Swap into an HX.

[imlachg1]

I have gone though much shit in trying to get a new car, but all that shit fell though. So I'm stuck with my 00 civic HX. I'm now going to take my money that I was going to use for a new car and put it toward an engine swap. Here is the question. I'm looking at either a B18a or b and then save up some more money and turbo it or just going for a b18c. Keep in mind this is going in a HX, what will I need other then just the swap stuff,ie engine, axles, tranny ect. I'm talking about stuff like motor mounts and wiring harnesses ect. I know that my car is a Vtec-E. Does that mean its ready for the b18c or do I have to wire it for just Vtec and not vtec-e. Also I'm more leaning tward the b18a or b and turboing it. What do you guys think. Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

[txhatch]

Go with the ls+turbo. It will be more fun than just a gsr swap. I would try and find a place that sells the full swap. This will give you most of the parts to get started.

[PHiZ]

I'm not sure if the vtec-E wiring is comparable to the regular vtec wiring...

You're not in a horrible place, the HX is like the lightest trim they make... Is it an auto or a manual though?

a B16a3 can be had for almost the same price as a B18a/b sometimes, something to consider.

it'd be a torque sacrifice, but it would make nice power in high-revs.

The LS tranny ratios just scream for boost though.

b18b!!! unless you want to purchase a cable->hydro tranny conversion from hasport (hint: you don't)

hybrid-garage will tell you what motormounts you need, I think you just need one for a b-series swap, drivers side, something or other...

-PHiZ

[egzivic]

Vtec-E is just economy vtec. All wiring and machanical operation is the same, just the cam profile is more towards better fuel economy and less performance. The VX hatch is the same way. I swaped the ECU, cam and rocker arm assembly from a EX into my VX and it had more power at high revs, but lost the 40-45 mpg that the stock VX had. Now I have a first gen B16 with the Hasport cable/Hydro conversion and I have more power. Not sure why Phiz knocks the conversion cause a cable tranny is cheaper and for road racing the ratios are better, besides the cable trannys have optional LSD, which I ended up with because neither I or the place I bought the swap from knew. If you have further questions PM me I and I would be glad to help.

[PHiZ]

oh, I'm not remarking on it technically, just the hidden cost of it.

Wanna elaborate on it a little more? How did the install go... etc.

-PHIZ

[egzivic]

There should be no hidden costs on either swap (The valve train/cam/ECU or B16). On the valve train swap the donor car was a 95 EX coupe. Was as simple as removing the valve cover and removing the cam and taking all the rocker/valve train assembly with it. I was lucky and got the ECU too. The cam and rocker/valve train assembly bolted right on to my 92 VX hatch and of course the ECU was plug and play. No wiring required. Wish I would have made some sort of power test to provide figures, but the VX had 92 hp stock and the EX had like 117hp. So, guessing I would think like maybe 105 hp. Since the parts were free and it worked without a problem for the last 60k miles/3 years it was a good deal.

[v4lu3s]

i did onoe of those not too long ago
used all civic mounts with a rear gsr bracket in a 97 hx. was pretty easy just went ahead and used a civic ex harness though since i did not want to tangle with the 5 wire o2 sensor and the egr wiring.
the onyl weird thing is the hx seems to use a smaller compressor for the a.c compared to ther civics...so the del sol/si a/c bracket did not fit perfect, but it did work

[HXMan]

The only problems with a swap into an Hx is the 5 wire wideband O2 sensor, and the fact the Hx doesn't have a Fuel Tank pressure sensor.

You can buy a 99-00 Ex or Si harness to get around the primary O2 sensor wiring...but then you will have to add wires for the secondary O2. It probably would be easier just to modify your existing harness.

Without the fuel tank pressure sensor you will be throwing a code 91 after you take the car out a few times.

The ECUs I found that didn't throw a code 91 was a 96 gsr.

You don't need to worry about the EGR becuase pretty much any engine you swap in won't need one.

[PHiZ]

good info, thanks!

I wonder if you could just ground, or feed 12 volts to that line to trick the ecu...

-PHiZ

What does a haynes manual say, to test that device, that is the voltage you need to apply...

[HXMan]

Trick the ECU into thinking there is a fuel tank pressure sensor?

[imlachg1]

You guys are great, thanks so much for the good info. Keep it comming if you still got some.

[PHiZ]

Originally posted by HXMan
Trick the ECU into thinking there is a fuel tank pressure sensor?

Yes, so you don't throw a code...

-PHiZ

[imlachg1]

I'm looking at spending about 4000-4500 depending on how much my tax return check will be this year. I really want to go turbo. I have two new questions now. I have narrowed it down to the B18b. The question I have is what do I do about the harness. Do you use my stock 00 HX harness, or get the EX harness or the Si harness? Also another question is I won't be doing this swap until Christmas, would it be bad to buy an engine now and let it sit till late Dec. or early Jan (If I can find a good deal)? Thank you very much for all the info you guys have given. All the info has been very helpful.

[imlachg1]

bump