New to site new to honda have swap questions please help!!

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immortaldaddy

New Member
Hello everyone

So heres the deal im new to the site and honda. I just bought a 1997 civic hx (project car)for my son thinking we could fix it up for cheap because the honda parts are so cheap. The car smokes like a pig so i know i need a motor but when i looked for one i found out the were very exspensive like 900 to 1050 and i dont want to spend that much for that hx motor. So i was thinking i would throw in a 1998 ex sohc vtec motor in i can get them for 400 to 500 allday long so i need to know will it work and what needs to be changed. i know motor plus ecu but what else? will the hx 5 speed work? what about the harness?any other little things?please help thanks
 
The EX motor will work fine in the HX. It's pretty much a direct remove and replace. You can use the HX transmission, however the EX is geared "sportier" in second and third, but yes, the HX tranny will bolt right up to the EX engine.
 
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Well, you can run the EX engine with the HX ecu, but the fuel may be off a little since the HX is a VTEC-E. I'd use the EX ECU simply because it is going to run a lot better, and you can probably get it with the engine, or find one pretty cheap. If you can't find one maybe you can have the HX ECU flashed to the EX specs?
 
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Hey thanks for your help one other thing i was reading something about the o2 sensors being different.

I done screwed up, the HX did have VTEC, but it's the D16Y5 with VTEC-E like the 5th gen Civic VX, and it runs a five wire o2 sensor. Rewiring this isn't a problem, there's a little bit about it here ...

https://hondaswap.com/general-tech-articles/how-wire-vtec-40811/

and here ...

https://hondaswap.com/swap-articles/vx-5-wire-4-wire-o2-sensor-info-13759/

Basically you just need to wire three of the wires at the plug, and then add in the 12v.
 
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I have a 98 HX and swapped out the D16Y5 for a LS Vtec I built. You can for sure use the HX's 5 speed trans but it has really long gears agreed the EX trans is much better so get one if you can. Also this is important the HX uses a EGR and a 5 wire O2, the EGR is not a big deal but the 5 wire O2 is. I was stuck for a while on how to deal with this when I did my swap. The best and easiest solution is to get a EX D16Y8 5 speed harness and you will also need the ECU for the Y8. Everything else is a straight swap over, plug and play.
 
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