DAN'S MASSIVE OBD2 B18B1 into 1992 Civic CX Hatch Write-up

[Dasfinc]

Would an Admin please move this to the FAQ section? There are a few articles featuring GSR's into 92-95 EG/EH/EJ's, but nothing on the trusty old LS Hello to everyone on Honda-Tech I wrote a write-up a while ago on how to stuff a 96-00 D16Y8 head onto a D15B8/B7 block, and am never satisfied with 'enough' so I went ahead and did a budget motor swap. Before I begin MY swap was done using a OBD2 1996 Acura integra motor, a 1995 Acura Integra Transmission, going into a 1992 Honda Civic CX, if you use my document for guidance and are using another combination of parts/cars I cannot guarantee my documents accuracy but will gladly offer guidance. Please note, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, 1994 and 1995 B18B1's are identical to the 96-01's, aside from the engine wiring harness. (I'm like 99% sure of this) Tools needed: Metric wrenches and sockets 32mm Axle Nut 24" Breaker Bar to use with axle nut a GOOD torque wrench. Sockets *be sure to have a deep well like 8-10mm for the bitch pin* C-clamp Shopping List: FULL B18B1 OBD1 or OBD2 long block with wiring harness, it doesn't matter as the wiring harness of either will plug right into the shock-towers of a 92 civic (and in most cases anything from 92-95) You will want ALL the mounts attached to it, as well as the stablizer bracket/mount on the bottom/front. *BIG IMPORTANT NOTE* Automatic B18B1 rear torque bracket, DOES NOT WORK, with manual trans, or the civic at all for that matter. ALSO the CIVIC rear torque bracket, DOES NOT WORK either, due to its design. B series Transmission (Whatever works really, I picked up a LS tranny due to price/availablity, don't forget all the sensors, the fork/bearing, and starter... ALSO all mounts and brackets attached to it 1994-2000 Acura Integra LS Axles and midshaft (Automatic OR manual, don't matter) 1994-2000 Acura Integra Shift linkage and stablizer bar. PR4 or P75 OBD 1 Manual ECU. (The last few digits you will notice on the ECU will say "A02" or "A51" 50 and above are ECU's for an AUTOMATIC, below 50 are MANUAL TO DISPEL ANY RUMORS OR QUESTIONS: ALL MOTOR MOUNTS AND BRACKETS FOR THIS SWAP ARE FROM THE 1994-2000 ACURA INTEGRA LS MOTOR, the ONLY thing interchangeable with the civic, is the MOUNT attached to the frame of the civic, that attaches to the rear trans/motor mount (Torque brace or "T Bracket") EVERYTHING BETWEEN THE 2 (Clutch/Flywheel/pressure plate) Don't forget hardware for everything (including the bolts for the mid-shaft, bolts for the trans, bolts for the flywheel, etc, EVERYTHING) Plumbing: A few changes in hosing occur in this swap, so you will need: the LONGER hose off the teggy motor that goes to the heater core, the rest can be used from the civic. the fuel line from the fuel filter to the fuel rail, as the civics is too short *You may need the upper and lower rad hoses too, I dunno since my motor came with them and the worked, I'll check later if they are close enough to the civics to re-use your origionals, although I believe the water necks off the block are LARGER than the civics, so you will most likely need these hoses* if I'm forgetting anything let me know guys! Chapter 1: Pull the old one out. This is FAR easier said than done, and I feel was the HARDEST part of the project. Drain your coolant/oil before you get ahead of yourself so you don't get drenched in fluids Once all your fluids are empty, remove your Radiator, and put your drain plug back in again. At this point, continue to disconnect everything, Specifically be aware of Grounds, Vacuum lines, and the heater-core lines. once the motor has NOTHING but the mounts holding it place we can get to the axles and linkage. To pop out your axles you have to start by punching out the axle nut *If you look at the axle nut you will see what I mean* Next step is breaking the axle nuts loose with the car still on the ground, I had to stand and jump on my breaker bar (225lbs) to get it to get loose, but it didn't take to long luckily. Once this is loose take your wheels off and pull the cotter pins out of the castle nuts on your lower ball joints, then remove the castle nut *17mm IIRC* Once these nuts are off smack on the sides of where the ball join sits *The metal part, not the joint* to help shake it a little loose, then pull up on your knuckle to get the balljoint to drop off the knuckle. Once that joint has been dropped, remove your lower strut fork bolt to finish dropping your lower control arm so once the axle is loose, it will be able to come out *As you cannot fit it through the fork* you can now tug the axles out of the transmission, you may need a heavy duty long flat-head screwdriver or a Pry-Bar to pop them out of the trans (I used a 10lb Crow-bar) once your axles are out, the next big step is getting the linkage and stablizer bars off the car. (This took me nearly 4 hours, you have been warned) First thing is to drop everything under the passenger compartment as far as the linkage and stabilizer bar goes. (Basically unbolt everything under the car related to the shifter where the shifter comes through the floor, be sure to remove the shiftknob, the boot, and center console before doing this so it will be able to drop out of the car, this took me a LONG time because most everything was rusted away, take your time, I'd almost recommend dropping your exhaust to make it easier) Once that has all been dropped you can unbolt the stablizer from your transmission (2 12mm bolts IIRC) and it will be totally removed, now the last thing between you and victory is the bitch pin: *a friend of mine holding the bitch pin* You are supposed to be able to punch that out of the transmission where the linkage attaches or you can just cut the linkage off right there... I choose the later, a $5 hack saw, and 2 min of sawing later it was free. (BE SURE TO CUT THE LINKAGE AFTER THE COUPLER *as per the pic*, AND NOT THE PART ATTACHED TO THE TRANSMISSION) *UPDATE* I feel like a retard... Here is a link to a VERY easy way to remove that damn pin: http://www.performanceforum.co....html I broke 2 punches and a screwdriver on it trying to get it out, it is a BITCH. *Edit* If you do it the stupid way... once the axles are out, the linkage is all dropped, and everything is disconnected, remove your radiator so it is out of the way when you are lifting and droping your engines. You can now chain up your engine hoist and get ready to rip that fooker out! You are best off removing the mounts from both the car and the engine so they are all out of your way. once all the mounts are off, rip it out! Chapter 2: Once its out, Get your new one in! (Be sure again, to remove the lower stabilizer brackets off the trans and engine before dropping in the motor, but be sure to LEAVE the top trans and top motor mount still attached. Also If you have an automatic engine, be sure to remove the bracket that 'supports' the intake manifold off the block as it will block you from being able to put the T-bracket in later. *I'm still working on a few 'snafoo's with the automatic engine with manual trans*) Drop it in, bolting the 2 top mounts in once you have them in place, once they are both in place, put the rest of the mounts back on (T bracket will have to be put on from underneath, I haven't figured out a better way to do this just yet, maybe it is possible to leave it on while dropping in the engine) Once the motor is in place you can begin re-attaching all the vac/coolant lines, and you can simply plug the OBD2 wiring harness into the OBD1 shock-towers without any problem. attach the fuel, and power/grounds, and your girl will be ready to fire up! At this point, you can put the 1994-2000 Integra axles/midshaft into the car (I didn't get hardware to mount the midshaft whoops) After that is done, re-attach all your suspension bits, get your wheels back on, tighten up your axle nuts and punch them back down so they won't back off. Lastly, attach all your new 94-00 Integra LS shift linkage to your car, and transmission, be aware that you need all new shifter bushings as well as NOTHING from the civic shifter is reusable on this swap minus the mounts under the passenger compartment. so once everything is back together again, Drop in your PR4 or P75 ECU and fire her up! I will edit this in another week as I still have a few things to finish up *Ala installing new shift linkage as I don't have all the bushings and mounting up the mid-shaft and rear T-bracket* But to answer a few more questions, the car started right up with my chipped P05 (Chipped with Vtec for a D16Y8 mini-me swap DEFINATLY not meant for this motor) and there is no need for any Acura Integra suspension bits for this swap at all. Hope you all liked the read, this swap was EXTREMELY easy, and took me maybe 12 hours total (the Bitch Pin consuming about 4 of those hours, and I had to mount my flywheel/clutch/pressure plate and attach my transmission to my motor as well as the fact that I've NEVER done a motor swap before in my life!!!) *edit* forgot to mention if you didn't see the pics, I did it outside on a gravel driveway in the snow, so 12 hours for a first time swap is haulin ass if you ask me. This swap is a GREAT cheap alternative to the common B16 SIR2 swap as well as an EVEN cheaper alternative to GSR/ITR swaps. Yes it won't rev as high, but its a very grunty motor and LOVES boost, and again is MUCH cheaper than other swaps. I've spent sub $750 on EVERYTHING to get the motor in this car and ready to roll, only things I have left to buy are an ECU, some bolts, and a Teggy fuel line from the fuel filter. (So another maybe $65) Happy Swapping! Got some more money shots, and only one CEL codes *no primary O2* cause I don't have the downpipe with the O2 ON the car right now, so: BIG IMPORTANT NOTE: I dropped in a B18B1, Plugged in an OBD1 PR4, and got only one CEL for O2 *which wasn't attached* This PROVES that OBD2 engines are simply a 'plug in, drop in' swap for an OBD1 car if you use the OBD2 wiring harness, and OBD1 shock-tower wiring. ANOTHER BIG IMPORTANT NOTE: When using a short shifter, with aftermarket exhaust, when you switch to the B-series shift linkage you may be hitting your exhaust hangers and may have to grind-off a small piece of extra material on either the linkage or exhaust. *I dumped the fart-can, in favor of something simple* *My friend Triumphantly holding the dead fart can* The new muff: Subtle, but sounds fantastic. Its Alive!!!:

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[yoffer]

Great write up!

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by yoffer

Great write up!

Thanks, For some reason in all the FAQ's there wasn't a very HEAVILY detailed LS write-up, only the one linked to that Cspeed site for a GSR swap.

[slacks]

nice man!
i'll definitely be using this when i do my LS swap in a month or so
hope this gets stickied!

Originally Posted by Dasfinc

btw that shit is crazy as hell!

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by slacks

nice man!
i'll definitely be using this when i do my LS swap in a month or so
hope this gets stickied!

Not to knock the D-series backers, but I invested a fair amount of money into my D-series Mini-Me to find it never ran right, and never made enough power, and stayed away from swaps because I was afraid it'd be too hard!

Turns out doing the swap is REALLY quite easy compared to other stuff I've done.

I can safely say "If you can install a short-shifter, and replace a headgasket, You can do a motorswap in a honda"

*edit*

Here's a picture of me hard at work:

[B18bEG6ick]

Nice man! Shoot I wish I had money to get me a B18b. Can't believe you did this in the winter, much props.

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by B18bEG6ick

Nice man! Shoot I wish I had money to get me a B18b. Can't believe you did this in the winter, much props.

It was so much cheaper than I anticipated it really surprised me!

Yea, this weekend it was 40 on Sat, 50 on Sunday, so I was like "[freak] it" made some phone calls, got a hoist borrowed and friend to help me and I tore into it. (Its been like 5* for the past 3 weeks)

Sad part is I have a daily driver too, Lol a 2007 ford focus to get to work and back, I just REALLY REALLY wanted to get it done BEFORE track season starts up.

[Dasfinc]

Back to the top, this is some great info!

[hushypushy]

Originally Posted by Dasfinc

Yes it won't rev as high, but its a very grunty motor and LOVES boost, and again is MUCH cheaper than other swaps.

I have no idea what that means but I love it

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by hushypushy

I have no idea what that means but I love it

Lol, When I say "grunty" I just mean more torque basically.

[Dasfinc]

Back up top, Hoping to be tacked into the FAQ's

[Dasfinc]

Added some more pics!

[eggreenrider]

did u do any work to the head?

[onsetofpurity]

WOW THIS IS MASSIV3E!@

[ej1love]

props...

[96 EX]

Nice write up This summer I'm planning on a LS swap in the Ej8 since the Y8 isnt cutting it. Maybe Ill tear into it before I swap it in there and give it some extra goodies lol

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by eggreenrider

did u do any work to the head?

Nope bone stock, I have to admit I literally bought a 96 B18B1 *that I knew the background on* Strapped it to a LS 5 speed trans and hoped for the best (I have yet to test out the transmission since I've been working on other things, but the motor runs STRONG!)

Originally Posted by onsetofpurity

WOW THIS IS MASSIV3E!@

Thanks! There are too many 'write-ups' that are like 3 lines long with 2 pictures, I hate that crap!

People may say "Its a drop in swap" but there is ALOT more to it than just plopping it in there and hoping everything fits.

Originally Posted by ej1love

props...

Thanx

Originally Posted by 96 EX

Nice write up This summer I'm planning on a LS swap in the Ej8 since the Y8 isnt cutting it. Maybe Ill tear into it before I swap it in there and give it some extra goodies lol

yea, I had a Y8 Minime on my stock block and trans, and with all due respect the gearing really killed it, but it was still gutless below like 6000RPM

I passed on the extra goodies for this swap, I have the "Go big or go home mentality" so I 'went home and installed the engine'

Next winter its getting boosted, and when that happens I'll be replacing all my gaskets/seals/belts etc. and some other goodies.

[Dasfinc]

Bump for more pics!

[Dasfinc]

Bump again in hopes it gets put in the FAQ's

[Dasfinc]

Bump!

Car went on its maiden voyage today everyone! A few things I noticed, so I figure I bring them up to people with freshly installed motors that may have been sitting for awhile.

Upon initial startup, it always idled alittle high *1.8-2K* which I assume would be a vac leak somewhere, but didn't bother looking right away.

After driving it for 2 min, the idle dropped down to where it needed to be, and has been perfect since, I dunno if it was just the new PR4 ECU learning everything, or if the motor just needed to get warmed up.

Also, the FIRST time I went WOT *after driving it for about 5 min* I started from a 40mph roll in 2nd to put some load on the engine, not the trans, I noticed I was blowing out quite a bit of white/black/blue smoke *no idea what color, kinda hard to see* again, after putting fresh gas in the car, and changing the oil, the next WOT run had NO smoke at all.

Engine is VERY gutsy, it feels like a whole new animal!

[96 EX]

Nice, Definetly gonna do the LS in mine except I might go N/A just because I need some a little more reliable an cheaper then turbo. Also its not like Im looking to be the fastest either so no biggy. Glad to see its up a running! Mucho Props

[instrument]

good job, anyone who will crawl under a car in a rocky driveway in the cold is good in my book.

[IanB]

Nice thread, and props for doing it outside in the winter, lol. I'll be tackling a similar swap in the next month or so with a few upgrades, but this will come in very handy.

I've also had a mini-me (Y7 block, Y8 head and tranny), and while it was fun it wasn't what I wanted for my new car.

[Dasfinc]

Originally Posted by 96 EX

Nice, Definetly gonna do the LS in mine except I might go N/A just because I need some a little more reliable an cheaper then turbo. Also its not like Im looking to be the fastest either so no biggy. Glad to see its up a running! Mucho Props

Its NA for the moment until next winter, THEN I'll throw some boost at it

Originally Posted by instrument

good job, anyone who will crawl under a car in a rocky driveway in the cold is good in my book.

You have no idea how much that sucked, Lol. I went and got some scrap wood to put under the car for this past weekend for when I finished mounting the driver side axle and rear engine mount. Glad its running, Well worth the pain in my book.

Originally Posted by IanB

Nice thread, and props for doing it outside in the winter, lol. I'll be tackling a similar swap in the next month or so with a few upgrades, but this will come in very handy.

I've also had a mini-me (Y7 block, Y8 head and tranny), and while it was fun it wasn't what I wanted for my new car.

I have to say, the Mini-Me was a Puss compared to this swap, Lol.


I also added a new note to the write-up about its incompatibility with a short-shifter AND after market exhaust together *Requires some cutting*

[instrument]

i can't imagine how hard it had to be to get the motor in

i pulled a motor from a del sol in a rocky driveway, i had to push the car under the lift, and roll the car out of the way, then drive the truck under the motor to take it home.

doing the reverse on rocks had to be a pain.

i think i would've taken the time to clean that engine bay up a bit though, it looks like your old motor caught on fire in there.