The Loon

I've been considering getting one of these to have as a rebuild project. I've always liked the shape and the compactness of the car. The prices of good examples appear to be appreciating at the moment.

I'm pretty sure there are many who have owned one and i would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks in advance.

WinFreak

What year are you looking for?

Personally I'd get the 90-91 vtec. The engine is a lot more robust and less prone to oil usage caused by leaky seals and worn pumps.

I had one for 10 years before my s2000, started off as a non vtec D16 and after popping 2 engines decided it was enough and stuck a b16 vtec engine in there, which really changed the car and happily lasted me until I sold it 6yrs later.

The body weak points are the rear arches and sills, just like any other Honda of that age they rot like crazy. If you can get your hands on a JDM one it would be better as they tend to be more rust free.

Also on the JDM ones you get more gimmicks like the glass roof and aircon etc.

Get yourself onto the forum at www.hondacrx.co.uk and you'll be amazed at the ammount of knowledge and information on there, I do not know of any forum that comes anywhere near that one.



Writing this I realise I still miss it, it felt quicker than the s2000 does just because it doesn't weigh anything.

Makes me wish I never got rid of it but after having done it up completely once already and the rust coming back I had enough

The Loon

Thanks WF; I am after the model years you refer to. I lot of cars that I have seen are suffering from rust around the arches, sunroof and sills. They are of course, more than 20 years old.

Nick Graves

Lovely car.

I have a Ballade CRX Si in my cabinet.

I think rear-arch tinworm also afflicts many modern Hondas too - the Civ is beginning to suffer as a result of minor nerfs on the arches. The only cure is to cut it all out, replace, seal with vast quantities of Bilt Hamber gunk & then never get it wet again. A tad impractical for a daily driver.

Polemicist

We've been to this 'movie' before, but that generation Civic is possibly the best looking Honda ever.

Styled by Pininfarina IIRC?

lovegroova

I had a CRX VTEC for 8 1/2 years, it was utterly fabulous.

There are great examples around but they will be very expensive. As others have said the mechanicals are fantastic but the body not so much.

The ride quality is not the best due to the short wheelbase, so I'd suggest avoiding examples running on enormous wheels and aftermarket suspension.

Do check the hydralic struts on the boot.

vtecdirect

I have two mark one crx's. One is a full race car which we are preparing for racing probably late season or next year, the other is a restoration project sat in my lock up, lord knows if i will ever get it done, rare white leather interior too, woohoo.

buaan

I had an highly tweeked mk2 import siR for about 3 years, and two uk vtec's before that.

I recommend them as a fun car, parts are cheap and you can make them faster and handle very well with relatively little money.

As Winnie said, I recommend the VTEC 1990-1992 ones, visit CRXUK for tons of info. I got just over 190hp out of the 1.6 vtec engine without much hassle, 2 litre conversions cost a few hundred quid if you shop around. Tuning the ECU is easy and can be done using open source software. If you need any information on tuning ping me a message.

As far as things to look out for:

Get the plastic sill covers off any CRX (mk2) that you view, they can hide major nasties.
As above, the rear arches are always a problem but repair panels/sheet metal is cheap if you want a project.
Sunroof panels/trays tent to rot and leak. You might find leaks from the rear struts or rear light that run in the boot. Check for rust in the spare wheel well.
ABS system usually fails on UK cars due to the ABS sensors, its easy to disengage system (legally) or remove it altogether as I did.
As above, boot struts fail unless replaced over the last few years
Leather seats on the VTECs are notorious for splitting in the vinyl areas.
Engine wise - vtec solenoids seal fails causing oil to run down the block (easy fix), valve stem seals might puff some smoke on vtec, engine might hunt if the cooling system is gummed up. They are pretty bulletproof if serviced properly.

I miss mine a lot, it was fast and fun but not the safest of cars and it got tedious on very long drives. Still love it, shame a latest owner broke it for parts

Nick Graves

I believe so.

However, the old Accord Aerodeck that spawned the style was apparently Bertone's proposal for a new Reliant Scimitar, that dind't proceed.

But compared to today's "cluttered mind" designs...

s2konroids

These go along with the DC2, EK9, S2000 and NSX as the best cars Honda made!

Very popular and hence now hold their value.