When your 964 needs a motor - The not so obvious solution

I am not one for long posts, so I wont write one.

Bought a 964 last spring - 89 C4 White with tan interior - seemingly clean car. Had an issue bringing it back over the border so it sat in storage at the border for nearly a month.

Get it home - can't diagnose a clack, I track it down to a sticky tensioner - fix that then it gets an exhaust leak... but it's not the exhaust. Come to find out that while it did have a rebuild (with head gasket update), the machine work was poor, it ate a cylinder head and I footed the bill for a new motor. To give you an idea of what a fresh 964 motor cost - I could have bought a new Kia Rio for the same price. Not an exaggeration.

The car is done and runs great and I am sure I will be happy with it, god knows with the $$$ I have into it I won't be selling it.

The obvious solution to an expensive car........... A cheap one!

This is my new $500 87 CRX! Wife and I are going to drive it to the 2014 challenge. (Pink shirt guy not included) All I plan to do is make it handle and look nice. The motor has had a recent rebuild and it's a nice little car with only a bit of rust over 1 quarter, underside is fresh the car is from southern BC.

The best part? I saved it from these internet assclowns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pen509kyfI

yes that's the same car... I shudder to think what a guy in a pajmina would do to it.

My plans

-new OEM CRX SI twin tip muffler ($65) -Pads and rotos -braided front lines -Integra torsion bars -Bushings -Sparco seat - better wheels

I should be able to have it ready to rock for under a grand, + the wife and I get a mini vacation out of it. My last GRM trip we drove a V10 motor home towing a 24 ft trailer - got a whooping 5.7 MPG and spent $1800 in gas and nearly as much in booze.

So this trip you will have $300 in gas and 1800 in booze. Much Better!

AutoXR wrote: (Pink shirt guy not included)

Funny how often this guy still comes up in conversation.

I still talk to Pink Shirt daily and see him a couple of times a month. Great guy to party with. Hong Norr named him UBER Wayne and it fits. He reall yis the Rob Ford of the GRM Challenge.

AutoXR wrote: Great guy to party with.

Based on the feedback I noted, I guess that's a matter of perspective.

Bryce

I'm jealous. I love those little cars.

Do I spot uncracked front fenders?

The 964 part of this story has me kind of freaked out.

with a 1g crx si, "make it handle" = "keep it bone berkeleying stock"

I'm confused, are you or are you not welding a CRX body to a shortened 911 chassis?

another link, shows the $1600 engine rebuild less then 10k ago.

http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2012/matt-picks-up-a-hot-new-race-car/

I love modding cars, but past cleaning it up I'm not touching it

brought the car home last night, runs amazing and is in better shape then I remember. Friend surprised me with a set of what he called " knock off wheels" They were painted black with a brush and looked bad. After closer inspection they are actual 2 piece SSR wheels (14x6) some paint stripper (and more work) and they will be ready to go!

The bad... The car had many mice living in it while stored at my cottage garage - Interior needs to come out, carpet re-dyed and hopefully the stench will be gone.. Mechanical work coming this weekend, but it doesn't need much at all.

So did you let this generous friend know that the wheels he gave you were worth a lot more than he thought?

I did tell him what they were he said "good score for you" He knows he will get to lap the car and autocross it.. so I think we're good!

Mouse pee cleaning

$23 shipped on ebay!

Also got full poly for $65 shipped, $38 for front rotors, $44 for hawk pads. and $50 for rear chinese coilovers (pair of 4, going to sell 2 of them) Build some extended hats and off I go.

Probably tune the ITB's with an SAFC and try to find a headman chikara header...

Poly is all in, build new shifter bushings, cut out some rust, patched the floor with a mig, seam sealer and 18 gauge steel. cleaning and getting ready for a lapping day at the end of the month

Bad shift coupler and the solution. A steel bushing that came with another poly kit. Heated up the coupler and froze the steel bushing. Shifts better then new. (crap rubber bushings shown as well)

Ugly Floor... Cut, patched and welded

Carpet removed and re-dyed with 4 bottles of Rit and Hot water.. looks like new

Console had seen better days - Chunk of CF cut with a jig saw, Autometer gauges I had, and re-dyed the plastic (filled some holes as well)

Suspension all cleaned up, new bushings, new front discs and pads, sway bar end links.

Cleaned and polished the factory rear sunvisor

Also got an old school momo champion steering wheel for next to nothing.. just need an ebay adapter

Oh god, you've got me looking at first gen CRXs on Craigslist. It's a good thing I'm not closer to Denver, I've found a couple I'd drag home tonight.

This is fantastic so far. Love it.

Keith Tanner wrote:

This was a nostalgic post for me because that issue came out with a review right after I bought my new '85 GLH Turbo. Great quote from that article; David E. Davis said, "Before you pull the trigger, be sure that the front wheels are pointed exactly where you want to go."

Wow, an AutoXR build thread!

...and now I know why you aren't working on your Fiero!

Anyway, that looks like a really clean car for $500 and a fantastic deal. CRXs like that are impossible to find down here in SoCal for any reasonable price.

Every time I see one, I regret getting rid of the last one I had.

What did pink shirt guy do at the challenge? I've seen him mentioned randomly for at least a couple of years.

Cotton wrote: What did pink shirt guy do at the challenge? I've seen him mentioned randomly for at least a couple of years.

What didn't he do is probably a better question. - Search a thread called "the elephant in the room" that is about 60% of what actually happened or what we got caught for....

Funny thing.. we went to a porsche swap meet in hershey PA last year (pink shirt guy and I both have 964s) He was wearing the pink shirt at the time and of all people we saw Per S. who i was sure was going to Kill him at the challenge....

never forget...

That search doesn't turn up anything, so it must have been bad if they deleted the thread!