SonicC

Hello,

Recently bought a 98 Civic EX (D16y8 engine) for very cheap due it needing some cosmetic work, good cleaning, and a headgasket. The reason I bought it in the first place is because it will be a cheaper track/autocross alternative to running my '15 Mustang GT. It might also see some occasional street use. I have a friend who has a 98 GSR with good engine/transmission/etc but it has some major rust and a good size dent in the rear quarter panel and he's willing to part with it for less than a typical B18C1 and transmission cost. I'd buy the GSR and use it as a donor car to get the engine, transmission, seats, rear brakes, ECU, and harness into the Civic.

From doing some research, a lot of people talk about converting OBDII to OBDI when doing the swap. Is this necessary? Since I'd have a complete donor car to take whatever i need and both cars are OBDII, could I not just swap the GSR ECU+ harness and keep it OBDII? It's very important for me to keep it street legal so I can register the car in order to be able to drive to various tracks.

Second, I can't seem to find conclusive answer to this, but would I also need the GSR subframe with GSR steering rack for the B18 to fit in properly?
Lastly, the rear t-bracket from GSR should work, correct? Or do I have to get the one from EM1?


Thanks in advance.

Freedo_Civegra

SonicC

Unfortunately I live in one of the counties that require smogging...while the rest of the state doesn't

It sounds like going with the Si bracket is worth paying a little extra and I can just re-use the EX subframe?

Thanks.

Freedo_Civegra

SonicC

Thanks for the info again.

Reason I'm trying to stay away from chipped/tuned ECU is due to class restrictions for Time Trials/Time Attack down the road and the target class I'd like to be in - at least for now. I guess that could still be an option for open track days.

With the GSR subframe when you said it's a lot more work, I assume you just meant the amount of labor it would take to move the subframe and steering rack from one car to another? But the parts should fit without modifying. Oh and I was planning to go with GSR axles as well but get a new set.

Freedo_Civegra

StevoDVS

this is what i did.
98 EX coupe d16y8 (just like yours)
gsr obd1 engine
gsr obd1 ecu (stock/no chip) = p72
t-bracket...i just went with the em1. simple!
axles i believe i got gsr ones
replaced distributor to em1. also, you need to swap out some of the connectors on the gsr motor because the gsr is obd1 and i recommend that you use the 98 EX d16y8 engine harness you already have, which is great, to avoid vtec rewiring(?) issues among other things. get a jumper harness for the ecu p72 to the EX engine harness; obd1 to obd2a. 96-98 EK's are obd2a and 99-00 are obd2b. pre facelift and facelift respectively. if you're gonna keep the stock intake manifold than i'm lost on that coz i went aftermarket and the whole 'dual butterflies' deal in the stock gsr IM was mind boggling. if i'm not mistaken i think the injector plugs will have to be changed to obd2 as well. it's been a few years so i gotta dig deep in my dome for info. eliminated the o2 sensor in the exhaust manifold and used the secondary o2 sensor as my primary and only o2 sensor and that wiring is tucked in front of the shifter and under the carpet and near the airbag module/brain, if i remember correctly. had to extend a wire too for that to hookup.
okay, brain is fried and it's 1:20 in the am here in paradise. if i'm wrong on some stuff i apologize. hopefully the OG's on this forum are easy on the flaming of my NOOB mistakes lmao.
good luck with your swap. Aloha!

SonicC

In regards to the ECU, I wonder if the D16y8 ECU could work with B18? Just thinking about what Freedo_Civegra said about swapping ECU's for track and daily/emissions testing.

Freedo_Civegra

tony_2018

Using the integra subframe doesn't require much work but you will need a t-bracket from a manual integra. If you keep the current civic rack you'll need the em1 civic si t-bracket.

If this is a track car you are free to use whatever ecu you want, if you are driving this on city/county streets please use the specific ecu for your yr civic so that you might not have to run a conversion harness.

Freedo_Civegra

tony_2018

Sucks, most yards here have the car off the ground by 1.5ft - 2ft.

Freedo_Civegra

tony_2018

Nope Lousiana has cars up high too. Mississippi is just trash.

Freedo_Civegra

tony_2018

you're going places alright.

Freedo_Civegra

SonicC

Hey guys, thanks for the info.

Just to clarify, the "donor GSR" is a manual and would be completely stripped in my garage, so taking the rack/subframe is not an issue. I understand now what both of your are saying, if using GSR rack and subframe then it will fit it's just a little more extra work transferring the subframe and rack from one car to another. Not a huge deal since both engines will be out.

Regarding the ECU questions, I need to be able to drive this car to the track (no tow vehicle for now). Additionally, certain organizations require your car to be street legal (registered) in order to fit into certain class. I can't register the car in my state if it can't pass emissions, which is why I'm trying to figure the best way around this. My thinking is: why can't I just use the GSR ECU in the Civic? I'll already have the ECU and harness (if needed) and I'll just transfer all the GSR emissions stuff with the engine when the time comes to swap.

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you said to use the D16y8 ECU...I was just curious if it could be used temporarily when the time comes to do emissions.

tony_2018

Had to work in a tight space so the dc2 I was stripping parts off of was on car dolleys to roll around. Much easy.

If your state require you to get an inspection than I would suggest finding an ecu based off of your yr. If you're 98 its obd2a so you'll need an obd2a ecu. Just keep it simple.

Freedo_Civegra

SonicC

That's the plan. Let me backtrack a little: I was just having some random thoughts...for example if I have the GSR ECU and they hook it up to the computer for readiness test, wouldn't the information from ECU show it's a 98 Acura Integra? Which made me wonder if I can just use the Civic's ECU (for d16y8 engine) to pass emissions.

tony_2018

I never haven't ran into that problem because I'm using a civic EX ecu but my car is an LX. I have to switch from the jdm ecu to the usdm ecu to pass inspection.

SonicC

That makes sense, since it would still show up as Honda Civic - regardless of the trim - not that most techs at inspection places could tell. My slight concern here is what if it shows Acura Integra and and he's looking at the car like 'wtf that's a Civic...?"

Freedo_Civegra

tony_2018

Lol, reminds me when a station looked at my 00 civic sedan and thought it was a Honda accord.