A CRX named HeFf
 

Greetings,
I bought a 1988 Honda CRX HF back in Feb, 2013 off of Craigs...then parked it because we decided to move (as if I didn't have enough to do..:rolleyes:) ... Anyhow, Now its May and I found a bit of time and money to see about little ol' HeFf (Hef is the name of the greatest publisher, he has great articles I love to read in his magazine :D and its an HF, which could be pronounced Heff, sooo...
HeFf, come to find out, is almost completely original!! :thumbup: There is 191,000 miles on the 1.5L, it smokes a bit, but overall runs ok. The oh-so-sought after overdrive 5 speed is intact and doing fine. The complete intake is still there, stock airbox and all...the exhaust has a different muffler (it is 25 years old) but even it is a conservative replacement, not a fart can here thankgoodness!
I started with fixing numerous oil leaks, now the clutch quit slipping.. guess it had oil on it. Glad to put that fix on hold, though there is a new clutch kit in the back of the car, thanks to former owner.
Seems all the lights work, though one headlight is, as we say in the south, a "coon hunting light"...up in the air. lol. I believe the guy mentioned his first 9 point deer was courtesy of HeFf.
The dashboard lights work too, a big plus...ever try to figure out a wiring mess under a dash? Ugh! I am really getting stoked about everything that works!
***UPDATE...Ladies and Gents, believe it or not....HeFf has a factory AIRCONDITIONER...AND IT WORKS! :thumbup::D Now I don't know how many HF's came with a/c, but I bet its rare. Kinda odd a car that has no power brakes, steering or windows has air...lol.
Ok, moving along, I put on two new tires, frontend alignment and an oil/ antifreeze change, washed a few years of pollen off the paint.
To combat HeFf's smoke screen, I decided to try "honey oil", or restore in a bottle as some call it. Believe it or not, it actually works! The smoke is all but gone...hard to believe, I was always against this stuff, but not only does it not smoke much, it cranks a lot easier as well.
Lastly, I topped off the tank, a whole 5 gallons...and so far have driven 98 miles, the gauge is reading just a hair below full...still :p
I am just ecstatic the car is doing so well. I live 25 miles from work, and my taco was using way too much gas...and that's how I got here. More to come, stay tuned, base line gas mileage in a few more days...and immediately to be followed by a very easy Warm Air Intake..Carl.

Disc Hub Caps?
 

Where can one score the stainless/plastic disc for hubcaps? Appreciate the leads...

Congrats on getting the car going!

Heff will now have to watch out for bunnies as well.

Light has HeFf is, bunnies might total it too...:D

Day 3 of HeFf's analysis...
A WAI is def needed, the lil' booger takes several miles to heat up.
As of today, it's down to 3/4 of a tank @ 130 miles since fill up...without accurate measurement, it looks like Im getting about 47 mpg...way below some estimates of 55+ mpg BUT I have been driving "regular", just to see where it will pan out before any mods, even driving changes.
It may suprise me when fill up time comes, Im just anxious to see...Im actually looking forward to buying gas! haha..

When you do, it would be good to see a breakdown of the numbers (payback/savings) vs. your truck.

Numbers are already making me happy.
I put $17 in HeFf three days ago, and still have 3/4 tank...my truck was averaging $12 a day to run, HeFf has saved me $19 in gas already...
The tag for HeFf was $20, and the tires were $30 each (13")... last time I bought it for my Taco, the tag was $200+ and the tires ran $225 each...now thats a number difference!

A few things.

First, HeFf does have power-assisted brakes. Turn the engine off and pump the pedal a few times. You'll find that it gets very hard after a few pumps. That's because the vacuum has bled out of the booster.

Second, I suggest a grille-block for help in warming up the engine.

Don't completely trust the fuel gauge--the ones in my CRXes were pretty nonlinear, and would move much more slowly at the top and much more quickly near the bottom. It might be good to keep a gallon of gas in a can just in case the gauge is very far off...

The crxcommunity.com is a great BBS focused on the CRX. Lots of knowledge there, and it's less of a morass of locker-room talk and intolerance than many automotive BBSes.

Find and download the service manual for the car. There are PDFs available on-line in a few places. The Helm's manual is the same as the factory manual (as far as I can tell) and is one of the better workshop manuals that I have seen.

Careful with the 'Rex, they are not the most robust platforms in a collision! They sure are fun, and can be exceedingly efficient as you are finding.

-soD

OMG I cant believe I didn't get this at first...Im usually pretty witty, just let this one go right over my head...durrrrrrr :p ...good one, dude.

Thanks! :thumbup:
I thought about the crash results before even buying it, and some really noticeable lighting front and back are already planned to help avoid the accident in the first place. The new leds are hard to miss, and a very big safety improvement over HeFf's old dim lights.

Your right about the brakes, I tried it and they do indeed have vacuum influence...but I don't see a regular vacuum booster like most cars. Odd..

The grill block was coming right after my WAI.
The factory was nice enough to stop the intake pipe right in front of the exhaust manifold...all I have to do is add a metal flex pipe, a hose clamp and Wa~La Warm Air Intake.

Another nod to you on keeping a gallon of gas with me...I don't have a clue how accurate it is.

Last but not least, I just hit 170 miles since top off, gauge now reads just below 3/4. :D

The master cylinder is bolted to the booster, which is tucked into the firewall. You can see (just barely) in the upper-right of the following picture:

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/at...e-bay-shot.jpg

-soD

235 miles, gauge is at 1/3...but needle fluctuates back and forth to half tank mark...

I overlooked the vacuum booster, assumed the article I read was normal for all HG's.. the marginal brakes may be caused by worn brakes out back...haven't had the drums off yet to see.

Your engine layout is very different from mine. Do you have a hydraulic clutch? What's with the little radiator?...my replacement radiator I had to buy actually goes all the way across the front, a touch longer than the leaking original.

Actually, a lot of changes under your hood...my batt is beside radiator..

Oh, that's not my car--mine has been sold and I didn't find any pics of the correct area of mine. So I Googled images of "civic vx engine bay". Evidently the pic I grabbed is a modified car.

My CRX had the battery over to the left of the distributor, and the air filter housing was even further to the left. I don't know what is stock for a VX.

-soD

Earlier, made a typo, said HG instead of HF, my bad.

I filled up today, got 7.961 gallons at the 300 mile mark...the needle was fluctuating between empty and maybe a an 1/8...that puts me at a depressing and dismal 40 mpg-ish. :( A far cry from the epa ratings of 47-50 mpg

I suspect a few problems are the culprit .. the motor is low on compression, and I currently have no plans to rebuild it, it may not get top notch mpg, but it runs ok.
The car limps down hill when parked, if the parking brake is not applied.. the cylinders are leaking down obviously. Also, if the trunk is open, the fumes are unbearable... its not burning all the fuel it should. I will check plugs and air filter tomorrow, and the timing soon as well, but since compression=power, I fear the car will not be seeing 50 mpg for along time...

Still, Im double the mpg of taco, and happy overall with the little car.

Yesterday, I topped off, and today I was driving using semi-pulse glide method today (meaning, I didn't actually kill the engine, put car in neutral and let it idle during glide, ignition switch is worn).
after a lot of running around in the country, I stopped in the gas station and with 97.5 miles, it took only 1.07 gallons today...certainly, I didn't get 97 mpg today...ideas?

Short fills can be misleading.

(Not that ~90 mpg is out of the realm of possibility with low/moderate speed p&g in a car like yours... but not with the engine idling in the glides.)

I'd say add those miles and gallons to your next fill for a more accurate picture of what's going on.

An error in filling of 0.1 gallons is a 10% measurement error. That is potentially quite serious--and errors can be larger than that.

That's why we try to run trough most of a tank when trying to evaluate driving or modifications. Or try to rely on more precise measurements, such as those offered by a ScanGauge, UltraGauge, or MPGuino.

-soD

OK guys, help me out with this one...HeFf has a throttle angle (position) sensor, not a mass air flow sensor. I don't see any temperature controls involved here...so does a WAI benefit me?
Now it warming up faster is a big bonus (grill block is on the way, if work will leave me alone lol) but I cant see an advantage in doing the WAI if I don't have too...not bucking the trend here, just trying to make sure I don't lose horses and learn a few things.... Thanks..:confused:

No MAF in older Hondas. The 90s-vintage fuel injection (and earlier!) used "speed-density", which means they measured the air pressure in the manifold to estimate the air going into the engine. The MAP sensor should be on the firewall.

I think there is a temperature sensor in or on the manifold somewhere.

-soD

Ok, only temp sensor mentioned by Hanes book says its for the gauge...of course, that could be linked to other comp functions, but wiring diagram isn't showing anything.

For right now, unless someone has better evidence, I'm leaving the WAI off...it's as simple as can be to hook up, but we all know that hot air has less power in an engine.

On to the grill block we go... what the heck is chloroplast and where do ya get it?

It's "coroplast", corrugated plastic. Found at sign shops, at some home improvement big-box stores, and just about everywhere FOR FREE just after election day.

-soD

Cool...and I can make a sign with the leftovers that says "Vote for HeFf!" :D.

How's heff