Project IRX: CRX-Insight Renaissance Experiment

[Christ]

Eh, the "engine in the hole" shouldn't be a problem at all, honestly. I have every ounce of faith that you'll get 'er done before school.

You really don't have THAT much welding to do, and it will only take you a day or so to figure it out and get confident enough to start welding plates together. You already know how to measure and make templates, so you'll do fine.

You should check with your school and see if they have a scholarship for what you're doing with your car, though. I'm looking for grants to help me build my house and develop "on the range" technologies to allow me to live off-grid alternatively.

[SVOboy]

They gave me $5k to go to japan this summer so I'm not going to bug them for more for silly stuff

Anyway, hopefully it'll get in the hole. I'm hoping to do a little extra welding doing a minor shave on the engine bay to make it prettier

[Christ]

Sheet metal != plate steel. Just remember to set your amps down a bit, and slow down your wire feed.

Gonna (eventually) do a wire tuck and stuff as well?

Turn that puppy show-worthy... I'm sure kudos will come your way quickly.

[SVOboy]

As far as the shave, I'm just going to fill in the holes and grind done some of the seems, not do anything major or structural.

Also, I've already done a wiretuck, and it looked much better afterwards. There's a long post about it on crxmpg: crxMPG - Gas mileage never looked so good » DIY Honda CRX Wire Tuck

I was young back then though

[Christ]

One of the weight reduction things I like to do:

When you pull the carpet out, you see all the urethane sealant they put on the seams, right? Remove that crap, and re-caulk the seams with silicone (and use just enough to fill the joint) after stitch welding the chassis, which helps with stiffness.

You'd be amazed how much flex you can eliminate from a 20+ Y/O semi-sports car.

I realize it's a MPG project, but it never hurts to do a few "extras" to keep it crisp, right?

[SVOboy]

Well, those extras will wait for a bit. I would like to get some decent ~2" drop springs though so I can get rid of these damn coilovers. If you have suggestions, I'm open to them

[Christ]

What kind of coilovers do you have?

I might have a deal for you... (Go figure...)

[SVOboy]

I think skunk2, but I'm not sure. They came attached to my shocks and I didn't feel like taking them off at the time.

EDIT: Feel free to deal me in.

[Christ]

I've got Espelir 2" (40/45mm) drop springs. They're on struts, so I'll have to take them off. I'll swap ya, if you want.

They were new when I put them on, I got about 200-300 miles on them before parting out the Civic b/c of a dead battery... (Long story, wish I hadn't done it now.)

[SVOboy]

Are they any good? Pics? What kind of shocks were they one?

But either way, yes.