OBDII 97 EK swap to B18B1 non-vtec

[bfraley]

Hey bfraley What ECU did you use for your B18B Swap?

I first used the Japanese ECU that came with the original B18b swap. Then came the emissions check and I had to buy a USDM Integra LS ECU from a local salvage yard. If you follow this thread you'll find all the information on the ECU issue. Hope it helps.

 

[bfraley]

Update: I ordered Ground Control coilovers for my Civic. I installed them and wow, what a difference. The car is so stable and firm handling now. I thought the H&R springs with KYB GR2 struts were the bomb but the eibach springs, Koni Sports and Ground Control hardware really rock the bomba! Hooked up the teardrop camper with a 230lb tongue weight and the suspension looks good. I still have another 1/2" to go up in the back if I need it. Unfortunately I was given the bad news that my front bearings are starting to show wear. I checked it out and it is true :-( (266,500 miles after all) So now the conundrum.....if I have to replace front bearings anyway should I just go ahead and upgrade the front brakes from 9.5"(DX) to 10.3"(EX/Si)? From previous research I knew I needed the front knuckles, calipers and master cylinder from an EX/Si to do the job correctly. I found a 98 EX coupe in a local salvage yard only a few days old and 119000 miles. I had the setup pulled and will be picking it up before the weekend. This should give me great brakes for towing and freshened bearings for another 100,000 miles anyway. After much research I decided to go with the ASR rear strengthening plate along with the ASR rear swaybar kit. Stock lower arms are fine. Not looking for bling here, purely function so ordered it in black. Busy weekend coming up.

 

[bfraley]

Everything went pretty good with the brake swap. I had new Honda bearings and lower ball joints pressed in the new EX/Si 10.3" knuckles. I installed them with new Buddy Club upper control arms = new upper ball joints and now camber adjustment is available on the front. I ordered Goodridge steel brake lines but had an issue with them. It seems the taper on the Goodridge line nipple is not the same as the steel lines on my car. I had a slow leak where the hardline met the Goodridge steel line. I also had one of the banjo bolts shear off at low torque. I called JHPUSA and they told me they would resolve the issue but getting money back was not an option. I ended up calling Goodridge directly and Carl in customer support was very helpful. He told me that sometimes the brake hardline flange taper is a little different than the Goodridge line nipple taper. He sent me new copper seals to add and fix the issue. Carl also sent me a new banjo bolt and some mounting clips that were missing from the brake line set I received. I'll try the Goodridge lines one more time and if they don't work I get to eat the cost. I'm thinking I should have just ordered new EX/Si front brake lines from Honda. The ASR rear reinforcement plate and swaybar kit were ordered from JHPUSA on 9 April.....still no shipment date. I called ASR directly and they don't have any black parts in stock right now. Hopefully they will ship next week. The new bigger brakes work awesome! I'll try to add a pic of the new front end brake/suspension when I can.

 

[|Chaz|]

This is definitely one of the most informative and well written threads. Just wanted to say keep the updates coming, even if I don't respond I always read it when you do update.

 

[bfraley]

This is definitely one of the most informative and well written threads. Just wanted to say keep the updates coming, even if I don't respond I always read it when you do update.

Thanks Chaz. When doing these updates I always try to focus on the facts and hard evidence. Hearsay and guesses usually don't pan out. I know I'm not the only one doing this type of work and if it helps one person then it's worth doing a write up. Long live the Civic....especially mine!

 

[bfraley]

I received my Honda parts today. bearings, seals and LS 5th gears for the 00 Si tranny rebuild. Also received all the tune up consumables as well for the B18b. My aerocatch hood latches came today and so did the Goodridge brake line parts sent out by Carl from Goodridge. I have to say for the hassle the brakeline kit has been......Goodridge certainly has top customer support. Hoping the steel brake lines work out. The new seals look top notch.
My carbon fiber hood latches well with original hardware but when I'm tooling down the road the two front hood corners do a lot of flexing. Hood pins are recommended but I've been putting them off. Finally found the aerocatch latches and think they will do a great job for me. Just have to install them now. No rushing that job. I'll post pics when I'm done.

 

[bfraley]

I reinstalled the Goodridge brake lines with the new copper hardline nipple seals and no leaks. Brakes are exactly what I was looking for in support of towing. See attached pics of the Goodridge brakeline kit (1 front/1 rear line shown) and also the kit installed on front and rear of the 97 Civic DX hatch. Also see the new ground control struts, 10.3" EX/Si brakes installed and Buddy Club camber adjust front upper arms.

 

[bfraley]

The B18b refresh trip was a success! I installed the new JDM B18b1, had the Civic Si tranny rebuilt with new bearings and a new pair of LS 5th gears, installed a new B&M short shifter with energy bushings, installed an Exedy stage 1 clutch kit, and installed an ASR rear swaybar kit. The shifter was the biggest surpise....It feels like a true sport shifter now. The motor runs great as expected and the handling is truly awesome. All of those components you would expect in a sports hatch are there at a high level. I started to install the ASR kit but ran into a muffler clearance issue. Had to have the exhaust customized to accomadate the new hardware.

 

[bfraley]

Looking for a part. I need a throttle cable bracket from a USDM Bseries motor. The bracket has "P75" stamped on it and it bolts to the intake manifold on automatic Integras from what I understand. The bracket holds the end of the throttle cable before it connects to the throttle body. If anyone has one please post to this thread. Thanks.

 

[bfraley]

Looking for a part. I need a throttle cable bracket from a USDM Bseries motor. The bracket has "P75" stamped on it and it bolts to the intake manifold on automatic Integras from what I understand. The bracket holds the end of the throttle cable before it connects to the throttle body. If anyone has one please post to this thread. Thanks.

My brother in Ohio found the correct P75 throttle bracket for me. Yay!

 

[bfraley]

I'm at 282,000 plus miles on the hatch body now and the only bushings that are still original are the RTA bushings and the rear LCA bushings. I recently had to cut out the compensator arm bolts/bushings for rear toe adjustment and noticed how bad the RTA bushings looked. I ordered new RTA bushings and LCAs from PIC. Looking forward to getting the rest of the rear end tightened up.

 

[bfraley]

AeroCatch hood latches

I finally got up the courage to blow holes through my carbon fiber hood and install hood latches. At highway speeds the hood front corners were lifting a good bit. I was told that I should install hood pins by the hood vendor but kept putting it off. Very stable now. Aerocatch panel fixing

 

[bfraley]

PIC bushings

I'm at 282,000 plus miles on the hatch body now and the only bushings that are still original are the RTA bushings and the rear LCA bushings. I recently had to cut out the compensator arm bolts/bushings for rear toe adjustment and noticed how bad the RTA bushings looked. I ordered new RTA bushings and LCAs from PIC. Looking forward to getting the rest of the rear end tightened up.

My PIC RTA bushings and rear LCAs came in. Possible change out this coming weekend. I thought it was strange the LCAs have bushing set screws.

 

[bfraley]

PIC bushings

The new PIC rear LCAs are installed along with the new PIC RTA bushings. Very good improvement. The outer rear LCA bolt on both sides was fused to the ID of the bushing. I had to use a grinder with a cut-off wheel to remove the old bolts.

 

[dc4dude]

Nice setup dude!!! I have never seen set screws used as retainers for the bushings.... How do you like the ast's? (kumho) i had them on a set of rims years ago, and personally found the asx's to be a little grippier....what alignment specs did you set it to?

 

[bfraley]

alignment data

Nice setup dude!!! I have never seen set screws used as retainers for the bushings.... How do you like the ast's? (kumho) i had them on a set of rims years ago, and personally found the asx's to be a little grippier....what alignment specs did you set it to?

The new rear LCAs are working great. The Kumho ASTs are a bit loose. I bought them for $55 each. I found out Kumho ASXs are V rated = stiffer sidewalls. Worth the extra $20 per tire. I'll get those next if needed. I spoke with Ground Control engineers and they said the Kumhos will loosen up on the track after only a few laps = less speed. For the street they seem to be working ok for me so far. I have a set of 17" BBS RK rims and the TOYO Proxies were my fav on those rims. As far as alignment, see attch pic for a scan of the alignment specs I'm successfully using for the street.

 

[dc4dude]

Oh, i agree as far as the kumho being an decent street tire... I only have gone on a few auto x's, and the asx's held up pretty decent... Hope to do a few more events next year, solo, hpde's, and whtever else i can get into... Just out of curiosity, did the align tech do a caster sweep on your car before beginning the alignment? I know caster isnt adjustable on the civic/integra platform, but it settles the steering/suspension for the alignment...

 

[bfraley]

Oh, i agree as far as the kumho being an decent street tire... I only have gone on a few auto x's, and the asx's held up pretty decent... Hope to do a few more events next year, solo, hpde's, and whtever else i can get into... Just out of curiosity, did the align tech do a caster sweep on your car before beginning the alignment? I know caster isnt adjustable on the civic/integra platform, but it settles the steering/suspension for the alignment...

Now that I have a decent suspension I'd like to get into some driving challenges. I've been researching SCCA and NASA but not sure which I would like to be involved. My relationship with Sears has been pretty good. I purchased the newly available 3 year alignment warranty for $160 and it has paid for itself already. I use the same tech and trust his work. I know he did a caster measurement early in my suspension rebuild process and it was borderline but not adjustable. This last alignment was after I replaced the RTA bushings and the rear LCAs. The tires are wearing great and the car is a blast to drive. Good stuff. What do you mean by a caster sweep settling the steering/suspension?

 

[dc4dude]

There is a certain procedure that is supposed to be followed when doing an alignment. Set up the car with the wheel sensors, do the rolling comensation, put the brake pedal depressor, THEN, do the caster sweep. its an option on the screen when the alignment machine tell you to center the steering wheel, takes he measurement, turn the wheel all the way to the left, take the measurement, turn the wheel all the way to the right, take the measurement, and then center the steering wheel, lock it in place, THEN do the alignment. With both the brakes held and the steering wheel centered and locked in place... This is the procedure for about 90% of cars out there ( some cars have steering wheel pressure sensors that cannot be locked down )

 

[bfraley]

There is a certain procedure that is supposed to be followed when doing an alignment. Set up the car with the wheel sensors, do the rolling comensation, put the brake pedal depressor, THEN, do the caster sweep. its an option on the screen when the alignment machine tell you to center the steering wheel, takes he measurement, turn the wheel all the way to the left, take the measurement, turn the wheel all the way to the right, take the measurement, and then center the steering wheel, lock it in place, THEN do the alignment. With both the brakes held and the steering wheel centered and locked in place... This is the procedure for about 90% of cars out there ( some cars have steering wheel pressure sensors that cannot be locked down )

Thanks, Good info. I know the full alignment including caster sweep was done back in April after the coilovers were installed. I remember the tech telling me it was borderline but could not be adjusted on the Civic. The last couple times I've gone in for alignment(rear compensator replacement and rear bushings) the tech has not done or at least documented the caster sweep, but has simply checked the 4-wheel alignment specs and adjusted the rear as it was the only thing out of tolerance(mainly toe). I'd like to get a portable camber measurement tool at some point. You can hang them from the wheel center and adjust camber for more aggressive driving. I'm sticking with stock alignment specs for now as I do 120 miles for daily commuting.