gsr swap into ek, piecing it all together

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spiritofjosh

know your role!
good morning, haven't been on this site in a few months and not to get too deep into it, I live on the jersey shore and as you all know we got destroyed, a lot I own personally included.

regardless I'm picking myself back up and since I lost my car I'm hunting for an ek and to boost moral somewhere down the hopefully not long road I want to put in a gsr motor.

now my reason for posting;
I understand for the swap, complete swap from hmotors perhaps, I would need a driver side engine post and rear bracket from 99-00 si, correct? but I also keep reading that the stock ek throttle cable doesn't work, but I keep reading mixed answers as to what does. so based on experience which cable will work correctly?

last but most important; due to the hurricane situation (why I started the thread with this) my funds are limited, so buying a complete b18c outright might be difficult. on top of that with strict nj inspection I would like to build a usdm gsr instead of jdm, unless there's an easier way?

in other words can I buy a gsr head, block and trans separate one at a time when I can and still make it usdm? and if so which ecu would i use? both car and motor would most likely be obd2.

I apologize for the length but I just want everybody to understand it'll be hard to dish out 4 grand+ for a motor that won't even come close to pass inspection with what I have right now, I'm willing to spend a lot of the building a full motor so that isn't a problem. thanks in advance.
 
When I swapped an LS into my 96 hatch, I used an LS throttle cable. I now have a GSR head and I use an LS throttle. Works perfectly. You can get the "T-Bracket" from a 99-00 si, and you'll also need the upper mount on the driver's side.

The easiest way would be to just find a wrecked Integra GSR and buy the swap. It'd take patience, but so would building the entire engine from scratch. You'd use an OBD2 P72 ECU.
 
thanks for the reply. but hypothetically I find a complete or near complete gsr head, what's the difference between a "jdm head" and "usdm head?" also if I got a complete head the obd2 p72 won't throw any codes?

I was also looking into the wiring harness itself and realized that jdm harnesses come wired backwards for right hand drive, at least I think? I have all the patience in the world plus if I build the motor I can rebuild internals this way to the spec I'd want.
 
The differences between USDM and JDM lie mostly in emissions-related parts. IIRC, some of the JDM cylinder heads also lack a VTEC pressure switch, though I am not sure if this is true for the GSR.

The JDM GSR has higher compression (10.6:1 as opposed to 10.0:1 in the USDM GSR), as far as I know this is only because the JDM GSR uses different pistons.

As far as throwing codes, that is going to be solely dependent upon your ability to wire the swap correctly. If I were you, I'd source a 96-98 Civic EX harness. Make sure that it is an EX, as these models were VTEC. From here you can lay the harness on the GSR and see which changes you'll need to make. These are the changes I know that you will have to make for sure:

- 3 to 2 wire IACV conversion
- Lengthen VTEC solenoid and pressure switch plugs (or get creative with the sheath on the wiring harness to free up some length)
- Cut and re-sheath the wiring around the MAP and TPS sensor so that the plugs will reach

Other than that, there's a few little tricks that you can do at the ECU should you have some sort of a code. I'd start with the list I've provided above, and see where that gets you. There's a pretty good database of this information on this site, and also over here:
.:FFS TechNet : OBD2a ECU Pin out Schematics :.
 
on the link you posted which ecu does this pertain to? The stock ek one or p72?
sorry for all these questions but it would be my first swap with any wiring involved and wiring isnt one of my stronger points with cars, so I want it to be as idiot proof as I can.
 
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Its for 96-99 integras VTEC and non VTEC, and 96-98 civics too. 5 speed models only
 
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