When I was a kid, there were two cars I always wanted to own, a supercharged 1988 Toyota MR2 and a 1991 Honda CRX Si. After 7 years of searching, I finally found the CRX for me on Facebook Marketplace for $4300. I was looking for a clean red one that was unmodified and could use some TLC to take it to where I wanted it to be. After interviewing the owner, I found out it was a shell and he had been trying to restore it but he really didn't have the time or funds. The test drive revealed that mechanically it seemed solid and nothing unusual. To pass smog, I had to buy a new cat which cost me $400, but that problem wouldn't come up until a year later during the registration renewal. Every vehicle I have owned, I have customized it to my own tastes. My goal is always to keep the aesthetics but improve upon handling and do tasteful cosmetic mods. I've been down the road with spending tons of money modding cars with full engine rebuilds going for maximum power and making it unsmoggable, so that doesn't interest me anymore. My goal for this CRX was to "make it mine"while keeping it California legal as much as possible. For the first year of owning the CRX, I restored the torn seats, replaced various broken hinges and latches, replaced the head unit twice, replaced the speakers and added a subwoofer, found CRX carpets and restored them, replaced the starter motor which had been replaced previously and was overdriving upon each start up, fixed the AC, powder coated the engine valve cover, replaced the radiator and thermostat, all to make it roadworthy. I fixed the backup lights that weren't working, replaced the main relay to fix a starting issue. My mods began in the engine bay, replacing the OEM intake with a Carb Legal Injen CAI, and replacing the exhaust with a brand new Greddy Sp2 that I bought on Ebay. It was for a Civic Wagon, so it needed to be cut down and welded but otherwise fit perfectly. I changed the wheels to some Rota Grids wearing Nitto Neo Gen's, some of my favorite rubber. The CRX came with Koni Yellows on stock springs. I initially changed the springs out with Eibach lowering springs, but later decided to replace the Koni Yellows with new ones with Ground Control Coilovers.
Seats were torn like most CRX's
On my lift to replace the brake pads and rotors
First suspension mod
Difference in spring length over stock
Wiring in an alarm and door actuators
Removing dents
Nitto Neo Gens- the new wheels and tires were wider and lighter than OEM by 2lbs.
The head unit that came with the car.
I changed it to a Pioneer at first
Seats were torn like most CRX's
On my lift to replace the brake pads and rotors
First suspension mod
Difference in spring length over stock
Wiring in an alarm and door actuators
Removing dents
Nitto Neo Gens- the new wheels and tires were wider and lighter than OEM by 2lbs.
The head unit that came with the car.
I changed it to a Pioneer at first