butterz

Hellooo HT!

I've spent years and years lurking around this forum, and I've finally decided to start a build thread.

I have a (Canadian) '99 Civic SI in Clover Green Pearl. I've owned it for about 2 years and this year I really wanted to do something challenging, so I've decided to build it using the drivetrain from a '98 CRV.

Current mod list:
B18B1 with matching tranny
Intake/header/full exhaust
Stage 3, 6 puck clutch and heavy duty pressure plate
Raceland Ultimo Coilovers
16" OZ Chrono in 205/40/16
Blox black Aluminum Lug nuts
Drilled and slotted rotors + Ceramic break pads
Front and rear adjustable upper control arms
Front and rear upper strut braces
Acura EL Leather front and rear seats, and arm rest
OEM replica hood bra
OEM EM1 Floor mats
Pioneer head unit, pioneer speakers, 12" subwoofer


This was the car the day I bought it in 2014:




This is what it looked like last year at the 2015 Castrol Radical SpeedSport show:






My intention was to boost the car this season (I've boosted a D series in the past, but wanted to try it with the B) but the Canadian dollar hasn't been too strong lately. I came across a '98 CRV locally (pictures to come) for cheap and decided to give the rt4wd swap a try.

Here is the RT4wd transmission from the CRV after some love from the grinder and a wire wheel:




Surprisingly enough, I was able to use ALL factory mounts to fit it into the car. Usually to put a B series in an EK requires an EM1 rear T bracket, but it turns out in this case that the EM1 bracket doesn't fit on the CRV transmission. However, the CRV rear T bracket fit perfectly. While I had it apart, I upgraded to Yonaka Polyurethane motor mounts.


Here's my B18B1 with the RT4wd trans bolted on and in the car. It's kinda tough to see, but the upper transmission mount is the factory one from the CRV - I didn't even remove it from the transmission during the swap.




Next steps:
- Remove fuel tank
- Install CRV Cable shift linkage
- Install CRV Driveshaft
- Install CRV Rear Differential + Axles
- Fabricate rear trailing arms + install
- Front 5 lug conversion
- Install front Axles
- Clean the F@#K out of everything

I'll take some more pictures tonight. I'll be updating this thread as I go, but feel free to provide feedback, suggestions, or ask questions!


- Ian

tony_2018

I made up my mind, I'm keeping my car green. Satin silver metallic can take a break.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

There was someone else who did something similar, I believed they used a fair bit of rear suspension components out of the CRV as well. Might be worth looking into.

tony_2018

For this one it doesn't sound like he'll be chopping up the trunk to fit a rear dif in there.

butterz

Hopefully not. I have to work out the geometry, but I believe I'll be able to fit it in just ahead of the rear subframe where the LCA's bolt to the car.

I actually wasn't a fan at first, but a buff and wax goes a lonnnnggg way.

tony_2018

Honda made a certain model civic with rt-awd d-series engine/trans. You should try to google it and see for yourself how they design the rear.

94CivicSi

iTrader: (1)

I have an old, cracked rear subframe that was carefully drilled out of my 2000 EX and replaced. If you think you can use it to mock up your rear end mounting, it's all yours.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Yep, the old 4G Civic Wagovan, available in RT4WD (not AWD).

tony_2018

There were 92-00 civics that also had rt-awd

tony_2018

butterz

I appreciate the offer, but I should be alright for parts for now. Thanks!

And 94-01 Integras as well, yes. None of these models were available in North America though, so unfortunately sourcing parts becomes near impossible.

Jimi Hondrix

Green is king braj. Dig the rims too.. totally unghettofied.

Deetz

I guess i give a thumbs up for effort on this, BUT, you live in Canada, as i do. We can import 15 years old cars from Japan with no mileage, fully loaded and dirt cheap!! Why bother modding the couple this way when you could just pick up an Orthia, stock wit AWD and a high comp B20 no less

tony_2018

Hmmm...everything from this 5dr Orthia would probably fit the civic coupe/sedan. No need for homework or custom parts. If he wants to stick with the 2dr than an Orthia parts car, 5spd of course, would be a wise investment. OP can sell me the interior, I just want the red confetti.

butterz

Thanks!

I bought my donor CRV for $200, and I have less into my entire build than it would cost me to import an Orthia.

It's not about having an AWD Civic, it's about the experience. I want to build it and be able to say that I did.

tony_2018

Than I suggest you do this,

https://honda-tech.com/honda-element...nside-3265858/

butterz

Made a little progress last night. Cut a hole in the floor and ran the shift cables to the transmission. I still need to bolt the shift box to the floor.

The shifter sits REALLY high, so I'm going to see about switching to an Accord/Prelude shift box, or try to find a way to shorten this one.







Sorry this one is so shitty. This is the shift cables going up between the K frame and the firewall, just behind the rear engine mount.

tony_2018

I was thinking...k-swap shifter with he plate to cover up that big *** opening but I've never heard of it working with a b-series shifter cable.


Some people mount the k-series shifter under the car so it sits lower.

tony_2018

Is there any way you can just upload the images to HT so that if someone were to search for this thread the images would still be there say...........10 decades later?

butterz

That's a pretty good idea really. Although, I've had my photobucket account since like 2004 so I don't think I'll ever actually get rid of it, haha.

tony_2018

You won't get rid of it, but you might end up getting rid of the pictures. Who knows.

butterz

I put in a little more work this weekend. I disassembled my CRV trailing arms to get the hubs off of them. I was actually surprised with how easy most of it came apart.






I also finished bolting in the shift box and attaching the linkage to the transmission. I'm actually pretty impressed with how the tight the CRV shifter is. It sits a little higher than a civic shifter, but it's actually pretty comfortable. It's also bent towards the driver seat. I'm going to try it as-is at first and then swap it out if I don't like it.




I've started removing the trailing arms from the car, I have one side off but the stupid T50 bolts that hold the spindles into the trailing arms are really difficult, so I'll probably be a couple of days just getting them apart. Once that's done, I'm going to widen out the hole in the civic trailing arm to accept the CRV hub and axles, and then drill the holes to bolt the hub in place.

Here's a little shot from when I was under the car unhooking the Ebrake cables:



I'm pretty excited to see that everything is lining up correctly. I did some research and based on owners.honda.com, the 98 CRV and 99 Civic have the exact same wheelbase, so hopefully that means I won't have too many problems with axles.

Finally, I picked up a new set of wheels. These are legit 16" 5-Lug ITR wheels in Championship white, fresh off the boat. I wanted gunmetal, but apparently they're really really hard to come by. I've wanted these wheels for a while, but wasn't willing to do the 5 lug conversion, but now that the car will be 5 lug I decided to pick them up.




Cheers.

tony_2018

Just fyi, you'll need custom headers, the shaft will need to have 2 drill and tapped bolt holes. Definitely will need a different gas tank.

butterz

The downpipe is about 2" longer, but the header fits fine. I'm going to zip off the flange, extend it, and weld it back on.

I already have the bolt holes mocked up for the drive shaft, and the tank is being relocated into the trunk. I might buy a fuel cell depending on how the tank fits.


Just to be 100% clear, I've already done about 6 months of research and I already have a really thorough knowledge of these chassis - I've built a turbo D sedan, H22 sedan, and now my b series coupe. I've mapped out this build from start to finish.

tony_2018

Oh ...in the trunk huh?

Where have I seen that...