Buyers Guide on RedPepperRacing.com
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"Body-
Unless you live in a dry climate, you’ll find that nearly all Civic CRXs have some body rust. Brian Baker, Honda specialist and proprietor of Formula H Motorworks in Middletown, New York, shares his experience with these buying tips;
“The areas of concern are predominantly under the car. It’s not something you often say about a modern car, but the floors have a tendency to rust out. Although CRXs have a monocoque design, there are box stiffeners that run down the floors, and bolted into them are the torsion bars. These rust, and it’s a big deal- when cornering, torsional forces can literally rip the bars out if rust is bad enough. It’s also important to check for rust at the jacking points. Although it’s more cosmetic than structural, the rear quarter panels around the fender wells also rust. We’ve even seen gas tanks rust on top, and people will smell the fumes.” Replacement body panels, including the plastic front components, are still available.
Interior-
Much of the sporting nature of the CRX Si comes from its two-seat interior, whose thoughtful ergonomics make it a pleasant place to rack up the miles. The supportive cloth-upholstered seats do wear, though, and finding replacement parts can be tough; “In the normal course of getting in and out, the side bolsters wear,” Brian explains. “According to my parts catalog, each seat is broken down into four parts, and depending on the year and upholstery color [blue, black or off-black], some components- cushion assemblies, seatbelts, covers- are still available; availability seems to be about 75-percent.” Scott notes that the door panel design changed for 1986, so if you have to search for a replacement from a used parts specialist, be sure to specify the year. He also points out that contemporary Prelude or Acura Integra seats can bolt in the existing mounting holes, but if taller than the standard seats, they may reduce headroom.
Engine-
“Very uncharacteristic of Honda, the carbureted non-Si engines had a horrible propensity for blowing head gaskets,” Brian recalls, “but the Si didn’t have a CVCC engine, so it had a different head, and didn’t suffer from that problem. The Si engine’s only weakness is oil consumption at extended mileage, if previous owners weren’t good about keeping the oil changed. Hard carbon can build up around the piston oil control rings and prevent them from exerting pressure to scrape oil away. The engine will burn this oil, even though you won’t see it…"
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