88-89 d-series axles different than 90-91?

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esi42

Member
Hey guys,

Im swapping a d16z6 into my 88 Civic LX 4dr. The current tranny in the car has the smaller input shaft and smaller flywheel. I will be using a 93 flywheel with a clutchmasters stage 3 and a 90 Civic Ex trans with the larger input shafT.(Ive been told these will work together)

Can I use my stock 88 axles?

Do I have to replace my d15 drivers side engine mount bracket to one from an d16a6 so the engine sits correctly? Ive heard some ppl say yes and some say no.

Thanks again

esi420

soon to be :worthy: Vtec
 
Alright, I did some more searching and found that only the HF has a different spline count. So i think my axles will work fine. Let me know if Im wrong

Thanks
 
Great thanks alot. Someone should pin this somewhere on the board.
 
curiousity kills me.. Did you swap the whole car harness or did you use a 90-91SI intake manifold? Just make sure the axles "snap" in because I did a ZC trans where the axles snapped in but didn't fit right.

Rob
Primetimeimports
 
No, Im using a 90 ex tranny from a 4dr. It has a little different final drive, 3.888 vs 4.25 but the same gearing as the 90-91 Si trans. I think the 90-91 ex trans has the same final as the ZC? Im also installing a phantom grip LSD and rebuilding the trans. I looked into the ZC trans, but I wanted the swap to work right away without any surprises.

Ive postponed the swap for a couple weeks because basically every piece of my front suspension needed to be replaced first.

I had the car lowered with neuspeed race springs on stock struts. This was basically fine because everything just bounced. Then I replaced it with H&R Sport springs with tokico HPs. The better struts had a lot more resistance so everything that was weak or old basically went bad. Lower and upper balljoints, outer tie rod ends and rack&pinion, lower control arms, radius arm bushings, rack&pinion bushings, and sway bar bushings. I have replaced most of them, just waiting on the others.

I replaced the upper control arms in the back with a new camber kit style, but I know the trailing arm bushings are bad back there(Too many handbrakes).

I had new tires and my car was dangerously scary to drive when it rained or even when I hit a small bump the road. It would make a "popping" sound from the front.

It still cornered like a mofo when it was dry and flat though:p

Anyways, I want to make sure the car can handle what I want to do.

Later
 
Originally posted by esi42@Aug 17 2004, 07:43 PM
No, Im using a 90 ex tranny from a 4dr. It has a little different final drive, 3.888 vs 4.25 but the same gearing as the 90-91 Si trans. I think the 90-91 ex trans has the same final as the ZC? Im also installing a phantom grip LSD and rebuilding the trans. I looked into the ZC trans, but I wanted the swap to work right away without any surprises.
[post=378247]Quoted post[/post]​


Esi, all the USDM D series transmissions (5 speeds) had the same 1-5 gearing but different final drives.

STD/DX Hatches/CRX = 3.888 (think HF is different, not sure what- like 2.9 something)
Sedans = 4.058
Si (CRX and hatch) = 4.250

The ZC transmission has better 1-5 gearing than the USDM transmissions (better spacing for better use of a tighter powerband), but uses the 3.888 final drive.

You've got a better final drive for acceleration than the base models- almost as good as the Si. Your old 88 transmission should work if you use the flywheel and pressure plate that matches the engine (93) and the disc for the transmission. Your setup with the 90 transmission is better though- you won't have to mix and match clutch/flywheel parts to get stuff to work.

Be careful when you install the Phantom Grip. Lots of people here on this board think they suck, but I see the merit in using one if you install it correctly. If you search around on Honda-Tech, a good number of people have grenaded their transmission with Phantom Grip LSDs, but I'll bet most of them installed it incorrectly or took some shortcuts somewhere.

I'm glad to hear that you're postponing your swap until you get all the necessary suspension bits sorted out. Most people don't bother- they just swap in a more powerful engine and then wonder why the car behaves like crap.

Good luck on the swap. :thumbsup:
 
In the reference section, it says the lx trans has a final of 2.9xx. It also shows different gearing(1-5) for the lx vs the dx, ex, and si. My 88 trans has the smaller input shaft also, plus it has 160,000 beat to f#ck miles :)

I had a 90 dx hatch that smoked like mad(I swear all four rings were bad!) and this would beat my Lx even after I upgraded to an d16a6 cam. I think if I had enough power I could do 160 mph with that LX trans because the gearing is so tall(Just kidding), but it seems that way. 4th gear is worthless, the 2nd-3rd gear transition blows too.


I got the new rack and pinion today, all I have left to get is the upper control arms w/balljoints and my whole front suspension will be new. I have a front camber kit also. The first one I bought on ebay sucked ass. It was the adjustable kind that look like the Ingalls kit. Aluminum with a steel slider. Well, you get what you pay for. It clicked and creaked and made my car scary. Alignment was impossible with that kit also. So I got the fixed position adjustable kit with poly bushings. I think this kit will work better, but we will wait and see.

Transmission rebuild kit should be here this week.

As for the phantom grip, I have one installed in my 95 Eagle Talon Esi. It has a fully built 420a with a stage 2 HRC turbo kit, stage 4 clutchmasters, etc etc. Its about 250-275hp to the crank and makes more torque than horsepower. I couldn't even get off the line with it until I put the Phantom Grip in. Now, it will leave straight "Posi" marks all the way up to 65 mph if I start in 2nd gear and just drop the clutch. B) It rules the corners too, as long as you are on the gas. Otherwise, watch out.

The PG does have a crappy design, with friction and pressure being involved. Metal on metal. I cant argue with results though. I have 6,000 beat to LIVING F#CK on the PG in my Talon. The whole engine/turbo setup has 12,000 miles. Trust me, the first 6,000 miles sucked ass. One wheel wonder, wheel hoppin like a bitch. I think its perfect for the range of horsepower you can make with a Honda/Acura or FWD Eclipse/Talon. If you have AWD, then something more is needed.
Something to do while you are inside the tranny, is to tack weld the diff pin on the ends.(To the actually diff) That way, if the holding pin goes(which happens) the diff pin doesnt fly out. Most of the guys on www.2gnt.com , the other forum Im on, do this because our trannies are known for it. I did it to mine and have had no problems.

Anyways, thanks for the info guys.

Later
 
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