CRXFi Build Thread (Geo Metro XFi drivetrain in Honda CRX)

[RobertSmalls]

So, this car is to be daily driven, and you're getting rid of "98 Civic"? That's exciting. Do you have a lot left to do before you can daily drive it?

[Christ]

Small things, from what I've heard... and state inspection, of course.

Will - Are you planning on practicing welding until you get better at it, or no real need for it?

Off-topic - I found another set of 14's that are much much cheaper. They're the same size that's on the Maz already, though, which is undersize from OE. OE on that truck is 205/75, best I can tell.

[Wonderboy]

So, this car is to be daily driven, and you're getting rid of "98 Civic"? That's exciting. Do you have a lot left to do before you can daily drive it?

That's the plan...It will be more of a weekly driver, but that's just semantics. I just traded a local exhaust shop some computer work for a pipe between the manifold and the cat - it had been cracked, and I assumed that's what was throwing the CEL (O2 sensor). Turns out it wasn't and that the CEL is simply the ECT sensor, but sealing up the exhaust system is probably a wise idea anyway, and it never hurts to be on good terms with your best local exhaust shop, and even better to be bartering at all. Bartering is great. I barter, you should barter. We all should barter, hooray!

Now that I got the pipe, I think its ready for inspection. As for things I'd like to get done, I have yet to put the carpet in, strap the rear battery in tightly, get the radiator fan working (IDK if it works or not - either it doesn't work perhaps due to the ECT sensor issue, or it has never gotten hot enough to turn on. I feel like this is a solid possibility since the Honda radiator is a little more than twice the volume of the radiator this engine is used to having), install the block heater, and take it to Topher to drive it and see if there are any bad noises I'm not hearing. Aero mods will also be in the works.

I don't have specific plans for welding practice, but when I have something else to weld I won't hesitate to do it.

Off-topic: I should probably tell everyone in a new thread about the new truck, eh? So busy...

[MetroMPG]

Have you been documenting the build in photos? I know it's hard to remember to snap pix when you're busy skinning your knuckles.

Think you could do a quick YouTube vid showing it?

(Reason I ask: Ben's back! I think the car would make a perfect blog feature.)

[Wonderboy]

I took her on her maiden voyage (aside from just around town) this weekend to visit Topher and buy some tires from him. The trip is about 80 miles on nice back county routes and US 6 (one of my favorite roads). It was quite the adventure. Just 10 miles in, I came up to an intersection and felt my shift linkage drop. It swung to the driver's side, right under me. As shown in the photos in a previous post, both arms of the linkage had to be cut, and put into pipe sheaths and welded. This renders them a bit more brittle and susceptible to breakage, especially if dropped to the ground and twisted to the side. Very luckily, it was fine and all it needed was a pin (even a bent nail would do) to put it back where it belongs. Within a minute some nice guy stopped, drove me to his house, and got me a little bolt to repair it. Within 10 minutes of the occurrence, I was up and running again! It did NOT like large hills, and I would find myself nearly flooring it in 3rd gear to keep up to the speed limit. Even for a 1 liter, this can't be normal, right? Hopefully it gets a bit more power. I plan on checking my timing and making sure all of my grounds are nice and solid since it will skip ignition firing periodically. In addition to the tires I bought, Topher gave me a nice handful of thick wire for grounding and an extra rear hatch, I was on my way.

The real bummer to this trip was on the way back: an oncoming large truck whizzed by me on a narrow bridge and caused my hood to fly up and whack my windshield, giving it the same cracked glass design that it came with when I bought it (this isn't the first time the hood has flown up on this car). That means $260 down the toilet.

All in all it was an exciting/stressful trip that made me want to make like Darin and always take non-interstate highways. People helped me within minutes both times I had to stop with car troubles, and there are always more interesting things to see on the "back roads", less traffic and less police. These are all in the Hypermiler's favor, and at least around where I live at the pace I drive, there really isn't much of a speed difference between the interstate and the good old US, State, or County route. The windshield could've been in a car that I needed to get around in, it could've smashed right through and injured me, I could've swerved off the road and gotten REALLY injured or killed... This is just a project car and even though it has cost way more money than I intended, I'm very thankful to have money to throw into this project, and all the mistake-driven education I've been getting out of it. I feel lucky to be able to do this in the first place, and lucky to know people who get as much out of stuff like this as I do.
EDIT: Fun fact! I drove through a place called Camptown on the way, and I just realized it's the Camptown in that Camptown races folk song. The more you know!


Not that it matters that much since the engine is still breaking in, but the very first tank of gas looks like it will return something in the high 20's for MPG.

Have you been documenting the build in photos? I know it's hard to remember to snap pix when you're busy skinning your knuckles.

Yes, a bit.

Think you could do a quick YouTube vid showing it?

Probably. Is Ben doing anything with that Watchdog review?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Wonderboy

I took her on her maiden voyage (aside from just around town) this weekend to visit Topher and buy some tires from him. The trip is about 80 miles on nice back county routes and US 6 (one of my favorite roads). It was quite the adventure. Just 10 miles in, I came up to an intersection and felt my shift linkage drop. It swung to the driver's side, right under me. As shown in the photos in a previous post, both arms of the linkage had to be cut, and put into pipe sheaths and welded. This renders them a bit more brittle and susceptible to breakage, especially if dropped to the ground and twisted to the side. Very luckily, it was fine and all it needed was a pin (even a bent nail would do) to put it back where it belongs. Within a minute some nice guy stopped, drove me to his house, and got me a little bolt to repair it. Within 10 minutes of the occurrence, I was up and running again! It did NOT like large hills, and I would find myself nearly flooring it in 3rd gear to keep up to the speed limit. Even for a 1 liter, this can't be normal, right? Hopefully it gets a bit more power. I plan on checking my timing and making sure all of my grounds are nice and solid since it will skip ignition firing periodically. In addition to the tires I bought, Topher gave me a nice handful of thick wire for grounding and an extra rear hatch, I was on my way.

The real bummer to this trip was on the way back: an oncoming large truck whizzed by me on a narrow bridge and caused my hood to fly up and whack my windshield, giving it the same cracked glass design that it came with when I bought it (this isn't the first time the hood has flown up on this car). That means $260 down the toilet.

All in all it was an exciting/stressful trip that made me want to make like Darin and always take non-interstate highways. People helped me within minutes both times I had to stop with car troubles, and there are always more interesting things to see on the "back roads", less traffic and less police. These are all in the Hypermiler's favor, and at least around where I live at the pace I drive, there really isn't much of a speed difference between the interstate and the good old US, State, or County route. The windshield could've been in a car that I needed to get around in, it could've smashed right through and injured me, I could've swerved off the road and gotten REALLY injured or killed... This is just a project car and even though it has cost way more money than I intended, I'm very thankful to have money to throw into this project, and all the mistake-driven education I've been getting out of it. I feel lucky to be able to do this in the first place, and lucky to know people who get as much out of stuff like this as I do.
EDIT: Fun fact! I drove through a place called Camptown on the way, and I just realized it's the Camptown in that Camptown races folk song. The more you know!


Not that it matters that much since the engine is still breaking in, but the very first tank of gas looks like it will return something in the high 20's for MPG.


Yes, a bit.

Probably. Is Ben doing anything with that Watchdog review?

At least your hood flying up wasn't like mine... the blue CRX that the hatch I gave you came from, it had been put into a ditch, and the hood wouldn't close. Driving home from that, the hood flew up at about 40 and smashed the windshield (before I owned it). Later, the damage was all fixed, and a new hood put on. The previous owner forgot to double latch the hood, and it flew up again, this time at nearly 80 MPH on the freeway. Another hood, another windshield, and more body work... Then, I get the car from him... the engine is blown when I get it, so I fixed it up good, made sure the hood was latched, and took 'er out for a ride... at about 105 MPH (Yes, they actually can go that fast... weird, eh?), a gust of wind (irony) from a truck in the other lane apparently caught the front end correctly, and lifted the hood, breaking the primary latch, and releasing the secondary... SLAM. The hood actually came off the car that time. I drove 'er home with no hood on it, and parted it out. Possessed car!

[Christ]

To answer your question about the liter engine pulling on hills, from what I remember, we always had to downshift into 4th in my friend's mom's Geo... It wasn't an XFi, though. On particularly steep ones, 3rd and high throttle were necessary.

After having driven your CRX, and thanks for the opportunity, I must note that it feels pretty well "broken in", as far as proper feel when on/off the accelerator. There doesn't seem to be any excessive lag in throttle application, and the pickup seemed smooth and accurate. That tachometer difference is a little disconcerting, but I'm sure it's something you could get used to.

You are, as you thought, losing a lot on the top end. I think that might have something to do with your timing adjustments, as you asked. The obvious skip doesn't seem to start until you're in the higher RPMs, or at least as I noted, so I might guess your ignition coil is breaking up under load, or you've got a plug not wanting to fire under higher load situations. Your distributor is salvage, did you clean or change the cap and rotor? Or clean the reluctor wheel? (Triggering device, may not be inside the dizzy on your engine, not sure specifically about the G10 motor.)

[RobertSmalls]

This is why I'm afraid of hoods. I've thought about replacing mine with a panel like a fender, attached with bolts around its perimeter. Sure, it would take a minute to access the engine room, but I don't do that very often anyway.

Btw, even the Insight with its 65HP engine (16HP more than you?) needs to downshift to 4th or 3rd to climb a hill without electric assist. If you think about it, cars should be geared so they can't do a hill in top gear.

[Funny]

Hood Pin Time? Lexan windshield?

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Funny

Hood Pin Time? Lexan windshield?

Great solution with pins, especially with 1/4 turn fasteners... less obvious. (To people and the wind.)

Lexan, however, isn't legal. Not sure if that's a concern for Mr. Outlaw over there (quick glance and nod in Will's direction) what with the invalid temp sticker and all, but hey, I still gotta mention it.