B18C Type R CRX swap checklist

red89si said:

Ive decided that the best swap for me right now is going to be a 96 B18C swap, So Ive started a list of things Ill need and the parts buildup is beginning... Since I already have my car converted to OBD1, thats one less thing to worry about.

motor mounts- should I go hasport, or are there other hydro to cable B series mount kits that work better or the same for less money from other manufacturers? passwordjdm has recently quit selling hasport and switched to a brand named innovative mounts...Ive heard a little about their crossmembers, but nothing on their mount kits, anybody know anything?

CV axles- Will the standard 90-93 Integra axles work, or will I have to get custom axles such as hasport, gator racing, raxles, etc.?

shift linkage-this may very well be a stupid series of questions, but Id rather be safe than sorry. First, is all B series shift linkage created equal, Second, is it best to get your shift linkage from the same company that makes your mounts?

wiring and ECU-What all changes need to be made on all the gritty details of wiring?(injector clips, alternator connection, starter connection, all the fun stuff of that nature?) As mentioned, the car is OBD1, what else needs to convert? On rywires' website, they mention that a reprogrammed P28 runs this motor quite well..

clutch-Does anyone out there have a recommendation on a brand of clutch for this swap?

radiator- Is a replacement crossmember a must have? And would it be best to run a 92-95 Civic radiator?

Thats all I can think of at the moment, and Im sure Ive left a few things out, So to all who have knowledge of this swap, feel free to add your knowledge to this thread, it will be most helpful.

Click to expand...

Great choice in my book. Getting the c5 or the c1? Hydro conversion of hasport seems the best and since there are few cable ys1 trannies around now, I think its a worthwhile choice. Make sure you get lsd or add on quaife otherwise you will be sitting still spinning your wheels.

Well if its a 96 I think thats obd2 so you will need conversion harness from obd2 to 1.
P28 ecu works fine.

ACT clutch, don't get the one with the pucks, very hard to use outside of the track. Just heavy duty/street/track.

They say hasport is the best mounts, hydro conversion and linkage. Thats all I ever had so cannot comment about the others.

Integra axles should be fine unless you go over 250 horse I believe.

Radiator not needed.

What I feel is that there are enough things that can go wrong with a swap, that you might as well make like easy for yourself, save some time and buy the conversion stuff that is known to work well. My time is my most valuable commodity. This is a road that has been heavily traveled. No need to be a trailblaser. The car wil, be fantastic.

Richie

Ive seen 2 personally. Both LSVs. One of them had continual oiling problems, whcih may have been a build issue, then, after a head gasket replacement, ended having clearance issues and interference killed that motor.

The other one was built fine, but was never able to be tuned 100 percent. No matter what was done, it would ping ridiculously. He richened it up to the point of black exhaust and it stopped ping but ran like crap. It just seemed like so much work and money for somehitng not very reliable.

On the othe rhand, building my GSR motor was cake, and didnt cost me very much to go from 155whp to 194whp, and its every day reliable.

I mean, people cna do whatvere they want, but if it were my car, Id start with a GSR or an ITR motor if I wanted all motor power.

A K swap is definitely an option, if its in the budget. Definitely not an economical swap. I dunno, this is just the way I feel.

as a side note, if i had to pick between my turbo d and my GSR, id pick my turbo d any day of the week.

[email protected]

Matt, the two problems you post about above completely revolve around something being very wrong.... NOT about a broad-unreliability of a motor package.

The first motor, sounds like homeboy didn't have the valve reliefs machined out, or wasn't running vtec pistons.... combine that with a higher lift cam probably, and maybe even a higher compression gasket,and cam gear "tuning", and there ya go, instant interference...

The second motor sounds like it had much greater issues... sure it was pinging? And if so, why? was it just one cylinder, or all of them? Why was it pinging? You and i both know that it isn't pinging just because it is an ls/vtec.... something was WRONG... adding fuel to the fire won't help in that situation, cause something is WRONG.

All this negativity towards the ls/vtec is semi-frustrating, because that is what gives it the bad image in the first place... people putting them together half-assed.

Build an ls/vtec right, like my roomates old motor for instance, and it can be done inexpensively (relatively), and haul some serious ass.

By the way, the far more desireable alternative, would be to buy a GSR swap.... then, get an LS crank and rods, and have them installed in the GSR

Oh, and one other thing... with my roomates car, i wouldn't hesitate to hop in that car at any time, and without prepping it for it, and drive cross-country... i had that much faith in his motor. They aren't unreliable, unless the owner/builder is 'unreliable'... just like anything else i might add.

ComposiMo said:

Oh, and by the way, to the dude who made this post....

You never specified Type-R, or regular GSR, but since everyone else is assuming you mean Type-R, i'm going to ASSume that as well... lol.

For $4500 or whatever the typer swaps are going for these days, that puts the total swap cost at nearly $6500 if you do everything "right"... it -could- still cost more, and this is all still assuming that you are doing the work yourself.

This is just a random though, but ya know, if you do it yourself (fab work and all).... you might be able to get a K in your rex for close to that same amount? ASSuming of course that you buy the parts all right... hehe.

And by "K", i'm referring to a K20A2, not the Type-R K, but still a great K nonetheless...

Click to expand...

Youve assumed correctly sir, what I forgot to put was that Im looking into the 96 spec ~B18C-R~ (or whatever the jdm engine code for it is).

K series would be REALLY nice, but if I go K series sometime down the road, Id want it to be the K20A Type R.

LS/VTEC & CRVTECs can be excellent setups, they can put out the same amount of power, sometimes more, than a B18CR, and be reliable. But when it comes down to getting some the parts needed to make them reliably faster than a B18 Type R, Im still not convinced that you wont spend more money to get one to that level.

Dseries motors can be lots of fun, I currently have a 99 D16Y8(civic ex) swap in my CRX, OBD1 as mentioned, and running a stock P28 ECU. Its a respectively quick car, and gets well over 30 MPG when I keep it out of VTEC. But theres only so much you can do with a d series, and when you compare mod-to mod, most b series will outperform a d series.

As far as converting from OBD2 to OBD1, what engine wiring would have to change? Ive heard some of the post 95 jdm swaps were essentially OBD1 to begin with..

Matt... what happens, is that you increase the stroke of the motor from 87mm, to 89mm.... so you get the -biggest- benefit of doing an LSVTEC, but with the squirters, and main girdles and oem oiling system of the GSR block.

Don't fret Matt... thats a big reason why i'm very picky these days about what work i will do here, and won't do here... i turn away 98% of the people who ask me to do things these days... partly because they don't want to do them how i want to do them (yes, i can be that picky i guess), or i simply have no interest in the project, so i find no joy in it, so i simply won't do it. I'm done messing with hack jobs, and 15year olds with no $$ to back up their dreams.

red: as i said up there in my reply to Matt, the LS bottom end gives you something way better than slapping an R badge on anything will give you..... displacement. It isn't much, but it DOES make the difference... thats why a simply LS/VTEC swap WILL (when assembled properly) make more power than a Type-R... also, don't get caught in looking at only the HP numbers... check out the torque curves when you are comparing motors... that means more. So while your type-R might put 200hp to the crank, my lowly lsvtec is putting 200 to the wheels.... with a considerable amount more torque as well. Yea, it IS better from that standpoint. No, it won't give you the "brownie points" i guess from parking-lot-nut-swingers since it isn't an R, but who cares? Its your car, don't you want it to be faster?

Matt: There is always appreciation for doing things 'right'.... that appreciation will come from someone who knows the difference. If you had something that was just "done", and you took it to a show or something, you'll be able to easily see the people who see that it was just done, but not quite right. They won't be crowding around ooooh'ing and aaahhh'ing.... they'll be standing there pointing everything out that they see wrong, or that was not done properly. i.e. they aren't the ones who look at a beat car that is worth $300, with a $10,000 motor in it, and compliment it.

Unfortunately, they are usually not the average customer-base of a Honda Civic. No offense to Honda owners, but bottom line, is that being an "entry-level" car, you get a lot of "entry-level-players", who don't know the difference usually, and many times oddly enough don't even CARE, as long as it 'runs'... and thats why you see so many crappy jobs rolling around the streets, because if the customer doesn't care (they usually dont, they just want it 'done' as cheaply as possible), then the shop likely won't give two-rats-asses either (If you aren't willing to pay them what the job is worth, do you think that they'll do the right job while not getting paid for it? hell no) , and then the cycle continues.

red: Its fairly simple... you'll have to machine either the rod or the piston (choose the piston if your machine shop tries to do the rod) so that the LS rod will fit into a GSR piston. Also, you may have some slight clearance issues with the squirters, but that can be fixed, and you may have to clearance the lower portion of the block where the rod passes by depending on your casting. Other than that, everything is fairly plug-n-play. The bearing colors are the same for the mains, and then you just use the LS bearings on the rods, and you're done. This jumps your displacement up from 1797cc, up to 1834cc... 37cc may not sound like quite the jump, but it is a lot in these little motors... enough to make it a worthwhile project.

As for the height, they are both the same... the displacement difference is purely the crank stroke difference. deck-heights and cylinder bore are the same.