At Home Mechanic

It only took 30 plus years of car ownership, but I now officially own a car worthy of presentation at a car show. And wasting no time to exploit this opportunity, I entered my hobby car, a 1987 Honda CRX Si, in the first annual Japanese Classic Car Show this past weekend in Long Beach California. Open to Japanese cars from 1985 and earlier, my 1987 model qualified for entry by being a model that was first offered for sale in 1985 or earlier.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I entered my hobby car (a 1987 Honda CRX Si) in a car show for old Japanese cars. This was the first car show that I have entered as a participant although it was far from the first car show I have ever been to. From the carefully manicured lawns of Pebble Beach, to parking lot of the local mall, to the dazzling halls of the Specialty Equipment Manufacturing Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, I have been to many car shows. The settings may vary and the featured cars can range from manufacturer's concept cars to clapped out, but beloved clunkers, but all car shows share a few similarities.

The Honda Civic is dead as we know it. Honda has killed off their leading volume leader in the Untied States and no one is here to mourn its passing except me. The Civic nameplate lives on and the new for 2006 car that carries the Civic name is a fine car, but the Civic spirit is dead and gone. The Civic has morphed through innumerable changes since it was introduced in 1973 just in time to win the hearts and minds of the American automobile public as the first Gas Crisis struck in the Fall of '73. The original intent of the first Honda Civic has prevailed through all the model changes until the latest and largest version of the Honda Civic hit the US dealerships. The newest Civic has grown in size just as the girth of the Average American has grown over the decades and the larger, pudgier Civic is tailored to fit an audience that needs a skoosch more room to fit into its jeans.

I get comments,

Reader Robyn writes:

I am wanting to find out what make and model car that Ashley Judd drove in the movie the YAYA Sister Club?

Sorry Robyn, that movie falls under the general definition of a "Chick Flick," and as such falls out of the area of expertise of the At Home Mechanic.

Regular Reader Dave Darling writes in response to my fitting a Carbon Fiber hood to my hobby car, a 19987 Honda CRX Si:

CF hood? Sweet, man! How much weight does that save? Saves it from the front, too, which is where most of the weight is in that car.

I think few things look nicer than a well laid-up piece of carbon-fiber bodywork. Sadly, they don't stay that way if you leave them unpainted. :( At least, if what I have heard is true, the sun's UV rays will start to break down the carbon strands over time, which will mar the looks and the strength of the panel.

I have been corresponding with a fellow Honda CRX enthusiast about an upgrade to his car's suspension. He is very happy to have found a relatively rare set of front torsion bars to replace the stock items in his car, and he is looking forward to installing them for a stiffer ride. I am happy for him and I know that he will get plenty of enjoyment from the new parts, but I also told him that in order to get the maximum benefit from this set of front torsion bars, he is going to buy and install a whole host of other parts that are necessary to facilitate the new torsion bars working to their top potential.