The CR-X

[mugsee]

The previous owner must be quite the ninja shifter to out-quick the syncros.

schnick-schnick-schnick...

[ChargeR]

The previous owner must be quite the ninja shifter to out-quick the syncros.

schnick-schnick-schnick...

I have been advised by someone I trust that the previous owner of this gearbox did indeed shift ninja quick!

Today I spent a few hours continuing work on the gearbox. First up I disassembled the countershaft ready to fit the new synchros and bearing. Here's what it looks like all pulled apart, with labels this time:



Here's a picture of the Synchrotech triple cone carbon lined synchros, with a layer of carbon on the mating surfaces like a stack of miniature bricks. It will be interesting to see how shifting feels in this box compared to my DC5, and if they work well I'll fit them when I inevitably rebuild the box in that.



All back together, with the new synchros:



With everything back together I checked the clearance between 6th gear and the bearing inner race on the countershaft, and again it was slightly above the spec so I'll need a new slightly thicker shim here as well, and I'll need to press 6th gear and the bearing off again.


I also fitted the new seals and bearings to the main clutch casing section. All that remains to do is to check the mainshaft clearance, and then I can order the remaining shims and things from Honda, and then once they and the parts from Synchrotech turn up I can finally put the box together. I've got plenty of CR-X work to keep me busy until then though.

[felixR]

Nice work guy. Loved how you placed everything on the cardboard!

[Norm]

Tom, I am always inspired by the care you take with your builds. Keep up the great work!

[ChargeR]

Nice work guy. Loved how you placed everything on the cardboard!

Thanks boss! Labelled the cardboard this time because I had a couple of confusing moments when doing the mainshaft .

Tom, I am always inspired by the care you take with your builds. Keep up the great work!

Thanks Norm, appreciate the kind words. Hopefully I can move on to some more interesting parts of the build soon.

In what should be nearly the final post in the gearbox saga, I checked the mainshaft clearance and I've ordered the shims and other parts required from Honda, and the helpful folks at Synchrotech should have new 5th and 6th single cone synchros along with a matching sleeve on their way in the next few days. Received excellent service from James at Synchrotech. Here's the main shaft dummy installed in casing, with some bits missing:



Here's the devices that Honda provide to check the mainshaft clearance in action. Basically the two parts simply serve to pull the shaft up out of the casing so the distance that it can move up and down can be measured with the dial gauge. The resulting thrust clearance was 1.51mm so I'll order the 1.38mm shim to get the clearance in the middle of the 0.11mm to 0.17mm range :



I've also acquired a K20A head from another member here and I've started stripping it down. This will be mated to a 2.4L bottom end of some sort to form the basis of CR-X motor V2 in preparation for when motor V1 meets its end. For now though I think the unopened K24A3 will work well.

[ChargeR]

A little more work done on the CR-X today, I started stripping out the interior of the 1.5X donor car so I can cut the roof off. I also needed to salvage the interior trim intact to transfer over to the SiR. Here's the work in progress:



This is all the important trim I need, including head liner, rear view mirror and interior light. The interior light is mounted at the front adjacent the mirror in the glass roof model. Unfortunately the head liner is light grey, where the existing one in the SiR is a dark charcoal grey, so I'll try some vinyl dye on it to get a better match.



Here's what the roof skin looks like from inside. The two middle cross-members will come out with the skin, but I'll need to do a little more investigation of the EF8 to see what other structure I'll need. I'll most likely have to fit the rear cross-member to provide the mounting point for the interior light, I'm hoping the front structure is the same so I can leave that in to stop the car folding in half while I fit the roof skin.

[ChargeR]

New single cone type 5-6 synchros turned up from Synchrotech today, pretty efficient work considering I ordered on new years day. Just waiting on shims and miscellaneous bolts from Amayama now.

[ChargeR]

Another weekend and a little more work on the CR-X. I continued stripping all the bits I wanted out of the donor EF6, things like the seats and carpet since it was soon not going to be weather tight. I've saved a lot of the trim since some of the stuff in the EF8 is in pretty poor condition. Here's what I started with after a mate had kindly removed the windscreen and rear side windows:



I gave myself some lines to work with:



And after a bit of work with the grinder here's how it ended up, a very flexible CR-X roadster:





I'll investigate the EF8 roof structure during the week and work out a plan and then start stripping the excess parts off this roof skin ready to weld it into the EF8.

[felixR]

Just like that! What are you going to do with the rest of the shell? Part everything out?

[ChargeR]

Just like that! What are you going to do with the rest of the shell? Part everything out?

Just like that indeed! I'll be keeping a lot of the parts, to use on the CR-X or the Civic , I guess I'll sell a few bits I don't want.

Another small update as I continue the long slow journey toward the point when I can start putting the car back together rather than pulling it apart. Tonight I test fitted my seat, mostly to see whether I'd need to seriously modify the floor to get the fitment I want. The rail is from PCI, and the seat is a Sparco ADV Pro that you've seen before if you read the EF2 thread. The rail is all steel construction, and doesn't have a slider to get the seat as low as possible. It's quite a nice part, very stiff and even includes attachment points for 6 point harnesses which I'll probably make use of.



Here's the seat installed. It's fairly low, but not as low as I'd like so I'll be modifying the side brackets to get another 15mm or so lower and I'll also modify the seat cushion. With that done it should be quite a comfortable driving position:



More updates soon.

[ChargeR]

Minor update, my most recent order from Amayama turned up:



In there are new DOHC VTEC stickers for the door, to make sure everyone knows. Also in there are shims for the mainshaft, countershaft and differential, an aerial block off plate, new rubber bits for the gearbox, an SiR badge for the back and some other stuff I can't remember. I'll now be able to assemble the gearbox tomorrow.

[jv-st]

Nice! How much were the genuine DOHC VTEC stickers ?

[dnapol]

So that's your plan for that extra power! DOHC stickers, it all makes sense now!

Looks good guy!

[ChargeR]

Nice! How much were the genuine DOHC VTEC stickers ?

Thanks, was really happy that the stickers were still available given the car is 25 years old. They were about $32 each.

So that's your plan for that extra power! DOHC stickers, it all makes sense now!

Looks good guy!

Thanks nemesis, I think that the key to the performance of the car will be the number of stickers.

Today I finished up the assembly of the gearbox. Firstly I fitted up the new shims, and then re-checked the main shaft, counter-shaft and differential clearances. Each clearance ended up right in the middle of the Honda specified clearance range which was good. I adjusted my main shaft clearance method a little, since the stand and base were flexing a bit last time.



Then it was time to fit the shafts to the clutch case and fit up the reverse gear.



Here it is all sealed up and ready to go. While I had it apart I fitted a new shifter pivot and clutch fork boot, and replaced the vent cap on the top of the gearbox, though it will probably fall off again. They seem to be missing on every DC5 I've ever worked on.



Next job is to continue to strip the CR-X ready for roof swap and paint.

[eskimo_firefighter]

Coming along very nicely. Hope to see this at the track sometime soon!