88 CRX Swap

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joe62890

New Member
I picked up a 88 CRX DX last Saturday for $360. When I bought the car I already had planned on swapping a B18C into it so it was only more convenient that the motor in the CRX was blown. I spent Sunday and Monday pulling the engine and transmission and now it's time to start locating parts for the swap. I'm dead set on the 96+ B18C with the GSR Transmission, however; I have a few questions.

1) Will using the JDM vs the USDM motor pose any issues?
2) Which axles will I need to use?
3) Can the Hydro LSD transmission be used with the CRX or will I have to use a Cable Transmission.
4) Can the OBD1 ECU be easily used in the car since it originally was OBD0?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Well buddy, you've got a LOT of research to start doing.

Hopefully I can get you started on the right foot though.

1) Using the JDM motor will be no different from USDM. Just make sure you have the mount kit and a P72 ECU.

2) You'll have to use axles and halfshaft from the GSR. Someone else can pitch in here, because I'm not 100 percent sure if you need to swap out your steering knuckles with those of an integra as well. Maybe it's just something optional for a better option with brakes, not sure.

3) The easiest thing would be for you to find a B series cable tranny. You can buy a cable to hydro conversion, but they're not the easiest things to configure and get working right. Even so, the cable tranny would just be a world easier.

4) Yes, you can use the OBD1 ECU, you'll just have to get a jumper harness from hasport or rywire. You'll also have to make sure you get the GSR harness, then you can send the GSR harness and the rex harness to rywire and they'll send you back one harness that will plug right into the plugs in the car and the motor.

hope that helps.
 
If you want to run OBD1, you will need an OBD1 ECU and a conversion harness. You can find those at Rywire.com. I think there is even someone on this site that makes and sells harnesses. I can't remember.

You can use the hydro tranny if you wanted to. You will just need to get a conversion kit. Hasport has them.

As for the motor, get whichever one is easier and cheaper.

Couldn't tell you about the axles. I forget which axle/hub combination it needs to be for this stuff. I'm getting old.
 
i believe you will actually need 90-93 teg axles and intermediate shaft,and i dont think the ubs from the dx will work..i think you need si's
 
Thanks for getting me started in the right direction. I forgot to mention that the car will be converted from automatic to manual. So I'd like to use a Y80 transmission with the B18C motor because of the LSD transmission. After reading the B-series Transmission Guide, I'm not sure if the transmission from the other B-series motors will handle 500-600 HP. The P72(OBD1) ECU will need a harness from Rywire so that it can be utilized with the motor. Obviously the motor mounts. Possibly have to switch to the hubs on the Si model. And I'll need to use the axles and intermediate shaft from the 90-93 Integra.

Did I miss anything or have any misconceptions?
 
Ya. Plan is to build both the bottom and top end and hopefully land some where in between those two numbers. It may be a stretch but I'd like to get the HP numbers there eventually. Low comp. pistons, rods, valve springs, retainers, FI cams, and a turbo to top it off. Haven't gotten too far into product choice since the motor isn't in the car yet. More than likely I'll do the swap then pull the motor a 2nd time to build it. I'm a little new to the import world, coming from a house full of Mustang nuts, I grew up around the 65-70 era Mustangs so I pretty much bleed 5.0's and steel bodied cars. Still not used to the thought of a 400-600 HP motor in a 2000lb car. 400-500 HP is my realistic goal but if I can bump out better numbers by all means I will

Where would be the best place to find an OBD1 ecu to use with the motor?
 
Thanks. Having an off day here. Will look on eBay for an OBD1 ecu and motor. Or find and OBD2 motor, swap the distributor and injectors, and run and OBD1 ecu.

Which would be the better route?
 
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ejclide said:
make sure you look for a P72. or you could be brave and go AEM.....
Click to expand...

You make it sound like getting the AEM might make me want to kill myself. :mellow:

I'm going to assume that most of the members around here don't use Hondata? I've had experience tuning on the K20 platform but never on the B-series. Any recommendation on what engine management to use?
 
Some people I'm sure will say bad things about hondata, but I honestly can't say anything bad about it other than price. If you're just looking for a good street tune, go crome. sooooo much cheaper and you'll get just what you want
 
ejclide said:
Some people I'm sure will say bad things about hondata, but I honestly can't say anything bad about it other than price. If you're just looking for a good street tune, go crome. sooooo much cheaper and you'll get just what you want
Click to expand...

Legit answer. To be honest, I've never heard of Crome, so I'll have to do some research on it. I'm not sure just how far I plan on going with this project; whether I plan on the car still being streetable or whether it'll be track only. My plan right now is to build and boost the motor, just how far or how much power I plan to pull from the motor is unknown. I don't have to pass emissions here in Arkansas so I'm not I'm not worried about being street legal.

The use of Hondata appeals more to me only because of my familiarity with it and my lack of knowledge with other EMS.

Also, what recommendations would yall have for transmissions? I'd like to have LSD for the track but it's only available with the hydo transmissions. Has anyone experienced difficulties using the cable to hydro conversion kits. Would the fact that the CRX is currently and auto and will be swapped to a manual make a difference?
 
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500hp is not going to be very streetable..
stay all obd1.les headaches,waaay more tunable options
you can put an lsd in a cable tranny,i personally dont like the hydro-cable conversions,but they do work
 
INJEN78 said:
500hp is not going to be very streetable..
stay all obd1.les headaches,waaay more tunable options
you can put an lsd in a cable tranny,i personally dont like the hydro-cable conversions,but they do work
Click to expand...

I figured OBD1 would be the way to go. It seems to be the popular choice of everyone on the boards. I may go the way of installing a LSD into a cable transmission if it saves me the headache of finding one with the LSD stock and using the hydro-cable conversion.

If I'm going to use a cable transmission, which one would you recommend I pair up with the motor?

My reason for going with Hondata was the simplicity of uploading and changing the cars current tune. I would run a lower horsepower tune for street driving than one I would use on a track.
 
joe62890 said:
I figured OBD1 would be the way to go. It seems to be the popular choice of everyone on the boards. I may go the way of installing a LSD into a cable transmission if it saves me the headache of finding one with the LSD stock and using the hydro-cable conversion.

If I'm going to use a cable transmission, which one would you recommend I pair up with the motor?

My reason for going with Hondata was the simplicity of uploading and changing the cars current tune. I would run a lower horsepower tune for street driving than one I would use on a track.
Click to expand...
alot of people opt. for the b16 trans with ls 5th gear..
 
INJEN78 said:
alot of people opt. for the b16 trans with ls 5th gear..
Click to expand...


:werd:

If you ever want to go turbo, you're gonna need hondata, or another unit like an AEM. crome will be fine though for an NA tune. If you build it up though, I'd bump up to Hondata. But me for instance, I'm swapping a 95 LS motor in my civic with no internal mods, and I will get more than a good tune with crome.
 
INJEN78 said:
alot of people opt. for the b16 trans with ls 5th gear..
Click to expand...

Awesome suggestion. Any idea how well they hold up to high HP builds? Also, how long are the gears? Since it's going to be a FI build I'd like to have the longer gears.
ejclide said:
:werd:

If you ever want to go turbo, you're gonna need hondata, or another unit like an AEM. crome will be fine though for an NA tune. If you build it up though, I'd bump up to Hondata. But me for instance, I'm swapping a 95 LS motor in my civic with no internal mods, and I will get more than a good tune with crome.
Click to expand...

I'll more than likely run Hondata's S300 program paired up with the P72 ecu then.
 
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