New Project: Canadian only Civic HF??
 

You folks in the States got all the cool eco stuff in the 1980s and 1990s. The CRX HF, the Metro Xfi etc. We didn't get any of it up here. So this may be one you guys never got! You folks had the Civic Std from 1988-1991. It was the super base model, and in manual form it only came with a 4 speed. We had the Civic CX. It was also the super base model, but the 5 speed was an option. It's not an 8 valve 1.5L like an HF, but I have a theory that they came with the HF transmission in it. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm not, but I look forward to finding out, as these are hard to find any information on. If anyone out there knows for sure, by all means please let me know! But until then, I have adopted this little guy as my new driver/project.

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1990 Civic CX, 5 speed, original paint. Tomorrow I will start sorting out the interior and paint. I need to clean under the hood so I can hopefully see the code on the transmission. Manual steering, no center console, cheap seats, no tilt (OK that's one thing I HATE not having lol) no fabric on the door panels, no rear window wiper, no pass side mirror. First mods will be synthetic oil, put my donor car VX rims and tires on it, and install the MPGuino and a tach. My first goal will be 40 mpg with the mixed driving that I do, then after that 50. :snail:

If the trans numbers are confusing you could always buy an original sales brochure off Ebay and compare ratios.

The brochure isn't very detailed, but it looks like the CX falls between the STD and DX.
1990 Canadian Civic brochure incl. Wagon (pics) - Civic Forumz - Honda Civic Forum

looks like there was a 4 speed std sold in Canada and it was a 31 pounds lighter then the cx too.
From that link it looks like the CX has a 92hp engine, same as the DX while the std has a 70hp engine, much closer to what the HF has.

The DX (D15B2) and STD (D15B1) engines are almost the same. Both have the "Dual-Point" throttle body injection. The STD engine has a more restrictive throttle body, a slightly milder camshaft, a close-coupled catalytic converter and a different ECU. Apparently that's enough to delete 22 HP.

Wow, that is a really vague brochure. Maybe someone on Honda-Tech would know.

Well at any rate, it's good to know you didn't get an STD.

The ratios should be in the factory service manual. My 1990 Civic service manual covers the Canadian version, but it's the Wagon-only manual.

Having driven a few of the USA sold STD's I didn't think any of them were lacking power given the size of car that they are, the 70hp rating is at a lower RPM, same with the peek torque rating, so the RPM range that you tend to drive in has plenty of power, it also gave them an EPA MPG rating that was 3-4 mpg higher.
The CX that was sold in Canada of course is lighter, doesn't have the passenger side view mirror, mud flaps or any other options that add drag.

I haven't seen a civic hatchback that has a body in that good of shape in a long time, around here they are all rusted out!

Have you had a chance to figure out how fast the engine is turning on the highway?

I have not had a chance to install the tach yet. And thanks for pointing out the lack of mud flaps, I totally didn't notice lol. My Civic wagon was a DX, and this feels different on the highway RPM wise, but then it's been a long time since the wagon so who knows. It's not an Si trans though, that's for sure lol. The body is decent, 2 holes on the underside of the passenger rocker in front of the rear wheel, but nothing serious. It got traded in at a VW dealership, I am guessing whoever had it got themselves a new TDI, base model, stick, if the CX was their car for the last 23 years ha ha. It was actually going to get scrapped, so I had to fork out $50 more than the scrap guy to get it. Seriously, what a waste that would have been, I am glad I saved it!

The DX Wagon final drive is 4.058 and the DX Hatch is 3.888. But that difference is probably not noticeable without a tach. Thanks for saving an old Civic. My Wagon is held together with expanding foam!

Oh ok, I didn't know the wagon and the coupe transmissions were different. Like you said I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to notice that difference without a tach though. The input shaft bearing is noisy in this trans, I know it's common but I am not going to do anything about it right now. I am going to change the fluid for what it's worth though, is there a synthetic fluid you would suggest for these gearboxes Gasoline Fumes or should I just stick with the Honda stuff?

:p I was skimming through this thread half asleep and this made me laugh. Then I remembered you were talking about cars.:eek:

When I put the HF trans in my Wagon, I initially reused the old Honda fluid. It shifted great, better than the original trans. I tried Mobil 1 0w-20 synthetic motor oil in the trans. Not a good idea. It might be more efficient, but the synchros don't like it. I picked up two quarts of Pennzoil Synchromesh, I'm just waiting for a shifter shaft seal to arrive. I've read that the Honda fluid is too thin for an older Honda trans. I don't know if that's true, my main reason for not using it is the lack of a local Honda dealer. Redline MTL is probably good too.

I have a noisy bearing too. Mostly in first gear.

Yes mine is weird, can really only hear it in 1st. But sometimes its fine, like if I just got off the highway it will be quiet for a while. But when I am in town it comes and goes, and if it's cold and you rev up in 1st gear it sounds like it's going to come through the hood lol. I think of it as my eco-rev limiter ha ha :snail:

I usually only hear mine if I take my foot off the gas in 1st gear. I try not to think about it! :D

I've used 0w30 AmsOil in all of my 5 Honda transmissions for the last 10 years and never had an issue with it, Mobil 0W30 is what I currently have in my engine and my brother has in his Civic VX transmission, I've never used 0W20.

I don't know why my trans hates the 0w-20, but I can barely get it into first gear if it's rolling. There could be half a million miles on this junkyard HF trans....

I realize I am biased, but having had the chance to drive a LOT of different makes/models of cars over the years, I have yet to find a late '80s - late '90s Honda that doesn't shift buttery smooth. You don't realize how spoiled you are with a Honda gearbox until you drive a Cavalier lol. My wagon had 336k KMs on it, and one of my Insights has 369k KMs on it, and they both shifted smooth, never popped out of gear, and the shifter was still nice and tight. Sure they might get a little noisy, but I will just turn up the stereo a little louder! /end Honda 5 speed fanboy rant. :snail:

Subscribed. Looking forward to seeing what this car does for you & vice versa.

Well I haven't driven this car much, and am still horsing around with it. I have some of the body panels polished, but others aren't so it looks ghetto two tone ha ha. I finally insured it though, so I will be driving and working on it more. I decided to replace the leaking valve cover gasket, and check the spark plugs while I was at it today. And this folks, is why no matter what the previous owner tells you was just done to a car when you buy it, or what you figure must have been done recently, you should always check the spark plugs!

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This car actually ran without misfiring. All four plugs were as bad as the one in this pic or worse. My crappy phone camera doesn't zoom in any better, but the electrodes were actually all uneven and worn on weird angles. Left side is correct .040" gap, the ones in it were worn too big to measure with any of the feeler gauges I had lol. It sure starts a lot smoother now, not surprisingly, and pulls waaaay smoother away from a stop light. But like I said, it actually ran ok, so if you didn't check you wouldn't think they were this fried. Oh, and one was hardly finger tight, I didn't even need to put the ratchet onto the socket and extension to get it out. Plus they were Champion plugs?? Who puts anything other than NGK in a Honda?? This guy's mechanic must of disliked him or something ha ha. :snail:

I know this isn't a site where people worry too much about appearances on cars. But just because you have an older, base model car doesn't mean it has to look like a pile of junk! Sadly, by the time a base model, humble little car gets to be 20 years old or so, it has usually been owned by people that don't want to spend any time or money on it's appearance. But it's really amazing what a little elbow grease can do, so I figured I would show a trick that makes a difference with only a tiny bit of effort. Windshield wiper arms. Most older cars have them exposed even when they are parked. Generally, they came from the factory in a semi gloss or gloss black. But after a while the paint flakes off. 10 minutes with some steel wool, a piece of paper, and some spray paint, can make them look like new again. It's one of those things where you wouldn't think it matters, but once you do it you see that it helps out!

1. Make a quick pass over the wiper arm with the steel wool to remove any crud, leftover paint, etc. Then hit it with a paper towel to remove any bits of steel wool.

2. Get a piece of paper long enough to go under the arm. I really like those waxed paper floormats you get from a detailer or car wash, they last a long time for this purpose and can be reused. But it you don't have one, newspaper will work fine. You need to tear it so that it fits under the wiper arm, but you can close it up to cover the wiper blade at the same time, like this: http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps09dcfa8b.jpg

3. Hit the arm with some semi gloss black. Light coats, keep the can moving, and hit it twice if you have to. http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7fab8760.jpg

That's really all there is to it. I did it on my CX, and I do it on pretty much every car I get lol, here is a comparison pic:http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1a70ce98.jpg

It's something simple, and you wouldn't notice it if it wasn't done, but when it is done it just helps your little eco ride look a little more like it did when it was shiny and new. :snail:

Had planned to do a wheel swap today, but it was raining a lot, and since I do all of my work in an uncovered parking lot, I decided not to do it today. I did however have one of my scales handy, and the Insight aluminum rear drums I was going to swap onto the CX. When I change the wheels I will weigh a factory Civic drum for comparison, but for now here is what an aluminum drums weighs, in case you've ever wondered.

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Depending on what the steel ones weigh I may or may not swap the aluminum ones. I only have two spares, so I might just keep them handy in case one of the Insights need them. :snail: