slowb16guy

Been out of the Honda scene for quite some time but recently came across a deal I couldn't refuse. $500 bucks for a running 95 Integra ls with slipping auto trans. I've done an auto to manual swap before, though it was only with a $396 dollar 91 civic hatch. I figured I could get myself a fun project and commuting warrior for a little cash and elbow grease. Plus everyone knows all civic owners secretly wished they had an Integra, so I was fulfilling a long-forgotten teenage dream.

Car has ~270k on the chassis. Not sure how accurate it is, the odometer seems to be broken. Previous owner claims the motor had been replaced some time during their ownership but had no paperwork for it. Here my quick and dirty pro and con analysis:

The Good: car does not show and CEL's, engine has decent compression across all cylinders, drives straight and much better than I expected for a $500 car. New starter, Functioning cruise control, good-ish interior and body relatively straight. Hatch struts actually work, car starts up every time within a couple cranks. Best of all, CLEAN TITLE!

The Bad - Trans would slip after driving for a while. Owner did some stuff to try and fix it like changing trans fluid (non honda brand eww), changing shift solenoids (that's a thing? I know nothing about Honda auto transmissions) and who knows what else. It didn't work and car still wouldn't engage into any gear once car got warm. Idle was all jacked up and surging like crazy. ABS light on most of the time, but turns off sometimes while driving. Front passenger fender dented with some black scuffings, Windshield wipers and rear defroster doesn't work, windows don't roll down and sunroof was stuck open. Literally everything on this car rattles. Creaky as all hell. I've been driving a Volvo for the past few years so I forgot how much the term "rattle-trap" applies to these cars, oh how I missed it so (only moderate sarcasm here, It brings back memories of screamo music, eyebrow piercings and questionable decision making). Oh yea the trunk is all kinds of rusty.

The Ugly : Seriously the whole thing. It looks like ***. Serves as a no-cost anti theft device I guess?

Pictures for proof:

The power window on the drivers side actually works! left and right only, not up and down though.

The fastest and most furious-est tail lights.




It has 4 different ballast boxes for HID's at random places in the engine bay, halo headlights and a whole crap ton of weird and poorly thought out wiring.

Originally green and has some strange greyish blue that's cracking, peeling and oxidized.

It has funky gauges, but I didn't think too much of it. I found a weird toggle switch with dimmer **** but didn't know what it was for. Had a bunch of wires I assumed used to be for an amp and subwoofers, so I thought it was for that. But while I was getting ready to take it for a test drive at night I kicked the switch on accident, and my whole world flipped upside down...

INDIGLO GAUGES IN FULL EFFECT YO!



My intentions are to help this poor vehicle regain some sense of decency and purpose. Next step is some new fluids, cap/rotor and spark plugs, get the windows and other stuff working properly by fixing the most likely hacked up wiring harness (I'm sure it's going to be terrible) so it functions like a normal car.
Auto to manual swap is in the works. I actually had a complete B series swap in my garage at one point but sold everything because I was going to grad school. In all honesty I probably shouldn't have time for a project like this. But I am a restless soul and need something to tinker on, so this will do just fine.

slowb16guy

The previous auto to manual swapped car: The Red Ranger. Stock d15, MPFI swap, ~90whp and ~40mpg


My old pride and joy, 2000 EM1 with a bunch of cool stuff that I barely remember. ITR LSD tranny, ITR cams and intake manifold, Custom turbo kit on stock block at 10 lbs making somewhere around 300 whp cause any less and you were a loser. Motor blew and I was going through some hard times so I never got it running again. Sold it and have regretted it ever since.





As for the Integra, I got some oem all red tails and a stock exhaust from the junk yard. Changed the tranny fluid to some Honda ATF, Cleaned and tightened the FITV and plugged up some vacuum leaks and now the car idles and drives much better. Still starts slipping after about 15 mins in stop and go traffic, but can drive on the freeway fine. When It starts slipping and I pull the car over, shut it off and row through the gears before starting again, it drives for another few minutes. It almost seems like the car doesn't know what gear it needs to be in, but I don't know how Hondas TCM's work or even where it is on this car.

slowb16guy

So updates on the project:

I have the clutch pedal, master cylinder, clutch line, shift linkage (still trying to find a bitch pin, don't want to pay 12 dollars), two transmissions, and little time to work on anything. Also no money, so things are going frustratingly slow.

I picked up two LS transmissions and a manual starter for 140 bucks. One has a 3rd gear grind, other one condition unknown. Unknown one was supposed to be from a gsr, previous owner opened it up to count the ring gear and it was an LS. They didn't close the case up correctly and the trans wouldn't turn.
I opened the case and the snap ring was bent out of shape, but all the internals looked serviceable. Haven't looked at the other trans yet, that's a problem for future me.
Probably going to see if I can find a usable clutch assembly from the junkyard, I gave away my big Jar-O-Honda bolts years ago, so I need flywheel and pressure plate bolts, also probably a whole bunch of little things that I don't realize I need yet.

Gopher Ripbud

I like the the gauge lights and your em1. In for the build as this car is probably what I will end up with condition wise if i pull the trigger on a "build" lol.

Prudz_lude

iTrader: (1)

Looking forward to seeing the end result. I'm assuming a paint job is in the mix? If so what colour are you thinking?

slowb16guy

If I do repaint it Im going full DIY, as I've never done any paint or bodywork and would like to say I did it at least once. Then probably never again, because I'm sure its entirely too much work. But the long way around to answer your question, probably something similar to the factory teal color.

little bits of work at a time added up to lots of progress spread out over the past few months. I've bought transmissions, sold transmissions, and bought some more. Bunch of them turned out to be junk, one of them happened to be a GSR and I actually made money off it, even though It needed a new 3rd gear and synchro sleeve. I have purchased 5 transmissions total, and have one good one and one that wont shift into first.

The good one is finally in the car, everything is buttoned up (bumper barely held on by zipties and 2 10mm, but that's temporary, because the headlight/signaling wires are a weird ricer bird nest due to the halos and something they did with the blinkers to make them blink super fast. Except I accidentally ripped some of the plugs, cause now the headlights wont work!)
It drives under its own power, shifts well, and hopefully will pass smog this week so it can be street legal.

next step after making sure its smog legal: piecing together a junkyard turbo kit so I can make it into a gross polluter! I already have a couple turbos laying around from my old volvo (13t and 16t respectively) but I would have to get a custom manifold. I have enough piping for a small passat side mount intercooler I have, as well as some misc. oil and coolant lines that I Could repurpose from the Volv. Also have some 440cc injectors from a volvo s40, but not sure if they work with Honda's, also don't know if they are saturated or peak and hold (or some weird Swedish method that I have never heard of). What sucks is getting a poor quality ebay kit will actually probably be cheaper and more reliable than cobbling together used stuff, but I want to remember the good old days of homemade turbo kits (like leaky oil feed/return lines and boost creep from shitty internal wastegates). Not looking for more than around ~200 whp, should be a fun daily driver.

I will get some pictures up maybe, I Didn't document the process of anything because I was too busy banging my knuckles on things. I never actually got the drivers side axle nut off (which caused a whole bunch of other issues, had to remove the axle boot at one point because the little bearings inside popped out) and installing the trans by myself with no trans jack was the ultimate test of patience and willpower. lastly, something is leaking onto the header and burning, not sure what it is. It smells like plastic, could be oil dripping, or a bunch of brake fluid I spilled when bleeding the clutch. But it drives! without anything falling off!

slowb16guy

I've been messing around trying to figure out my shift boot situation. Auto to manual swaps leave a gaping hole under the console, I used some PVC pipe tape for now to muffle some of the road noise and its working okay, but now I need to find a bigger boot for the shifter hole itself. Also mocking up a shifter plate, not sure what material I want to make the finished product out of. My Volvo has a sweet brushed aluminum "Space ball" thing for the shifter plate, I kind of want to make It fit, but it will probably look extra cheesy. Looks like this:


put my new wheels on. 16'' wheels from a mini cooper. Tires are pretty worn and are a size too tall, they need to be replaced soon. Got them for 100 bucks! Also picked up some ebay special springs for $50, and Rockauto had some OE replacement shocks for around 10 dollars each for some discontinued ones. The spring perches don't fit quite right in the rears (which is probably why they were so cheap" but I think I can grind them down to work properly. As it stands, the thing looks like its ready for off roading.

slowb16guy

I wrote and submitted a post, something happened and it isn't showing up. So lets re-write it with less detail!


Car is running fairly well, except for the persistent electrical gremlins. Still no windows, rear defroster, windows or sunroof. Did all of the motors burn out. or is a wiring issue more likely? Also cant get the front blinkers to work, even though I cleaned up the wire harness (good god it was terrible, and I think some kind of animal chewed up some of the harness) . Could be as simple as needing new bulbs, because in my infinite wisdom I haven't even looked to see if they're burned out.

Used some PVC pipe tape to cover the gaping hole where the auto shifter was. May use the stock shifter plate thing to block it off, but this is working fine for now. Not sure what I want to do with the shift selector wiring, I kind of like having it there so that I Don't have to mess with the cruise control wiring, plus its kind of a cheap killswitch.

My Volvo has this sweet brushed aluminum spaceball thing (its actually called that by Volvo) for the shifter plate, it looks sweet and I kind of want to do something similar here, but it might end up looking dumb


Here's some pics of how it sits now, I put some 16'' mini cooper wheels on it. The tires are shot and are a size too tall, but I think they will look kind of nice when it stops being stanced like a monster truck. I have some ebay especial' springs with new OE replacement shocks I got for $100, gonna put those in whenever I get time.

slowb16guy

Not sure whats going on, I tried posting twice already with updates and its not working.

Car is up and running moderately well. Drives great, still has many electrical gremlins. Windows, sunroof, wipers and rear defroster all don't work. I gutted the rear interior to clean everything but kind of like how light the car feels, I don't plan on carrying anyone other then myself so I might just leave it barren. Good god the rattles though.

I put some 16'' mini cooper wheels on, still stock height so it looks kind of ridiculous. I have someebay special springs with OE replacement shocks I got for 100 bucks to put in when I have some free time. It looks like a complete turd due to the peeling clearcoat and poor quality paint job. I almost regret not paying a bit more for a car that looks and functions better. But this is MY turd, and I will love it with all my heart.

tony_2018

your post count is still low, your posts need to be approved by a mod I guess.

wunfstgsr

Hes in NOOB status lol JK I liked the indo glow gauges!!

slowb16guy

Haha yea, I've been out of the game for way too long and have reverted to noob level. All my old posts are still here, but they don't count on my total for some reason. Probably when the servers swapped over years back.

Lets try this a third time, without hosting my pics on HT.

Got some 16'' mini cooper wheels for 100 bucks with tires. Tires are pretty worn and need to be replaced soon, but I Don't really drive the car much yet so that can wait. I have some ebay special springs with new OE replacement shocks to go in when I get some time, right now the car looks kind of ridiculous.


I want to make a shifter cover thing instead of the stock shift boot. My volvo has a sweet space ball thing (it's actually called that) that I kind of want to make fit, but It doesn't really fit with the rest of the interior styling.


probably will just make a black plate with a hole cut out, I made a template out of cardboard. Also have some PVC pipe tape over the hole the auto shifter mechanisms went through, it works well enough for now



I also still have the auto shifter mechanism still plugged in so I can use cruise control without messing with the wiring. Still have to wire up the reverse lights though.

wunfstgsr

Check my build thread in this link just scroll down a little, I made a CF plate to cover the big open area when I installed my Hybrid shifter, maybe you will want to do something similar, I first used a card board cut out with 5D carbon fiber wrap I had laying around but once I found a nice supplier for gloss finished CF plates I ordered one from ebay and slightly modified it to fit and replaced the card board one I made.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/appear...556604/page27/

slowb16guy

Whew, lots of updates to give. Especially since the world is ending now and shelter in place means shelter and fix everything broken on my integra. I have pics of things somewhere, I will upload them when I find them.

Anyway, lets recap what happened:

Once everything on the manual swap was buttoned up, I took the green goblin (my new name for this car until I paint it) down to central California to visit my girlfriend. Halfway down on its maiden voyage, trans starts popping out of 5th gear. not long after that, it started making a terrible squealing noise, followed by an even worse grinding. Then the car started rapidly decelerating, and I had to pull over at a Wendys off 99, I believe it was near Chowchilla. Long story short, Nut on the countershaft worked its way off, cracked the casing, went bone dry and trans basically welded itself solid. Had to get towed TO and from Fresno to the bay area. Luckily AAA has a premium package that allows a single 200 mile tow once a year, I just had to pay the difference in yearly membership, which turned out to be about 40 bucks.

After 3 hours with a friendly tow truck driver, I was back home safe and sound. Took a while to get a NEW new trans, but eventually did. But then the car started overheating, almost the next day. waterpump went out. Meaning it could have gone out on the disaster trip. Dodged a bullet there!

so new pump in, alsovchanged timing belt and tensioner while I was at it. Belt had some chunks missing from it also!


now it has 2 more trips to fresno under its belt, averaging around 30 mpg. But windows still don't roll down, wipers don't work, and neither does the rear defroster.

But I think I found the culprit: Integrated control unit behind the fuse box. It was fried. There was actually large hole in the back from the burned out circuits melting the plastic. Pretty wild. So going to the junkyard eventually, If they are open during this bizarre time.

slowb16guy

I am crying tears of joy right now. Finally, everything works!

After grabbing a couple of the control units from the junkyard (and a delicious taco truck burrito) I went home and got down to business. Plugged lots of things in a very cramped area, wiggled some fuses, replaced some relays, and BAM! Windows and sunroof open and close (with difficulty, need to grease the tracks), blinkers work. rear defroster and windshield wipers fully operational. Rear wiper also probably works now but I took that thing off and do not want it. Washer squirters might work, I accidentally broke the reservoir when I was pulling stuff out.

Bought new windshield wipers, some lithium grease, and some febreeze. I sprayed Lysol into the blower followed by a strong blast of febreeze. Car came out smelling like a rose (actually strawberry).

slowb16guy

the tears of joy turned to tears of sadness, windows and sunroof stopped working.

my next thought is the fuse box is also burnt, at least enough to have a not-so-good connection through the wiper/window/sunroof circuit. was poking around some more and could not get it to function again. I was going to get a fuse box from the junkyard too but decided not to. back I go I guess!

slowb16guy

Back from the dead! Where to begin...

So this car was cursed im sure. The nut to the 5th gear/countershaft backed out during a drive to central california and cracked/leaked/exploded the trans. I got a new one, drove great for a few months, then the car caught on fire from a likely wire short + oil or fuel leak, car burned to the ground, also in central cali, Car was put to rest at Romo's tow yard. I had just spend the entire week sanding and re painting in my back yard. It looked like a backyard rattle can paint job, but it was more than this car deserved.

2 weeks later, I found a 2000 LS listed for 1000, was able to get it for my favorite price of 500. Faded/peeling clear coat on the top of the car but decent other places, rod knock, full GSR interior with spare black dashboard, sweet OG alpine radio that still worked okay with recently replaced axles and front brakes. I swapped a high compression usdm b20z4, it passes smog no problem and runs like a champ. Pics of all and progress towards goals in upcoming posts. Weird journey, but it continues.