Too many repairs, or rebuild the car?

2764 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Ragnaarok, Feb 2, 2007

mithuth

Discussion Starter · Feb 1, 2007

The car: 1990 CRX Dx, 200K miles, stock d15b2, manual trans, minor rocker and rear quarter rust, doesn't run (main relay, he believes).

My quick notes from the first visit:
Pros:
He only wants $700 for the car + ZC swap. It also has a ViS Carbon Fiber ZC hood, comes with DOHC ZC (D16a9) motor and transmission, PG7 ECU, 89 teg axles, mint 89 Si seats, Eibach sportline springs

Cons:
Rear quarter panels have a lot of patchwork, need replaced. The fenders are bent up a bit from him hitting a deer. The front bumper cover is a 88-89 and doesn't match the molding or color of the car. Needs side protector molding. OEM struts are blown from lowering. Doesn't run but comes with ZC. main relay is a fast fix, but may not be the problem.

So the more I got to thinking about it and digging into what I want to do with teh car, here's my to-do/part list:

Check relay
replace battery (been sitting uncharged for 1-2 years)
if it runs, from there I dive into the big list.

Rust Repair:
New fenders
New rear quarters with rocker panels
90-91 front bumper
repaint whole car Blade Silver or y-49 (haven't decided)

Suspension:
Tokico HP "blues" or
KYB GR2 struts

Brakes:
OEM replacement rotors, pads, drums, shoes
needs ebrake fixed (probably snapped/frozen cables)

Motor Swap:
ZC engine needs an oil pan and crank pulley
sell ZC transmission and get an Si trans and Si axles
Sell PG7 ECU and get the stock PM7
Dx to ZC wiring harness mods
new clutch while i have it all apart

Exhaust:
ebay 4-2-1 Header
ebay high flow cat
cherry bomb in place of a resonator
generic super turbo II oval muffler
custom 2" piping
"dual" tip, one 2" pipe into two 1" outlets

Wheels/Tires:
15" Rota Slipstreams - black
195/50-15 Yokohama AVS ES 100

Exterior:
SiR spoiler
passwordJDM carbon fiber front lip
side protector molding (both fender pcs, both door pcs, both qtr pcs)
replace tail light gaskets
rear hatch struts

Interior:
96-00 Civic center console
Rear cover
cargo divider
upgrade steering wheel
am/fm cd player
2 sets 2-way coaxial speakers

-------------------------------------------------

Anyhow, that's my more than extensive To Do list.

Should I just buy the car for the motor swap and part it out and find a better conditioned shell to do all my shiny new parts with, or just go forward with restoring this one?

*edit to add*
The ONLY part of this restoration project that scares me is having the new rear quarters done. I can't do major body work myself.

The labor in this project will be based on finding a lot of local help to do the exhaust, pre paint prep work and repainting. Other than that, I think I can do the rest myself with the help of a lot of great how to articles written by fellow CRX fans.

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Baker

· #2 · Feb 1, 2007

Well i think it depends on how bad and rotten the rear quarters are.
Have any pics of how extensive it is?
Then decide it you can or want to afford to take on this project, then figure out if you really want to tackle it or not.

Or you can just part it out, get what you can from it, find a cleaner Crx and sell your CF ZC hood to me!

b

Seriously though, figure out how extensive the rot is, then figure your budget. Figuring those out will help you make the decision if it is worth fixing this one or finding something in better shape.

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ludesrv

· #3 · Feb 1, 2007

To be honest I'd talk him down on the price to like 500$. If the money is good and the rust isn't bad I say go for it!

Lay the pros vs. the cons, then figure out your budget/allowable time per WEEK on the car, yes per week. To do a huge restoration (body job) you need to dedicate weekends to the car. Alot of that seems like it's upgrades that aren't 'necessary'. You could just do them as you go along. If the body is decent enough, go for it. I would cause I really want a CRX more then anything right now.

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rex2nr

· #4 · Feb 1, 2007

I already offered you to swap Trannys. plus I have the oil pan and might have that crank pulley.... I also have Si axles, one needs a new boot.. I was planning on replacing them anyway.

do you know what year the ZC tranny is?

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mithuth

Discussion Starter · #5 · Feb 1, 2007

Talking him down is't happening. I talked him to700 from his asking 1100. The ZC swap + hood is worth more than the 700 and anything I parted out beyond that is bonus.

What I really want is a good condition (not perfect) CRX I can actually enjoy driving.

The rear quarters have a lot of small patching in them, but are solid. There's just a little bit of paint bubble below the gas door and under the molding line (see pic below). Also there is a bit of surface rust on the rocker area. I may be jumping the gun on full rear quarter replacement, but I'm an extremist, if it needs a small patch, may as well toss on a whole new panel to make sure the rust doesn't come back for a long time.

Driver's rocker (it's jsut surface rust, but it bugs me and has to go)

Also heres the only shot I have of the quarter, I'll get more once i find my camera

As for the motor swap parts, I dont mind spending that money on it. Infact, I want to rebuild the entire bottom end and possibly put on a supercharger.

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jfrolang

· #6 · Feb 1, 2007

That looks like more than surface rust on the rocker to me. Take off the stock sideskirt, and see what you're really working with. It's always worse under there.

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mithuth

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 1, 2007

jfrolang said:
That looks like more than surface rust on the rocker to me. Take off the stock sideskirt, and see what you're really working with. It's always worse under there.

yeah, when I get the raer quarters, I plan to replace teh rockers too. the pic is making it look a LOT worse than it is.

I will probably jsut go ahead with the project. It'll give me something to do for a while. lol.

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rex2nr

· #8 · Feb 1, 2007

One good thing about replacing the rockers, they come up to the trim, so all the lower rust areas will be removed. Wire brush the area under the door... it will probably be fine.

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Baker

· #9 · Feb 2, 2007

jfrolang said:
That looks like more than surface rust on the rocker to me. Take off the stock sideskirt, and see what you're really working with. It's always worse under there.

I was going to say the same thing.
I'm feel confident in saying that there might be a lot more than it looks.
But if you are going full bore and wil be repalcing the rocker anyway, it should not be a problem.

For $700, even if it did not work out, parting it out, you could still make your money back.

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ludesrv

· #10 · Feb 2, 2007

Wow, that's more then surface rust cause I had that same look on my rear rocker, I tapped it with a small hammer and it basically self destroyed into a huge hole lol. That bubbling in not good either. When you see bubbling, I always say that the 4 inches beyond the bubble on the inside is probably rusted to. Bubbling means it's rusting from the inside out. Full new rockers and quarter should do her tho.

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Ragnaarok

· #11 · Feb 2, 2007

ludesrv said:
Wow, that's more then surface rust cause I had that same look on my rear rocker, I tapped it with a small hammer and it basically self destroyed into a huge hole lol. That bubbling in not good either. When you see bubbling, I always say that the 4 inches beyond the bubble on the inside is probably rusted to. Bubbling means it's rusting from the inside out. Full new rockers and quarter should do her tho.

I vouch for this. When I did my rust repair, the visible rust was very small with a bit of paint bubbling. Well when I started grinding on the quarter, the rust reached far beyond what was originally visible. I'd say it was a good three or four inches around the rust spot until I hit 100% fresh metal. And the original rust spot was only the size of your little finger.

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