my '91 CRX build (MPG related plans, projects, and updates)
 

Greetings fellow hypermilers, and CRX enthusiasts! :D

Here is the main thread for my CRX. All projects, and info related to it will stem largely off of here from now on.

Index: (From oldest to newest)
Garage
Fuel Log
Compilation of photos
EOC kill switch (an injector only kill)
Wheel covers
MPGuino installation




Goals: My goal is to see 100 MPG on a tank. And if I get better at hypermiling, I'd like to compete in MPG competitions with him.
I also want to preserve the condition of the vehicle to the best of my abilities.

Cool Facts About the 91 CRX HF:
Curb weight: 1967lbs. (892.2 kg.)
Cd: 0.29
Frontal area: 18.6 sq.ft.
Engine: D15B6, 62hp
Transmission Gear Ratio: 1st 3.250, 2nd 1.650, 3rd 1.033, 4th 0.823, 5th 0.694, Final Drive 2.954
Tank Size: 10.6 US gal. (40.1 Liters, 8.8 Imperial Gal.)
EPA: 40MPG City, 47MPG Hwy, 43MPG Combined
(5.88 L/100 km City, 5 L/100 km Hwy, 5.46 L/100 km Combined)


Most recent photos:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2895a12d.jpg
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7d96195a.jpg
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps684e1017.jpg

I hope most of you will enjoy the transformation, and progress! :thumbup:

(Please PM me if ANY of the links don't work. Thank you!)

What do you have planned to do 100 mpg? Looks like. Great car to start with, I like these CRX's.

similar to my goal that is a 1000 miles tank that it would take 94.1 mpg
and the secret to have this is low speed p&g or "high" speed p&g with bigs aero mods.
or honda insight:D

Subscribed.

100 is a fun milestone, worth chasing. (Hmm - should we have a wall of fame???)

If you're like me, after you get there you will say: "that was neat, but maybe not too practical!" :D And then you may return to the 60-75 mpg that you can get without having to colour too far outside of the lines.

2000neon,
I didn't want to duplicate what I said in the CRX's garage. I have all of my "Planned Mods" there. ;) I will also have links to the completed projects there too, but here I can talk about stuff. And I do tend to do a lot of that. :p


echo-francis,
Lol, I originally wanted an insight, but decided to go with the least expensive, and fully gasoline option. And (in my PERSONAL opinion), the CRX stood WAY out from the rest. The back end and the Honda name brand being the biggest sellers to me. But I didn't realize how much I'd fall in love with the CRX in general. :rolleyes: If I had gotten a Metro, not only would it have been cheaper initially, but it wouldn't kill me to modify it to the point of no return. And I wouldn't be fussing over the condition of the paint, etc.

That would be fun to have 1000 miles on the tank! But I'd have to top it off and end with 0.6 gallons left! We'll see. :p


MetroMPG,
I think a wall of fame would be good. I head over to the top 10 lists and browse through the big time hypermilers to get some encouragement when I need it. Goals are good.
I'm already #19 on the best mileage list (gasoline cars). So getting higher there, and especially beating WeatherSpotter (He's a good friend of mine), will be a lot of fun!

I was only just getting some momentum with RAVadoodle before getting the CRX, so I'm still of the mind frame that it's a practical goal. But I'm sure your point has some truth to it! :thumbup: If there is going to be anything keeping me from reaching that goal, it will be the same reason that occasionally deflates my desire to hypermile. And that is rude drivers.

Oh I never even thought to check the garage, sorry about that! I think that's a great list of mods and combined with driving style you should be able to do some incredible numbers, good luck!

I was inspired by PaleMelanesian to re-evaluate the location of my license plate. Sure enough, there WAS somewhere better to have it! ;) So I zipped it to the new spot while changing out the radiator.
Looks better then before? I think so! :)

Before:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psc25b43a4.jpg

After:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psadf0fe64.jpg

You could definitely do worse than to follow in Pale's footsteps. (Even if he may have been a little reluctant on the modding side of things. ;) )

Worked on RAVadoodle some, then rewarded my efforts with time to play on the CRX. :D (I was unmotivated.) I took off the old bumper sticker to the right of the license plate, and added the EM one! I've got one more EM sticker and I'm playing with the idea of putting it on the lower right side of the front windshield. ???

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psfc08fc85.jpg

My dirty little car! But hey, it makes for a nice "chalk board". :p

I made the 60+ MPG mark! I was nearly jumping for joy when the fuel pump clicked off! Must have looked pretty weird to all the other folks fueling up! :D

394.9 miles \ 6.177 Gallons = 63.93 MPG :D Woo Hoo!! That makes both the CRX's, and my personal best mileage!

It was about 85% hwy, and the temp has warmed up into the 40F most days. I've been slowing down more, trying REALLY hard to mostly ignore the people that catch up on the quiet hwy, and doing as much EOC as I can manage. That tank was only 45% above EPA. I obviously still have A LOT to learn! ;)



I'm REALLY looking forward to installing the MPGuino I got from Meelis11! I have some more research to do first, and I expect the install to take a while. I should have it up and running in 1-2 weeks. I also plan on making another detailed "How To". :thumbup:

Congrats!

With the warming weather + that MPGuino, you'll soon be leaving 63.9 mpg in the dust.

Really good! U beat my pr of 56 mpg no eoc. Can't wait to see your results as I have a crx also

Wow... I feel like I am in my own little personal competition with you now. Hahaha.. But you'll have a two year head start on me so I will have a lot to learn from you when I get back. That being said, keep it up!! :D

Lol, I kind of felt that way too. :D I prefer smaller/friendly competitions.

Well, when you get back, you had better come up here for one of the monthly meets! That way I can show you what I've done, and what I've learned. :p It's SO much easier, and more fun, in person!! :thumbup:

Edit: Wow.... what a though! If my dream of going to automotive collage actually materializes, then in two years, I'll be coming up on graduation!! :D That, or goals to keep going another 2 years in something a bit more specialized. I'm so anxious to start school!! :D

So, I'm going to stick with my resolution to keep the CRX stock capable. No harness cutting. Not even for the exception of the MPGuino. I'm going to learn how to solder circuit boards so I can install the MPGuino directly to the ECU. A replaceable part. :) We'll see how long it takes me to find someone I can learn from, or if I get around to learning it out of a book, but I may pick up a second ECU and do the install on that, keeping mine for the "stock" version of my CRX.

For other CRX owners, the info on my planned install is found here: MPGuino - @ CRXcommunity

I have accepted Jethro's challenge to reach 100 MPG THIS Summer. Read about it here. He wants to see who can make it there first. So, I'm going to kick myself into gear and get going on ecomodding! :D (pun intended)

70 MPG, HERE I COME!!! :p

Gonna be a lot harder to solder a daughter board onto the ECU. Very much simpler to use some decent-quality "vampire taps" or splice into the wiring harness. It's also relatively easily reversible, if not quite invisible.

-soD

Dave,
Simple isn't always the best course of action. :) Unfortunately the stock CRX HF is well on its way to extinction. I was fortunate to get one that is completely stock. I'm not much for "classic" cars, nor do I have the ability to keep things looking new for a long time (and still use it). But I would like to try my best to give my CRX the option to be completely stock, and in as good of condition as I can manage. It's going to be QUITE a challenge for me, personally. But I want to do my best. I can always decide down the road to do irreversible things to it, but I can never go back, after it's done.

Plus I see this as a good opportunity to learn another good skill. :thumbup:

.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.< >.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.<>.

I made some progress on the wheel covers today. The lug nuts are drilled, and the covers are drilled too. I realized I didn't have all I needed to epoxy the nuts.

I liked Tango Charlie's suggestion to use cardboard to hold the lug nuts in place while the epoxy is drying. So I made a make shift holder type thing. :) I cut holes that are a bit too small in a box I had (I cut the end of the box off). It's made out of extra thick cardboard. Then filled it with strips to give the nuts something to rest on.
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps958bfbfd.jpg
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9836e8e9.jpg
Does that make sense?

Then I took a few minuets to figure out a way to hold the lug nuts in place while I'm trying to drill holes in the tops. What I figured out was using the spare tire and a spare lug bolt to make a holder. I had to use a spacer on the lug bolt to make it work.
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psf1d24f98.jpg
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8bbc4d4c.jpg

More then half of the lug nuts don't have the holes perfectly centered. But hey, I'm not a machine! ;) It'll be fine.
Then I got the covers drilled. (These pictured turned out pretty bad, I'll update them soon.)
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5371c8e4.jpg
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps83b9a262.jpg

They are serving trays from Amazon. $7 a piece, which is more then I wanted to pay! But I was set on having black, and it seemed like the best choice. Plus it's readily available, so I'll be the guinea pig and try them out for everyone. :D I already don't care for them much....

Just subscribing to see what happens.

beautiful car!

Thank you! :D That's what I said when I saw Wyatta4's CRX. And when I decided I wanted to jump in and get a manual, my research for the perfect fit for me lead me straight to the 2nd gen CRX. :) I wasn't complaining about the looks either! :p

I still need to name him yet..... RAVadoodle came so much easier! CRX doesn't work for a lot of things. Lol, anyway.

You don't have a fuel log? Or a garage for that matter... What do you drive?

Maybe you can use. REXadoodle?

Lol! :p

Facts behind the "Doodle": When I was little, like 4-6 years old, my mom would call me her little "do do". Because I was always busy doing something. :) Over the years between my sister and mom, my nickname got changed to Dudie, Dude, and Doodlebug. All still currently being used today, and I'm still as busy doing things as ever. :thumbup:

When I was looking to name my RAV, suggestions such as RAVanous and other similar names just didn't fit. I'm a pretty gentle/caring person, and RAVanous (or even if I was to spell it RAV&us), just didn't fit. I wanted something to tie my RAV to me as she is my first vehicle. When my mom suggested RAVadoodle, it was PERFECT!! :D And it's more feminine as well.

However, with my CRX, he's a different story all together. ;) He's definitely a he because he looks like a he to me :), and he's been driven by women 20 of his 22 years. I was hoping for a vehicle that would be a bit more of a spitfire (in the spunky/playful sense). And he's every bit of that! :p

I'm looking for something unique and playful. Something with REX in it would be okay, as that ties it to the Honda flavor yumminess that he is. :D Lol.

It would be fun if you guys helped me name him. :) Any suggestions, ideas, or directions of name ideas are more then welcome!

I'm not normally sentimental about nicknames or other things but I still call my son "little fella" even though he is taller than his mum and will be taller than me quite soon - I'm picturing the little kid of 5 still. And my wife (who is less sentimental than me) uses my old nickname for her as a password - and no, I won't be posting it ;)

But I like to nickname cars I like - if there is no name there is no bond, and so I will end up resenting it when it breaks or lets me down or I will just look for an excuse for it to go.

On topic - finding a name for a car is something that only the owner should do IMHO - your nickname is given by your family based on your character, behaviour and attributes.

You have to think about that character and those attributes your CRX has. Maybe its a noise when it does something, something about an angle when you look at it, something it has managed to do, something it has failed to do too :D Or something you had to buy, or resisted buying.

Or indeed anything else.

Good luck.

Good points, and well put. :) I know the name will be VERY special. :thumbup:

I'm sure the suggestions will be good, but you have to decide. ;)

My friends nicknamed betsie the angry bumble bee.

Lol, that's good. :D I don't agree with the angry part, but you or your friend would know better then me. :)
I was sad when I found out HFs don't come in Y-49. (yellow color) I wonder if Betsie is the only Y-49 HF in the world? :rolleyes: Course she's not EXACTLY a full HF. ;)

The Angry Bumble Bee came from the fact that, every time I needed to get on the highway, I would have to wind her up to get up to speed. So as you know with the airplane gears that we have, there is a lot of getting close to red lining in the lower gears to go from 25 mph to 70-75 mph in 2-3 seconds. they said that she sounded angry when I would push her so hard. It was kind of like those Hondas that you see that make all that noise doing less than 20 mph.

About the Y-49, the previous owner had her painted. He like the Y-49 and had an Si in that color as well. She was originally Polar White /Frost White (NH1 i think) with blue interior. It seems that Blue interior is so darn hard to find. It make my restoration very difficult. It is true though, she is not a full HF, she is better. Her heart is what should have been the eventual evolution of the CRX, the D15z7 (JDM D15b Three Stage VTEC). Other than that. She is all stock, but with an SI breather box since the HF one wont fit. Oh and Altezza lights because the accident broke the originals.

How far did you get now with the lug nuts? I did a set a year ago, still driving with them. Did you already epoxy the nuts inside?

I used screws about 2.5" long to hold the nuts in place for epoxying. Use an extra nut on outside of lug nut to hold it all together while drying. Use a tiny bit of anti seize on screw so it doesn't bond to the nut. Watch out not to get epoxy on lug nut threads, wipe it off quickly, I used q tips with heads cut off. They made good sticks.

Bump.
How are those lug nuts?

Lol..... Ya.... Let me find my phone data cord to transfer some pictures........

Okay, so I ended up having to get different nuts. The locking ones I had weren't letting the bolt screw in easily. I thought that might be why a couple of RAVadoodle's nuts came loose from the epoxy. So I went back and looked for an alternative. Here's what I found:
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psbf546a1e.jpg
Regular nuts with a spiked washer attached on one end. Both pieces spin independently. I forget what they are called. I figured they would stay in place better, and the bolt would screw in better too. Win win, right? We'll see. (I don't mind having to tightening them occasionally.)

Last Tuesday I FINALLY got to the actual process. I was careful to avoid getting JB-Weld around the securing bolt, but I always seemed to manage to get some near there anyway. :rolleyes: I cleaned all threads and around the bolt before placing them in the holder I made. Good to go? Ya right....

The next time I saw them was Thursday evening. Plenty of dry time. I went to screw the bolts out, and it was tough, then not coming, then spinning easily but not coming out... I was WAAAYYY too tired to be messing with them at that time. (Pretty tired now. Just warning! :)) So I fairly easily managed to strip one of the lug nut set up. I sat there for a few minuets trying to wrap my exhausted brain around what just happened, lol, and it hit me! DUH!!! I left a bit of the bolt extended through the nut, and during the cleaning process, ended up smearing JB-Weld into the threads.
http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...ps692d5461.jpg
I was trying to screw through JB-Weld! SERIOUSLY STUPID! Lol. Luckily the bolts I got to hold everything in place are long enough to be able to get to the tips to cut them off.

Another lesson learned!! But I have a feeling I'm not done learning from this particular project yet........

So, with all the other stuff that's going on right now, I'm having to take baby steps to get this done. I'm taking almost as long as my new job is taking to get me trained and on the job!!!! :snail: :snail: :snail:

Yes, I had a few false starts on that project myself.

Here's a post I wrote a couple years ago, in a thread originally started by NachtRitter.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post249587

Today's notes -

You need to spread/wipe the anti-seize all the way to the tips of the long screws, including the flat ends. Of course you know that now!

Then - after you get the long screw out:
Be ready to drill out some epoxy where it may have covered over the little nut, down inside the lug nut. Just a drill bit between two fingers. Oh yeah - you used JB Weld so you might need a power drill, not just fingers. Drilling from the outside of the nut thru the little one guarantees you drill in the right place BUT don't press too hard or you can push everything out of the lug nut.

If drilling from inside out, I think you need a center punch. My bit kept wandering off center.

My covers were perforated aluminum for brake cooling. Discussion with aerohead later indicated they might or might not actually be giving the aero benefit I wanted. Two of them failed later, so I now have two perforated and two that are solid flat.

Oh yes.

Re. spacers behind your flat panels, and mounting screw length. A flat panel, if resting against the wheel rim recess, tends to land maybe 1/8" or so away from the domed lug nut tops. If the discs are curved of course the gap will be larger. I found the easiest solution is to NOT use a removable spacer behind the panel. Always a pain to keep it in position when attaching the covers. Instead, I found the correct length screw so the panel rests (or floats) against the rim recess when the small screw bottoms out hitting the wheel stud. For mine, I think I ended up using 3/4" long screws. YMMV. Just don't tighten the little screw super hard against the lug nut. The dome is soft metal and you'll distort it easily.

Stainless round head Phillips screws are nice, will stay clean. But I used hex head galvanized. Attaching them requires pressing in on a Phillips screw, I don't want to pop out a little nut one day. For hex heads, you don't need to press in on it to have traction to turn it. I never found stainless hex ones in my size in a hardware store. Need to get them from FastenAll or some on line source. One day, maybe.

Good luck with it!

Thank you Bruce for pointing those things out! I TOTALLY forgot about using anti-seize!!! That would have made everything SO much easier! I'll see how things go with what I have. If I need to start over, that's fine. I can pick up a set of lug nuts for $1. And the inner nuts came to $2 something. I might also ask one of my sister's relatives if I can rent his drill press if I have to do everything over again. :)

With RAVadoodle, I didn't use spacers between cover and lug nuts. I'm using 1/2" hex bolts with a straight edge screw driver option. I got hex for the same reason. :) I also didn't want any possible stripping! Something that REALLY helped to get the covers on, is I used two 2" long bolts and got the cover in position, and then securing it with 1/2" was a breeze. :thumbup:

I REALLY want to have this mod done before I leave for Seattle on Wednesday morning! I don't have a lot things left to do before I go pick up my dad from the airport, so I think I will be able to get it done. As long as things go more smoothly! I'm going to be meeting Shorty_Boy over there (CRX owner), and it would be fun to have that mod done for that reason too. :p

Cool. Good luck with it.

Seems your mount screws are a lot bigger than mine. I used 8x32, don't know the hex size but I think less than 1/4". In your size you might find stuff in stainless. Only a small $$ increase over galvanized, really. And they will look good forever.

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...pse58dad25.jpg
SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?! :eek:
I don't know what it is with me, but things I touch just LOVE to brake! It was going in a little tight, but not bad one bit, and then pop.... SERIOUSLY? I'm SO ready to zip some coro covers on and be done with it!

My plate is too full and I've been giving all of my time to help everyone else with they're problems or concerns. I'm a little overwhelmed and spent right now...... Working with coro might do me some good. :o I'd love to make a test kammback for the Seattle trip, but that might be a bit too big of a project right now.

Probably too late, but have you considered the Tuneko covers ?

Less drag = Less fuel | Aluminium wheel hubcaps | Eco Tuning --> Tuneko Ltd

The guy who invented / makes them is a member here under the same name. Spendy maybe though but good quality by all accounts.

He is also into the 100+ MPG club with his VW Lupo 3L-2L project. (2 litres per 100 km)

And yes winter has hit here in Scotland.

Bummer.

Yeah, doing a Kamm back for these Civics takes some attention to detail. BTDT and still driving with it. At least that's what I think. Leave it for another day.

I bet the little screw bottomed out on the wheel stud behind it. Ya can't go tightening one of those little guys with an 18" breaker bar, ya know. :) I use a screwdriver-type nut driver. Not a wrench with a handle.

I think there's enough screw sticking out into the inside of lug nut to get it out with needle nose pliers. You'll find out soon enough.

After I got done throwing my fit :rolleyes:, I kept working on it. I ended up getting all 4 on, and passenger side has two bolts per cover and driver's side has all bolts. I'll pick up a few more 1/2" bolts tomorrow, and commandeer a few lug nuts from RAVadoodle as well. (She's sitting at my parent's apt at the moment.)

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psd96359b5.jpg

Lol, I was using the flat tip as means of tightening the bolts. I need to pick up another 1/4" socket to replace the one I lost. WeatherSpotter did a much better job centering the holes in the lug nuts for the RAV, then I did with these lug nuts. Oh well, I can pick up another set and do a better job.

I also hooked up another regular battery in parallel with mine. Hopefully that will allow me to avoid having to keep the engine on longer then nessesary. ;)

I also hooked up a 2nd battery in parallel. Voltage stayed up much better while coasting. My longest coasts here are about a mile and I could do that with headlights on, no issues. However the 2nd battery was a more "normal" size battery out of a Jeep, not the mini size we have in Civics.

Good move.