One Last Hurrah! One last cruise in my JDM CR-X Project Mugen PRO.2 for the 2005 summer driving season.

With winter fast approaching, I wanted to take one last run with the CR-X before she had to go into the garage for hibernation. But where to go? I wanted somewhere fun, that could be driven round-trip easily in a day so we'd have plenty of time to stop for pictures along the way. Somewhere scenic, but not too remote, in case we ran into trouble and somewhere where I could open her up and maybe get a change to take some corners.

My fiance suggested Invermere, BC.

Invermere is about three hours from Calgary. There's lots of beautiful scenery thru Kootenay National Park, the highway there has a few wide open stretches and the closer you get to Radium, just outside of Invermere, there is a stretch with some curves.

It was the perfect destination, so we packed up some sunblock and the cameras and off we went.

Pictures Taken Through The Glasstop In Kootenay Nat'l Park, Aug 2005

We had a blast; the weather was great, the CR-X ran like a top, we had an excellent dinner at a local pub, took some amazing pictures and we were back shortly before midnight. It was the perfect end to the perfect summer.

When I got home and was sorting through the pictures from our trip I realized that I'd taken one of the best pictures I'd ever shot. The lighting isn't perfect and the camera was just a point and shoot 2 megapixel digital, but it will always be my favorite.

CR-X Sunset

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.

Someone Selling My Rims? WTH - My Mugen MR5 rims found for sale without my knowledge

One afternoon in September 2005 Dieter called and said to me "I don't know how to tell you this, but... I think your rims are for sale on Beyond". Beyond.ca is one of the largest automotive-related forums in Western Canada. Dieter was scanning the For Sale threads and found a set of Mugen MR5 rims for sale in a city called Lethbridge, about 300kms south of Calgary. I admit, they looked suspiciously like the set I purchased at auction in Japan.

Rims I Purchased In Japan (L) - Rims For Sale In Lethbridge (R)

Dieter promised to call his contact in Japan and see what he could find out. I called Allan because he lives in Lethbridge and it's a small city with a small community of enthusiasts so the odds were pretty good he knew the person selling them.

It turned out to be one of his good friends and business partners named Steve who was selling the rims. I sent him my pictures from the auction and he spoke to Lon and Steve and he called me back the next day to explain. A lot of the cars shipped over had parts placed in them by Lon in Japan so they could be sold here. The rims arrived in a Toyota Levin from Japan but there was no note saying they were a specific person, so it was assumed that they were to be sold. The good news was: because of my pictures, they properly identified them as mine and I would get them. The bad news was that they'd been in the country for most of the summer and Steve used them on his drag-car and there was no rubber left on the tires... Remember this car from the car show?

Turns out those actually WERE my MR5s I showed to my fiance that day!

Anyways,  I told him as long as the rims were in good condition, I didn't care about the tires. He told me that Lon wanted $100 shipping and handling for sending them from Japan. And I was fine with that, even with the whole mix-up... I was happy the rims were here and in good condition. All I wanted were the MR5s.

He offered to bring them to Calgary for me but I would have to wait a few weeks until he came up again or I could come to Lethbridge and pick them up. In for a penny, in for a pound, I say. We made arrangements for that coming weekend and Saturday morning, bright and early, I jumped in my car and headed south on Highway 2.

The day was... Interesting.

The rims were actually in two different locations. Steve had two of them and had "sold" them to another friend who could only afford two, so two were at the friend's house. Allan drove us all around Lethbridge the entire afternoon. First we picked up the first two rims from Steve, then to the friend's house. The guy wasn't home and the rims were already mounted on his Civic which was sitting outside. Allan spoke to the guy's parents, whom he knew, and they let him in their garage to see if there were any extra rims we could put on the Civic after we "repo'd" the two MR5s. There weren't. So back to Allan's to get some jack stands and a jack. We finally got the last two MR5s from the Civic and then Allan treated me for lunch at the Burger Baron.

Say what you will about everything we went thru  to get the rims, Allan did all of this and went to all this trouble and I wasn't even his customer.  I bought my CR-X from Dieter. I made the arrangements to ship the rims with Dieter and he had no obligation to be the go-between for myself and Steve. He didn't have to drive me all over Lethbridge to sort this out and then buy me lunch. As a matter of fact he didn't even keep the $100; he sent it back to Lon in Japan. We've kept in touch off and on over the years and is a really nice guy. If I was in the market for another Japanese import, he's the only person I'd call.

Funny how a lot of the really good people I've met thru acquiring parts for my CR-X I've become friends with after mix-ups. Richard who sold me the Personal Box ashtray that FedEx lost, Matt who sold me some replacement glass for my glasstop on Project 88 that kept arriving broken, and Allan and the MR5 situation. Just goes to show that just because a deal goes a little sideways, it doesn't mean it's going to end badly.

Allan wasn't kidding about the tires either. They were worn right down to the belts, but the rims - while in desperate need a good cleaning - were in excellent condition and had never been stripped or restored before. In the spring, I found a complete set of lug caps and a Mugen key on eBay to complete my set.

Mugen MR5s Finally Arrived! The tires didn't survive being used on a drag car though.

Mugen MR5s after cleaning, installation and some lug caps

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Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.

Misc Pics From 2005 - JDM CR-X SiR EF8 Project Mugen PRO.2 - Honda Access Mirror Covers, Gathers stereo and Illuminating License Plate

Ready For Her First Canadian Winter

Illuminating License Plate

Mugen License Plate Bolts

Testing The License Plate

Gathers Radio From JDM EF6

JDM License Plate Seal

License Plate

Mugen MR5 Lug Cover Key and Spoon Radiator Cap

Honda Access Aero Mirror Covers

Honda Access Aero Mirror Covers

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.

Project PRO.2 Moves To A New Home - Mugen PRO.2 Rear Bumper, 5zigen exhaust, Honda Access fogs, Verno emblem, Spoon heat tape, & Momo Steering Wheel

Project PRO.2

2006 was a year of changes and challenges for me personally, professionally and with Project PRO.2

My fiance and I bought our first house, I changed careers and I wasn't able to put as much money into the CR-X as I'd been able to in the past. We had a lot of extra expenses the first year of home ownership; new furnace, hot water tank, appliances and more. Add to that a back injury that sidelined me for pretty much the entire summer on powerful pain medication and it wasn't a terribly productive year on the build.

It was not all bad and some progress was made, but a lot of the year was about the house and my health. One of the big decisions I made was to fully commit to the Mugen PRO.2 build. I'm still going to keep all the OEM moldings and bumpers so that I can switch back if I ever want to, but that was definitely the direction I wanted to take the build. I also decided that I would continue to assemble my car by sourcing all of my parts first, then organize and install them at once. This route would take longer, and was the same route I took with Project 88. The main difference now was that my EF8 is drivable -- Project 88 wasn't. Not having to tow your project around town and even being able to enjoy the occasional Sunday afternoon cruise is a big advantage.

Driving My CR-X

One of the only requirements I had of any place we purchased was that it either had a garage or the space to build a garage on the property. The house we purchased didn't have a garage but had plenty of space for one. 2006 was a very prosperous time in Calgary it was extremely difficult to secure someone to build our garage. Coupled with Calgary's short building season and the fact we purchased in late spring, most companies were already booked well into the summer. We had no choice but to store all of my tools, the lawnmower and gardening implements until we could get the garage built.

Testing the Garage Pad (L) - CR-X in Storage Unit (R)

As the months wore on I no longer prayed the garage would be built by late July and started to pray that it would get built before winter. If winter arrived before we'd finished building there's no way the CR-X's sportier tires would allow me to drive in snow and ice so I'd have to get it towed from storage to the house.Although I'd prefer if she just stayed indoors all winter.

With the help of a friend, I was able to acquire a genuine Mugen rear bumper from an eBay seller. Since the seller wouldn't ship to Canada I had it shipped to the friend's house and then to mine. It arrived in decent condition but some minor repairs and a repaint will need to be made.Some minor cracking around sides, and some damage near the tow-hook hole are the worst of it.

Mugen PRO.2 Rear Bumper

Protip: Don't try and 'clean' near the Mugen stamp on the backside of a Mugen bumper. There's no clear coat or sealer on top of it. If you clean it, the ink will disappear. I managed to get only one picture of the stamp before I made that dumb mistake. Learn from me.

Mugen Stamp on Rear Bumper

I also scored a sweet deal on a 5zigen exhaust. It's missing the over-the-axel pipe but I figure any decent muffler shop should be able to custom-fabricate something with the custom bends needed to clear the suspension.

5Zigen Exhaust System

Some friends also came through for me and helped locate and acquire some rare parts from Japan like the Honda Access rear storage boxes, clear and smoked Mugen PRO.2 front bumper lenses and a Honda Access steering wheel. A few other purchases were some JDM foglights from eBay as well as a Honda Verno emblem for the rear bumper. I'm not big on decals and emblems, but this one was small and subtle enough that I decided I wanted it for Project PRO.2. Spoon heat barrier tape for my oil pan and a Honda Access trash bin rounded out some of my other purchases.

Honda Access Rear Seat Storage Boxes

Honda Access Momo Steering Wheel

Mugen PRO.2 Front Bumper Signal Light Cover (Smoked)

Honda Verno Emblem

Spoon Sports Heat Barrier Tape

Honda Access Fog Lights

Honda Access Trash Bin

But by far, best purchase I made in the summer of 2006 was a rear hatch for $150. It had a Honda Access DOHC deal on the 'extra windshield'. I saw it on eBay one night and noticed it was at a local tuner shop here in Calgary. I printed out the auction, which had no Buy It Now on it, and called in *cough cough* sick to work the next morning and went to pick it up. It included the SiR rear spoiler which I was able to sell for $100 to make most of my money back.

Honda Access DOHC Hatch Decal

As for the garage, it got completed. The structure and doors were installed by the end of September so I was able to bring the CR-X and all of our stuff home before we had to pay another month of storage ($250). The exterior and electrical were completed by the end of October. Four days later, we had the first snowfall.

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.

Misc Pics From 2006 - CRX Tail Light Collection ( CR-X Exclusive, CRX Special Edition, CR-X Limited Edition II, CR-X Style SII, CR-X VTEC )

1990 CR-X SiR & 1988 Civic Wagon (winter beater)

CRX Tail Light Collection

JDM 90 CR-X Tail (top) & USDM 90 CRX (bottom)

JDM 90 CR-X (top) & JDM 90 CR-X VTEC (bottom)

JDM 89 CR-X Exclusive (top) & JDM 89 CR-X (bottom)

JDM 90 CR-X Style SII (top) & JDM 90 CR-X Limied Edition II (bottom)

Canadian 91 CRX Special Edition (MISSING: USDM 89 CRX)

CR-X Exclusive Tail Light

Remember, this blog was written in chronological order so, you will need to click OLDER POSTS to move forward in time, and click NEWER POSTS to go backwards.