mbish23

I'm interested in doing a mini me swap and I've been doing some research on it but I still have a few questions.

My current car that I'd be doing the swap on is a 1998 DX with the D16Y7. I just found a wrecked 2000 EX with VTEC that has the engine in great shape so tomorrow I plan on calling the guy and seeing if he'll part out the head, as well as the exhaust manifold since I need a new one of those, but I was wondering what else I would need besides the Y8 head and head gasket.

I know I need these parts but are there any others I'm missing?

- Y8 head
- Y8 head gasket

I was also thinking of buying the intake manifold from the 2000 EX since it'll be attached to the head when I remove it and I can probably get the guy to throw it in with the deal. If I can't get the intake manifold will my 1998 manifold work with the 2000 Y8 head work?

Also I know I need a new ECU. My car is an automatic and the 2000 EX is a manual so can I still use my current P2E ECU (I believe that's the 1998 auto ECU) with the swap or would I need to use the P2P ECU from the donor car? If I have to switch ECU's what would I do about using a manual ECU with my automatic car? Would that effect anything or make it so I have to chip it or anything?

My final question is would I be able to use my current Y7 cam gear, throttle body, fuel rail, and injectors or do I have to switch to the Y8 ones? The reason I'm curious about this is because I came across one guide online that was really detailed and had those 4 parts listed as new pieces needed but no guide on HT or any other site said you needed those. Here's the guide that said those parts were needed if anyone wants to see it and check it out... http://jdmuniverse.com/forums/how-to...-write-up.html

I plan on calling the guy in the morning tomorrow so the sooner I have the answer to those questions the better.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

Oh and I know about the wiring you have to do to get the VTEC running etc so I'm not worried about that, I'm just curious on the other questions I asked.

mbish23

Anyone got any answers to these questions? I kind of want to know them before I make the phone call tomorrow so I know everything to ask the guy to part out, especially since he doesn't explicitly say he's parting out the car so I'm going out on a limb asking him for specific parts.

mbish23

So no one knows anything about a Mini Me Swap and what's needed to do them? I find that hard to believe. I figured I would have gotten at least 1 post with some answers so I'm BTT.

CobaltIROPS

you will have an OBD2a wiring harness in your car and need an OBD2b to mate with the 00 civic's ECU IIRC. either a harness jumper, a new harness, or a complete re-wire (nasty, not recommended) I may be wrong on this, but check the ECU off the donor car and see if the plugs are in the same place as your DX's plugs.

you will need a ECU designed for standard trannys.

you will need the intake manifold/IACV that is set up for the ECU and for the transmission- A/T and MT are different sensors and in different places. (On top of the Intake Manifold and or on the bottom of the throttle body.)

If you have the wrong Intake manifold, the IACV may be in the "wrong" place to tell the computer the accurate data its looking for. make sure you get an ECU that matches with the tranny, and that the ecu and tranny matches with the intake manifold.

You don't need the y8 exhaust manifold, but its better, as it is a 4-2-1 design instead of the 4-1 design of the y7. If you use it, you will get better flow, but you will need to move the catalytic converter farther down the exhaust.
I jsut had simila rissues tryiing to mate an automatic IACV/Intake manifold to a 5spd ECU and Y8 head. had to custom fit an IACV from another car and it was unnecessary if I had jsut gotten the right parts the first time.

Your ECU will also look for a knock sensor, and possibly throw a code 91- fuel tank pressure sensor- so be ready to get the knock at least and hope that you dont' throw 91. If you do, there are help topics for these issues on these boards. My mini-me was done in about 3 weeks worth of research and purchased off here and craig's list for under 300. But there are several different ways to do it so thats why no one is likely o go on the record since yours is a little more difficult since it involves cross-transmission issues. goodluck

94EG8

If you plan on keeping the automatic you'll need an intake manifold and throttlebody from an automatic Y8 along with a '96 - '98 automatic Y8 ECU (P2P) I would swap the whole engine btw, less work for not much more money. I'd also grab the 5 speed tranny and swap that in.

mbish23

I planned on swapping the whole engine and tranny if the guy wouldn't part it out and just sell me the parts I needed and he would give me a decent price on the car but unfortunately by the time I called he already had it sold so it didn't matter.

I'm going to keep looking and also keep looking for a B swap since I'm open to either one, it just depends on what becomes available for sale in my price range.