1990 Honda CRX – In Rare Form

There are certain types of cars that immediately stand out to us. Even though we’ve been in this business for what seems like an eternity now, we still manage to be captivated by those special one-offs that are seemingly undeniable. That’s what keeps this job so interesting; we continue to have moments where a Honda build sparks something inside of us and captures our undivided attention. After all, variety is the spice of life and we love seeing all the different builds that make up this great community. The ones that do succeed in capturing our eyes simply have that unique “it” factor—whatever “it” may be.

Additional rare trinkets to go with the almost non-existent interior.

We first encountered this 1990 CRX at this year’s annual Eibach Honda Meet in Irwindale, California. It was parked in the entrance of the event where cars were being staged before entering the lot, with many other Hondas surrounding it. Aesthetically, it wasn’t too different from what you would normally see at an event of this nature. It was white, like so many other cars that day; it retained its OEM two-tone appearance with subtle modifications like a Japanese-spec front-end conversion and Xenon side skirts. However, it was the tan leather interior that had the two-seater sticking out like a sore thumb. Allowing the harsh sun to shine into the unique interior is a Japanese-only glass top conversion. What was interesting was that we overheard a fellow enthusiasts in a neighboring Honda ask the owner of this CRX how much his right-hand drive conversion cost, totally ignoring the rest of the interior. You see, tan leather on a white CRX was never an option offered by Honda from the factory—no matter what the country of origin. Not only that, but tan leather itself is pretty unique, and one would assume this was nothing more than a reupholstered setup. We wouldn’t reunite with the CRX for a few hours, but when we did, we were stunned by what we saw; the words “CRX Exclusive” embroidered on the front seats indicated that this interior was the stuff of EF legend. Not only was it not reupholstered, it was the original factory option—a very rare, or exclusive, factory option. Though the car isn’t a true CRX Exclusive model, the entire interior most certainly did originate from one of only 350 ever produced.

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The Exclusive trim level was a rare option available outside of the U.S. market during the CRX’s production run. To actually see one in person here in the States is something that we thought would never happen in our lifetime. The world is a huge place, and you would be hard-pressed to find anything now that was made only 350 times two decades ago. To say this interior was a rare gem would truly be an understatement. The steering wheel and shift knob have been replaced with aftermarket pieces, but to see this interior as intact as it was made it a mind-blowing experience.

It didn’t stop there, as a look under the hood revealed much more. The stock motor was long gone, and the bay now housed a K20A2. This particular swap was unlike most K swaps because it still retained the factory airbox and intake arm from the RSX Type S that the motor came from. The OEM intake setup was either kept as a novelty item or actually served a specific purpose. We had our assumptions, but it wasn’t until a couple of months later when we finally met the owner, Jaime Galvez, when he confirmed our beliefs.

“I kept the whole intake setup because I needed it to have the K20 swap BAR’d in the state of California,” Galvez explains. “That’s why the motor is basically stock with the OEM (RSX) ignition and fuel system. I even have the RSX gas tank mounted to my CRX. It was a pain to have to make it all work, but my swap is completely road legal in California. I also took the proper steps to register my right-hand drive conversion and have paperwork that proves that everything is legit.”

Although it may be a terribly tasking operation, it makes sense for Jaime to legitimize his project car. Many would just take the chance and do it the more conventional way, putting their money pits in risk of being taken away, but not Galvez—especially with that rare interior. His K may be stock, but the Type S motor in this lightweight chassis packs plenty of punch in factory form. There are no aftermarket power-adders, other than a DC Sports header and Mugen exhaust, but he has made the K his own by dressing it up with gold-plated accents. Maintaining his Honda’s legitimacy is important to Galvez because this car holds quite a bit of sentimental value. He explains, “I love this car because it literally helped keep food on my table for many years while I was on the road as a field service engineer. I used to drive this car an average of 150 to 200 miles per day. It never gave me any problems, and it never let me down. I only had two flat tires the entire time I’ve had it. I’m just spending money on it now because it helped save me so much money in the past—it deserves it.”

Jaime’s CRX is just one of those “it” cars because there is so much more lying beneath its surface. The rare interior is the draw, but everything else about it is what really makes this project special. Practically everything about it is unconventional compared to other, more typical CRX builds, placing Jaime’s car in that “exclusive” club.

Bolts & Washers

California-approved, street-legal K20 swap.

Propulsion
K20A2
Gold-plated HaSport engine mounts
OEM RSX Type S intake box
DC Sports header
Mugen exhaust
OEM RSX Type S catalytic converter
Complete OEM RSX Type S fuel system
Powdercoated OEM RSX gas tank
Koyorad radiator
K-Tuned gold-plated alternator relocation kit
OEM RSX Type S 6-speed manual transmission
Hybrid Racing K-swap shifter
Subaru STi clutch master cylinder
Gold-plated OEM valve cover

Suspension
Tein Flex coilovers (EK chassis)
Brand-new OEM suspension bushings
Suspension Techniques front drop forks
Powdercoated suspension components
Custom front cross member
Custom radiator support brace
Custom suspension radius rods
Ingalls front adjustable ball joints
RSX Type S 5-lug conversion

Resistance
Slotted RSX Type S brake rotors
Mugen Active Gate front calipers
Goodridge front/rear brake lines
Gold-plated JDM OEM brake booster

Wheels & Tires
SSR EX-C Mesh 15×7 +21
195/50-15 Falken Ziex

Exterior
JDM Si-R front-end conversion
JDM right-hand drive conversion
JDM OEM glass top conversion
Xenon side skirts
OEM CRX ZC trunk wing
OEM JDM bronze glass
JDM Honda Verno windshield banner

Interior
OEM CRX Exclusive front seats
OEM CRX Exclusive rear seats
OEM CRX Exclusive interior body panels
OEM CRX Exclusive dashboard
JDM OEM climate control
JDM OEM head unit
Mugen steering wheel
Nardi 6-speed shift knob
MOMO Corse dead pedal
Impul brake and clutch pedals
Razo gas pedal
JDM Honda Access Super Sound rear speaker covers
JDM Honda Access Super Sound bass tubes
JDM Honda Access power-folding heated door mirrors with aero covers
JDM Honda Access heated seat console
JDM Honda Access Personal Box
JDM Honda Access front, rear, trunk checkered mats
JDM Honda Access glass top cover
JDM Honda Access tinted CRX trunk glass
JDM Honda Access motor jack
JDM Honda Access road flare

Props
Thank you to my wife Miriam, my big brother Edwin, Roger, Angel, Juan & Johnny Castaneda; thanks to all those people I hardly know who have expressed their sincere props on my build; and of course Honda Tuning!

Owner Specs

Daily grind
Technical service manager

Favorite site
K20A.org

Screen name
Bridgeport

Building Hondas
14 years

Dream car
Ferrari GTO

Inspiration for this build
My brother Edwin

Future builds
’87 RHD Civic

Black-Tie Affair

While it may be a right-hand drive CRX with tan leather Exclusive interior, true EF aficionados will know right away that this isn’t one of the 350 CRX Exclusives ever produced. How? Well, the two-toned white and black exterior is a dead giveaway. The Exclusive model is considered the rarest of the CRX family, and only came in black. It also didn’t come with the EF8 Si-R front end that Galvez has. Someone could have repainted the body and added the parts, but if you really had a rare piece of Honda history, why would you? What made the Exclusive special was the combination of black paint, tan leather, “Exclusive” badges, glass top, Honda Access “Super Sound System,” and electronic climate-control A/C. Jaime has done an outstanding job of combining some ultra-rare CRX history with modern-day performance. A restomod for the ages.

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source: hondatuningmagazine

Global Time Attack & Shift S3ctor Pro Am

If you saw our previously published story on the R’s Tuning Ben Sopra GTR from the Fast & Furious 6 movie, then you already know we were out at Buttonwillow Raceway this past weekend for the Global Time Attack Pro Am with Shift S3ctor. The event wasn’t intended to be one of the larger GTA events; it was planned as a Pro/Amateur track day for the guys to shake down their cars at Buttonwillow. The types of cars at the event varied pretty wildly, from expensively modified AMG Benzes to homegrown builds, like Honda Civics and Mazda RX7s.

In the Buttonwillow paddock closest to the East Loop, the AE Performance crew set up a pretty impressive pit area, which included this white S15 Silvia and a grouping of Boss 302 Mustangs.

Turns out that the driver of the AE Performance 370Z was none other than Paul Walker, of Fast & Furious fame.

While he was driving the track, his crew was on hand with tons of cameras pointed towards him. Someone told me they were filming some extra footage that might be used as a bonus feature for a Fast & Furious DVD, or possibly some other project…

Either way, there was certainly a noticeable difference in the type of trailers the AE crew was working with. When most racers roll to the track with brand new Toyota Tundras or Ford F250s and fully enclosed trailers with graphics, people think they’re ballin! Well, look at Paul Walker’s setup here, with the deluxe motorhome and everything! They even had a separate trailer that was used as a bathroom… separate from the trailer that pulled the 370Z, not to mention the other cars! (Man, and I thought Chris Rado’s track presence was ballin! Paul’s on another level it seems. Those NBC Universal paychecks must have a lot of zeros on them! Unfortunately, when I used to work at Universal, most of the zeros on my paycheck were to the right of the decimal point…)

If you look past the stylishly vinyled AE 370Z, you’ll see their baller rig. Damn son! I was looking for the Star Waggons stickers on the side, like all the other rigs parked at the Universal Studios backlot. Anyway, enough rambling about that. I love how this 370 looks! It’s proof that functional track cars and LOOK good too.

I think this orange BMW M5 was from the AE Performance camp too. At least it was parked next to their pit area. Either way, it looked awesome out on the track!

Ballers and their vehicles aside, I thought it was great to see grassroots racing enthusiasts at many different levels participating in the GTA event. A bunch of friends teamed up to work on this matte black RSX – awesome. I love it when cars bring friends together like this!

Oh wow, check out the brakes on the RSX! And the front lip, canards and JDMZipties sticker?! Nice!

If you don’t know the driver of this E46 BMW M3, you better remember his name – Don Pastor. Some race teams are proud to have fast cars, but cars are only as fast as the driver behind the wheel. Don Pastor is a fast driver. With a bone stock motor and some really minor mods in his E46 M3, Don managed to pull off a 1:52.232 at Buttonwillow. This was the FASTEST recorded time of the day. Yes, even faster than the Fast & Furious Ben Sopra R35 GTR. If you owned a car as expensive as that Ben Sopra GTR, wouldn’t you be mad that Don’s old E46 was even faster (and quite possibly more furious) than your R35? I think I probably would.

Don’s M3 doesn’t even have a race car livery for crying out loud – just some stickers on the side. However, his driving skills still pushed him all the way to the top! RESPECT.

Check out this Evo from Static Nine Garage! It was rounding the corners so quickly, the inner tires were lifting up! Sick.

This gorgeous yellow FD looked so clean all day! I loved the little RX7 placard on the front bumper (although I prefer just a plain bumper with no plates), because it made me think of Japanese RX7 minicars from brands like Tomica and Ebbro.

Ooohhh. A new M3 with Swift springs and other mods? Sign me up! I wanna test drive it! The tires were lifting up as it rounded the “Grapevine” on Buttonwillow’s East Loop!

As it sped from the Grapevine to Club Corner, it was cool to see the rear of the M3 squatting down under hard acceleration!

This BMW E30 looked HILARIOUS as it rounded the track! The sway bars must have been completely disconnected, cause it had RIDICULOUS amounts of body roll! It was pretty funny actually, it looked cartoonish as it navigated the corners!

Speaking of hilarious, things weren’t going so well over at Global Time Attack mission control. Amanda from GTA somehow managed to drain the battery of the Toyota Sienna cargo hauler they drove up to Buttonwillow. Luckily, someone had jumper cables and a car capable of jumping the Sienna!

Back on the track, this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo looked pretty aggressive with its super low aero. I wonder what kind of times this thing was putting down! Either way, it’s great to see full aero cars like this one out on the track!

Some GTA cars had a minimalist approach to aerodynamics. This Honda Civic looked pretty normal at first glance. It was lowered with wider wheels, canards on the front bumper to direct airflow. Low sideskirts were attached to the car to further aerodynamic direction, and there were big slots cut into the rear bumper so that air wouldn’t get caught inside the rear bumper, creating drag for the car. I wonder how much of an issue drag is for Honda Civics such as this one…? I never really looked into it, cause my own car isn’t fast enough to make me worry about such things.

Check out the louvered hood on this Scion FRS from Road Race Motorsports! Or is it Robispec? I don’t know. Either way, this FRS looks like it would be super fun to drive at the track, given its functional performance mods. I’m not the hugest fan of those carbon F1 style mirrors though. It reminds me of… (sorry, Paul Walker) Fast & Furious cars and the horrific “show cars” at Hot Import Nights when they were still around.

Blue tape graphics! This S2000 was being driven by my friend John from Maxxis Tires! Great to see some industry heads out at the track!

The one thing you need to know about the Shift S3ctor crew is that they like to go fast. Really fast. These guys do top speed airstrip attacks with their cars for crying out loud! Obviously the vehicles in their stable would be fast, with a lot of torque like this black Corvette…

Or this R35 GTR. It’s crazy to see how much of a visual difference there is between this stock bodied GTR and the full aero Ben Sopra R35 GTR from R’s Tuning, which was also running the track that day. Apparently the GTR has some Whiteline Suspension components on it? At least, that’s what the license plate frame suggests…

Check out the lineup of Shift S3ctor cars parked on the paddock. These are all pretty much big boy vehicles.

Check out this Fiat 500 Abarth. I know that Fiat 500s were the rage in Europe, but when I first began seeing the new Fiat 500 on the street, I dismissed it as another small, “cute looking” car like the Smart or Mini Cooper. I’ll be honest. I’m not a fan of such cars. However! The Fiat 500 Abarth is a completely different animal!

I was recently given the opportunity to test drive a friend’s Fiat 500 Abarth, and I had an AWESOME time with it. The 500 Abarth may be small, but it is FAST, and it just SOUNDS so cool – I love hearing turbo noises as I drive around town!

This particular Abarth was equipped with awesome rally-inspired wheels, and I’m pretty sure it was pretty well built. Why do I think that? Well, because it looked and sounded super fast! I’d absolutely LOVE to rip around a track like Buttonwillow or Horse Thief Mile with an Abarth!!!

Here’s the Fiat 500 Abarth again, hot on the tail of an S2000 as the checkered flag waves! I had a great time at this GTA/Shift S3ctor event. Maybe we should attend time attack events more often?

:: Antonio Alvendia

 

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source: motormavens.com

COVERAGE> It’s JDM Yo! Anniversary In Cerritos

Over a year ago, when you heard the phrase ‘It’s JDM Yo!’ you would just think of a bunch of Japanese cars with parts from Japan following a trend.  Now, as soon as you hear it, the first thing that comes to mind are the hot models and Tony ‘It’s JDM Yo’ Lee with his posse at every major car show representing.  The meet turned out more like a car show but with free entrance and in and out privileges for both people and cars.  With vendors, food trucks, free NOS Energy Drinks to quench your thirst, and lots of eye candy the day went by without a hitch.  A raffle, emceed by Tony and Miss Natalia Marie from NOS, was held and proceeds went to help fund Big Abe‘s daughter Sophie’s funeral cost (if you don’t know who Big Abe is, he’s the guy with the big ass rim hanging from his neck).  I have to give a big shout out to Big Abe for showing up to the meet after going through what he and his family had to endure.

A familiar sight at any major meet or event in the SoCal area, Anthony Do and the Infinit crew rolled deep with 10+ cars.  So many that I couldn’t get all of them in a single shot!  Each of the cars in team Infinit rock sick JDM wheels from new school to old school and they all have crazy stance and offset, even on the front wheel drive cars!

Abraham Ceja aka Infinit Abe has one of the cleanest and sickest EG hatchbacks I’ve seen.  With some low offset staggered SSR mesh wheels and an individual throttle bodied B series the car is always a show stopper when it comes to Hondas at the meet.

Bisi Ezerioha from Bisimoto brought out his fully built Turbonetics/AEM powered Honda CR-Z to the meet.  As I arrived to the show, I was expecting to see his design matched trailer and his Escalade pickup, but he told me that he DROVE the car there from his shop.  We then discussed what the point of having a car is if you never drive it!  Not to mention the car is a hybrid so it is smog exempt.

Arnel Ortiz from Phaze 2 brought out his VIP styled EG Civic sedan with BBS RS mesh wheels with gold plated hardware and a Universal Air ride system to match.

After arriving to the show with my homie Terry Pham, I quickly got out of the car to take this snap of his immaculate 1993 Mazda Miata Limited Edition.  I then helped him get the other two Work Goocar wheels off of the car to put his 15×10 Panasport race wheels on the rear.  I was with Terry when he originally purchased the car and was stunned at how clean the car was.  With an all red interior and OEM hard top/paint job, the only things he changed were the tail lights, now Garage Vary tail lights, wheels and an aftermarket trunk spoiler.

Chumpot Chansonthi from Infinit brought his clean white Mazda FC RX-7 rocking some SSR Type-C wheels.  His car definitely is one of the cleanest FC’s I’ve seen at meets and shows. Not only does he have a really clean paint job, Chumpot also went as far as replacing all of the moldings, weather seals and plastic bits to give it a showroom finish.

Mikey Cristi rolled in a bit later with his all metal flared “VIP*BOX” Scion xB with his CCW wheels.

This Phaze 2 1971 Toyota Corolla Mango Peanut was one of the few Japanese classic cars at the show.  I’m really digging the fender mirrors, how about you?

This clean red SW20 MR-2 Turbo with a TRD styled widebody kit showed up later in the day.  His wheels were a nice complement to the widebody on this now seldom seen car.

While just cruising through the parking lot I spotted this royalorigin Mazdaspeed 3 with one of the craziest stances of any FWD car.

I normally don’t like bright Lamborghini-esque colored cars but this Civic, owned by Chivas Sotelo, definitely got my attention.  Sitting on some dope Sprint Hart CP-R wheels and a chameleon colored engine bay, Chivas drove down from Las Vegas for this weekend of events.  His car reminded me of how show car style and JDM can be fused together successfully.

Since this meet was about ‘JDM’ style, this 2007+ Civic Si Sedan was not lacking any.  The FD2 Civic Type R rear end conversion is no cheap modification.  Usually costing over $1000, this rare mod definitely sets the car apart from other Civics.

Natalia Marie and her friend (I somehow forgot her name) were making sure they looked good for the day ahead of them.

Speaking of eye-candy, the NOS Energy Drink Girls were out giving free energy drinks to the thirsty people.  And I’m sure plenty of people were very thirsty at one point during the day.  Maybe even a few times thirsty?

There were a few cars not in the meet which had pretty cool setups.  This 2007/2008 Civic Si sedan had some awesome stance driving through to the parking area.

The day ended without any hitches and I would have to say one of the most successful “car meets” that I’ve seen in a long time without any drama.

:: Mike Kim

 

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source: motormavens.com