mcruz064

So i have a 93 coupe, and about 2 and 1/2 months ago i didn't realize my fan had stopped working. Where i live it gets VERY hot in the summer and i drove it on the freeway for like 25 min. when i got off smoke was coming out the hood. d16 has a craked cylinder now, still runs luckily....

My question is that im now planning to do a gsr swap, my neighbor friend whos been a mechanic for a good while says he knows where to get a jdm b18c full swap for 1200-1300. I was planning to give him like 300 for the labor, and help out as much as i could as well. Now. I have about 1800 saved up, so by the time i do the swap i might have like 200 extra left over from the cost of parts and labor. I was wondering if that was enough extra cash to compensate for anything extra i might need not included in the swap,(fluids, cables, etc) or should i wait mayb 1 or 2 more months(hoping my car will hold out that long) and save maybe 500-1000 more?

teamjdm239

depending on what the swap includes you might need a bit more for stupid stuff. but your getting there. i say save up like 2200, just to be safe, so that you dont get held back on something stupid when u have the swap in your car , and you are ready to drive. axles, ecu, and such should be included (i hope, for your sake)

mcruz064

okay, sounds good, ill just hope my d16 doesnt stop running from now till then

raidacaipo

jdm b18c full swap for 1200-1300? Where is this located at? that's super cheap. Are you sure it even come with a transmission? anyways I would say it depends on what you get for the deal first. You need axles, shiftlinkage etc... The typical complete b18c swap are usually around $2800. Being that its in good condition with low miles and all the things you need for a swap. Ask your mechanic what is comes with first and then come back to us.

mcruz064

well from wat he said, it would be the full swap, he mentioned ecu, engine, transmission, but i will have to ask him to be sepcific. And i believe he would do me the favor of getting the swap through a shop he used to work at where hed get the direct from japan price, so it would be a HUGE favor, the shop would make nothing off it. but yea ill ask the specifics

raidacaipo

yeah if he can get the hook up because hes a mechanic then that would be cheaper. I would say it averages out since he can get it for cheap as well as you paying him labor for $300.. the only thing I think you will miss out on is personal experience because your having someone else do the swap. But either way it would be a good deal.

teamjdm239

i agree on that. but he did mention he would help with it so i guess its whatever. lol

mcruz064

i was seriously thinking about trying to do it my self with my friends that dont know too much about mechanics either, but i need it done quick because i drive it every weekday, so if we happend to mess up, even if it only draged out a few days, i would be in a bad situation. oh and by the way is 300 a fair sounding price for a garage job? or is it that difficult that i should give him more? hes not gona ASK for a penny, cause hes a good friend, but i was ballparking an amount

raidacaipo

yea $300 is good.. Its not that hard at all actually.. if you are there to help make sure you ask him alot of questions. It will be useful in the future.

mcruz064

i thought that would be fair, thanks for the feedback.
i have another question too, (sory, im kinda new to this)
i wanted to get stock civic rims, like the 5 spoke si ones for my civics gen. and i wanted to know if it was a good idea because when i bought my car it already had these 18 inch rims, and i thought they looked okay, but now i realize the thin tires SUCK for driving! so yea, would it improve maneuverability/acceleration?

raidacaipo

yeah go with the civic si ones.. they are much better than 18 inch rims on a civic

mcruz064

thats wat i thought lol
now i jus gota sell mine
thanks again for the feedback

Vindicator9000

My entire swap was about $2500. Here's a breakdown of everything I spent:

70K mile B18C1 with Si tranny, plus mounts/P72 ECU/bad axles: $2080 picked up from an H-T member.
Exedy OEM clutch kit: $90 shipped from Ebay
Resurfaced flywheel: $55 from a local machine shop.
Remanufactured axles: $100 from orly's with core return
Fluids/oil filter: $40
CRV AC Bracket: $75-ish from Majestic Honda
Tranny seals: $15 from Majestic Honda
Assorted vacuum lines/heatshrink/wireloom/solder/butt connectors/: $20

Total: $2485

From that, you should be able to extrapolate most of what is applicable to you so that you can get a rough guess of what to expect.

mcruz064

cool, hey so when i get the parts to my house, should i be able to tell what parts are going to need to be bought/replaced without having the engine in my car already? or will i have to finish the swap before i know wat doesnt work?

raidacaipo

send us detailed pictures of what you got.. then we will tell you what you need

Vindicator9000

You should be able to at least get an idea if some things are catastrophically broke.

I replaced the axles I got because they were leaking grease. I replaced the clutch because it looked like crap. And I replaced the axle seals because they were $3 each, and I was there.

EDIT: Here's what my toasted clutch looked like. You can actually see the rivet groove in the pressure plate behind it:


If you replace the clutch, you need to resurface the flywheel as well.

mcruz064

okay, so i should get a general idea by looking at the parts, alright thanks

Vindicator9000

Generally yes, if you take things apart to inspect them. A lot of maintenance stuff is a hell of a lot easier with the engine/transmission out of the car.

You should also plan on doing timing belt/water pump. It's a 15 minute job with the engine out, but an all day job with the engine in. And it HAS to be done on a Honda. I'd also recommend considering a valve adjustment. It's no easier out of the car than in, but if it's out of the car, you don't have to wait for it to cool down completely before you do it.