Need Advice: Project Honda/Acura: Under $2000
 

Need help.

*I can buy a project car for $2000 or under.
*It has to be a Honda or Acura
*What model, in your opinion can be bought for this price, operate reliably, and be modified for super-efficiency.
*Manual Transmission is abso-freakin-lutely required. :-)

RH77

CRX HF stock 50+ You can get
 

CRX HF stock 50+
You can get one rust free for 2k or less, if you don't mind a little body work you can pick them up for as little as 500.

88 CRX HF only weighs 1819 pounds, which is ****ing awesome.

Not to mention they have great (.29) Cd and the d15z1 is a straight swap.

My friend had an HF 2 years ago
 

My friend bought an HF project car to drop in an LS engine or B16 in there (since the weight is so low). Stock engine blew up and it sat. He sold it -- I knew I should have bought it, but I lived in an apartment with no extra parking, and no cheap way to store it. I'll do a search -- I was thinking of that. I hear they handle pretty well too (for fun of course) -- but are the sway bars pulled for weight?

RH77

I doubt the sway bars are
 

I doubt the sway bars are pulled, but it ain't hard to make new ones. Mine weighs like 2100 and I can take a 90 degree corner at 40, so :p

Only HF is in Texas
 

I did a quick car search on Cars.com and the only HF in the United States is a modded one, overpriced, and is in the Dallas area.

RH77

Shut your mouth. There's
 

Shut your mouth. There's prolly 200 for sale right now.

there are a bunch of them on
 

there are a bunch of them on autotrader.com

Truth be told the most cheap
 

Truth be told the most cheap honda EFs are found locally in newspapers or other local listings. Often times you'll just see one on the street. If I were you I'd look for one with a broken engine and then you can swap in the d15z1.

It's worth looking for a HF model though, as you'll already have the ultra high geared transmission.

Re: Truth be told the most cheap
 

What's an EF?

I drove a few hundred miles to look at a 91 CRX HF that was on ebay. It had 180k miles on it, the body was in good shape, not great, but missing some trim pieces. The interior was preety bad. I took it for a test drive and found the settring very loose, the cv joints going bad, an unknown thunking sound and a noisy engine.

The guy told me the reserve was $1500 before I drve up to see it. I was prepared to pay that much but after driving it told him that I would only bid up to $1000. He told me that HF's were in high demand because of thier light weight and that he was certain the he would get $1500 for it. He did.

Quote:What's an EF? It
 

It refers to the part of the VIN that describes the body code. 88-91 civics and crxs are all EFs (though that's only in Japan, in the US they are technically EDs).

True it is, true it is. You've just gotta keep your ear to the ground for a deal, I see them all the time.

Re: Shut your mouth. There's
 

Sup with the disrespect, yo?

Anyways, the "drive-by" was how I found one for sale and referred it to my friend. '89 HF I beleive. The body was in sad shape, interior OK for age, engine blew within weeks. $1500 firm (2-years ago). My friend bought it. I'm just going to have to keep my eye peeled for one locally without the 'Net and scan the papers -- and if I open my mouth, maybe I can get some friends on the case too veggie boy ;-)

RH77

If you ever find a CRX,
 

If you ever find a CRX, civic, etc. from that time period and need trim pieces, I can gladly help. My junkyard has no end to these cars. CRXs are a bit more rare, but they still show up all of the time. I could easily get some exterior pieces and ship them to you for cost.

I just recently found out that the junkyards around here are ridiculously cheap compared to the east coast. A friend of mine in WIsconsin asked me to keep an eye out for Civic Doors without rust. Rustless doors are so rare in Wisconsin they charge over $200/ea for them. I can get them for $40/ea, and sometimes less when they are on sale.

ANyway, like I said, don't let body work discourage you. If I were you though I'd look for a HF with the original transmission still attached. One more thing to note on this subject is that the 1988 transmission was different from the 89-91. The gears are the same but the spline count is different. This makes 89-91 more desired because the transmission and axles are interchangable between the years.

I would go with an 88-91
 

I would go with an 88-91 Civic. I got my 1990 Sedan for $1530 from a used car weasel, and my 1988 Hatch for $950 from a private seller.

These cars are VERY reliable after being shown some TLC, but I must emphasize that you have to show it some TLC. Don't expect [unless you get lucky] to buy one and be able to hop in it and drive for 25,000 miles with no problems. I had to put a new engine in my sedan after 15K miles of owning it [engine I took out only needs one valve replaced...could use some new piston rings to cut down on burning oil too], and in my hatch I did a complete tuneup and now it runs great. I also reupholstered my seats and put on some new wheels and tires.

I guess what I'm trying to say is get one on the cheap and throw a little extra money in it and you'll have a SWEET Gassavers.org ride.

Quote:I just recently found
 

I hope you don't think wisconsin is the east coast, :p

****'s not that expensive here unless you go to a crap yard.

Re: Quote:I just recently found
 

Well, here we have yards where you can "wrench" your own parts. Midwest tends to be cheaper on parts and living expenses, etc.

Anyways, yeah, around here, people have picked-up on the CRX-HF being valuable long ago. An old civic is much easier to find. Also, in the summer time here, it's almost required to have A/C, which I assume the HF doesn't have. I don't need/require power steering or auto trans. Heck I'm looking for a basic commuter car that gets incredible mileage - no frills. I'm willing to swap engines if need-be and keep up with it (since I'll have the Integra as a backup).

My main concern is the vehicle breaking-down on the way to the airport, or something -- but I can get a cab and have the vehicle towed. My needs have become simple -- manual transmission, A/C, and fuel economy. The rest is just details -- it just has to haul me around town, and 104 miles round-trip every week -- we have the TL for the fam and wife.

I suppose I can take my chances. I wouldn't know the first thing about an engine swap though -- I'd have to have a shop help out, which I'm new to the area, so I'm not really familiar with import-specialized shops around this part of town. I can get to know someone I suppose. Otherwise, I can't imagine an engine hoist in my garage -- knowing my coordination I'd drop it on my foot and have go the ER -- trust me on this one. I'm not coordinated. Step-by-step instructions, and the right tools (+ some time) might yield a successful do-it-yourself project. Might. I suppose you have to start somewhere -- I've never tried serious repairs/improvements on our vehicles, because we rely on them so much, with no backup. A project car may be different. I just love to tinker with cars, though...it's a hobby -- same with GasSavers...etc


RH77

If you get this junk by this
 

If you get this junk by this summer I might be going out to Chillicothe again this summer if I'm not going to Japan, so yeah, :p.

I think they came with a/c as a much opted option, not sure though, you can buy my a/c setup off me.

Re: If you get this junk by this
 

A/C twas a dealer installed option on the HF.

Re: Quote:I just recently found
 

You should have seen my first engine swap...it was crazy. My friend and I convinced this kid that we could install a B16A1 into his 1996 Ingegra LS [weird swap, but the kid was weird]. Neither my friend or I had ever done an engine swap. We basically just started cutting hoses and pulling wires, it was crazy. It took us like a week to get done, and it ran like ****. Turns out we had crossed some wires trying to get VTEC to work, but eventually we got it running right. Twas quite the learning experience. Oh yeah, to complicate things, we did it in this guy's driveway, which was about a 10 degree incline...it was WAY difficult! Now I have all the right tools and a good place to do them, I can do an engine swap in well under 8 hours if all the correct parts are available [which is NEVER the case - always end up having to run to the dealership for something, LoL].

Re: Quote:I just recently found
 

Kind of off-topic, but how did the B16 run in the LS (and was it an automatic?) You get what, 15 more HP at the top range, and lose torque? That is a strange swap. I could see squeezing a Prelude VTEC engine in there (if it's even possible), but going smaller on the displacement is odd. LS/VTEC will haul, I'm told -- which would just be a top-end swap.

I've been keeping my eye out for CRXs -- if I get one without A/C, I might consider your setup SVO...

RH77

FYI, people are usually
 

FYI, people are usually selling their entire A/C system on Honda-Tech for around $50. There will be one or two parts you'll probably need to get from the junkyard, but it's very do-able. I have a write-up for removing the A/C if you want. Installation would just be reverse.

Re: FYI, people are usually
 

I'll be selling my ENTIRE AC system out of my 1988 Civic in maybe a year or so.

RH77 - I'd never do the swap for myself. The kid just wanted VTEC, that's all he cared about.

Re: FYI, people are usually
 

Thanks -- good stuff. Now, I just need the car...

RH77