I got the head from my '87 CRX Si torn down this weekend and it doesn't look bad, no cracks, just lots of carbon build up in the head. Pistons look great and tight. I pulled the valves and I'm in the process of cleaning everything up. I'm assuming that the head gasket was just old and bad.
Another thing I forgot to mention was that the shoppe also checked to make sure that both the cylinder head and block were not warped.
For $70 AutoZone has the head gasket set I need to replace the head gasket, valve seals, intake gasket, exhaust gasket, and valve cover gasket. Seems cheap like a good price to me. I'm going to fix up the head (clean and replace seals), then bolt it all back together and see how the compression is. If I need to do the bottom end I can do that later and just get a new head gasket (Felpro) from AZ for $20. Man I love AZ, they even rented me the valve spring compressor tool, which worked like a charm.
Fortunately the CRX uses mechanical valves and can be adjusted with simple hand tools. On my Fiat, I had to use shims which was a PITA because I had to measure each valve clearance and then head down to the Fiat shoppe to get the right size shims. I also had to order a special tool that would lift said valves so that I could slip the shims in and out.
And, of course, it was a DOHC engine... :^P
But after awhile, I got into a rhythm and it wasn't so bad. It just made me appreciate both the hydraulic valves (no adjusting!) and the basic (simple?) mechanical type valves all that much more.
I think it was after the Fiat where I decided to just pay a shoppe to do the valves... aside from some of the simpler engines I had back then (i.e. ACVW engines...).
Now I've got to call around to check prices on getting the head resurfaced, a hotter cam, and an adjustable cam gear. I'd love to do this stuff now, but probably can't afford it. Still worth a look. I'll be doing some "free" mods though, like porting the throttle body, painting the intake manifold, and port matching the exhaust ports to my aftermarket exhaust header. With all that it should be a couple weeks before I can button her back up again - enough time to do my taxes and see if there's any extra money coming in to do the fun stuff. :-)
AEM is the only one that I am aware of that produces an adjustable cam sprocket for the First Gen. I've seen them listed around $130-$140 USD).
I'm taking your advice Robert and replacing those coolant hoses. They would be a bear to get to normally! Time for some nice colored hoses. :-) I'll probably replace the belt like you recommend. I think the thermostat has been recently replaced though.
The way I see it, take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself... :^)
One option I have is switching to an Integra DOHC head (D16A1) on a D15A3 block. This has been done and may be a better investment of my money. Anyone else heard of doing this? I'm specifically looking at the brown top D16A1 head, shaved, and then just mounted up to my stock bottom end........
http://www.redpepperracing.com/forum/ikonboard.cgi?s=3df781df5a60ffff;act=ST;f=2;t=1393
Kirk B.
I've heard of people wanting to try this but have not seen anything... yet... most of the people that were thinking about doing this decided to just spend the money and drop a ZC or B series engine in and not deal with whatever hassles and headaches that may arise.
If you decide to pursue this route, I would be interested to learn of your findings...
CRX Owners Group President (http://www.crx.org/southcal)
1990 Honda CRXsi (http://www.hooligan.cc)
ICQ # 3714283 (nickname: godzilla)
Julian Drive (San Diego County) - February 8, 2003
http://www.crx.org/southcal/events.html
