StorminMatt

I am currently in the process of building a 1989 STD HB for fuel economy with a D15Z1 swap from a 1992-1995 VX. But one of the things I REALLY don't like about building such a car is the HF transmission. The tall fifth gear will be GREAT for getting the most out of the D15Z1. But gears 1-3 just flat-out SUCK for driving in town. What is REALLY needed is a six speed. And one actually DOES exist in the 1988-1991 4WD Civic Wagovan. Actually, it is a five speed with a granny gear. But, for all practical purposes, it is still a six speed. And although it is made for 4WD, it seems like there might be a way to remove the 4WD components and use it for a purely FWD car. Has anyone actually worked with this tranmission before or tried to change the gears and/or final drive on it? Would it be possible to use this transmission to make something that has both good gears for driving around town AND flat freeway stretches for high MPG? I sure would like a better option than the HF transmission.


Modified by StorminMatt at 3:39 AM 1/19/2008

JimmyM86

Granny gear isn't going to do you a lick of good on your MPG's...

What you'll want to look for (which I'm sure you know) is your final drive gear ratio...Just b/c you have 6 gears (and 1 is a LOW gear) doesn't do diddly squat for MPG's.

EDIT: Half asleep...went back and read more indepth...That granny gear you will hardly use other than going up steep steep hills. Meaning you won't be starting off in granny gear at the red light. If you want good accelleration get an si tranny...if you want good MPG you may what to stick with what you got

Jonknee

zc tranny dx 5th gear

K20EF8

Do a k20a2 swap, which has gotten cheaper/isnt as expensive as uniformed people think. You get the best of both worlds 40mpg and 200whp

StorminMatt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by K20EF8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do a k20a2 swap, which has gotten cheaper/isnt as expensive as uniformed people think. You get the best of both worlds 40mpg and 200whp </TD></TR></TABLE>

Cheaper than some people say? Maybe. But truly cheap? FORGET IT! In fact, it still makes my ITR swap look like it was practically given to me for free.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JimmyM86 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Granny gear isn't going to do you a lick of good on your MPG's...

What you'll want to look for (which I'm sure you know) is your final drive gear ratio...Just b/c you have 6 gears (and 1 is a LOW gear) doesn't do diddly squat for MPG's.

EDIT: Half asleep...went back and read more indepth...That granny gear you will hardly use other than going up steep steep hills. Meaning you won't be starting off in granny gear at the red light. If you want good accelleration get an si tranny...if you want good MPG you may what to stick with what you got </TD></TR></TABLE>

Actually, what I was hoping is that maybe the final drive coul be swapped with something taller. This might make the granny gear about the same as first gear on an SI transmission, and make fifth (sixth?) gear more like fifth on an HF transmission. Of course, gears could be swapped as well, if possible. Anyway, the idea here is to make something that is more drivable than an HF transmission, yet has the same tall fifth gear for freeway cruising.

Jonknee

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jonknee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">zc tranny dx 5th gear</TD></TR></TABLE>

~sp33~

I only use granny gear in sand.

I wouldnt mind knowing if it can be manipulated into more of a usable six speed, but i really dont think its worth the huge work involved.

grog

what about adapter plates? Ive seen them for vw's and porsche's, they basicly allow you to bolt up to your motor to a totaly different tranny, maybe kinda like the h2b's.
Somebody should come up with a b(engine) to k(tranny) adapter, except the k is spinning the other direction . arent saab tranny/ motors spinning the same direction of pre K hondas? do they have any six speeds?

anyway, I dont think this is a big honda thing.

StorminMatt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by grog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what about adapter plates?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Adaptor plates are not the issue. In this case, both the motor and transmission are D-series. So just simply bolting things up is not an issue. Rather, the issue is whether the transmission itself can be made into a real, usable six speed by playing around with the gearing/final drive.

Of course, another option would be to swap the final drive and fifth gear from the HF into a DX transmission. Although first gear would still be rather tall, it would not have that horrendous gap between first and second gear (what was Honda thinking!). This is actually the MAIN thing that I am trying to eliminate. But it would still be nice to actually have a six speed.


Modified by StorminMatt at 4:58 PM 1/19/2008

sanimalp

if you want a 6 speed trans real real bad, like $15k bad, then im sure the people at XTrac could come up with something for you..

StorminMatt

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sanimalp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you want a 6 speed trans real real bad, like $15k bad, then im sure the people at XTrac could come up with something for you.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not THAT bad. And if I was going to spend THAT much on a six speed, it would most certainly go into the ITR CRX and not the economy car.

Jonknee

15k **** id just buy an itr