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About a week after the demise of my '95 hybrid
coupe, I picked up this gem of a '94 Si hatchback. What should have
been the 3rd year in review is the build-up of the hatchback. I've
learned quite a bit in the past few years and I'll do the best that I can
to let you know everything there is to swapping out the Civic's
stock engine. This article will cover roughly a year's worth of work
including the engine swap, bushings, and other suspension projects.
After pulling the engine out of my
wrecked civic, I had to piece it back together. The accident left it
in pieces. The valve cover, intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors and
other miscellaneous bits and pieces were destroyed.
  
With a rebuilt transmission, and
reassembled engine, I was just about ready to start the swap into the hatch.
  
  
Given my experiences with my first swap,
and the experience gained by doing other swaps for people, I was armed with
everything anyone would ever need to know to do the infamous 5th gen engine
swap. I chose to swap out the steering rack and brake
MC given the fact that it was going to be much easier to do the work with
the engine out of the way.
Yanking the engine out was way too
easy. I think it took me about 3 hours to get the old engine out of
the car. I was very pleased!
Changing the steering rack
Why would I want to swap out the
rack? The stock Si steering rack is a powered unit with a mediocre
steering ratio. The rack from the 3rd gen Integra is a much faster
rack and very easy to change out when the engine is not in the way.
If you don’t have the luxury of an empty
engine bay, the best way to swap out the rack is to drop the sub
frame.
    
 
 
With the sub frame on the ground, the
rack is easily removed. If you are swapping a power steering rack for
a power steering rack, just reuse all of the hardware. You MUST have
the weather seal from the GSR for the reason that it is the only one that
fits it. Make sure you have the universal joint for the steering
column from the Integra as well. If
you are replacing a manual steering rack, you will need to modify the right
side bracket to make it fit. Some grinding of the holes will
help. Ultimately, a sub frame from a power steering equipped civic
would be ideal, but unnecessary.
You will need all of the fluid lines and
pump from an Integra to complete the operation.
Brake MC swap
This is probably one of the best
upgrades you can do, bang for the buck. For about $100, you can swap
out the MC and benefit from a much more positive braking feel. If you
have a 13/16" MC, you can upgrade to the 15/16" without modifying
any of the lines or changing the booster. If you want to bump up to
the 1" MC, you will want to make sure you get fittings with the
MC. Honda used two different sized fittings (same sized lines) on ABS
equipped Integras and Civics. You can use any
MC regardless of whether or not your civic is equipped with ABS.
Swapping to the 1" MC will require
you to change out the booster. This is a little more involved but not
difficult. You'll need to remove the four bolts inside and the
linkage from the brake pedal. You'll need to bend one of the lines to
meet the port on the new MC. If you have a non-ABS
civic, you'll need to cut off the flair for the rear line and pick up a
flaring tool in order to use the larger fitting.
  
Once you get the new MC installed, you
will need to flush the system. This is a great time to upgrade to a
performance brake fluid like ATE Super Blue or Motul
600
Wrapping it up
With the rack installed and the brake
hardware finished, it was time to drop in my faithful B18C1. The
installation was smooth and once I worked out a few minor problems, I was
on the road with my new hybrid!
Down the road
Shortly after I bought the hatch, I
discovered a strange handling characteristic. The car would pull hard
in one direction on the gas and jerk back off the gas. It wasn't
torque steer, but I couldn't figure out what it was. The problem was
rather unnerving. I took the time to install Energy Suspension's
bushing kit up front (the rears will be installed later). The
bushings did not resolve my problem.
I did discover that the bushings made a
tremendous difference in road feel. I was expecting a harsh ride, but
gained a much more comfortable ride. Rather than having the
suspension parts vibrate, due to the soft bushings, the components do their
jobs quickly and efficiently with no negative effects.
 
One day, while doing some spirited
driving, I was on the brakes going down a bumpy hill. I heard a
massive pop up front. My steering was completely erratic. Once
I made it back home, I quickly discovered that my right front lower control
arm mount, on the sub-frame, was broken. A quick call to Penske Honda
in Indianapolis,
and I had a brand new sub-frame ordered.
Armed with a new sub-frame, and a fresh
alignment, I had the civic that I knew I could have.
Steering Wheel Swap
While waiting for parts, I took the time
to do a swap that I was days away from starting on my coupe. The
steering wheel swap. After I installed the Momo steering wheel in my
240, I knew I needed the same performance advantage in my civic. The lighter
and smaller wheel provides much better feedback.
The operation was a success! The
cruise control and horn both work as they should and I couldn't be happier!
Check out the operation here.
Recaro Seat
A friend of mine was selling his Recaro racing seat and I jumped on the
opportunity. It had all of the necessary hardware to mount it in a
civic. After I did a couple of adjustments and acclimated to the
shape of the seat, I was hooked! The extra support is phenomenal
giving me a level of confidence that I never expected. I'd like to
install a harness, but it can be dangerous without a cage.
A Year Later
Due to a mishap, I had to pull the B18C1
for some repairs. Check out the project work here.
After finishing the engine installation,
I realized that my half shafts needed to be replaced. I installed
Drive Shaft Shop’s stage I axles. They are rated for horsepower up to
225 whp. This should be more than enough
for my new power plant!
Swap Bar Upgrade and Rear Bushings
The Si is equipped with a front sway bar
but no rear. I needed something given the fact that I had so much
body roll that my front tire would lift causing the Quaife
to lose its grip. I didn't want to go with a huge 21mm rear bar
like the ITR, Comptec or Ground Control.
Eibach offers a kit that seems to fit what I was looking for. The
stock front bar is 20mm and the Integra's rear sway bar is 14mm. Eibach's kit includes a 26mm front bar and a 17mm rear
bar.
Since I did not have a stock rear sway
bar, I needed to pick up the hardware necessary for the installation.
In this case, I needed new rear lower control arms and end link hardware.
The installation was a bit tedious, but
something that can be accomplished within a few hours.
Before I could get the rear bar
installed, I needed to replace the rear control arms. This was an
excellent opportunity to swap out the rear bushings. I ordered Energy
Suspension's rear trailing arm bushings since they were not included with
the full set. With all of the bushings replaced, that can be replaced
and the rear sway bar, the rear suspension was finally up to my
expectations
   
Engine Mounts
One of my three year old home made motor
mounts were starting to come apart...since I was having some engine slop
issues, I decided to pick up Energy suspension's torque mount kit. I
still need to finish installing one, but the home made version is still
holding up. The feel of having all three mounts replaced is
excellent! Taking off is much smoother. The only draw back is
some rattling in the interior at lower rpms.
  
Suspension Upgrade
2006 marked a year for a
massive suspension overhaul. I was
never happy with my Engalls camber kit and knew I
needed something better. Omni-Power
makes a kit that allows for adjustment at the ball joint rather than the
inner mount. My alignment guy was
much happier with the Omni-Power components. Along with the front, I installed the
rear adjustable camber link.
I also
upgraded my springs to Ground Control’s coil-over springs. I utilized 400 lb/in springs in the front
and 450 lb/in springs in the rear. I used all front length springs in the
event that I wanted to swap the springs from front to back and so on.
Along with the
springs and camber kit, I installed an ASR rear lower arm brace/swaybar mount, and Password JDM’s
3 point strut tower bar and 2 point rear strut
tower bar.
Lastly, I
ordered a new set of 16” Rota Slip Streams and a set of Falken
Azenia RT 615 tires.
The handling
of my hatch is truly amazing!
Between the LSD and tighter suspension, I was able to drastically
improve my lap times!
Thinking of the future, starting with
2008...but a quick peek to the past...
After the massive suspension upgrade in
2006, I ended up cracking a valve guide during my two day driving event at
Gingerman Raceway. I took my engine to Dameree Automotove in
Indianapolis, IN and had them rebuild the entire engine. New rings and
bearings and a complete head rebuild. New valves, guides and spring
retainers.
Exhaust and Clutch
The summer started out well. I
decided to skip buying a pre-bent aftermarket exhaust and just have a custom
one built. A local shop bent a 2.5" exhaust with muffler and
resonator. For the final "stealth" touch, I painted the can and tip
black
After only 2500 miles, my stock integra clutch lost
one of it's springs. I had experienced Murf's Exedy Street set-up and
decided to install one for myself.
Uh Oh....
2007, my
engine disintegrated itself,
what to do. Demaree
automotive said that I miss-shifted my trans and over-revved the engine.
I blamed them for faulty workmanship as the engine only had 4000 miles
on it after the second rebuild. Even if I had miss-shifted, the
valve train was good for more than 10,000 rpms. I had no recourse and
didn't feel that it was worth trying to get my money back from them.
With some effort on eBay I was able to
pull together enough money for another B18C. Along with that, I
received a few donated parts from my friend Rick and I was on my way.
2008
My plans for the future involve more
maintenance than anything! One of my shocks is blown, my brakes are
shot, I need a new ABS wheel sensor as well as a paint the front fenders.
I could probably use some fresh tires too...oh, and sort out a few minor
bugs from the last swap.
My hope is to start focusing more on
what I need to do to make my hatchback more track worthy. The
suspension, transmission and engine are where I need them to be. I need to
sort out my brakes and from there, I can make new plans for the future.
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