Recently my girlfriend sold her black 99 civic because she wanted a crv. We got a 97 crv that needs quite a bit of work. Thought I would make a small project thread because its a little too late to make one for my gold civic.

Sold the 99 for 3k and found this cypress green pearl 97 crv LX (4wd) with 120k for 2500. Comes with a b20 for those who arnt familiar with it.



Had the rear wheel bearings, and front shocks/springs, rotors and pads done just before selling.

It runs great, but needs a tune up and a lot of work. So far I have given it a new fuel filter, air filter, pcv valve, plugs and bigger plug wires, cleaned the battery terminals, ground wires, iacv, MAP sensor, and tightened the throttle cable.

Stuff we fixed:
-rear window somehow came unattached from the actuator
-Rear wiper motor
-cracked rear drum
-Kid stains everywhere
-broken hood prop
-seized and rusted rear gate door handle


Stuff that still need fixing:
-Can see daylight through the cat converter and exhaust isnt far behind.
-rear door lock will open from up front but wont close unless pushed by hand
-there is a shuttering noise/vibration on hard turns to left or right. Sounds like its from the rear.
-bubbles in 3 tires somehow.

 

sounds like you've got some work ahead of you, what with the rust exhaust and bumpy tires. Maybe thats what the spare 500 from the civic should go towards?

good luck. Ive always wanted a CRV as a winter beater. I hear they're pretty reliable, as long as you dont beat on them off road. apparently their little differentials cant take much abuse.

 

got some new wheels and tires from the junkyard a few days ago for 200. They have like 80% tread, but one tire is losing about 6psi per day, there is some cracking in the side wall : / still a good deal though because I have a good spare I can use on the back.

They came off a Chevy Lumina van from the 80s. I had to file down the calipers a few mm to make them fit. The non painted portion was in rough shape, so after following Hobo's wheel polishing DIY, I am pretty happy with them and I have some sore fingertips from sanding.

Before:


After:



I ordered some of those Aluminum Honda centercap stickers when I first got these. Should be here soon to cover up the Chevyness.

Also, got some green valve stem caps just for fun.

 

after some research Im pretty sure the shuddering is from lack of fluid in the rear differential. Picked up some Honda rear diff fluid today, it was $27 for 2 quarts. Ouch. I'll change that tomorrow when Im under there replacing exhaust. Header came in today so I'm all ready to go. B-series header was 75 and b20 replacement downpipe (what I needed) was 78 so i went with the header.

 

heres a pic of the engine bay before it gets cleaned up or anything.

 

all these updates took place 3 days ago. changed the rear diff fluid and the shuttering is like 90% better, so I will do it one more time when I have the funds. Dropped in the new air filter, that was easy.

started my exhaust project. Hoped to get some fun stickers, but all I got were these stickers:


Here are the new parts:


Ran into problem number one when I tried to remove the o2 sensor from the cat.

Had to hack saw it off. both o2 sensors were damaged in the transfer and I has to replace them from the junk yard to get rid of CEL

Problem number two was that a B-series header DOES NOT fit on a CRV : ( I had to sawzall the little mounting tab on the downpipe because it wouldnt clear the oil pan. Then when I went to bolt it up to the cat, I was about 3 inches short. I ended up having to get a flange welded on to the old manifold so i could re-use it. No CEL now though and the exhaust sounds like stock.

Got my new spare mounted plus 1 new tire at Sears because 2 of the ones from the junk yard lose air. Im just gonna get 2 more new ones when i have the money. Oh well, the wheels are still pretty fly for 200.

Also had to fix a power steering leak, one of the metal lines had a hole rusted in it. Took some copper piping from my moms garage, bent it to shape, and spliced it in where the old pipe was. so far so good, although im not sure what material the original segment was.

Passed inspection before the 10 day temp sticker ran out. Pressure is off now.

 

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Good to see that someone got some mileage out of that DIY. It wasn't mine, but I endorse it as extremely useful.

Nice little project. I thought the exhaust system on a CRV would be awesome. Might wanna look into a flex pipe instead for the aftermarket stuff.

 

I just saw this and lol'd to myself. What kind of stains again?

Progress looks good btw. Please do something about those Chevy wheels though.

What is the name of the header company (on the side of the box)? The font looks familiar.

Also, I think I should have at least one 4 wire o2 sensor sitting around if you are interested, possibly 2, but I would have to check.

 

Im definitely keeping the wheels, I love them. I wouldnt put them on my civic, but this car has a different kind of feel to it, I think they fit well. Just need to get rid of the chevy centercaps.

The header brand is DNA Motoring. Nothing I have heard of, but the construction looks nice and it was under 100 so Im happy with it. I would much rather use it than re-sell it. I'll look into the flex piping, those are the little pipe segments that look like woven steel strands right? I hope they make them short enough.

Im gonna need to replace the hangers too, cause they are stretched out and the whole exhaust hangs about an inch too low for my taste.

I might take you up on the o2 Sensor, I got one from the junkyard, and the second one came from my civic, but now I am short one. It will be a few weeks though, rent is due tomorrow and I'm still 1 paycheck shy, so i'll need a few weeks to catch up before I buy anything.