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Long time lurker, first time poster. I can’t count the number of hours I’ve spent looking at H-T threads, covered in god-knows-what kind of fluids and solids mixture at 5% battery. (Then the AD redirect )
So I’ve got a ready-to-go high compression B20b, and a chipped ecu ready to drop in, just waiting on some help and the inspiration to knock out this minor refresh... that is the TB+WP+ handful of seals... without my brothers help. His engine just blew in the Audi he was driving while he fixes his Hondas (plural).
I always wanted to make a Honda-Tech thread, and while I was at it, I decided it would be nice to throw together an updated and detailed build thread including my initial cost estimate, and my actual cost, and the difficulties I faced along the way. I’ve used every other thread about the topic (B20b swap) I could possibly find with my expert Google-fu, and, well, they were all lacking in certain areas. To anyone looking to perform this swap, let me be your thousand dollar guinea pig.
My initial budget was $1150-$1350 and I’m sitting at about $2,070, if I sell all my D series parts that’s about $500 off, so around $1500 all said and done.
This car was a bone stock 95 civic VX hatch to start, 198k miles. The previous owner had let a pack of beach bum dogs live in it for a button and penny a week for what seemed 10 years. Entire inside COATED with fur and dead skin/dirt buildup and sand. I had a blown 95 EX coupe with side damage which I fortunately kept long enough to swap over the entire interior, door panels, dash, steering column, power windows, locks, mirrors, fenders, hood, and the entire suspension with the sway bar. Went from one speaker to six. Eventually (soon) I got a brand new ultra nylon plus backing carpet for $338, used headliner off a FaceBook group $40, genuine 1995 black CARGO COVER $140 off eBay, mud flaps $40 eBay, also 2.5” eBay exhaust $90, and I fixed the dreaded hatch leak and bondo/siliconed the entire roof body trim and windshield gasket. Now it only leaks on the trunk line seal into the spare tire well (below the carpet!) More silicone use is anticipated.
So after the body and maintenance was taken care of, my goal was to make a super sweet super sleeper civic (IM EVEN GONNA RESTORE THE VX BADGE LMFAO). What I tell my wife and parents is that I “just want to run AC with a car full of passengers, and cargo, uphill, merging onto the highway”.
So without further a do, here is my purchase list.
Only thing left to do is the timing belt, water pump, crankshaft seal, rear main seal, cam shaft seals, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket and spark plug seals, transmission axle seals, and install the 9lb flywheel, stage 2 clutch (15% more grab force), pressure plate, and adjust the valve lash.
Then comes the easy part!!! Dropping that sucker in.
id say the most important part to this entire swap is make sure you have a usable harness (z6 harness in this case, YAS ready for GSR Head in future), and multiple intake manifolds to cannibalize for sensors and the right fuel delivery setup.
it would definitely have been easier to source an entire b18b swap and just sell the longblock.
and for stealth I am using the d series shifter on the b series linkage (I added 2 spark plug holder rubber o shaped gaskets at the base to aid stability and decrease vibration)
If you really want to get it moving something with shorter gears will def help put the power to the wheels
Lookin good so far but my main concern would be that repair you just did.
Thanks for the reply. I understand it’s not ideal. I was developing a mold problem and rust in other areas. I’d say my repair is somewhere between duct tape, and actual welding more sheet metal there. The hinges move freely and are much more reinforced. I definitely want to tear down into it again one day and do it completely properly, but that’s time and money I don’t have now.
Yeah you’re right. But un-abused B series transmissions are hard to come by. I wanted to keep the gas mileage, and I feel like the LS will help convert RPMs to road speed better. I’m thinking traction will be a problem so if I did do some launches 2nd gear might be my best bet. Lose a gear change or two and that’s a car length. Plus that engine only revs to 7200 so I don’t wanna get there in a hurry. More time with the power down and in the power band.
Although a b16 trans would be absolutely nuts and definitely way faster.
A gsr is in the middle but you can always down shift in the LS if need be. Just don't red line it. Yes, a high compression b20 is ideal for these lightweight hatchbacks. Hopefully you're able to identify one before buying it.
That’s another thing to include in my thread - verifying that you do receive an actual high compression model.
I just made sure there was a knock sensor, and the casting shows the correct year. I may be reading it wrong but the head seems to have been casted in 1999 and the block 1998. I had a change to get the P8R version but I decided to keep it simple and servicable and stick with the p75 head.
Also it was pretty difficult finding a JDM b20b for the right price. Side note, you can’t rely on the high intake manifold. So I called every importer I could find. I live near Winston Salem so I was calling as far away as New Jersey. They only wanted $400, a couple local places said $950 (wow) so I settled on $550 and drove the hour and a half to charlotte.
Importers also dont ever stock LS transmissions even though they aren’t too expensive. That had to be sourced off of a FB group. I just verified zero shaft play, no fluids leaking, and rotating the shaft in each gear and making sure it moved smoothly. Hopefully this trans works out (crosses fingers).
That’s another thing to make sure of too - that your transmission has all its sensors undamaged.
Dang seems like my last post is waiting approval and this one sent right through. Sorry for the disconnect. Maybe the picture flagged approval necessary idk
Where you had to cut the carpet, you can punch some holes near the edges and use some zip ties to hold the pieces together if you’d like/need to since all that will be covered up anyway.
Where you had to cut the carpet, you can punch some holes near the edges and use some zip ties to hold the pieces together if you’d like/need to since all that will be covered up anyway.
I actually used permatex headliner/carpet adhesive. It works pretty well if you spray both contact surfaces and let it get a bit tacky first (as per directions). That would have been less messy though!
Dude I sure did. I was pretty mad for a minute but we’ll see how the “easy out” drill bit works tomorrow evening. I’ll grab another bolt before work from the junkyard integra I murdered to get the timing cover bracket off.
Alright so chronological order.
that junkyard integra was in the front row, 35 ft front entrance. i just wanna say... fastest junk yard trip ever. Pay 2$, Jog on over to open hood with an impact and a 10mm zzt zzt and away we go. 3 minutes total.
cam seals were alrigh once I got the bolt out. No luck drilling, I had to use a tiny screw driver and just carefully work the stud out. Once reset, I Used a thin healthy amount of Honda bond and scoured the mating surface clean with a final polish of rubbing alcohol. Did the same for the VC gasket and it worked like a charm. Just do not use more than a .5-.75mm layer of Honda bonds (slightly see through) and make sure to follow torque specs. We also re torqued all of the cam holders in sequence since we undid one set of the them. I don’t know if this is necessary but it’s what we did.
My brother did also help me set the mechanical timing as he’s done these for customer cars before. Very important step. I actually had work (closing shift) and he didn’t know so he wound up doing a 10 hour job for me and still being out there when I got off. What a guy, had to give him my after work beers.
So engine swap process.. don’t forget any plugs or vacuum lines, unplugged or plugged. Label if necessary and do not confuse MAP with IAT or anything else as it will cause ECU damage
Engine in through the top and transmission in through bottom. Level the engine out as you snug and then tighten the mounts. Very important to grease up all necessary components and follow torque sequence when doing clutch+flywheel and installing the transmission. Some thick gloves, a floor jack, a supported engine, and as well as some spirited finagling required to install transmission smoothly. May need to rotator main shaft manual or rotate entire transmission housing until the splines align. DO NOT FORGET TWO (2) BEVEL PINS. NEVER USE AN IMPACT ON CASE/ENGINE BOLTS
Make sure that the T bracket lines up fully and all bolts go in, (AT is 1/8th inch different) and that the shift linkage is installed and working correctly (correct chassis, good bushings, generously greased, and proper torque specs) . After axle installation and oil pan gasket has dried remember to fill with fluids. Do not forget radiator fluid, and do the thermostat at this time. Always test your thermos first. Boiling water or $20 heat gun from harbor freight. I don’t trust the responsiveness of the Honda/Acura cooling system so I always run rad fan. Beware aftermarket auto zone thermo temp is 180f instead of 170f.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BOLTS FOR B SERIES FRONT TRANS STABILIZER MOUNT AND FOR HALF SHAFT. I used a combination of old Honda suspension bolts and nuts and washers. Still going strong ~1000 miles.
Okay so now is the point of firing ‘er up. I always jump a sitting vehicle off. Don’t want to kill the battery on the first 5 cranks of 100. Key ignition off on at least a dozen times between attempts to pressurize fuel line. Make sure you hear the fuel pump. And once turning over catch the cycle full throttle on-off At cylinder one each engine cycle. I’ve always found this to be the magic touch. I used a USDM CRV fuel line flipped and the two prongs hammered out.
Luckily I had no CELs and it took only about 15-20 minutes of cranking to get this b20 started up.
So on my test drive, it went into gear and gingerly took off just fine. I get to the top of the hill and try and put it into first for the second time and nothing. I’m like hmmm so I roll back and GIGANTIC PUDDLE OF TRANNY FLUID.
The entire case shattered around the linkage!
Never saw this before but the case had been bottomed out a lot. Probably cracked already, being that it didn’t make a sound
I actually had the wrong t bracket, and decided to get another linkage as well since I had one brass colored bar and one black bar. Figured $2500 in, might as well get it right.
So after a quick tranny swap, my over budget pig got moving. *SIDE NOTE. I shook my new good ls trans and it had some internal moving around. If anyone happens to jiggle a tranny it will make a noise. I was scared at first.
ALWAYS USE NEW AXLE SEALS!!!
also check out this ridiculous air filter... 9” long, 6” wide
So after another two weeks of finding a transmission and getting it installed, the beast finally moved.
Then you had 17 god awful days of driving around on an open header.
I got a 18” vibrant resonator and combined with the eBay pipe resonator makes this thing quiet and have plenty of back pressure and low/mid range
definitely a two hands on the wheel type of ride once you hit the power band. Best part is, you shift before 5.5-6k and it’s plenty of fun without excessive engine wear.
During this time my shocks and wheel bearings decided to finally finish eating doodoo. Got the Gabriel ultra readymounts which actually raised it about 1/8th an inch, and I hope, restored factory geometry. I also find it absolutely ****** hilarious as most people have a cow or three about wheel gap. In my city, I gain access to like 30% more parking lots downtown. So I had to replac front wheel bearings and ***** joints. Already had a new manual rack. $80 at the shop to push in and out bearings and joints or spend all day hammering... they can have my $80.
just today 7/18 replaced the back shocks and installed rear tie bar. Still working up the gumption to install integra rear sway bar and ‘ek’ LCAs I got from an ‘01 integra. Definitely holds up the *** a lot better but that rear sway will be money. Have to adjust the exhaust and install new hangers to get the 2” I need. Also need to find nuts to fit the back of the sway bar end link holes in the subframe.
Heres my SOHC to DOHC throttle bracket. Tried to get it tighter using zip ties but I just made sure that WOT = WOT on the throttle body and let off=let off. You can hear the metal contacts on either side. Also made sure that I had redundant pressure up/down holding cable in place so that it wouldn’t move or wear either way.
Turns out, this sucker is fast!!! Makes a big difference on an 8th of a tank and no passengers versus full passengers and full tank. Being that the VX is only 2094 to start, I would say all added components put it at around 2200. I’m loving that mid range, and it comes to life with a drop of a toe with the lightweight flywheel. The long CAI and dual resonator help this thing just build pressure. Sounds and feels supercharged. Which is hilarious coming from a stock looking EG hatch with wheel gap that could swallow your grandma whole.
10/10 would not do again since I blew the budget, but it is a dangol sight to behold. Hit WOT before you’re awake for work in the morning and she’ll wake you up just good!!!!
10/10 you could definitely kill your self in this car very easily
Last edited by EG_SleepWerks; 07-18-2019 at 11:31 PM.
Reason: Accidentally hit post
That’s what’s I’ve heard. Seems like the moral of the story. Gotta get caught up on some debt. In the meantime, I’m ready to take out of gear and kill ignition the second it does something funny.
04-27-2019, 10:26 PM
B20b swap thread 1995 Civic VX Hatchback
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