In 2019, I was in need of a car. Having had mostly Honda’s over the course of my life, I decided I needed a Honda, and, as I would be doing any repairs myself, one that was dead simple, and fun. So when I began looking for 4th generation civics. And I cam across this 1990 CRX HF, for $800. The HF is a cool model, because it was the first Honda to be built with weight reduction before Type-R’s (though this was for fuel economy) and it used a very odd, 8-valve engine, that produced all of this power before 3k rpm, in contrast to most Honda engines peaking around 4.5k rpm. A Carfax said the car lived in California till the 2000s, then came to Virginia, and accordingly, was rust-free. The guy I was buying it from, was hyper-miing it, and was extending it’s normal 50mpg economy, to over 70+ mpg. Unfortunately, he did this by caulking all the seams, covering the wheels, adding odd electrical connections (like a pair of jumper cables tied together in place of the glovebox!!) and gutting the interior. Fortunately, he included the interior.

First Fixes

The first thing i began to tackle with the car, was the suspension. The car would squeak over bumps. So in went new LCA bushings, then new upper and lower control arms, ball joints, and struts. First I did the front, a few months later I did the rear. Once the suspension was sorted a bit, I began diving into the engine.

Upon first seeing inside the engine, the miles on the car became apparent. While the engine did not have sludge in it, it did have a failry darkened appearance, perhaps due to the heat that EF civic engines tend to run at, and the leaner burn of the 8-valve setup. However, things looked in order. I did find a random piece of rubber (a valve seat) floating around, and upon attempting to adjust the valve lash, realized that on of the valve stem adjusting bolts was seized. So I ordered new valve seats, and the replacement bolt, installed them, and set the valve lash to spec.

I also made a few modifications to make it more in line with me and my kid, who would be the main passenger. 1) As the AC had been removed, I added the window vent visors so we could keep the windows cracked in the rain, and 2) as my kid had a hard time with rolling down the large manual passenger window (No CRX’s came with power windows in the US) I added a power window on the passenger side. I did the by taking a regulator from a front passenger door of a EF sedan, and replacing the upper track, and the spring, with the ones from the CRX’s regulator. Then I just installed a button somewhere, right off the 12v power, and it was good to go.

With that sorted, I drove the car for the next year or so, with it being really reliable, and getting great gas mileage. I’d fix little things here and there, constantly trying to put the car back to stock from the modifications that had been made. After a point, I realized that I should probably go ahead and replace the timing belt and water pump, though they were giving no issue, I didn’t want a good engine to die, from the belt breaking.

And I’m glad I replaced it, because upon inspection, it was cracked very badly. However, there is one thing to remember with working with an older car, if you remove something, you may be in for a struggle, as things may break, and you may not be able to find a replacement. Such was the case with a lot of bolts on this car. Luckily, I had a welding machine, so I could weld on new heads and remove them. But with almost every repair, there were stuck bolts, and a lot of grinding and welding to get them out. You really should have welding capability to own a car like this.

One example of the need of welding, came when one morning I went to open the hatch, and the right hinge broke in half.

I had it rewelded in around an hour, but had I not had access to a welder, I would have had to source these hinges from a junkyard in the US, which may or may not have been available.

After bits of things, like this, I decided there were two ultimate goals I had for this car. One, to get Air Conditioning back in the car, and two, to rebuild the motor. First I started with Air Conditioning.

Air Conditioning

The car came with zero parts for the AC, so I had to source EVERYTHING. After some research, I realized that the original compressors did NOT work well with R-134, so if I wanted to run something I could charge myself, I needed to get a different compressor. Luckily, some folks online had discovered that the TRF090 compressor from the 92-93 Civic (not the 94-95) worked very well with a small modification the angle of one of the lines. And the compressor bracket would work as well, just requiring you to cut off the intergrated engine mount, flush with the body. And the belt would have to be a different belt, I think from an integra or an accord. So I ordered a compressor online, sourced the correct high and low lines from a Junkyard in North Carolina, and ordered a new condenser, new purge valve, all new new soft lines, new evaporator, and a new drier. However, when I received the Compressor, I realized that the reman job had bent the main shaft, so I returned it, and just grabbed a used one off a EG in the junkyard. After installing it all and charging, I could not however get the AC to cut on. I began to realize that the AC button on my crumbling climate control unit in the car, was broken.

So, sourced a replacement, again using the internet forums, this time from a different Honda, using the climate control system from the 91 Accord (The Civics of this time were manually operated, as the CRX and Accord had electronic controls). However, when installing the mixer from the CRX to the Accord unit, I realized the control for cold/hot would not be long enough. So I had to very crudely make a replacement control shaft, basically milling it with a drill and grinder, from an allen key.

Once that was in place, the system came to life, and my CRX had cold, R-134-based, AC.

Rear Seat

As time went on, I decided I also needed to make the car more practical for my kid, like if they wanted a friend to ride with us. This car was a 2-seater, so it wasn’t possible. However, I learned in Europe, and Japan, they came with a backseat. No legroom, per see (less than a Porsche 911 for sure), but it did have seat belts. And, as the CRX chassis were all the same, the car already had most of the bolt points for the seat, minus the lower bracket, which would need to be welded on. So I sourced a seat from Germany, and a ton of money later, I had a seat, with seat belts, and all the brackets. I had it installed in about an hour.

The downisde, is you have to replace the rear utility tray. The upside, is the car finally feels like a complete car.

Engine Rebuild

Through most of this time, the car had been burning a little bit of oil, perhaps around 1 quart per month or so of daily driving. But I noticed it starting to increase. I never had smoke in the exhaust, but it was getting annoying to always having to check the oil. So, I bought a cheap USB endoscope off Amazon, and took a look in the cylinders. What I saw was tons of carbon, and no obvious defects. So I concluded, it was probably the piston rings that needed to be replaced.

Upon removal, the head seemed ok. A bit of carbon on the valves, but ok.

The pistons however, were caked in carbon. They were also in good condition, and the bearings were in good condition too.

And upon inspection, the rings were just covered in gunk as well. So I cleaned each piston up, installed new rings…

…and put it all back together. I was very anxious on first crank to see if I misaligned anything (I re-checked multiple times) but it started fine. And after a first drive, I’d say the car had 20-30% better performance. Changing the rings and cleaning the pistons, while it took a day of my time, only cost around $40, and it was like having a brand new engine. I had no clue how much performance was lacking in the engine until I did this. If you have a high mileage car, I’d bet the results would be the same, and very noticeable. And the oil loss went away completely.

Saying Goodbye

However, once it was pretty much completely all fixed up, something became apparent. It would never really be comfortable. Long drives killed my neck, despite it having come when I purchased it, with better seats, from a 92-95 prelude. And it was loud, very loud, due to the weight savings of the EF (IE no sound deadening). The result, was while it was fun to drive, it was TOO much of an experience, much like a motorcycle, in that less, be it speed, or time, feels like more.

And so when I found myself replacing the alternator for the second time in the three years I had owned it, and having to Uber to a auto parts store, with my kid, then Uber back, because the alternator I received didn’t work, I realized I was done, and began longing for a more boring, less engaging car. So I sold it, and got a more comfortable car. (Still a Honda)

And a year and half later, I have no regrets selling it. It was fun, but definetely not up to task for my only Car. I am not the kind of person to have multiple anything, guitars, cars, etc, so anything I put time into, has to work on many fronts. I miss the gas mileage, and the smiles it would bring to folks faces when they saw it (which was A LOT!) but, its nice to drive around and not have your back killing you, or constantly be realizing things you need to fix.

So i bid it farewell, and hopefully its new owner is enjoying it now.

BANDCAMP / INSTAGRAM

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