Convert my '85 Civic Wagon???

[ebacherville]

yeah the CRX is very light .. the same generation of wagon would most likely be lighter too.. The one think i have noticed on my CRX they really designed the motor in my version for FUel efficiency, its very torque vs high rpm power.. and its grearing mated with that fits really well.. My model is the HF so it was designed for the MPG's not a sporty ride.

Not saying its not fast it is considering it's MPG, but it was engineered for MPG totally.

The Tadpole idea struck my mind also.. ideally thats would be very efficient aerodynamically , however LOTS of work.. and stability comes into play also.. may not be very controllable after lightening the rear end by a few hundred pounds.

[Hip001]

I just purchased a 91 Civic Wagon myself but mine is 2 wheel drive and automatic. Seems like a light car so I will be interested in seeing what mpg it gets. Any sugestions for modifications? intake, header, port/polish, etc....
Thanks,
Hip

[hamsterpower]

If I remember correctly your 4wd civic drivetrain is very similar to the fwd version. So it would be possible to do as you intend. But there seams to be a demand for those models.

If I were you I would try to sell the 4wd and pick up one of the thousands of discarded fwd drivetrains from a racer's engine swap. Kids all over the world are yanking out good economical engines in favor of high output engines. You might even make a profit you could use toward the tube frame you really want.

just an idea. either way good luck.

[Hip001]

Has anyone actually made a tube framed honda powered car like this?

[hamsterpower]

not exactly the same... not three wheels or MPG based design.. but still fun inspiration!

YouTube - Top Gear - Ariel Atom - BBC

[Joseph Davis]

Originally Posted by Hip001

I just purchased a 91 Civic Wagon myself but mine is 2 wheel drive and automatic. Seems like a light car so I will be interested in seeing what mpg it gets. Any sugestions for modifications? intake, header, port/polish, etc....
Thanks,
Hip

Throw away the poorly designed slushbox, soak up the FE and reliability of a manual transmission.

Originally Posted by hamsterpower

If I remember correctly your 4wd civic drivetrain is very similar to the fwd version. So it would be possible to do as you intend. But there seams to be a demand for those models.

If I were you I would try to sell the 4wd and pick up one of the thousands of discarded fwd drivetrains from a racer's engine swap. Kids all over the world are yanking out good economical engines in favor of high output engines. You might even make a profit you could use toward the tube frame you really want.

just an idea. either way good luck.

The 4WD transmission is a dual countershaft set up. Also, you won't pick up a whole lot of mpg from ditching the 4WD setup due to how the drivetrain is designed, but you will completely ruin one of the finest winter snow/ice rides ever made. On H-speed rated budget performance tires they stop and go on steep hills that 4WD trucks, or other over rated inefficient and all around poorly designed garbage like AWD Subarus, lose footing on when trying to maintain a steady speed. This last winter we went sledding all over WNC in a '90 4WD wagon, recreational donuts in the middle of an iced over 25/70 in Madison county, etc.

Also, the "kids" have beaten all of the "high performance" swaps for these year cars into the ground and have had to resort to building the efficiency family of engines. $700 for pistons/rods/machining results in a D16 longblock capable of handling 500 whp, which is half the price or less than a bone stock high mileage overly hyped VTEC motor sells for. Refer to d-series.org, onecamonly.com, turbod16.com, realhomemadeturbo.com. RHMT has coined phrases like "D-series, 10 psi, will turn you out," and "FAKLAD" (F@ck a K-series, Love A D-series) and there's even a profitable niche market for selling tshirts and stickers with these slogans - ibrunclothing.com. Long story short, I can't find SOHC engines/trans like I used to, much less for cheap to free.

[Carwhisperer]

Originally Posted by Joseph Davis

n't pick up a whole lot of mpg from ditching the 4WD setup due to how the drivetrain is designed, but you will completely ruin one of the finest winter snow/ice rides ever made. On H-speed rated budget performance tires they stop and go on steep hills that 4WD trucks, or other over rated inefficient and all around poorly designed garbage like AWD Subarus, lose footing on when trying to maintain a steady speed. This last winter we went sledding all over WNC in a '90 4WD wagon, recreational donuts in the middle of an iced over 25/70 in Madison county, etc.

Also, the "kids" have beaten all of the "high performance" swaps for these year cars into the ground and have had to resort to building the efficiency family of engines. $700 for pistons/rods/machining results in a D16 longblock capable of handling 500 whp, which is half the price or less than a bone stock high mileage overly hyped VTEC motor sells for. Refer to d-series.org, onecamonly.com, turbod16.com, realhomemadeturbo.com. RHMT has coined phrases like "D-series, 10 psi, will turn you out," and "FAKLAD" (F@ck a K-series, Love A D-series) and there's even a profitable niche market for selling tshirts and stickers with these slogans - ibrunclothing.com. Long story short, I can't find SOHC engines/trans like I used to, much less for cheap to free.

Do keep in mind that the 1985 4WD wagon is a significantly different animal than the 1989-1991 RT4WD wagons. I used the drivetrain/floorpan of one of an '89 to build this



The '85 has a solid rear axle. The '85 also has a lever to shut off the RWD. With the '89 you have to access a lever under the hood. I made a special tool so that I can do this quickly. The '89 4WD trans is significantly larger and somewhat heavier than its 2WD counterpart. For example, you can't remove the engine's oil pan without disconnecting the engine/tranny on a 2nd gen 4WD. I'd guess the 1st gens are similar but I don't know.

The d16a6 (which came stock in the 2nd gen 4WD's and CRX Si's)is a pretty good motor. I got an average of about 31 mpg when I had that motor. It blew a head gasket and I switched to an OBD1 d15b vtec and my mileage and power have gone down, but I don't have the vtec working right yet.

If you decide to do this to this wagon I think you should try to hunt down the 2WD tranny of that year. I think it would bolt right in.

OTOH, I think there are much better choices. I really like car based Reverse Trikes (Tadpoles). I'm thinking about doing this with a Civic hatch or Del Sol.

If you can get this car running and the body is not too bad I'd think you could get $2k for it, maybe more. I cut up the wagon I did because the body was beat to crap.

[Joseph Davis]

Hrm. I did maybe two engine swaps on EW chassis (84-87) 4WD Civic ~12 years ago, but I can't say I remember much about them except the bellhousing pattern is different from later cars, as are the trans.

Do you have more pictures/log of your build on that old Civic? It looks cool as hell.

[Carwhisperer]

Originally Posted by Joseph Davis

Hrm. I did maybe two engine swaps on EW chassis (84-87) 4WD Civic ~12 years ago, but I can't say I remember much about them except the bellhousing pattern is different from later cars, as are the trans.

Do you have more pictures/log of your build on that old Civic? It looks cool as hell.

I have some more infor posted about the Civic at engineconversions.org, my website. I've put 90K miles on it since the conversion.

If you like the Civic you might like this, too. It's a 1981 MB 300tdt wagon I put on a Nissan 720 4x4 pickup chassis.

[theunchosen]

If you ruin a good Honda Del Sol I will hunt you down. . .

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, OP.

You're best bet first is to start taking things out you don't use. Stow the seats in your basement/garage(away from mice!) After you've ripped those things out the next bext thing is a trans swap. Most of the time auto and manuals will just switch right in and out. Might want to find someone who has done it recently before to invest.

Your car is probably pretty light as is and reducing even more weight would save you alot of FE. I don't know about weather in your area, but if you need or ever use the awd-4wd leave it in. Replacing it you will see some gains but thats alot of work for small mpgs. . .