car went well though, and after the first full pace course I knew I had made the right decision in buying the CR-X.

    The car immediately felt lighter than the hefty DC5, the brakes were great and the power from the stock B16A was pretty adequate, the only major letdown was the worn out stock suspension.


    Photo thanks to Senk9

    Honda Nationals

    Less than two weeks after the EXE event I headed up to Honda Nationals to do a few laps of Wakefield. The good reliability of the CR-X at DECA had encouraged me, maybe too much as it turned out.

    Again the car proved to be a pretty enjoyable drive, but what I later determined to be a blockage in the radiator meant that I could only do 3-4 full pace laps before the car would start to get too hot. So I limited my laps and brought it home.


    Photo thanks to Flippit

    Where to go from here.

    So after 8 months of effort I was left with a pretty unreliable, dented old car. Basically where I started. So I stopped doing anything at all with the car, and waited until I was ready to begin preparing the car in earnest. That time is upon me:


    Photo thanks to DCW of EXE fame.

    #2
    So excited for this project!

    Comment


      #3
      Ohhhh yeahhh, I've heard some ideas for this build, can't wait to see it underway
      1995 Honda Civic EG (K20)
      1998 Nissan 180SX Type X (SR20)
      2010 Volkswagen Golf GTI (Emission Monster)

      RHCP
      F1 Nut

      Comment


        #4
        So it begins! But who says you can't do silly things to the DC5?

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by M@lew View Post
          So it begins! But who says you can't do silly things to the DC5?
          I knew someone would comment, I should have phrased it as "Things I am unwilling to do to the DC5"!

          Originally posted by rookie View Post
          So excited for this project!
          Originally posted by dnapol View Post
          Ohhhh yeahhh, I've heard some ideas for this build, can't wait to see it underway
          Cheers guys, this has been a long time coming for me so I am very pleased it is finally underway.

          Motor and Donor

          So for those that haven't guessed I am putting a K series in this CR-X. Nothing fancy, just a basic K24A3 from an Accord Euro with some simple additions. With this in mind I was on the search for a motor, I looked at one advertised here but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. So after a couple of false starts I just bought a whole car from Pickles Auctions. Just over 100,000kms on the odometer and a nearly full service history means that hopefully the motor will serve me well for a while, it started nicely on the first crank after I put a battery in it.





          So with a motor in hand it was time to make progress on removing the old B16A from the car. This past Saturday was dedicated to small prep work and letting my friends loose disassembling the Accord, pulling something apart is fun when you know you don't have to put it back together.



          After an early start on Sunday removing all the ancillaries, fluids, exhaust, axles, radiator, engine harness and various other bits and pieces the trusty old B16A was removed and discarded. Hopefully it will find a new owner that will beat it to hell on the track like I never got a chance to.





          Having achieved something we had a few beers, pulled more stuff off the Accord, set of a couple of airbags for a laugh, until it got too dark to do much at all. Next up is to decide what route I want to take with engine mounts and header and then do a test fit to sort out what I need to butcher to get it to fit.

          Unfortunately EF8/9 front subframes and engine bays are subtly different to the other ED/EF chassis so the available mounts won't fit without some fiddling. I'll be test fitting an ED9 subframe in the car to make sure everything fits correctly and then most likely use that in place of the EF8 item.



          Thanks to DCW of EXE fame for the pictures , and all the EXE guys for their help dismantling both cars and good times.

          Comment


            #6
            Bawler!
            Mind if i ask how much you picked the donor up for? Also, how was dealing with pickles?

            Comment


              #7
              epic thread just what we needed
              S2000
              WSID : TBA
              Wakefield : 1:10.1

              Flippit Photography
              Smooth As Detailing
              Incar Racing

              Comment


                #8
                Love it Tom!
                ClubITR | Like

                Comment


                  #9
                  Tom, your build always inspires me! Keep up the good work!

                  Norm

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Norm View Post
                    Tom, your build always inspires me! Keep up the good work!

                    Norm
                    Thanks Norm! It's nothing compared to yours though.



                    Originally posted by rookie View Post
                    Bawler!
                    Mind if i ask how much you picked the donor up for? Also, how was dealing with pickles?
                    Cheers! PM sent guy. Pickles were good, I would definitely buy a wreck from them again. Their online bidding system works well too.

                    Originally posted by felixR View Post
                    Love it Tom!
                    Originally posted by Flippit View Post
                    epic thread just what we needed
                    Thanks guys, more updates to come on Sunday when I pull the motor from the Accord. I should hopefully get time to test fit the ED9 CR-X subframe I have and then if all is well I can order mounts and look at ordering an exhaust manifold early next week.

                    Here's a bonus photo from the weekend, again thanks to Dan from EXE:

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Nice progress so far Tom.

                      When you went k24, what made you go don the route of a k24 stock instead of one with a few aftermarket bits and bobs?
                      Integra Type R
                      Integra Type S
                      S2000

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by ChargeR View Post

                        HA!
                        Is the EURO badge still on the boot of Paddington? :P

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by plAythiNG View Post
                          Nice progress so far Tom.

                          When you went k24, what made you go don the route of a k24 stock instead of one with a few aftermarket bits and bobs?
                          Thanks Alex.

                          Budgetary constraints mostly dictated my decision to keep the motor nearly stock and initially I just want a very reliable motor, something that the B16A wasn't really, so I don't need a full house built bottom end and cams. I'll share a run down later of what I intend to change on the motor, but it is just the basic oiling and timing mods that everyone does to K24A3s.

                          Originally posted by tRipitaka View Post
                          HA!
                          Is the EURO badge still on the boot of Paddington? :P
                          Not sure, I didn't realise it was there .

                          Comment


                            #14
                            good to see the project has started. i'll be watching this thread quite a lot now..

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by danielj View Post
                              good to see the project has started. i'll be watching this thread quite a lot now..
                              Thanks guy, I'll hopefully be updating pretty often.

                              Stripping the Accord

                              This past Sunday it was time to get the motor free from its heavy Accord Euro cage. Stripping the bay and accessories took a while longer than on the CR-X, hampered by modern electronics and weird vacuum lines going everywhere, including a single vacuum hose routed directly into the underside of the front engine mount. I can't fathom what that one is for.


                              The CR-X lurking in the background

                              After a bit of fiddling about we got the motor out though, without breaking anything really important which was nice. A couple of the engine mounts in the Euro were pretty beaten up so at least I know that the motor was broken in aggressively like I would have done.


                              The magic happening.


                              The motor liberated

                              I ordered engine mounts yesterday, I decided to go for Hasports with 88A inserts. I like the 85A Innovatives in the Integra and didn't see any need to go any stiffer than that, I'd still like to drive the car on the street a bit and it would be nice if it didn't rattle itself to pieces. I've been in contact with a couple of exhaust manifold builders and I should hopefully have one on its way soon.

                              I've also got a few of these stacked in the corner of my bedroom:



                              This weekend I should get a chance to remove the auto gearbox from the motor and do a few other things. More updates to follow.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X