I forgot to mention this back when I owned an s30 (240z, 260z, or 280z), but Datsun wheel lugs are threaded exactly the same as tie rods.  That means that in a pinch, you can use a lug nut to hold a tie rod on.

I wouldn’t recommend keeping them installed for long periods, as the factory castle nut has a cotter pin securing it.  I never ran into a problem with them, but I checked and re-torqued mine regularly.

Small tricks like this could save you a lot of time and effort if you ever break a component on the side of the road and need a way to limp home.

I’ve always been a big fan of simple cars that are easy for owners to maintain.  Older cars with carburettors and distributors are wonderful first cars to work on, since they don’t have any complicated electronics to work on.  A test light and timing light is all that’s needed to test the electronics for owners, and the mechanical tools you’d need really aren’t required.

I have to agree with Kenwood Tire (a local tire/repair shop) when they say that shadetree mechanics are a dying breed though.  Pretty much any vehicle made after the obd2 standard was created requires special scanners (many obd1 cars also require specialized tools).  It’s more important than ever to go with an old car to keep the tradition of working on cars by hand alive.  They’re less expensive to buy, less expensive to own/maintain, and offer a special kind of class that newer, more complicated cars can’t offer.

Back by popular demand, a wiring diagram for the obd0 b18a1 in an MPFI 88-91 CRX (that’s HF and Si, not the DX).  This should also apply to EF/ED Civics, but I’m running on memory here and don’t have a car to verify this on.

If there are any questions or corrections (as I’m sure there will be), feel free to leave them in the comments.

I’ve always been a big fan of the CRX HF as a platform to build upon.  It’s lightweight and lacks the extra luxury components from the Si, yet is outfitted with MPFI (multi-point fuel injection) instead of the CRX DX/STD’s DPFI (dual-point fuel injection).  With a little creative swapping, the CRX HF shell can be made into a lighter, more purposeful driving machine than an Si or a DX with less work.

HF Rear Brakes

The stock CRX HF brakes are small, light, easy-to-maintain brakes that suit the stock 1900-lb HF perfectly.  The stock drums do suffer from brake fade as soon as the car is driven moderately roughly, so an upgrade isn’t a bad idea.  The problem is that the trailing arms (which are the parts that your brakes bolt to) are completely different designs.

Si Rear Brakes

The CRX Si rear brakes use a stronger, heavier trailing arm to mount onto.  The whole assembly needs to be swapped for it to work on the CRX HF.

At the end of the day, this setup just makes maintenance simpler and decreases brake fade.

Installation

These images offer a look at the differences in the rear braking system setup between the CRX HF and Si.  The first notable difference is the trailing arms, the part that supports all of the bearing housing and the area that the brakes bolt to are in fact different.  The holes around the si “axle” hold the brake “plate” on, then the caliper covers that and the brake system is complete.  Also, in doing this swap, be aware that the brake lines will be vastly different.  I think the parking brake is shorter on the HF also.

Just for reference know that the lower control arms are also different.  The parts are interchangeable (you can fit SI lca’s on the HF) but the HF lca’s don’t have the hole for the rear sway arm.  If you are switching everything from an SI to HF the sway bar also wont bolt up to the body.  There are holes for it, but they are only empty holes and are not threaded..

I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked, so if you do this swap and don’t mind sharing your pictures let me know and I’ll post up more details.

I spent a lot of time researching options to control fuel delivery in my l28et for the Sinister s30 project.  Xenon’s website is a great resource overall, and answered the majority of my questions, but I had trouble finding a concise explanation as to what common fuel management choices were available.

Fuel Storage

First off, if you’re putting an l28et into your own s30, you’ll need to decide if you’re going to keep the stock fuel tank or not.  The stock tank is un-baffled, so fuel sloshes around when cornering, accelerating, or braking.  If the tank isn’t full, the fuel pickup will sometimes run dry and won’t deliver fuel to the engine.

If you don’t mind replacing the stock tank, make sure you get a baffled tank.  These essentially have doors that keep a small amount of fuel at the pickup so the fuel pump never runs dry.  Many s30 owners install baffled fuel cells, which are the ideal solution but are time-consuming and require a welder to install.

If you’re keeping the stock tank without modifying it, you’ll need two fuel pumps and a surge tank.  The surge tank is a small container (less than a gallon) that holds fuel.  The first fuel pump feeds the surge tank, and the second pump pulls fuel from the bottom of the fuel tank into the engine.  This is a simple, economical option if your stock tank is in serviceable condition.  I’ll be using an old  1.5liter fire extinguisher as my surge tank, and I’ll post up a diagram of exactly how it works later.  For now, you just get a picture of the extinguisher.

The third, more uncommon option is to fill your stock tank with a sponge-like foam.  The foam holds fuel and keeps it from sloshing.  It reduces lateral weight transfer and is relatively inexpensive, but render conventional fuel gauges useless.

The final option is to keep the stock tank but add baffles.  I can’t come up with a compelling reason to do it unless you’re really into keeping the car looking completely stock.  You’ve gotta be pretty OCD to care what the fuel tank looks like, though.

ECU

280zx-t ecu is pretty much a paperweight that uses electricity.  For most cars, it’s better to unplug the o2 sensor, which feeds information that would be absolutely critical to any other car.  The z31 ECU is pretty much plug-and-play and will improve mileage somewhat.  There are aftermarket ECUs available, such as the Wolf, which come highly recommended, but are expensive ($1000+ USD).

I came to the conclusion that the ideal solution is to install MegaSquirt, but it’s a time-consuming ordeal.  First, you’d have to decide which version of MegaSquirt to purchase.  There’s MS1, MS2, and MS3, and there are various versions of software that can be run on each.  Without getting into too many details, my recommendation is a pre-assembled MS2v3.  It’s worthwhile to purchase a relay board, a cable to connect the two, and another cable to run to the engine itself.  You’ll still have to connect all the wires to the correct sensors and inputs, but it’s a straightforward affair.  You can get away with building the whole thing for around $400 if you don’t value your time very highly and have a moderate amount of experience with soldering, but I highly recommend the pre-assembled kits.

Sensors

The most crucial sensor on for fuel delivery is the air measurement sensor.  The stock AFM (air flow meter, uses a flapper to measure air being sucked/pushed into the engine) is inferior to a MAF (Mass Air Flow sensor, measures air density/velocity), which isn’t quite as good as a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure, measures how much pressure is in the intake manifold).  MS2v3 comes with a MAP sensor built-in, and can accurately read up to 15psi of boost.

The second sensor that’s important to note is the o2 sensor.  It measures the amount of unburned oxygen that leaves the engine, and the ECU adjusts the fuel map based on what information the o2 sensor offers.  I’ve heard from several people that the stock 280zx-t ecu goes a little crazy with an o2 sensor plugged in and they recommend removing it for better performance and mileage.  It’s strange and contrary to normal logic, but it’s become common knowledge at this point.  That’s just one more reason for me to dislike the stock ECU even more.

If you’re installing megasquirt or making a major change to your engine configuration, you’ll want to borrow or buy a wideband o2 sensor.  A wideband displays just how rich or lean your fuel/air mixture is.  It’s much more useful than a traditional o2 sensor that essentially only tells you if you’re rich or lean.

The more accurate the information you’re feeding into the ECU, and the more information you’re feeding it, the more accurate it can be.  The faster and smarter the ECU, the more precise the end result will be.  There’s a big difference between accuracy and precision, but you want both, not one or the other.

Conclusion

Fuel management is where you’ll gain almost all the mileage gains on an older efi car.  There can be significant performance increases as well if you end up fine-tuning your setup and spending a respectable amount of time getting it right.

Having every conceivable tool for a project does you no good if you can’t find the one that you need. Reorganizing may seem like a huge task, but the gains from having an organized workspace far outweigh the time invested to upkeep it. This week we’re going over how to clean out your garage, then organize it:

Clean out your garage

By clean out, I mean get everything outside. Put it all in the yard, or in your driveway if you have one, or go through this one bay at a time (putting clutter from one side to the other, working on one at a time). Once the garage is bare, start by sweeping the floors, clean the cobwebs from the corners, and you may even want to paint the walls. Any broken cabinets or shelves should be removed, and you’ll want to start from a good, clean slate here. Keep only fixtures that you intend to make use of.

Remove excess junk

Everyone has extra stuff lying around the garage. Anything that’s of value should have its picture taken and put into a box to be sold on ebay or craigslist as soon as possible.

Now that your garage (or bay) is empty, break everything down into three piles:

Excess:

Maybe you have half a broom that could still be considered useful but you have a better one. Old gaskets, broken manifolds, old spraypaint, old oil, and anything else that isn’t likely to be needed can be thrown away. A good rule of thumb is If you haven’t used it in a month, put it in storage. If you haven’t used it in 6 months, get rid of it.

Storage:

All those Christmas decorations, tool receipts, and once-a-year tools (most gardening tools are hopelessly underused) can go into storage. If you don’t have a storage area set up, it’s probably a good idea to get some big cabinets or even a shed to put this stuff in. If it isn’t absolutely necessary to have in your workarea, it should be out of the way. Cabinets are nice because they keep contents readily accessible but tend not to be in the way, and their contents are less likely to overflow into your workarea.

Workarea:

Figure out exactly what you plan to accomplish in this workarea, and limit the possessions you keep to what you’re planning to do in the space. Eliminate or pack away everything else. Personally, I need:

• Hand tools
  • Metric wrench and socket sets (Hondas and Datsun body)
  • Multiple ratchets (3/8″ and 1/2″ drive)
• Shop manuals (a small bookshelf should be plenty for this)
• Air compressor (and a small shelf for air tools and the hose)
• Low-profile Jack
• Safety equipment
  • 4 Jackstands (if they aren’t easily accessible, you’re more likely to try to skip them… safety first!)
  • Safety goggles (you’ll use them much more if they’re on-hand)
  • Mechanix gloves (some people prefer disposable gloves)
• Paper towel rack with shop towels (I don’t really care for shop rags, I like prefer shop towels)
• Oil drain pan (if something springs a leak, you don’t want it to make a mess… always have a clean drain pan on hand)
• Gojo hand cleaner (or whatever brand you prefer)
• Sprayables shelf
  • WD-40
  • PB Blaster
  • Touch-up spraypaint (this is when I really appreciate having a flat black car)
• Fluids shelf
  • 10w-30 (It’s the most universal of oils, I promise you’ll use it!)
  • Grease

Once you’ve established what you actually want in your garage, you’ll need to figure out how to keep it on hand without having it constantly in your way.  I have a few suggestions on cheap ways to organize your shop:

Wrench and Socket Holders

Many times, wrench sets and socket sets come with plastic ‘cases’ that just don’t cut it.  You may want to keep one of these sets under your driver’s seat, but in most cases I suggest ditching the locking case.

Hansen Global Regular and Deep Socket Tray – 3/8in. Standard

Final Pass

The main goal is to have everyday tools readily available, and everything else in accessible storage.  Clear plastic boxes and labels will save time and frustration in the future.  I’ve found that a big box to throw miscellaneous nuts and bolts into comes in very handy, especially for keeping the floor clean and uncluttered.  When you inevitably need some generic bolt to secure something in the future, you can just dig through your bolts bin rather than going to the hardware store.

I haven’t finished cleaning my garage, and I’m not convinced it’ll actually look much more organized when I finish it, so if you have a before and after shot of your garage cleaning, let me know!

Tales are told around the campfire on moonless nights about the CRX’s dreaded bitch pin. If you haven’t heard of this terrible monster before, gather ’round and I’ll tell you about it.

There will come a day when you find that your engine must come out of your car, and while your breaker bar will get those motor mounts, and your old rotting rubber hoses can be cut and replaced, the bitch pin is there to stay. Every swap is fraught with danger, but none so great as the bitch pin. It’s an impossible hydra-like beast, meaning every time you hit it it gets stronger and embeds itself further. You may find that perfect punch and a big mini-sledge, but the bitch pin still refuses to move. Never fear, though! This bitch pin has a great weakness to be exploited.

After I had already screwed my bitch pin into a pulp of metal that refused  to move, I looked around on the internet to find that everybody else just whacked it with a hammer.  Eventually it’ll come out, right?

Wrong. Actually, using physics for dynamic pressure and using only enough force to move it is the key. Experimenting with a c-clamp and a wooden dowel yielded positive results, but I came across a better way. This article gives nice pictures and a good walkthrough of what needs to be done:

bitch pin removal

Add this “bitch pin removal kit” to the budget of any swap you tackle.

1. C-clamp
2. sockets (deep and shallow) that fit the bitch pin inside
3. small drill bit set (for putting pressure on the bitch pin itself)

There’s definitely a science to it, but hopefully this will help you work that thing out.

DISCLAIMER:

All images are exactly to 1:1 scale, there is no deviation in any of these parts from their real-life counterparts.  I spent months drawing these extremely accurate models, so please point out anything that might be considered even slightly different from factory specifications.  Also, I’m colorblind.  The color scheme is pretty much just so you can tell the different parts from each other.

Since I got so many questions about my l28ett design, I decided I’d write up the basics of how this will work.  Bear in mind, this is different from a standard twin turbo setup, or a sequential turbo setup.  I started writing it up, then quickly decided that words just aren’t adequate to describe this and broke out a pencil and some paper.  I drew up how it would all work, then realized that was just as confusing as words, so I sat down in front of my drawing tablet and I’m gonna walk you through it now.

Base design concerns

Here’s an l28et block and head.  It has 6 cylinders inline with each other (instead of assembled in a v with 3 on each side), and 12 valves (meaning 12 ports).  The 6 holes on top of the head are intake ports, the 6 on the bottom are exhaust.  I was a little creative with the valve cover, and it’s decidedly not to scale, but I don’t really care.  I’m explaining something here, not re-engineering an engine.  This engine is a little abnormal because the status quo of engines is known as ‘crossflow’ meaning that air goes in one side and out the other.  Crossflow designs make turbochargers a little more complex to route, but that’s a solved problem and we aren’t going to worry about comparing the two.  Just understand that the intake and exhaust are on one side of the engine, and the spark plugs are on the other.

Exhaust

Tube steel is the best choice for exhaust routing, since it can withstand heat, is relatively easy to work with (the term is called welding) and doesn’t cost a whole lot.  A mild steel manifold will most likely cost around $100-$150 in supplies for a hobbyist like myself, and makes the front end of the car significantly lighter and also allows exhaust to be routed in an efficient way.  I’m basically taking the front three exhaust ports and collecting them into one, which feeds one turbocharger, and collecting the rear three ports to feed the other turbocharger.  The collectors also have a tube that runs between them, with my wastegate in the middle of that tube.  Let’s explore the wastegate idea a little more, it’s the most important part of any turbocharging setup and often gets ignored.

Wastegate

A wastegate is simply a pneumatic valve that opens to let exhaust gases through.  It’s engaged by air pressure, which is available as soon as the turbochargers start to spin.  When the turbochargers have enough air in the compression turbine side, the wastegate opens allowing exhaust to bypass the turbochargers, and they are no longer powered (exhaust gas is what spins turbochargers).  Without a wastegate, turbochargers would spin out of control and some part(s) of your engine would just explode under the air pressure.

When my wastegate opens, exhaust gas from both halves of the exhaust will be allowed to escape, rather than having to push the turbocharger around before going out the back of the engine.  This allows me to control the air pressure going into my engine, and the cross-pipe keeps both turbos relatively in sync.

Turbos

Normally, both turbochargers would pull air from the front of the engine.  My engine bay is long enough that I can pull air from the rear with the rear turbo, and from the front with the front turbo, and the exhausts of each can merge efficiently and seamlessly between each other.

This is also where the non-crossflow design comes into play.  Instead of having lots of bends and ductwork to get my compressed air to go into the intake manifold, my compressed air points straight up.  If only an intake manifold existed that could take advantage of that…

Intake manifold

I’ll just have to make an intake manifold.  All I need to do is make a plenum, then 6 runners that point toward the ports of the engine, and cut two holes in the bottom of the plenum.  50mm and 60mm throttle bodies are readily available, so I can use two: one for each turbocharger outlet.

This provides instant throttle response.  Turbo lag is slightly present, but pressing on the gas pedal will give a jolt like no other turbocharged vehicle is capable of.

Fuel delivery

Delivering fuel to this is as easy as drilling the correct holes for an injector at each intake port of the engine, then installing a fuel injector there.  I have a great set of injectors from osidetiger, and pallnet has excellent fuel rails available, so this would be a simple process.  However, the stock Nissan electronic control unit would be completely confused by this setup (don’t tell anyone, but it’s confused by pretty much any setup, including the stock setup from the factory).  Megasquirt is a great alternative for controlling fuel electronics and newer versions can control boost levels, so I’d go with that.

Design problems

There are some notable issues that I can see, just looking at this design.  The one that really matters is heat.  A turbocharger generates quite a bit of heat, and throws out compressed, heated air.  Two turbos do … double that.  Normally, a turbocharger is routed into an intercooler (like a radiator, but for cooling air instead of radiator fluid).  This design has no room for an intercooler, so it throws a lot of hot air into the engine (that’s bad).

The proximity of exhaust and intake is always an issue, and that’s compounded even more when there are two turbochargers stuffed directly under the intake manifold.  There isn’t a whole lot that can be done about this.

The main problem with all this heat is called “detonation“.  Detonation occurs when your air and fuel mixture is hot enough that it explodes too early.  If this happens a few times, it’s nothing to worry about, but if it happens as a regular part of driving, you won’t be driving very regularly at all.  To combat detonation, you can add extra fuel to the intake mixture, which is called ‘enrichening the circuit’.  It’s not very efficient, but helps cool down the inside of the engine.

Another option is to run coolant through the intake manifold.  This is a significant amount of work, so I’d suggest settling for the next best thing: running coolant through the throttle body.  The 240sx has a 60mm throttle body that’s perfect for this application, and has coolant lines installed on it from the factory.  Both these techniques will go a long way toward preventing detonation, but let’s take it a step further.

Higher octane fuels are resistant to detonation.  That’s their only advantage.  They don’t make your car faster or burn cleaner or make the car gods love you any more than they already do.  It’s not a bad idea to run higher octane fuels on any high-compression or turbocharged engine.  It costs a bit extra, but if you’re reading about making an exhaust manifold and intake manifold for your two turbochargers… you’d be willing to spend a little extra here and there.

Adding water or a form of alcohol (nitrous oxide or methanol are two popular examples) before the fuel is mixed in will enrich the circuit and drastically reduce detonation.  If you end up going this route, add another injector or two between the throttle bodies and set up megasquirt so they fire alcohol into the compressed air whenever a ‘knock sensor’ is triggered.  You can also add a heat sensor into the intake manifold for this.

One more way to reduce detonation caused by excess heat is to reduce boost.  Opening the wastegate will immediately drop pressure and power in the engine, and will stop the increase in temperatures, but won’t do anything to cool down the engine if it’s already in a dangerous state.  This is best used as a preventative measure, so reduce boost BEFORE your combustion temperatures are excessively high.

The final, and most important thing you can do to prevent detonation is to minimize ‘heat soak’.  The hot air in your exhaust and turbos generates a lot of heat, and that heat wafts up to your intake manifold, making the gases inside even hotter.  An aluminum plate with a fire blanket or another type of insulation as a barrier between the intake and exhaust is a must.

Conclusion

I don’t see the twin turbo setup as being worth the work.  While cool, I won’t really benefit from this design.  I can push as much air into my engine as it can safely burn off with a single t3/t04e turbocharger, and it’s easier to use an intercooler with it as well.  I won’t have the instantaneous throttle response the dual-turbo setup would offer, but I think I’ll be perfectly fine driving across the country with just one turbo.  My goals are only 300hp or so, and that’s very easily attainable with a good turbocharger and an accurate fuel delivery tune.

It’s the most common caveat long-term CRX owners share: we got no love in the cupholder department. If I adjust my passenger’s seat just right, and the stars are aligned, and I never hit a bump, I can keep my Aroma Joe’s coffee cups between the ebrake handle and the seat. That doesn’t quite cut it. Another solution that doesn’t quite cut it is the armrest that came in JDM and EDM EG civics. They’re too expensive and there just aren’t enough to go around for all of us.  All sorts of other terrible attempts to screw, rubber band, or hang cupholders in a crx have cropped up, but none really fit the bill if you ask me.  Three cheap, stock-ish alternatives have cropped up that I have been able to find.

Option 1: Nissan Sentra cupholder

OZ wrote up a nice DIY on using a Sentra cupholder, but this requires cutting into your console.  It’s a moderate amount of work and can’t be undone if you decide you don’t like it or want to resell the car.  Generally speaking, custom irreversible changes aren’t worth doing if there are other options available to you.  Read on.

Option 2: Taurus SHO Cupholder/Coinholder

The Taurus SHO cupholder fits into a DIN slot, so if you don’t mind moving your stereo head somewhere else, you can fit this beastie in there for around $10. If you’re skilled with fabrication, you can cut your own DIN-sized hole and line up the bolts yourself. Also, heater controls use a DIN space, so if you don’t mind leaving your climate just the way it is you can replace that with this cupholder. Here’s how the SHO cupholder fits into a CRX dash:

Option 3: Acura Integra cupholder

Lastly, the 94+ Integra cupholder fits toward the bottom of your center console. This is a clean replacement for the cigarette lighter and ashtray, stays tasteful, and is common/cheap enough for me to recommend.

I’ve ordered one of these to replace my current Taurus SHO cupholder, it fit pretty well.  You need to be aware of where your fingers are when shifting into third, though. For further research, check out honda-tech’s forum thread here. If you have any alternative ideas for cupholders in your CRX, leave a comment below!  If you’ve already installed one, send in an email with some pictures  and I’ll feature your car.

Inside your engine, dead dinosaurs (or synthetic dead dinosaurs) get pushed around by modern machinery.  The sloppy mix called oil makes sure none of the carefully crafted pieces of metal grind against each other and keeps efficiency much higher than would otherwise be possible.  While dinosaur fossils tell us about the time the dinosaurs were alive, used motor oil tells us about the time it spent inside the engine.

Blackstone Labs can definitively test your oil and tell you exactly what’s wearing, how fast, and whether or not your engine actually needs the “standard” 3,000-mile prescription of an oil change.  You’ll only get a report since the last oil change, but it’s an inexpensive way to learn a lot about how your car has been driving for that time.  Their standard oil analysis only costs $22.50 (as of this writing) and will tell you all the bare essentials you could want to know.

All you have to do is collect some of your old oil (bear in mind, this can be transmission, differential, or engine oil) in a sealed glass container at your next oil change and send it in to them.  While I haven’t tried this myself, I’m intrigued as to the results.  Have you had your oil analyzed before, and was it actually a useful endeavor?

Battery indicator light

Your electrical system is only as strong as the weakest link, so keep those terminals clean! They’re the most likely part of the electrical system to corrode, so pick up a terminal cleaner and hit them monthly (at least). Even if you don’t see anything wrong, corrosion is building up.

A good fix to ward off corrosion temporarily is to smear the terminals with petroleum jelly (vasaline). it will slow the corrosion process down and still maintain a good connection so your car will start consistently.

Whether your ideal meetup is a whole-day BBQ event, a car show that lasts a weekend, a massive get-together on the salt flats, or just a cup of coffee with a few other gearheads, a little planning goes a long way.  I’ve hosted a few meetups in my time, and some were definitely more successful than others.  Here’s what I’ve learned works from my first-hand experience in building an automotive community.

Food

Everyone likes to have something to consume when they’re socializing, so it’s a good idea to either provide food and drinks or locate the meet near a restaurant.

Entertainment

Some car people just aren’t very entertaining.  Some of us try to impress others with our vast knowledge or the numerous projects we’ve worked on before.  Others like to just stand by their car and admire it.  Some people are naturally radiant, and no matter who they’re talking to or what they’re doing, other people like being around them.  If you don’t have one or two of those people (you’ll know them when you meet them), you should bring along something to do.  Entertainment can be virtually anything, from a car movie to a live band to a frisbee or a broken car that everyone can help fix.

With a little extra planning, a competition could be set up.  Most car shows are centered around competitions, and some even offer cash prizes for various events.  These competitions can create a lot of buzz and set your event apart from others.

Scheduling

This is where most organizers get caught up.  Some people can do Saturday, other people can do Sunday, and while you’re discussing it someone else jumps in to say they can’t do weekends altogether.  It’s enough to throw your hands up in the air and give up.  Before you even mention the thought of a meet to anyone, find a generically ‘good time’ to host it.  Accept the fact that some people won’t be able to make it (no matter how accommodating you are), and try to avoid holidays and weekdays on 9-5.  Pretty much anything else is fair game, and as long as you give adequate time for people to plan it out, you can state that it’s on a particular day and that’s just the way it is.

Weather can easily make or break an event, even if there’s indoor parking available.  A warm, sunny cruise to meet up with car friends carries much more appeal than a windshield wiper test to meet some people I don’t even know.  A nice day can be the hook the drags many of us out of the house and the garage and into your meet.

Location

When choosing a location, make sure there is lots of parking, and make sure it’s visible from the meet area.  Attendees will want to show off their cars and there is a very real possibility of theft.  From a thief’s perspective, an unwatched car meet lot is like a gold mine waiting to be opened.

If you’re meeting at a diner or other food service location, give them a heads-up that you will be bringing people along and approximate the number of people you’re bringing.  They’ll really appreciate it, since it allows them to staff appropriately, and your guests will appreciate it because they won’t be waiting inordinate amounts of time for their orders.

In general, try to get support from the community ahead of time.  Invite non-car people who live in the area and you might be surprised by how many people come just to see the cars that show up.

Invite People

Now that you’ve nailed down the details of what, where, and when, you need to have a who.  Automotive forums, Facebook, meetup.com, and evite are all great places to start inviting people.  Tell all your friends about it, whether they’re car people or not.  They probably know a few non-car people as well.

Because people are generally visually-oriented, you should use a picture everywhere you advertise.  Use an image editor like the GIMP to touch up your main image and add in some text (don’t forget the title, date+time, and location, and putting a phone number in it is a good idea as well).  Your image does not need to be cars, it could be people talking and laughing or having fun.

Backup Plan

I’ve run into problems where too many people showed up, or people showed up too late, and we had to go to another location.  I had set it up in advance and made sure it was available, and everyone who was coming knew to look in the primary location, then the overflow/backup location if they wanted to join us.  Even if you don’t give out a phone number for the meet, this ensures that everyone can find your group.

Make sure your car mechanic has several different torque wrenches in his toolbox. If he does not have any torque wrenches, it may be time to find a new technician.

-Mark

I don’t own a tire machine, or a forge, or a mandrel bender, or any of the other specialized tools that shops often pay top dollar for and the average person doesn’t even need to know about.  There are two compelling reasons for everyone to find a local shop that’s trustworthy to help maintain their car:

You can’t, and you don’t want to.

Any job that requires tools you don’t have or aren’t worth investing in is worth taking in to a shop.  Just make sure the person doing the job knows what you’re looking for and why the car is being brought in, and you’ll do just fine.

For those of you who’d rather just ‘leave it to the pros’, basic regular maintenance can be outsourced to specialists.  Oil changes are tedious jobs that very few of us enjoy doing.  Taking your car into an oil service shop will save time and will often cost less than doing it yourself.  There are people who specialize in changing your oil quickly and efficiently and perform hundreds of oil changes every day.  In an ideal world, they’re getting paid to spot problems with your car before they become problems while they change your oil and recommend maintenance.  Most of the time, a car owner is impressed and happy to be aware of problems they can plan for (and possibly prevent).  It’s a good way for shops to receive repeat business and establish trust, and they lower the price of an oil change considerably (many shops actually lose money on oil changes because of this).  It works out well for everyone involved since the shop gets extra work and you get all your routine maintenance taken care of.

The trick to finding the right mechanic is talking to them and asking lots of questions.  Ask them to verify how they set their prices (it should be based on a standardized service manual price).

Even if you don’t need their services today, it’s worth having a trustworthy contact at a shop that you can call to solve problems in a timely manner.  Just visiting a shop and getting to knew some of the service personnel could tell you a lot in advance.

A good modification adds to one aspect of a car enough to offset any downside it carries with it.  There are a few upgrades that can be made with virtually no downside to them, and offer a huge performance or mileage boost without too much work.

1. Tires

camber wear

Tires are the best upgrade you can possibly make.  Tires have seen the most technological progress out of any automotive part in the past decade, and the right tires will last longer, grip better, and perform in all the weather conditions you’ll be driving in.  I’ve ordered tired from tirerack several times, and highly recommend them.

Remember, your contact patch is essentially just the width of your tires, so wider is better.  Try to keep the same outer circumference, no matter what tires you use.  Your vehicle’s suspension is set up for the stock circumference, and your speedometer is calibrated to tell you the speed based on how far you travel per rotation of the tires.  Check the tire size calculator if you’re curious as to how new tire sizes will affect your gearing and speedometer reading.

Stainless steel braided brake lines

2. Braided brake lines

Most vehicles use rubber hoses to deliver brake fluid to the brakes when you press the pedal.  Because your wheels need to move with the suspension and steering components, the lines that connect the brakes to the brake lines need to be flexible.  Unfortunately rubber hoses are flexible and stretchy so they absorb some of the pressure sent through them.  That decreases brake response and how well you can ‘feel’ the brakes working.

Braided stainless steel brake lines address this problem, providing flexible but non-stretchy lines that transfer the maximum amount of pressure you press down on the brake pedal directly to the caliper.  They are an inexpensive way to dramatically improve brake feel and response.

949 Racing's 6ul 15x9 wheels

3. Wheels

Wheels allow for bigger brakes and wider tires, which increases your traction contact patch, giving more grip in all situations.  Lighter wheels will also improve handling, acceleration, and braking.  My last CRX project was centered entirely around mounting 9″ wide 6ul wheels on it.

4. Coilovers (Springs and Struts)

Car suspension is designed to keep the car’s weight distributed as equally as possible between the 4 wheels.  Lowering your car will improve aerodynamic efficiency, decrease drag, and improve mileage.

Be cautious lowering your car because driving on public roads still requires ground clearance to avoid bottoming out and damaging any number of components.  Tires can also rub against the inside of the fender when going over bumps or turning very hard, and camber changes can cause improper tire wear.  Coilovers generally suggest a “kit” of springs and struts (hydraulic shock absorbers) and often allow ride height to be adjusted by moving the perch that holds the spring on the car up or down.

5. Seats

Performance bucket seats grip you more firmly and keep you from having to brace yourself while cornering hard.  They hold you right where you belong: behind the wheel.  I consider them to be a safety improvement, as well as a psychological performance improvement.  You’ll certainly feel more in control with race seats than with an old bench seat that doesn’t hold you in place at all.

6. Camshaft

An aggressive camshaft can dramatically increase your engine’s performance.  It causes the valves to open wider and and stay open longer, providing the engine with more fuel and air to burn off.

The downside is that camshafts almost always decrease mileage, and in some cases change the power curve.  New camshafts may only increase power output in certain RPM ranges (v8 camshafts commonly increase 3,000rpm-6,000rpm power, while l4 camshafts focus on 6,000rpm to 10,000 rpm output).

7. LSD

Differentials connect your transmission to the axle(s) of the vehicle, and some will limit the the speed of one wheel if it does not match the corresponding wheel on the other side.  This helps prevent a loss of traction on one wheel when accelerating (and in some cases, an LSD will assist with braking as well) and lets you maximize the traction you have available (see tires, above).

8. Gutting

Personally, I love hearing the road, my tires, my exhaust, and all the little wiggles and wobbles created when driving.  Carpets and sound-deadening have no place on my vehicles, and are actually fairly heavy.  Removing or replacing anything extraneous (such as a can of fix-a-flat instead of a 50-lb spare tire) will improve mileage, acceleration, braking, and handling.

9. Body Panels

Most cars have more weight in the front, which throws off its balance and changes handling characteristics.  Ideally, a car should be as close to 50/50 weight from front to rear as possible.  A fiberglass or carbon fiber hood may drop 50lbs from the front of the vehicle, and fenders will help as well.

10. Lighting

Adjusting headlights and foglights to point exactly where they belong will increase your visibility and keep you from blinding oncoming drivers with your headlights.  Brighter headlights will further increase visibility, and lighter composite buckets are lighter than steel headlight buckets, making the car less front-heavy.

I finally have all of my front suspension bolted up in a ready-to-drive setup.  The s30 is growing closer and closer to being streetworthy every day. I have the front brakes and brake lines completely connected (they still need to be bled, though) and I finished installing the springs on both sides.  This was way more work than I had initially anticipated because of all the rusty, frozen bolts, and because one of the strut tower bolts spun freely.  I went through a few cans of PB Blaster and ended up cutting the troublesome strut tower bolt and nut in half vertically so it would break free.

Now that my car is the only car in my garage (the 1982 280zx-t donor car and 1963 Ford Falcon have gone back to their respective owners), I put the car up on jack stands and started rooting around in the front suspension’s guts.

Wheel studs

I started from the outside, and worked my way in.  The original studs were falling apart and the threads were all fouled, so a new set was ordered and installed on the fronts.  They were an inexpensive part that gives me way more confidence in the vehicle over-all.

Springs

The springs I installed are about 3″ shorter than the stock springs, but I don’t know where the ride height will settle down to.  For now, the front end isn’t any lower than stock (these springs are shorter but stiffer, so they compress less under the weight of the car.  Hopefully it’ll end up slightly lower than before, so the wheels fill the wheelwells a bit more.

Brakes

The brake upgrade improves performance as well as ease of maintenance, since I can see how much material is left on the pad without removing the calipers.  It may not seem like a big difference, but inconveniences add up pretty quickly and can provide great excuses to skip scheduled maintenance.  Simpler and easier to access parts are universally better.  The braided stainless steel lines provide better road feedback and brake response, and since this car is being built for driveability that’s a huge bonus.

To-Do List

I still need to have my new tires mounted on my wheels, and would like to replace the worn old rubber bushings before I take it on the street.  The plan for next week is to revamp the rear suspension and start prepping my floors for replacement and seat rails.  There’s still a lot of work to be done, but as long as I attack each problem separately it’ll be finished and on the road in no time.

Has anyone removed sticky rear drums before?  I’m having a very difficult time of removing my drums and getting to the suspension’s guts back there.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Let’s face it, most cars make terrible daily drivers if their factory specs are left alone.  Mushy suspension, bargain-quality tires, overcomplicated interiors, and extra weight all tend to ruin the daily driving experience.  Here’s a short list of the top 5 ways to completely ruin an otherwise serviceable Daily Driver.

1.  Donk it.

You’ve all seen them.  $10,000 24″ wheels on a $500 Cavalier that had to be raised to give enough wheelwell clearance to fit them.  Most modifications to cars emulate a performance enhancement (if only in appearance), and I don’t care enough to look into the history of the scraper, so I don’t know where this strange modification originated.  I’m not sure why scrapers are seen as a good thing in some cultures, but then again… some people juggle geese!

2.  Stretch it

Stretched tires have become something of a fad.  From what I can tell, they can be traced back to other countries who only allow certain tire widths so drivers install the widest tires they can on the widest wheels they can to flatten the contact patch as much as possible.  In that context, it makes sense to stretch your tires a small amount but it’s still a dangerous practice to get into.  There are a lot of reasons tire manufacturers have recommended wheel widths, and if anybody knows tires it’s the companies that spend millions on R&D to make the best products they can.  Have a little faith in their recommendations, they know what they’re talking about.  For more information on what size tires you should run, tire rack has excellent advice:

Tire Rack Tech

3.  Slam it

Cars are meant to have ground clearance.  I’m a strong supporter of slightly lower, more precisely tuned suspension but there is such a thing as taking it too far.  Unless you’re riding on an adjustable suspension, your car’s chassis should never be able to touch the ground (including bumps and potholes that it regularly sees on public roads).  Sure, it may look cool when it’s parked in the lot, but a daily driver is built to be driven not to be parked.

4.  Slap it

I’m more of an audiophile than most, but I always end up with a confused expression  when I hear car alarms start going off four blocks away and feel the bass.  I can only imagine what those 8 15″ subwoofers feel like inside the tinny little Scion xB, and it’s almost like imagining what Chinese Water Torture is like.  The more power your sound system is drawing, the more powerful your alternator needs to be to drive it, and the more power it draws from your engine.  That’s performance, mpg, and your hearing that you’re sending out, not thuggin’ beats.  Everyone outside the car just thinks you’re an idiot, and everyone inside the car wonders how long they’ll be able to go before they go deaf.

5. Gadgetize it

Your car is a mode of transportation.  It carries you from A to B, and sometimes carries cargo an (if you’re not American) even carries other people sometimes.  You don’t need a blender, a coffee maker, a wireless card, or any of the other gadgets that seem to be commonplace these days.  I even consider speakers and a stereo to be optional.  Keep it minimal and clean, you really only need a GPS and a sound system of some sort.

The d16z6 and d16y8 amount to the same gains.  Both are economical single-cam true-vtec engines.  Both are common in salvage yards, available in 1992–2000 Civic EX and Si’s, and some models of Del Sol.  Power output is roughly 130hp for each model, but a frankenstein of the two is reputed to work best.  The d16z6 has a better-flowing head and the d16y8 has a better-flowing intake manifold, so putting the two together on top of any d16 block will yield some power gains.

The most notable difference between the two is the onboard diagnostics.  The d16z6 is an obd1 engine, while the d16y8 is an obd2 engine.  Both can be converted to obd0 easily enough, or your wiring harness can be converted to obd1 (obd2 is not recommended for engine tuning other than specific applications). During the wiring harness conversion, the vtec solenoid should be wired into the ECU (automatic ECUs are particularly useful for this modification).

Availability of parts and relative ease of engine installation make both these engines excellent candidates for any CRX.

From time to time, I receive emails asking for help and I generally send an email back to the original sender and consider the matter closed.  Sometimes, these answers to these questions are general enough that others could benefit from seeing the answers, so I’m starting a Reader Mailbag section of the site.  Send in your questions and I’ll publish any questions that could help others.

My name is Eric, I’m Bam’s friend he told you about with the CRX? Anyway, here is the trouble I’m having.  I have a 91 CRX HF shell, that bam had previously swapped the guts into off of his old 91 Si.  When I got the car it had a pretty much dead motor, the car still ran, but it had no compression, so I swapped the motor.  The motor I ended up with is a D15b6 out of a 91 HF.  So the motors in there, and has the correct motor harness, PM8 ECU, connected to the Si’s dash wiring.  Here’s the catch, everything works, except I’m not getting spark?  I have fuel, I have compression, but not spark.  Plugs are new, I’ve tried swapping dizzy’s, ECU’s and checked connections, and can’t seem to find a problem? and am at a loss as to where to look next?  Any help or insight you could give me would be awesome.

Well Eric, there are a few causes that you can check for.  I would go about this by process of elimination.  Systematically eliminate problems in the chain, one component at a time.  Start from the end result and work back until you find the source of the problem.

1. Spark plugs — Inline spark testers are inexpensive and work well, but you can also test them the old-fashioned way.  Unscrew the plug from the engine and put the diode (the end that would go inside the engine) close to bare metal and crank the engine.  If a spark jumps from the diode to the bare metal, the plug is functioning correctly.
2. Spark plug wires — Test spark plug wires with a multimeter or a test light.  Plug one end into a power source and the other end into a test light.  If the light doesn’t turn on you can be relatively sure that the cable is bad and should be replaced.
3. Distributor — The most common malfunction with distributors is a worn cap and rotor, which will prevent spark plugs from receiving electricity that would allow it to create a spark.  It’s also a good idea to make sure your distributor timing is correct (check with your manual) using a timing light (available at most local automotive stores).
4. Ignition Coil — An ignition coil is essentially a capacitor which stores electricity and powers the spark plugs (the distributor just controls when the coil and a spark plug are connected, the coil is the power source).  Most Hondas (including your CRX) use an internal coil, meaning the coil and distributor are one unit.  Since you’ve replaced the distributor (and I’m assuming you tested it to make sure it worked in another car, or bought a remanufactured one that had been tested), you should be in the clear on both the coil and distributor.
5. Fuses — Check the fuse box under the dash, on the driver’s side.  There should be a fuse labeled ‘ignition’.  Is it blown?
6. Relays — Relays are a great idea to put in cars, until you have to start troubleshooting.  The main relay on obd0 cars are notorious for dying on all Hondas, and are generally in terrible locations (close to the fuse box under the driver’s side dash).  There’s a good writeup on tegger.com that discusses them.
7. ECU — Since you’ve already swapped the ECU for another pm8, this is probably not the problem.  Double-check to see if the ECU is throwing any codes (a blinking light on the ECU itself is a good indication).
8. Wiring — If you check everything above, the wiring harness or connectors are most likely at fault.  Since so many CRX owners upgrade to obd1 (or even obd2 in some cases) wiring harnesses are inexpensive online and you should be able to get a replacement without breaking the bank.

I definitely want to know how this turns out, so be sure to update me directly or on the forum (link below).  I hope to hear that this is sorted out and your HF is purring like a kitten soon!

Late last night I finished rewiring the injectors I bought from odistiger, replacing the cracked old connectors with fresh new ones, soldering them in, and heat-shrinking the connections.  I also took a closer look at the wiring harness, and have to wonder what the hell Nissan was thinking.  There are butt-connected wires for the + side of all the injectors, and it’s just a messy hack-job that’s a sorry excuse for wiring under the factory heatshrink.  I’m going to have to clean it up a bit, but there’s really only so much that I can actually fix in there.  The wiring harness is simple and straightforward though, so I may just rewire it from scratch using the stock end connectors.

I excitedly started attaching my injectors to the intake manifold, hopeful that I’d get to hear the engine turn on its own power.  Each injector has a mounting adapter and two screws that hold it onto the intake manifold, and ensure a tight connection.  You can clearly see properly mounted fuel injectors on my intake manifold in the picture to the right.  On my intake manifold, one of the screws had been torn out of the intake manifold at some point, ripping the threads out with it.  I filled the hole with jbweld and will re-tap it as soon as I get my hands on a tap kit.  Until then, I only have 5 injectors and can’t hear the engine fire.

I’ll be sure to get some more pictures of the final setup once the jbweld hardens.

The first-gen (1984–1987) CRX was a very different beast than the more common 2nd-gen (1988–1991) CRX. There were more engines to choose from, each one less stimulating than the last. With more current generations of Hondas, this isn’t a problem. It simply means that you swap in another motor and create a ”hybrid” CRX. As the CRX model was refined, a new generation emerged in 1988 and nearly everything engine/drivetrain-related changed. Anyone behind that missed much of the tuner movement, and information became scarce because the more lucrative second-gen CRX was so easy to attain. There is hope for those who own a first-gen, though! You can update your whole platform to the newer generation, allowing b-series swaps, updated brake systems, and all SORTS of other goodies. Just putting in a d16a6 from a second-gen CRX Si will net you between 25%-50% more power!

You’re probably chomping at the bit to get your hands greasy, but there is quite a lot of work to be done.

Physical Fitment

As far as fitting the engine in goes, you’re going to have to start with new motor mounts. You can purchase motor mounts from hasport for your particular engine, you may also need to take a big heavy hammer to some parts of the engine bay (this depends on the specific mounts and motor you’re using, there is no catch-all explanation for what to smash up).

Carburetor to Fuel Injection

Since the first-gen CRX was the end of carbureted Civics, you’re going to have to cross over to fuel injection. The most difficult part of this is included with your new motor in the form of a fuel rail and injectors. You’ll need new engine management and wiring, so make sure wherever you source the engine from sends you a full body wiring harness. The easiest way about this is to get everything from headlights to tail lights, and the clip-on engine wires that come with the particular engine. A 2nd gen CRX Si is considered the industry standard for this, and that’s what I suggest. A d16a6 wiring harness will fit any d-series or b-series obd0 fuel-injected Honda motor out there. The only thing lacking is a wire for vtec, but that’s a relatively simple addition if you decide to install a vtec-equipped motor.

Assuming your EW motor was carbed, you’ll also need to install a fuel pump and pressurized fuel lines to get fuel to your new injectors. While it’s possible to run a dual-carb setup on a modern d-series motor, that’s well beyond the scope of this article and I’ll have no part of that. I like carbs on my motorcycle, not on my car. An inline pump and new pressurized fuel lines should do the trick nicely, if used with stock injectors.

After you’ve installed the motor, you’ll have to go through the laborious process of installing your wiring harness. A cable snake is a great tool to own or rent for this process, but you can get by with some string and a metal coat-hanger.

Now that you’re armed with information, you’re going to need to get some parts together. Here’s a basic list that you can fill in the blanks for:

1. Engine
   1. Block (d16a6 is suggested, but any d-series will do)
   2. Head (d16a6 or d16zc is suggested)
2. Transmission
   1. MANUAL transmission for a manual chassis
   2. axles should correspond to the motor you’re using
3. Shift Linkage (you’ll have to fabricate this or order from hasport)
4. ECU (should match the engine head you’re using)
5. Wiring Harness
   1. should include a map sensor for the ecu you’re using
6. Motor Mounts
7. Fuel chain
   1. pump
   2. pressurized lines
   3. fuel rail
   4. injectors

The crew over at redpepperracing is dedicated to all the first-gen types, and can be a huge help when trying to catch up to the more recent generation and beyond. A walkthrough specific to mashing a b16 into a 1st-gen CRX is up on fondahonda’s site. b16 swap also contains useful information for your swap needs. Corey’s swap site also holds a lot of good first-gen info.