The title sounds ominous. The thought of doing this task was daunting, but I finally got off my duff and did it.

what is it that i have done?
I have created Frankenstein's transmission.
I took a 4spd from a Civic Hatchback and a 5spd from a CRX HF, and created a 5spd with a different final gear... or more accurately, I added a 5th gear to the 4spd.

"what is all this fuss about final gear?" you ask
you'll be sorry you asked, but at least I have pictures.... you could just skip to them.

Final gear (or final drive) is the gear by which all others are multiplied. Remember this for when you look at the tables below... FINAL.... All gears, 1-5+R are multiplied by this gear. Also Pay attention to the individual gear ratios' differences.

FINAL is very important. It's the last gear in the equation. Each gear is actually a pair of sprockets to find the ratio -dividing #of driven teeth by drive teeth- like gears on a bike, but autos use two pairs for each gear, the final pair's ratio being multiplied by every gear on the stick.

For example, if your 1st gear ratio is 3:1, and your final gear ratio is 3:1, your actual 1st ratio is 9:1 (3:1*3:1=9:1).

Now your 4th gear ratio may only be 1:1
but the final drive is still the same gear @ 3:1, so actual 4th is still only 3:1 (1:1*3:1=3:1).
My final is going from 3.25:1 to 3.88:1... it doesn't sound like much, but it's about a 20% increase in tire spinnin' fun off the line versus the HF trans. ALL GEARS get this 20% increase.

blah,blah and so on

So, here are my "4" transmissions. all numbers are ratios x:1.

_______Si__________________HF _____________4spd ______Franky
1st_____3.25______________3.25______________3.25_______3.25
2nd____1.894_____________1.65_____________ 1.65________1.65
3rd____1.259_____________1.033_____________1.033_______1.033
4th____0.937 ____________ 0.823_____________0.823_______ .823
5th____0.771 ____________0.694 _____________X____________ .694
FINAL___4.25______________3.25______________3.888_______3.888

The Si trans is way too low geared for the engine I'm about to use. The HF trans belongs with the engine, but went in a slightly lighter car and has zero torque off the line. So basically I took the 5th gear out of the HF trans and put it in the trans with the 3.888 final drive.

I get the long distance between gears vs the Si trans(lower#=lower RPM), plus a little more oomph where I want it I hope. The engine I'm using makes slightly less torque than the one I'm removing, but it makes it all at a much lower RPM. Horsepower is a function of torque, so the horsepower on this engine is low, but thankfully the fuel economy is high.

I don't believe I'll be sacrificing much economy with Franky, but I'm sure he'll put a little fun into this 70hp engine. Jump for pics.

Continue reading "final gear" »

Posted by Scott Korb at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Miss Fuller's Jetta broke. She had it towed to her house and there I diagnosed it, then replaced the starter. The tow truck driver suspected the starter, but I had to be sure.

I tried to work on the CRX today, but didn't get much done. I dragged engines and transmissions around, swapped a few hoses, wire brushed some corroded aluminum... and I found out the intake I'm using has a busted TPS (throttle posision sensor) so I need one. I also found out that I have nothing to control the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) on the new engine. Those parts are not easily found.

And the awful red paint on the replacement engine's valve cover is proving to be a challenge to remove.

Continue reading "start me up" »

Posted by Scott Korb at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My CRX DX (A.K.A. LE PEU) started misfiring. It lost compression in one cylinder. Dreya's been driving Mr. Hankey since then (with the 13" wheels back on it).
The CRX engine already burned oil, so it's getting replaced. I've only got about $600 in the car minus the cosmetics, so I'm not too upset that it only lasted almost a year.

Apparently it's very popular to swap engines from one type of Honda to another (like from an Acura Integra to a CRX). People do this to waste gas, er, I mean go faster.
I'll be going in the opposite direction. I want good fuel economy.

We'll see how it works out. It'll take me a while.

Ant helped me hoist out the engine today. I was getting 27/38mpg with this car before it broke- 27 without trying, 38 on trips on the highway cruising 75mph, or driving in town/beltline like a brick.

more pics and stuff after jump.

Continue reading "CRX DX/HF" »

Posted by Scott Korb at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dreya and i have decided on a name for trying to sell our creations.... and we made several things last weekend. Check out our Flickr account at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23026128@N06

(cut and paste if necessary)

In other news, Sean bought some steering parts for the Lincoln. We'll be installing those shortly. He's putting some shift solenoids in Vic's Volvo, so we'll see if that pans out, or if it needs a trans.
Mr. Hankey is running fine for Dreya but is a little drafty in the cold. The Camry still needs a Cat. Sean's been driving her to work and she does fine... but she needs a tiny bit of body work and the P. side fender replaced due to a little trailer accident.
I've been driving the CRX since towing it home from Maryland after Christmas. It burnt the power wire going to the new "autozone" fuel pump. Fuses were all fine. And it's been doing fine since fixing the wire. No more long trips until i put in a Honda pump and a fused wire there though. I'm going to do some other work to it too. I fixed the flat tire which I'm sure would have blown out at 80mph had the fuel-pump not quit. Good car.

At my job, among other things, I have to replace a heater core in a '98 Lincoln Town Car. This is not fun. I might take a picture of the interior minus entire dashboard once i get it out. I'm still working on removing the steering column w/o compromising the airbag system. Old plastic is difficult to deal with. Maybe next week or so... or not.

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:46 PM | Permalink

It's Broken!
No Start.
+
Two blown fuses.
+
1 day mostly off work + spend with The Dreya. = YAYY!!!
+
Big tow truck... did I say big? I meant frikken HUGE flatbed trailer to take "LE PEU" (the small) from from Carrboro to Raleigh (hooray for AAA).
+
Many fuses + stupid broken test light + Volt/Ohm/Meter
+
Drop fuel tank to add new fuel pump.

=PERFECT!

It's still an old car. It burns oil, needs rear strts, axles make noise. Needs me fix slight cosmetically but =very driveable Honda.

All new math aside, I'll get a pic to put here (Done. See after jump. ed-10/22/07) Geneva has the pic of "LE PEU" AND "LE PUE" side by side.
Oh, regarding "LE PUE"... It's Mr Hanky. Antny gave him to me when they got their new Charger. Mr Hanky is MINE! MWHAHAHA!
This 1982 Civic Wagn has a plate proclaiming the stench (LE PUE).

The Dreya is currently driving "the stench", and I "the small" as a trade for a while.

Continue reading "CRXtrabroken " »

Posted by Scott Korb at 10:05 PM | Permalink

Le Peu is gone. The Dreya has taken him to Carrboro. I can't drive hime anymore anyway... he's all decked out with girlie stuff ;)
I haven't got the racing skunk stripes on yet, but they're next.

seatcovers.jpg
dicepluswheelcover.jpg

Posted by Scott Korb at 08:16 PM | Permalink

I bought a CRX.
1990 DX (base)

The Camry's been returned to Andrew. He says it's never run so well. I'm happy. I enjoyed driving it for the time i had it. I might pick up another Camry from Thom and Carolyn (search mazda hiccup, B2300).

Dreya and i picked up Sparky today. A little hammer/prybar work and a space saver tire for clearence got her home... or rather to my sister's house. I guess i should call Edith. There's a bent car in her yard.
Sparky drove like it had never been wrecked. From the inside you almost cant tell save for the yellow paint numbers on the windows. 30mpg avg on the way home from Dunn @ 65mph... ;)

Then i went to work. W O R K
I hate Intrepids. Dodge has sullied the word. They clog the arteries of the shop bays.

So I really lucked out on this CRX. It's a 1990, black. The AC works but needs a blower fan. No rust, no real dents. The interior was putrid, but I'm taking care of that. I had to put a fuel relay in it to get it running. The car cost me very little, and apparently could be sold for very lots (the used car dealer i work with was impressed). This CRX will go to Dreya if she likes it. I need to do a few more things to it before she gets it.

In the meantime she's been driving another honda that Geneva has generously let her use...the white Civic LX i have a GIF of the CV joint for on another entry. That new CV axle went bad and i replaced it under warranty BTW.

Anyway among other problems, the AC on that white Civic didn't work forever, so now that works... for now.
now
now?
It kinda needs a new AC compressor. It makes noise, but works. Eventually it will lock up when the AC is on, throw the belt, and again have no AC.
OH, and it'll go bang when that happens, but keep driving (with no AC, so nothing new, right?).
And it needs the AC radiator fan. On this car, both radiator fans are supposed to run when you turn on the AC. The AC fan's been out of use for so long it quit working. A good smack on the electric motor got it spinning, but that probably wont last.

I like hondas. I might get me one ;)

Posted by Scott Korb at 11:21 PM | Permalink