ITA DC Integra Build

I have raced a 1985 CRX Dx prepared for road racing in the Improved Touring C class for many years and decided it was time for a change. The CRX was sold in the spring of 2012. The inital plan was to find something ready to race- preferably a second gen CRX Si or second gen Integra- both would be in the Improved Touring A class. After a road trip to Tn to check out a car and finding a lot of race cars don't have titles, I started searching for something to convert into a racecar. After a somewhat long hunt, I found this in Florida...

Car WAS bone stock when I purchased it except for the halo headlights. Found a cheap flight to Orlando and drove it home. The trip was mostly uneventfull except for a minor tune up between Macon and Atlanta.. Fuel mileage before the tuneup was horendous (~22 mpg on the highway) and had a slight miss at light throttle and at first started flashing the CEL and then a few miles later, set it on solid. Installed new spark plugs and plug wires near Macon and reset the CEL and headed back north. A few miles later, the CEL was back. I was thinking it may be the distributor with the higher mileage on the car and being later in the afternoon on a Sunday, I headed toward an Acura dealership in northern Atlanta. On a hunch, I replaced the distributor cap and rotor and started north again thinking that if this did not fix it, I could swing a u-turn and wait for the Acura dealership to open the next day. Luckily the cap and rotor fixed it!! Swung through the Tail of the Dragon and headed back to WI. Unfortunately it was raining lightly on the dragon which kept the speeds down but it was still a fun ride. This build log will probably be more grassroots that some (perhaps most) racecar builds but will show what can be done on a modest budget

Sweet! Looks like a great starting point!

As a DC chassis luvr, looking forward to seeing where this thread goes.

I have to say though, after seeing a bajillion hacked up examples out there, that one seems almost too nice to turn into a race car. Of course, they built two bajillion of them - hence the almost.

While it is in good condition, not too nice for a racecar build...

Got the interior out and took ~18 pounds of sound deadening out of it this summer.

Did the old dry ice and chisel trick and this did a pretty decent job. Then used some carb cleaner to get the reminder off the tub without damaging the paint.

Got the cage installed in early Oct. I ran the main hoop diagonal opposite most folks for some added visibility to the rear and I will add some verticals between the door bars in the spring.

Been busy the past week or two trying to get the cage primed...

and painted before I lose my warm weather window in Wisconsin....

Sweet!

Nice...even better to see you working on it with the youngster.

Started installing some Koni 3011 shocks and springs I bought from another Integra racer who was upgrading. Got the front left installed pretty easily but had some challenges with the left rear...

Started to drill the lower shock bolt out but not straight enough on the pilot hole to continue so ended up drilling enough of the rubber out to pull the bolt and inner sleeve out and then put to cuts in the outer sleeve to relieve the press fit force and then drive the outer sleeve out...

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Ugh, I hate dealing with those bushings.

Why did you have to drill the lower shock bolt out? Was is seized or something?

devina, where in the 'Land of Cheese and Beer' are you from?

The head of the bolt was 'pre-broken off' so I had to go this route. Tried to remove the other side and it is also siezed - sounds like this is an issue even on southern cars... Started working on cutting that one off tonight.

ST_ZX2- I am in the greater Madison area...where are you from??

devina wrote: The head of the bolt was 'pre-broken off' so I had to go this route. Tried to remove the other side and it is also siezed - sounds like this is an issue even on southern cars... Started working on cutting that one off tonight. ST_ZX2- I am in the greater Madison area...where are you from??

Mukwonago--about 25 miles SW of Milwaukee on I-43.

I got the other rear shock and shock bushing out but had to cut the bolt out and drill out the bushing again but this one went easier than the first one.

Installed the first rear shock and the energy suspension shock bushing and got the other front shock replaced.

Started to install the second rear shock and remembered that I had not painted the underside of the chassis where the cage feet mounted. Scraped the undercoating off the surfaces and cleaned up the welded area and shot it with some more rustoleum.

I have the suspension finished-

and it sits mostly on the ground/dollies:

Started taking the OEM seat sliders apart to install the racing seat mounts. Took a bit to cut the OEM seat brackets off the inside slider...

Ordered a couple bolts from Acura to mount the seat mounts to the sliders.

Started the header installation-

Should save a couple pounds and hopefully free up some horsepower!!

This guy will be the next addition- way too cold to play in the garage today..

Should have probably pulled at least the condensor fan while the header was off. May also remove the cooling fan- the ITC CRX never had one.

you going to keep the headlights ? and do they actually do better than OEM ? or are they just bling/bling ?

never mind ... reread your first post ( my memory said they were projector beams, instead of halo ... )

Back in the day I ran an ITC rwd Corolla. No cooling fan at all. I'd just leave the heater on 'hi' all the time! Although, there was a time or two when leaving the track I wished for an electric fan on a relay/switch just for a bit more peace of mind.

The Halos currently installed (by a previous owner) are going to be removed and replaced with the original headlights- these are from a 94-97 bumper cover so they dont fit correctly. Leaning toward putting the yellow Lamin-X material on them assuming they are glass. The Halos will be sold after removal..

The old CRX did not have any cooling fans- not needed on the track and I don't plan on idling for too long...before I pull the cooling fan, I want to check out the radiator a bit to make sure it is in good condition.

I did get the racing seat installed this weekend and discovered a remote start/entry controller under the dash. Does not appear to be an alarm so should not be too much hassle to remove it.

On the header, you planning on ceramic coating or at least hitting it with some high-temp paint and some header wrap? Might help keep your temps down a tad.

I am not a big fan of header wraps but hopefully it will get a new coat of ceramic paint next winter...

devina wrote: Leaning toward putting the yellow Lamin-X material on them assuming they are glass.

Pretty sure all the headlights from that generation were plastic. I've had a 94, 95, and now the 99 and no glass for any of them..

Keep up the good work! I just installed some Koni yellows and H&R OE Sport springs on ours and it has rekindled my love for the DC2 chassis. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the car.

Here are a couple pics of the race seat installed- mounted the seat mount brackets on the stock, but modified, OEM sliders. Not sure it sits low enough but that can be changed later.

Very cool, looks great!

Spent a little time in the garage today- been distracted for the past several weeks finding a new storage location and then moving the stuff..

Removed some of the mat from behind the dash- did not disconnect the AC yet. Removed the sunroof sub-wiring harness and worked on hooking up the exhaust system. Had to trim the OEM heatshield for the muffler to tuck up in front of the shift rods.

A small pile of removed stuff from today..