Buying an older Japanese car.....

[takemorepills]

I'm looking for opinions...

I have a chance to buy a clean, all original 1990 CRX Si for a fairly good price.
However, I am hesitant.
Hesitations:
- theft magnet. this problem is still serious to this day.
- would need to be a fair weather car, must stay in garage.
- parts. I did look around a bit, it's not the end of the world for this car, yet, but the "Cash for Cars" thing pretty much crushed a significant reservoir of parts cars, so parts are not very plentiful...but also not completely non-existent.
- Engine & transmission, what's a CRX without a swap?! Eh...well, it's going to take a lot of work to find a period correct swap...I can not find any ZC's, a B series would be OK, but they are getting hard to find and are no longer "cheap".
- Driving it in crazy world. I would be anxious about other drivers who are high, distracted and/or uninsured. I just checked Craigslist, BaT, AT, etc for CRX comps, and there are very few CRXs for sale, meaning even if mine is insured, it'd be difficult to replace.

Why I want it:
- I remember the exact moment and day I saw my first Gen 2 CRX Si. Seared into my mind. So...
- Distraction from the Z debacle. Seriously, I think the auto market is going to be a mess for at least 2 more years.
- I love restoring cars, and I used to work on Hondas for a living and for hobby, I am already very familiar with this era of Honda, and I am totally up for it.

Those of y'all, and I know we have quite a few on here, that have vintage Japanese rides, what do you think? Should I go for it? Should I just stick with contemporary machines?

 

[jdm-rhd]

dooo it!
id still go for it if you have the skill and means.

any pics?

a buddy of mine picked one up as a project recently....

 

[bboypuertoroc]

Fuck it, why not? I still want to find me an EK hatch and K swap it (or even go full retard and drop my 4G63 in). Even if you can't find stock parts there's plenty of companies making aftermarket and "OEM" parts.

 

[loudsx]

I'm the wrong person person to ask but the more the merrier!

I would do it.

 

[indio22]

I have no experience working on older Japanese cars. But in terms of dates, I've had more hassle with my 90's Wrangler, than I had with my older 70's CJ-5 and 60's Mustang. And it's due mostly to electronics and in particular emissions issues.

I'm still in the process of working through an issue on the Wrangler causing it to throw an error code (and not pass mandatory emissions test here in Illinois). I've had to locate and replace a bunch of emissions stuff. It's been a royal pain.

I don't know what the regulations are like in Seattle, hopefully a 32 year old CRX is exempt? Otherwise I'd say make sure the CRX has any required engine management stuff and can pass any mandatory tests you might care about. Else you could be in for a headache, as I've learned the hard way.

 

[takemorepills]

I have no experience working on older Japanese cars. But in terms of dates, I've had more hassle with my 90's Wrangler, than I had with my older 70's CJ-5 and 60's Mustang. And it's due mostly to electronics and in particular emissions issues.

I'm still in the process of working through an issue on the Wrangler causing it to throw an error code (and not pass mandatory emissions test here in Illinois). I've had to locate and replace a bunch of emissions stuff. It's been a royal pain.

I don't know what the regulations are like in Seattle, hopefully a 32 year old CRX is exempt? Otherwise I'd say make sure the CRX has any required engine management stuff and can pass any mandatory tests you might care about. Else you could be in for a headache, as I've learned the hard way.

We got really lucky here recently.
WA State passed legislation that ended the emissions program.
So, you can take a modern vehicle and tune the crap out of it, no one is checking anymore.

 

[bboypuertoroc]

We got really lucky here recently.
WA State passed legislation that ended the emissions program.
So, you can take a modern vehicle and tune the crap out of it, no one is checking anymore.

I never had to get emissions in Thurston. Lucky me. I know Pierce you had to and even if you just WORK in Pierce you have to get it.

 

[Raven1]

Nice !!

I'd do it if I was in your position, very biased btw, this was my 1st new Car, Black 90 CRX Si.
If the motor is shot then stick with the original 'a6' motor as the block is much better and the oiling system is better than 'Y' block (remember how they'd spin bearings) and intake, headers and exhaust go a long way on these motors. But then . . . you know all this.

Follow your heart mang . . .

 

[jezzza]

I loved my 1989 CRX Si, owned it for about 6 years. It was a Japanese import and great fun to thrash, handled like a go kart. I remember back in the 90s these were regarded as lightweight death traps by many.

 

[takemorepills]

Going to go look at it tomorrow.
Crossing fingers that it doesn't have any rust issues.

Jeez I can't believe these cars can wear "collector" plates, I'm getting old!

 

[siggy]

Nostalgia wears off quickly! For me I would have no interest as I don't have time to tinker. I do love me that era of CRX. One of my favorite cars! However, it sounds like you would enjoy working on it so that definitely makes your case different. Personally for me I'd rather keep it period correct. A lot of enthusiasts would really appreciate it that way. I enjoy modding cars, but not to the extent of adding forced induction or k swaps. If I want a fast car, I go buy a fast car. If I want to go offroad, I buy something that goes offraod . I would not enjoy trying to get a hopped up B series or K series engine in a CRX. A lot of work, won't be reliable, and a 2022 Camry will still be faster. But that's just me

 

[takemorepills]

Nostalgia wears off quickly! For me I would have no interest as I don't have time to tinker. I do love me that era of CRX. One of my favorite cars! However, it sounds like you would enjoy working on it so that definitely makes your case different. Personally for me I'd rather keep it period correct. A lot of enthusiasts would really appreciate it that way. I enjoy modding cars, but not to the extent of adding forced induction or k swaps. If I want a fast car, I go buy a fast car. If I want to go offroad, I buy something that goes offraod . I would not enjoy trying to get a hopped up B series or K series engine in a CRX. A lot of work, won't be reliable, and a 2022 Camry will still be faster. But that's just me

Yup, I hear you on that.
Even a B18 VTEC swap still wouldn't be very quick in 2022. These cars were not engineered for being "fast" and if you go down that path you gotta address the suspension and brakes, which could end up being a real rabbit hole.

It's pretty much impossible to get decent rubber for the 14" Si wheels, so I'm already unhappy about that. I'd prefer keeping it 100% stock, including the wheels.

Fortunately the car I'm going to look at has been owned by the same lady for over 20 years, only aftermarket thing is the radio. Even has the OEM CRX floor mats.

I was previously trying to buy a motorcycle because my drive to work is a very safe route on back roads, but the supply chain issues have made it impossible to find the motorcycle I want.
I think the CRX could fill that irrational desire. And for the price, I could just leave it in the garage and it'll just become worth more, especially if I keep it stock as possible.

I had a 1987 Prelude Si that was mint, I sold it for $10k a few years ago after paying $2500 for it, owning it for 3 years and putting $1500 into it.

These cars are really appreciating.

Only thing that could ruin my enthusiasm would be rust...... supposedly been garaged for 20+ years, I'll see tomorrow

 

[indio22]

We got really lucky here recently.
WA State passed legislation that ended the emissions program.
So, you can take a modern vehicle and tune the crap out of it, no one is checking anymore.

Nice. Here in Chicagoland, seems like any vehicle 1996+, must have an emissions test every 2 years. And unfortunately there is no rolling 25 year old exemption as in some other states.

So far I've had to install a replacement charcoal evap canister and some other parts on my 1998 Jeep TJ. Still getting a trouble code - probably due to some mild vacuum leak. What a hassle.

 

[takemorepills]

Nice. Here in Chicagoland, seems like any vehicle 1996+, must have an emissions test every 2 years. And unfortunately there is no rolling 25 year old exemption as in some other states.

So far I've had to install a replacement charcoal evap canister and some other parts on my 1998 Jeep TJ. Still getting a trouble code - probably due to some mild vacuum leak. What a hassle.

Our emissions testing used to require pre-OBD2 cars to be on the rollers with a sniffer.

I used to have an older, but still OBD2, Maxima with a full VQ35DE swap from a 2004 Infiniti, so when the emissions station would plug into it, there was two OBD2 connectors under the dash (I had kept the old one for the older, early CANBUS system, that car ran 2 separate CANBUS circuits the body kept the old one) and it was always a crapshoot whether or not the agent would be a dick about it. Actually the 2004 VQ35DE was running more O2 sensors and a later version of OBD2 making the car more efficient and cleaner than the previous VQ30, but some agents would have issue with a newer powerplant in an older car.

 

[siggy]

Yup, I hear you on that.
Even a B18 VTEC swap still wouldn't be very quick in 2022. These cars were not engineered for being "fast" and if you go down that path you gotta address the suspension and brakes, which could end up being a real rabbit hole.

It's pretty much impossible to get decent rubber for the 14" Si wheels, so I'm already unhappy about that. I'd prefer keeping it 100% stock, including the wheels.

Fortunately the car I'm going to look at has been owned by the same lady for over 20 years, only aftermarket thing is the radio. Even has the OEM CRX floor mats.

I was previously trying to buy a motorcycle because my drive to work is a very safe route on back roads, but the supply chain issues have made it impossible to find the motorcycle I want.
I think the CRX could fill that irrational desire. And for the price, I could just leave it in the garage and it'll just become worth more, especially if I keep it stock as possible.

I had a 1987 Prelude Si that was mint, I sold it for $10k a few years ago after paying $2500 for it, owning it for 3 years and putting $1500 into it.

These cars are really appreciating.

Only thing that could ruin my enthusiasm would be rust...... supposedly been garaged for 20+ years, I'll see tomorrow

Rust would be a game changer for me as well. Then it truly becomes a project car lol. Good luck! I'm excited for this! I love me some old Hondas. The oldest one I ever had was a '90 Prelude Si. Loved that thing. Then a couple Integras after that. The 90's was Honda's magical decade. Of course the 80's were good too, but that's before my time hehe.