Found for sale: 84 CRX

[Nevyn]

Kept driving by it on the way to/from work, so I stopped yesterday. It's got issues with the carb that prevent it from idling properly, and it's sat for a little bit. Body looks good, though. I'll take pictures if there is interest.

Main point of contention I had was the automatic in it. I didn't even ask price once I saw that, but I'll ask if there's a member here that wants to know.

1984 CRX, 1.5L
Automatic (I know, it's a killer)

Located just south of Tamaqua, PA on Rt 309.

Google Maps

[texanidiot25]

The carbs on these cars are a royal pain in the ass to work with. There's a system of over 30-50 vacuum lines, much of which eventually route to the carb. You can 'de-vac' them, but it can be trouble getting the stock carb to run correctly. Part of the reason these guys were so efficient was that when in good shape, the over-kill control on the carb allowed it to operate very close to that of EFI, able to tune for conditions and such. They're most common problem, and why this one won't idle most likely, is vacuum leaks.



Carb rebuild kits are not uncommon, I found one for my '86 at o'rielly's.. But, the carb itself is complex, more so than most US carbs, including the infamous Quadrajet.

If I recall right, because 84 was the 1st year, a lot of parts are unique to it vs. the other year 1G CRXs. It makes parts hunting on a car that's already a bit of trouble to find parts for even harder. www.RockAuto.com will be your best friend (And CHEAP!), but finding parts in an emergency at a store can be a pain.

Beyond that, the cars are GREAT. Very fun to drive, very simple to work on, outside of the carb system. Upgrade to the 88-91 era front disk brakes, and enjoy a great little DD.

[Nevyn]

If it were a manual, I'd think about it and maybe think about a swap to FI. However, I'm not into swapping the engine AND the transmission.

[Ryland]

Most common problem with the carbs on these with the idle not working is the warm air intake has a chunk of duct work that goes missing, of the 3 civics with carbs that I've owned I've only found one vacuum line leak and it was caused by me pulling to hard on the hose while rebuilding the top end of the carb, the top end rebuild is easy to do and you can do it with the carb still on the car.
I would avoid this car tho because of the automatic transmission, those are the true weak point.

[texanidiot25]

The few that I worked on, and my own were vacuum leaks caused from previous owners mistakes.

Nevyn -- A drivetrain swap in these cars is no harder than just pulling the motor or trans.

When the carb is in good shape, they're great cars. It's one of the most painless performing carb'd cars I've ever driven, it started up on key every time, cold or not, and is a crisp little motor. It just took a lot of trouble shooting to get my CRX back in order.

[jakobnev]

I wonder if the drive line from a junked prius would fit in a CRX.

[texanidiot25]

Well, I meant between the same generation Honda drivetrains. Pulling the trans is about the same effort as pulling the engine and trans together. I actually had an entire EFI, 5spd Si drivetrain in my garage for my HF, for when the 250k motor let go. I got the drivetrain for 35 bucks from RPR, and when I sold the car I sold the drivetrain to another RPR member for the same price.

RedPepperRacing, RPR, a 1G Crx and 3G Civic forum is full of great members too.

You're entering project car hell by thinking about swapping the Prius' drivetrain. Wiring will be the death of you.

[hondaguy72]

I'm currently working on an 84 crx FE project. The efi swap is not a small bit of work, but in my opinion, worthwhile. Auto to manual isn't too tough. To me the 84 looks like a bunch of parts rather than a complete vehicle. I'd suggest passing on this one due to the potential rust and tons of work it would take to make this a real FE monster.

Please check out my thread for the potential pitfalls and amount of work that the vast majority of these cars need.
Mine's Worse - Red Pepper Racing

Chris