Hey Kirk, I LOVE the first-gen CRXs. I had a stodgy old four-door '85 Civic as my first car and I learned to love its quirks (as well as its quirky styling!) That car had a cool, low-buck engine build done to it, too!
My wife and I had to have the head re-built on our four-popper Jeep Wrangler when it swallowed a valve after being supercharged. The total bill was $700 dollars (including the labor to R&R), but we had every valve and seal replaced with good quality pieces, we had it midly ported and polished, and had it re-surfaced. I think that labor rates for this type of work should be pretty standard no matter where you're from, unless you go to some name-of-the-week, popular shop. I'd budget high for what you want done and plan on $400 - better safe than sorry! As for the gasket, I know that many moons ago, HKS marketed a turbo kit for the older CRX (like around the time the car was still fairly new) so you may want to make sure that theirs isn't a THICKER head gasket for that reason. We had a hell of time getting the right thickness of gasket out of HKS when we were doing the build on my boss's '90 Supra - you may have to be diligent with them, especially on a piece for an older car. They tend to forget how to work with the older ones as their focus shifts to the newer models. Finally, as far as the internals, are you burning oil? How many miles does it have and how has it been cared-for? You may want to run a leak-down and compression test before tearing it down. My old Civic ran until 240,000 miles on the stock engine and I only rebuilt it then for more power (those old, 75-horse, carbureted engines SUCKED! for power.) The one thing I'd be cautious about is the tendency of an old, tired bottom-end deciding to grenade itself when you put a "new" head on it. That newly-found compression is going to have to go somewhere and it will prefer the path of least resistance - which could be through your tired rings. Just some advice! Good luck and please keep us posted! Brian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bristol, Kirk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 11:42 AM Subject: CRX: 87 CRX Si Head Gasket > I've got some questions and they're not about wheels and hydroplaning!!! > :-) > > I've got an '87 CRX Si that's pretty heavily moded - suspension, brakes, > interior, etc. Only engine internals haven't been touched (was raced in > SCCA). Well now it's my street car and now the head gasket is blown > (leaking coolant on the exterior). I've been researching replacing the head > gasket and I see I have some options. But despite my web browsing I've > still got lots of questions. > > It looks like stock head gaskets go for around $45 for the "set". But HKS > makes a metal head gasket for $140 or so. Are there any other options that > I should be aware of besides the HKS metal gasket and the OEM style gaskets? > I was hoping I'd find a thinner head gasket to help increase the compression > a little. The HKS gasket is 0.7 mm thick, anyone know what the spec is for > the stock gasket thickness? Is there anyone who makes various thicknesses > of gaskets for the 1st gen CRX? Also, what all usually comes in one of > these head gasket "sets"? > > I know Robert just did this job on his car and had some machine work done to > flatten the head. I was thinking about decking the head slightly and then > combining that with the thinner gasket to get slightly more compression. I > know not to over-do it, I'd stay within the factory recommended min. for > decking the head. I just figure that if I don't deck the head right down to > the minimum, then there will still be some steel left for the future in case > it ever needs to be machined again. Sound logical? About how much should I > pay for the machine work? I seem to recall that Robert was paying in the > $200 range, right? > > I'll get a good look at the engine once I've got the head off and see what > all needs to be freshened up. This is probably the first time it's been > cracked open. Is there anything that really, really, really should be done > while I've got it apart, like replacing the valve seals, etc.? I'm still > broke from Christmas, so I'm hoping to just clean out the carbon deposits, > deck the head, and reinstall everything with new gaskets - which is what I > see as the cheap route. The timing belt and water pump were just replaced > last year, so I wasn't planning on replacing them again. > > I know, I know, lots of questions. But hey, I love this car and just want > to make sure I do things right! > > Kirk Bristol > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
