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I have no idea what's going on here, but neither do you!
1987 Honda CRX HF, 60 hp, 5 speed,
MONSTER! Well, not quite. But more on that later. The need for the little CRX? With rising gas prices, I can't save the money I need fast enough to do the work I'd like to get done on the CST10. The Cab swap and OD trans will cost me about a grand or so, but I can't save that much by getting 7 mpg. :lol: So, the past few months I've been eagle-eying craigslist. Few hit and misses, a few test drives. One day, I thought I'd surf the Austin craigslist. This little CRX shows up, priced right under my budget's upper limit at $950. Why not? -click-
87 crx, got 40 mpg when I drove it. Will trade for a 92 Isuzu Rodeo axle... wait what!? Make a few calls to a few local yards, and locate one for $250 bucks! Call the guy to make sure he wants to trade out right for it, and sure enough, the whole little car for the axle! After my godfather, who lives in Austin confirmed the little guy could run, I picked up the axle the next day for $200 bucks! The yard I sourced parts for the CST10 from, cut me a nice deal for the axle.
Today, loaded up the axle, and ran out to Austin. God bless American trunks.
Trade axle, bump the idle speed on the carb so it will stay running, and off we go! Tank of gas later:
Besides the front trim pieces being mangled, it's in VERY good shape for a 23 year old car. And, as you can see from it's banana sized exhaust pipe, NON-RICED! Yes, I have discovered a rare breed of cars; the StockisCivivus.
Now, the issues. Both the carb and cam timing belt are working against me. Seemingly the belt is off by a notch, which gives it a funny power band, and the carb refuses to work in the 2ndary barrel, which means NO power, and only able to drive it on very light throttle. This made the hills in austin at freeway speeds some trouble. Eventually it couldn't take the hills at 75 mph with the lack of power, and got hot quick. Only had to stop to let it cool off twice. No idea how hot, gauge is just a line, no numbers, but I didn't let the sucker get near red. Ain't gonna want to put a head gasket in.
It became a game of gain speed down hill (I hit 80 once!), and let it carry momentum uphill. Pathetic, I know, but once all the tune up work is done, won't be an issue.
It's a totally different world than driving the CST10. The only thing they share in common is the number of doors, wheels, and the lack of AC. 1st thing, LIGHT WEIGHT. Wow this little sum***** can be tossed around, and even on balding and dryrotting front tires it holds down like mad. Easily corner at twice the speeds the CST10 can with little complaint. It wants to zip out of corners at high RPM, but the problems above put a downer when you get back into the throttle.
The turning radius is tiny. I mean, I can turn this thing around full circle in your living room. If turning radius could be measured in atoms, I would. The lack of power steering is a non issue at anything above a dead stop, it's really as easy as the CST10's power steering at speed. The brakes... work... Don't know if their weak but of the other 80s hondas I've driven, it seems on par. Clutch is smooth, though rattling? And the little shifter ain't bad for a FWD unit, certainly not the worst I've used and it's 23 years old! The only future plans are to get it running smooth, replace the header panel, and shoot it white (on the cheap). Thankfully, Houston has a lively ricer community, and I'll easily be able to get rid of it for more than I paid.
So, it's home, in Houston now.
It averaged upper 30s on the way home, and this is in ****-tier running condition, and most of it's aerodynamics ruined by the lack of a header panel. Never the less, only $12 bucks to get from North of Austin, to Houston. Double that, and add a 0 and that's what the CST10 would cost.
And, a parting shot.
Today: Found out that is is the HF version, Honda's MPG master. Plastic fenders, Aluminum brakes, and other weight reductions (like even removing the digital clock from the dash) save this already light car another 130 lbs from the base model. The motor is a 8v version of the DX and Si. The 8-valver has a flatter torque curve down low, for low RPM driving. A shift light is added, and the trans is regeared along with a taller 5th, though the final ratio is shorter. The HF was also equipped with a quicker steering ratio. The final touches are miner tweaks to the aerodynamics. Many of these enhancements really make it a much more fun car as a byproduct too. Less weight, and quicker steering make it a bit more tossable, while the torque curve lets it power out with less shifting.
The results? EPA rated 45 city, 51 freeway. 10mpg in each over the base model.
