I have a 1990 Civic Dx Hatchback, someone's parting a CRX Si -- What do I grab?

First off, I am new to Hondas (and in fact, this is the first FWD car I've ever owned in 16 years of driving). I just picked up a very clean -- but in need of some help -- 1990 DX hatchback. It's not my DD and will mostly see duty as an autocross car and fuel efficient commuting alternative to my F250.

So, someone in my area is parting out a complete, running CRX Si and I've already grabbed the rear trailing arm/disc brake assembly (and grabbed the 2nd gen Integra parking brake cable from a scrap yard) and 4040 brake proportioning valve. What else should I be taking from this car and how much should I be paying? I gave the guy $120 for the brakes/valve. It's got new-ish rotors and pads. Was that a good price? Any help here is appreciated. If this was an older BMW, Miata, or Subaru, I'd have no problems, but as I mentioned, Honda is a new planet to me.

Thanks!

DustoffDave wrote: So, someone in my area is parting out a complete, running CRX Si

Wait, what kind of sick bastard does this?

Could be complete, running, and very wrecked Si.

The motor's worth an extra 15hp, but requires the wiring harness and ECU. The trans has a 4.2 or 4.4:1 final drive, where your DX has a 3.8 final, worth about 5-700rpm @ 70mph.

What year is the CRX? There were significant changes between 88 and 91.

Sorry, it's a '90. And the body was damaged, but not to where it would affect any of the mechanicals.

Pull the intake manifold and brace, distributor, injection harness, resistor box and the ecu; that gives you all the components to convert to MPFI.

As noted earlier, the transaxle has different rations that benefit acceleration. IIRC, there may be a different spline count on Si vs Dx axles that may require more parts. You can choose to run shorter tires (185/60-13 or 195/45-15) to compensate for the Dx ratios.

Since you got the rear disc set-up off the car, we know its' not an '88. But try to get the booster as I think it has different specs than a Dx has. The seats would be a nice upgrade, too.

Pricing is something I can't really comment on but it seems like it would be a better deal to buy the whole car, pull all the parts yourself and then sell the shell for scrap.

oldsaw said: Pricing is something I can't really comment on but it seems like it would be a better deal to buy the whole car, pull all the parts yourself and then sell the shell for scrap.

Unfortunately, funds are limited and my wife would DESTROY me if I brought this car home. I used up a freebie when I brought the Civic home unannounced...

Rear Sway bar and LCA's with the sway bar tab

The entire D16A6 will swap in but you'd need to grab the ECU, resistor box, and some other stuff. Even just getting the IM, injectors, and other MPFI stuff will give you a nice power bump.

The Si transmission has the numerically higher final drive and takes the easier to find 40mm diffs(should you want to add an LSD) compared to the DX boxes with their 35mm diffs.

Gauge Cluster swaps in if you have one without a tach.

Seats are worth good $ or can be made to fit in your car if they are in good shape.

If the HVAC unit isn't cracked by the heater knob, get that. Those are also worth good $ to the CRX people.

Looks like I'm just going to have to go back to the guy's house with some cash and scavange (if he'll let me). This is what I got from him today:

So, I learned that all of the interior parts are gone. He still has the rear sway bar. Is there anything else I would need for it -- do the bushings bolt straight onto the body, or do I need to pull some mounts, too? He's not willing, at this time, to pull individual pieces from the engine/trans combo.

You need all the hardware and the LCA's, the bar bolts through a hole in the LCA that isn't present in the DX.

You also need to do a quick bit of modding to make the chassis accept the bar. Plenty of write-ups out there to guide you through it.

OK. He gave me the LCA's with the parts I got -- even though I didn't ask for them (see the above picture I posted of the whole setup I got), so I'm good there. The other stuff is do-able.

DustoffDave wrote: He's not willing, at this time, to pull individual pieces from the engine/trans combo.

Do you have the wife's blessing, funds and room for the combo? That swap would be one of the easiest to accomplish since wiring would be the only sticky wicket. And there are plenty of sources to walk you through the conversion process.

^ THIS!

These engines and transmissions are getting harder and harder to come by.

DustoffDave wrote: So, I learned that all of the interior parts are gone. He still has the rear sway bar. Is there anything else I would need for it -- do the bushings bolt straight onto the body, or do I need to pull some mounts, too? He's not willing, at this time, to pull individual pieces from the engine/trans combo.

There are two L shaped brackets that the center bushings of the rear bar mount to. Grab those too.

Your car wont have the rear sway bar mounts, youll need to weld them o

the engine/trans swap would be great

Id pull the entire wiring harness with it, quite a bit of work but worth it

wheels

steering rack is progressive instead of linear

front sway bar is probably bigger than yours if yours has one at all

solfly wrote: front sway bar is probably bigger than yours if yours has one at all

Front sway bars are all the same size. Except sedans, which were 1mm thicker, and the HF, which had the tiny hollow bar.

that HF bar is really very nice for helping make the car rotate