new project/problem. 1987 CR-X, black, JDM, DOHC

[79cord]

Well I Don't think I ever got around showing my '88 Integra project here:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/383532...honda-integra/
Hopefully it's been nearly sorted for a year or so now, & staying at my parents place until it's 25th birthday in August when it will qualify for cheaper classic/historic road registration for occasional use (since '79'cord still does daily duties). Though clutch now needs replacing & paint is now even more faded than before.

Anyway I got yet another new project last week:

A 1987 JDM 1st generation Honda CR-X imported to Australia in 1995 by a local Honda parts importer/wrecker since Honda Australia had decided not to import them when new.. so always a rare car here. Obviously the last 18years since have not treated it kindly though and a friend of a friend had bought it partially disassembled a few years ago for $400 before getting distracted & leaving it in his shed. In the end I gave him the same amount since he had even offered to deliver it from Ballarat to Melbourne whilst asking less.


Still has the original injected 16v DOHC ZC 1.6l engine & 5-speed with PwrSteering & Air-con after 240,000km & runs. Though Radiator was residing in the boot due to supposed leaks and it was delivered on a trailer.


Bonnet currently unbolted & the plastic (ABS/PC) front guards & header panel are a bit of a disaster with cracks right through all over the place... Probably not easy to find good replacements here so hope I can glue/plastic weld them back together. Corner lamps currently on the floor & hopefully Ok though do have a minor 'internal' crack in the lens that will hopefully disappear with some solvent & polishing once dis-assembled? Would love some European spec. tinted ones in preference to the orange/white JDM spec. though.
Might need to replace right headlight lens due to a small stone chip, same as Civic hatchback?


Rubber rear spoiler also a mess with rusty internal mountings. Bumper split under No. plate mounting & generally not fitting well, with small metal strip above not looking great either.
Not a fan of the bland '90's aftermarket 15" wheels either, so I'm glad I have a spare set of the original cheeky '80's CR-X 4-spot "button" wheels as fitted to my Prelude, even if they need refurbishing, tyres and are an inch smaller.


Some rust evident at left wheelarch & (inoperative) steel sunroof but I already know far worse is hiding under its plastic sill skirts with the front jacking point having collapsed..... At least I have a MIG welder, though it's winter & I still don't have shed space to work in so it might be a little while until I can attack it properly. Did it really have to be METALLIC Black though, what a pain.


Yes scruffy, torn, worn & mouldy.
Horrible gearstick knob won't last long & I have already got a replacement in mind... Though 'clever' people have destroyed the original mounting thread. Cut-off, drill & tap for a length of all-thread? Makes me appreciate they retained the original steering wheel!
I saw some reasonable black '88 Prelude seats in a local wrecker yesterday of a similar shape so I hope I can get them soon, and that they will fit? I am however tempted to source some pre-facelift door trims & interior handles that a friend may have, which continue the wrap-around upper dash trim theme better than the facelift does.


Hilarious token rear seat.. Signifigantly worse than the rear seat in my '89 CR-X SiR which was fine for moderate distances. I'm not sure how they managed to compliance it as a 4-seater though since it only has lap-belts without shoulder-belt mountings as our local rules would have required. Similarly local rules would have required a restriction in the fuel filler neck for smaller unleaded-fuel filler nozzles that is absent.. along with original filler-cap retaining features; hence an un-identified filler neck is sitting on the passenger floor. Missing an interior rear lamp access cover.

So a bit of a project ahead of me.. & it is obvious early CR-X have a very rusty reputation overseas.. Near inevitable I suppose when Sunroof are involved.

[Dr_Snooz]

Yay! I love it!

[AccordB20A]

awesome. wish i still had mine. shame its facelift i like the old prefacelift look better

[2oodoor]

I like both of those, I would restore them. Very good pieces.

[79cord]

Ok, some more pictures!

Got the side skirts off and was actually relieved the sills weren't in a worse state.

The right side looked perfect, no holes or rust in spite of the substantial amount of soil that came out when the lower edge of the front guard was unbolted. Inside a small hole was found a few inches behind the front wheelhouse though suggesting it may require attention regardless.


The left side was predictably worse.

The back looked quite reasonable with a few small holes revealing themselves once attacked with the screwdriver, just above the jacking point & also ahead of the rear wheel.

(guy I got it from had also suggested it might need fuel-tank drain-plug washer replacing come to think of it)

The front needs more work as already known due to its collapsed jacking point.

Perhaps even a little better than I expected, though still not desirable.

Though it got scarier inside as I probed about inside with the rust extending along the bottom of the firewall towards the front torsion bar mountings.


Next I removed the foam rubber rear spoiler, its steel internal mountings thoroughly rusted, and revealing a number of holes in the rear hatch the biggest about 30mm across. though some are close to the rear window trim which might be difficult, really don't want to have to remove the rear glass to repair those. Thankfully the lower window trim seems to have some movement so it isn't bonded in firmly with the rear glass, even if it is beneath it, so hopefully I may be able to pop off the moldings end caps and slide it across and out from beneath the glass to clean up the area better. No pictures since it started to rain.
Thoroughly.

[79cord]

The morning revealed water was getting into the car from a number of locations, both front corners and the tail-lamp seals.

I cleaned the leaves & muck from the water channel above the rear hatch and removed the rear rubber trim retaining the edge of the headlining... revealing dried leaves above inside the roof!

How long has this thing been without its sunroof edge seal? Not a good sign.


And the water in the rear wheelwell suggested I'd better remove the rear interior trims & give things a clean & investigation.

Had to try out the rear seat first though... It's significantly worse than that of the 2nd gen CR-X, much narrower & with even less headroom.

Anyway here's the rear wheelwell, complete with gravel & detritus :


Amazingly it is actually very good with no apparent holes found yet, even if I am a little worried about an area of the rear weld flange.

The rear sunroof drain tubes upon the sides were a mess though, filled with crud, since although of a reasonably large diameter they end in a small rubber end piece to exit the body (behind the rear bumper at both corners), restricting their flow.

Time to remove the rear bumper.


You can see the rear drain tube here in the middle of the panel, with plenty of rust around it from clogging so the water instead flows about inside the car. The right side was slightly better, but still a mess.

A bit of picking revealed the rear wheelarch has also been fillered & painted before, so there are more holes there too, though not completely hideous. Yet.

Time for the front panels next.



Light weight Japanese front bumper mountings, quite second hand. The bumper, if original, suggesting it had been manufactured November 1986

The plastic front guards really disintegrating as I removed them, fractured in many locations.
The rusty sludge filled coolant overflow reservoir suggests I might want to order a new waterpump & timing belt given the state my Integras waterpump had been in through lack of proper coolant. Come to think of it @ 240,000km it might be due for a clutch like the Integra too.

Thankfully the right side revealed no surprises, very nice.

Wish the same could be said for the left side.

Another shot of the left door post & jacking point

The front sunroof drain tube visible higher up, keep these clean!

Because this was obviously also clogged and water was finding other ways... just above it.


So more rust in a highly undesirable location, including above the front door hinge.

Definitely a dash out & door off proposition..

Overall it is still not horrific by some standards.. but highly demoralizing when you hope to repair it and already have a shed full of other projects.

Now I better figure out some way to get this project under cover before it dissolves further!

I am divided on facelift vs post facelift. Prefer earlier interior door trims, thin side trims & overall frt bumper grille shape.
Prefer later side skirts & lower edge of rear bumper. Later is more likely to get DOHC engine though!
Hoping to get some of the early interior trims & handles to try out.
All a bit silly though until I can do something about the rust.

[AccordB20A]

its not too bad at this point. still saveable (Y)

[2ndGenGuy]

Wow, that's scary to me, but yeah, I've seen some of the work you can do, and I know you can get it done! It's a sweet car, and a worthy project!

[79cord]

Yep definitely scary, both sill & frt floor are triple layered at the corner for strength & torsion bar reinforcements to complicate matters so I will have to check them all. These cars do rust!... & rare here to make body & trim parts more difficult... Meanwhile I'm avoiding engine & de-rusting of '81 Prelude & paint of Integra. Need a new shed too.
Keep dreaming & struggle on.

[79cord]

For optimism here's a slightly cleaner interior picture with some seats a friend offered to me (covers repaired previously, though a bit too grey for my liking), early ctr console without under-dash clutter & a much nicer, but perhaps silly 'carbon' g/stick knob I couldn't resist buying for it.

Then I pulled them & carpet all out again to find another little rust hole at rear seam of the floor behind drivers seat!

[Dr_Snooz]

Lots of work there, but a good project.