Difficulty Of Engine Swapping?

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b0n3r

Junior Member
I live in Australia and i was thinking of putting a B18C5 (from a '97 integra type-r front cut) into my EK Cxi Civic for a quick N/A hybrid car. I dont think much honda swapping goes on here in aus, well at least i dont here about it much, and i was just wondering how difficult it is to do. I know a fair bit about cars but i am not a mechanic or anything. I can work well practically and i have a mate whose a mechanic and i was wondering how hard it really is. In other words i would be a beginner engine swapper and if you have any suggestions or comments please post. If you know of any good links/books or anything that desribes step by step how to do a motor swap that would be great. Also if anyone has any previous experiences of doing a swap for the very first time and not working in the field of mechanics that would be cool too.

I would like to save the money i would have to spend on getting a workshop to do the conversion but the other thing is i know it would (hopefully) get done properly and with no hassles.
 
if you have some mechanical ablity the b18c5 into an ek is a relatively easy swap, if you run into problems, hondaswap is always here
 
i dont know if they have autozone in australia, but here at autozone they have hayne's manuals, and it goes step-by-step taking out a motor and putting it back in.
 
What motor is in the EK right now? in europe they come with B16's, I think so if yours does too. If so, all you need is the motor and it should drop right in but you might wanna change the ECU too, along with any other ITR parts you can get. If it isn't a B series motor in the EK then you need a motor mount kit, axles, shift linkage, tranny, ECU, and run wires for VTEC. Everything you need you can get from http://www.hasport.com/ and all the information is here on hondaswap. Good luck with your swap, it shouldn't be that hard.
 
it's really not that hard, you just literally bolt it up and wire it up, the best way to learn is to research what components you need for the swap and what other aftermarket mods your going to want to do sinc eyour motor is out anyways..


good luck.
 
Well the Cxi stock engine is the D16Y, ill be getting a complete ITR Front cut so i should have everything i need (right?). I can get the Haynes manuals here and will probably look for them soon. Can anyone give me an idea of how long its gunna take me?
 
Also, just kind of on topic, what aftermarket items would you recommend to just install while doing the swap. Keeping in mind its a JDM B18C5, what would you do? I was considering a CAI, some Headers and exhaust system. Much more than that and it would probably require tuning to make sure it the engine is breathing better. Or should i just do the exact swap and get the aftermarket parts done seperately to ensure no hassles?

:huh:
 
Originally posted by Gen2Teg@Sep 8 2003, 07:12 PM
What motor is in the EK right now? in europe they come with B16's, I think so if yours does too.

If it isn't a B series motor in the EK then you need a motor mount kit, axles, shift linkage, tranny, ECU, and run wires for VTEC. Everything you need you can get from http://www.hasport.com/ and all the information is here on hondaswap. Good luck with your swap, it shouldn't be that hard.

EK is a chassis code, like EH, EG, EF, etc... trim levels dictated by the number that follows, EG6, EH2,....the EK4 has a B16A2 in it, but not all EK's.

And no you don't need a mount kit, you need the corresponding stock civic/teg B series mounts for the model engine and chassis (see swap section tab at top of page for correct mounts and other info for this swap). As far as the swap labor, it is easy, if you can pull one out and put one in, you are good. wiring can be a headache, but really isn't hard.
 
Yeah its basically an EK1, hatchback D16Y. I wanted to go with a front cut because even tho more expensive, it will have all the stuff i need straight up. Im also pretty used to wiring, never in conjunction with car ECU's but i deal alot with computer internals, wiring up sound systems and stuff like that...its probably a helluva lot different but hey, we all start somewhere.
 
well it's recommended to change all gaskets but considering that your ITR front clip is new anyways that can be avoided, but you should buy a nice comptech Icebox for the Civic Si 99+, I would go with either a smsp, hytech, headertech, header but a good bang for the buck is the JDM ITR header with the 2.5inch collector, and then just get a test pipe made to fit inbetween your collector and catback exhaust, for catback exhausts it depends on you, if you want the least restrictive it's going to be loud and the most restrictive is obviously stock...

A nice clutch, flywheel combo would be right also..
 
Sounds good.

One problem is that there aint nearly as much aftermarket support for honda's sporting engine conversions over hear than in the US. Alot of the parts you are talking about are form the US and would cost me alot to get over here. AEM isnt so hard to get, how does there CAI run on a B18C5? Also what would be an ideal exhaust size for the engine? Im thinking of getting a custom one made rather than trying to find one that would suit the engine and the EK body.
 
2.5 inch (apexi if avalable), high flow cat(random technologies or catco), dc headers (SS or ceramic)
 
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