OBDII 97 EK swap to B18B1 non-vtec

[bfraley]

corroded brake/fuel lines

Seems my brake/fuel lines are showing some corrosion issues. I think they are the only thing on the car I haven't touched or replaced. I can buy the OEM lines from majestic honda but they are pickup only due to length. I live about 45 minutes from majestic so that works out. Replacing these lines looks like a big job. I did get some good information from 99sidude as he recently replaced some sections. He told me the fuel tank has to be dropped and to saturate the hardware with penetrating oil so nut plates do not break. I use a 1:1 auto tranny fluid/acetone mixture that works wonders on rust. One of my big concerns is the routing of the lines into the engine bay area. I'll research the task and post any findings here. Please reply with your brake/fuel line experiences or any tricks that may help.

 

[bfraley]

cold weather and high idle issue

Rough winter for the hatch. When the weather got cold this past winter the engine idle started acting up. B18s are known for this issue and I found a lot of great stuff online to walk me through. Bottom line is that I removed the throttle body and thoroughly cleaned the Fast Idle Valve and the throttle body itself. I then removed the Idle Air control valve from the back of the intake and cleaned it the best I could. Put everything back on with a new PCV and the idle is silk smooth now, like a new motor.

Rear quarters are showing rust and I need to address it. Looking into cutting out the old rust, treating the surfaces and then using 3M 8115 panel epoxy to install prefab sheet metal. weather is getting warm and time to git-r-done.

 

[99sidude]

How did the brake line job go? Not fun is it... I had bent my lines by hand, so it didn't look the cleanest. You gotta love the Honda rust. Do people have good success with the panel epoxy? This is the first time I have heard of that.

 

[bfraley]

How did the brake line job go? Not fun is it... I had bent my lines by hand, so it didn't look the cleanest. You gotta love the Honda rust. Do people have good success with the panel epoxy? This is the first time I have heard of that.

I haven't replaced those brake/fuel lines yet. I got under the car with a wire wheel and removed as much rust as possible then I used a spray gun to saturate the lines with rust prohibitor. I forget the name of the stuff.....bought it at tractor supply for $15. It is milk white and very thin. After that cured I put the plastic line protector back on. I need to inspect it now that winter has gone by.

Panel epoxy has been around for a while now. I've never used panel epoxy but it seems like the perfect thing to use on the rear quarter patches. No structural bonding and it doesn't heat/warp the metal like welding. It actually does a much better job of sealing the joint than welding would. I don't need a welder and I can do it myself. I think I will give it a try.

 

[99sidude]

Cool. Post up a few pics of the process. All of the old Honda's around me need rear quarters. It would be nice to find a good alternative to welding in new ones.

 

[bfraley]

Cool. Post up a few pics of the process. All of the old Honda's around me need rear quarters. It would be nice to find a good alternative to welding in new ones.

So I found a restoration shop willing to work on my Civic. I spoke to Rich at Wicked Auto in Fitchburg, MA and he didn't recommend panel bond on the rear wheel wells because of structural integrity. Body skins are ok but he wasn't comfortable doing wheel wells with panel bond. My Civic goes in the first week of July. Should have it back within two weeks of drop-off. I'm replacing the hood with a stock Honda hood and installing a front lip. Keeping the same color and focusing on rust elimination. I'm going to try to post pics as the process moves along. Looking forward to finally getting the rust out!

 

[|Chaz|]

Awesome

 

[bfraley]

Hatch being Restored

I dropped the hatch off today and looking forward to the tear down pics on Monday. Hoping the rust is only skin deep. Will post pics.

 

[bfraley]

I dropped the hatch off today and looking forward to the tear down pics on Monday. Hoping the rust is only skin deep. Will post pics.

Tear down is complete for the most part. Good news is there is no unibody frame rust and the rocker panels are clean. The guys at Wicked Auto will clean, treat and undercoat all areas of the subframe/body to include all those little nooks that can hold rust creating debris and moisture. The rusted areas will be cut away from the rear quarters and the remaining metal will be treated/undercoated. New metal will be welded in place and then the body will be repainted with the same color. Thinking of having the rims refinished in a darker silver or gun metal gray color.

 

[bfraley]

Body Work Update

I can't say enough about the quality of work from Rich/Eric and the team at Wicked Auto They are performing some detailed work that will ensure the Civic lasts a long time. Removing the rust and sealing up the bare metal is taking some time but worth the wait!

 

[bfraley]

Body restore 7/19/2013 pics

New pics taken today......

 

[99sidude]

You really do love this car don't you?! Glad to see it's getting a new breath of life! You should think about doing a rear disk swap.

 

[bfraley]

You really do love this car don't you?! Glad to see it's getting a new breath of life! You should think about doing a rear disk swap.

I thought about getting a new vehicle but it was much cheaper to restore the body on this one. Especially when I considered insurance and taxes. I do most of the mechanical work myself so it is inexpensive for me to maintain. The hatch really has become a tool that I rely on and so I want to keep it. Utility, reliability and fun factor = keeper. I actually had a rear disc setup from an Integra but got rid of it. I use the hatch to tow our teardrop camper and I need an emergency brake that will hold secure. The drum emergency brake is much better than the disc. I did upgrade the front disc brakes to EX which made a good improvement.

 

[bfraley]

body restoration pics 7/23/2013

Almost done. The rear quarters turned out great. New windshield is in. Thought it would be neat to install integra under-hood decals for the B18b1. Not sure they are available.

 

[bfraley]

She's done!.....almost

I took the hatch to Ohio this past weekend and it went very well. No major issues and paint looks great. The car still needs to be color sanded and buffed. That will be done the middle of August. No more rust and those troublesome panels are all undercoated now.

 

[bfraley]

wet sand/compound/polish/wax is done!

I'm adding some pics after completing the final wax yesterday. I tried to capture the metallic reflection in the sun. I'm not totally happy with the the finish as there is still orange peel here and there but overall it looks much better than it did. Rich and Eric at Wicked Auto in Fitchburg, MA suggested a product called Fast Wax I was able to get at an auto paint supply store for $20. It works great!

 

[Integra2nr]

I must say, you have a nice car! It's nice to see people out there going for long term reliability over high hp builds. I'm planning a similar swap in my 99 civic ex. I''m going to pick up a b18b and do a full rebuild of it to completely freshness up the engine and either an LS or GSR(with the LS 5th gear) transmission with an LSD installed. I want the stock look also, you know pop the hood and it looks at home there. I know you said research and plan out the swap for a smooth transplant. Any recommendations that would help? Which air filter intake system did you use? From an SI? I want long term reliability out of this? My civic currently has 165k miles on it and I want many many more years out of it. Advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[bfraley]

I must say, you have a nice car! It's nice to see people out there going for long term reliability over high hp builds. I'm planning a similar swap in my 99 civic ex. I''m going to pick up a b18b and do a full rebuild of it to completely freshness up the engine and either an LS or GSR(with the LS 5th gear) transmission with an LSD installed. I want the stock look also, you know pop the hood and it looks at home there. I know you said research and plan out the swap for a smooth transplant. Any recommendations that would help? Which air filter intake system did you use? From an SI? I want long term reliability out of this? My civic currently has 165k miles on it and I want many many more years out of it. Advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for the compliment! I have done quite a bit of work on the hatch and still get 31mpg when not towing and my foot isn't in the floor. Be sure to read over my post as I tried to include as many details as possible. The best money spent on my car has been the suspension upgrades. I'm not melting faces in a straight line but I am certainly pulling some serious G-force. Remember to get upgraded sport seats with suspension upgrades or you'll be thrown out of the seat! Fun Fun! I am using an airbox and air intake system from an EX. It is the same as the SI, if I remember correctly, and the nutplates are already in the car for the bigger airflow system. I have the inner fender box as well but am not using it. My airbox pulls air right from the bottom. There is still a filter so no water worries.

 

[Integra2nr]

I saw that you used Moog suspension components on the second go around after the failure? How are those working for you as when I go over my suspension and brakes, I plan on replacing all the moving joints (ball joints, tie rods, etc..) I'm planning on an Si front sway bar(26mm), CTR rear sway bar(22mm), lower rear brace, Koni yellow struts, oem Si springs, and possibly polyurethane bushings. It currently has Tokico illumina struts with Tokico springs and NGR front and rear strut bars, it sits way too low for my taste anymore. Going to retain the strut bars from that. For brakes, I just want drilled/slotted front discs and retain the rear drums along with stainless hoses. I think that suspension/brake setup would be perfect for me. For wheels I'm picking up a set of oem HX wheels (light and look decent).

 

[Matts96HB]

How did I miss this thread? This is a really nice build. Well thought out and very well executed. Nice!