EJ8_Man

I thought I'd throw this up here. This was a project of mine
Christmas of 2009 which is nearing "mechanical" completion.
I'm having it BARd this Friday. It was a fun build.

Feel free to hit me up with questions. I had a few during this swap

Here's the list of parts:
1999 EK Civic 2-Door Coupe OBD2b
1999 JDM B18C spec R OBD2a converted to OBD2b
JDM 4.75 final drive S80 Helical Limited slip 5-speed transmission
Exedy stage 1 clutch kit
Front/Rear Tie bars upper and lower + H-Brace
Integra LS rear brake conversion w/new bushings
Centric Slotted Rotors Front/Rear
New brake pads
Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines
Tokico HPK201 Suspension
Drag DR23 16x7 Rims 40mm offset
Falken Ziex 205/45R16
Dual core aluminum radiator
Innovative drivers side engine mount
Urethane bushings on front torque engine mounts
New drivers side torque mount
B20B Power Steering pump
Aerocatch Hood Pins
Carbon Fiber Hood
Sun Pro Oil Pressure gauge
Fuel pressure gauge
Custom intake with velocity stack
K&N Cone Air Filter
VTEC light
Blue LED Console
Si front lip
Si grill
B16A exhaust manifold with GSR down pipe
Type-R Fuel Pump
New Fuel Filter
Hamp oil filter + 4.5 quarts synthetic
2.5 Quarts Honda MTF
Honda P/S Fluid
New Clutch Fluid
Insulated A/C lines
Gates racing radiator hoses
New Valve cover gasket and oil pan gaskets
New distributor cap + rotor
Platinum Spark Plugs
Machined Head
Yonaka head gasket - Screw Yonaka don't ever buy gaskets from them...
New cam seals
New timing belt
New water pump
New timing belt tensioner
Machined flywheel
New Oil Pan
New Oil Pickup
Vacuum tested valves
400 BHP B-series EK axles
New transmission axle seals
Fod Lights
Thermostat
Valve Adjustment
ARP Head Studs
P73 USDM ECU with custom immobilizer bypass chip from Austria
Custom sub-woofer enclosure by Badbox
2 10" MTX subs
2 6" MB quart front
2 6" Rear
Kicker 400 Watt Amp
MTX Amp
Cruise control - I will ditch this in a later project
D16 series A/C compressor using a Civic Del Sol A/C Bracket
Civic Si rear transmission bracket
NGK Silicone spark plug wires

Cost: $5800

And some viewing pleasure:

The day I bought it:


Rebuild of the motor:


Head resurfaced, valves vacuumed checked:


New seals all around:


Ready for a long ride to my tools in Northern Cal:


Out with the Y8:


Preping the B18C-R:


New motor sitting nicely after some Dremel modifications to the hood


And a video of some VTEC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Ums...&feature=email


I have lots of parts left over if anyone is interested
http://hondamarketplace.com/showthre...7#post40480597
http://hondamarketplace.com/showthread.php?t=2701978

boxeocampeon

clean motor, any numbers on it?

EJ8_Man

No not yet. I have more mods lined up after my BAR appointment. I don't want to give the refs anything to complain about. I'm opted not to bolt on my 5zigen header that came with it because it's not CARB legal, but I will replace it with something that is. The rest of the exhaust is my stock EX setup and needs to be swapped out.

DCRB

damn man i'd rock it with the stock muffler. i love the sound of vtec screaming out the intake.

iamthefollower

Very very nice man, you did a good job on that, especially polishing the whole longblock and tranny.

EJ8_Man

Thanks guys.

As for the exhaust I was thinking about flow first and then sound. I'll probably end up rocking a stock DC2 muffler with 2.5" piping. I abhor the thought of defiling my project with a fart can exhaust. Anything that detracts from the VTEC symphony and makes negligible power is not going into this build.

There's a local import shop down the street, they wanted $1000 for a Greddy ceramic 4-2-1 header with the Greddy Evo2 catback exhaust... I decided no on the catback, and I'm still thinking about the header... The Greddy muffler sounds better then most others, but, still a fart can to me ...

EJ8_Man

BAR = Passed



I should dispel some of the rumors I read on here and other forums...

First off the BAR inspection cost: $0 not $500.... I don't remember where I read that, but rumors are stupid...

Secondly:
Yes you can put a non-native JDM motor in your Civic. By non-native I mean B18C in a Civic or K20A in a Civic. BUT... the ref said the laws always change. He said a few months ago it was illegal to drop a JDM motor in your Honda unless it was a direct engine replacement. Which means if you had an Integra Type R it is legal for you to drop a JDM Type R in it. But if you have a Civic EX like me then no you could not drop a B18C into it. This was the old law, the laws changed and now you can. So as of January 2010 YES you can drop a JDM motor into your Civic even if the motor was never intended for a Civic.

The ref also said right now is a good time to do a JDM swap.

Some notes I made:
The ref liked the fact that it was a clean swap, and that I did the swap myself. I think they are more lenient toward people who put in the time researching and building their own motor and dropping it in themselves.

The ref was kind enough to overlook the fact that my head is stamped 1998 and my car is a 1999. I lucked out and got an understanding ref. The guy who sold me the motor said it was out of a JDM 1999 ITR. Which there was no 1999 ITR in the US. I'm not sure about Japan though.

I had mine BARd at LA Pierce College.

Good luck to all you gearing up for a BAR inspection. Feel free to send me questions.

B18CivicEJ8

Congrats on passing. Just so you know, just cause the head says 98, doesn't mean it's from a `98 car. It could just mean it was the year when it was cast. For example, I have a B18C1 head that is stamped '93. As everyone knows, 94 was the first year GS-Rs came with B18C1 engines. I can prove it with pics. It's a P72 head that has the '93 head stamp. Just food for thought.

HatchVX

Clean motor, Im glad i dont live in Cali, i would not want to deal with the BAR and crap.

itsnotfast

You did a very nice job cleaning everything and making it look like it belonged in there. Props for a clean swap.

EJ8_Man

Good point. But from the ref's perspective for JDM motors they rely on the stamp as the only evidence of the motor's year. If the motor was USDM they could look at the VIN stamped on the transmission and find out. I guess it's up to chance finding a ref that knows Hondas, and is not a stringent *****. I can see a ref saying the swap is not legal simply because the year stamp on the head is older then the car.

My heart skipped a beat when he blurted out 1998, but then he quickly said "Alright lets call it a 99". Minor cardiac incident...

fungus mungus

Thanks for posting this. As someone who posted about a month ago stating that you can't BAR a JDM B-series in an EG Civic, I'll gladly eat crow at hearing a first-hand account of this actually happening. The REF I spoke with (in late Nov/early Dec) stated he would not even look at a JDM B-series in an EG Civic, but he did say that the rules change regularly and it might be entirely possible to BAR a JDM motor next year. Looks like he was right.

Of course, I've already gone and purchased a USDM B18C1. :/

It sounds like you had a fairly sympathetic REF...I think that there are techs that would have been a little harder-nosed about the '98 stamp on the motor.

I'd like to see some BAR success stories from the Bay Area. Anyone?

fm

EJ8_Man

A local import shop here in North Hollywood tipped me off to go to the Refs at Pierce College. He said they have a record of letting things slide on other peoples swaps. As for Northern California I heard places in Sacramento are pretty good about Honda swaps.

The entire system is an inconsistent mess. I think a lot of refs sympathize with the people and don't care what's in your car, and as long as you genuinely attempt a proper setup they'll cut you some slack.

Somewhere, somehow it was determined that swapping motors is what's causing pollution in California. It may contribute, but Honda motors? This is a dead end discussion. It's trying to find reason or logic behind California politics...

EJ8_Man

I purchased a Civic Type R rear sway bar with urethane bushings and an ASR subframe brace. I read about sway bar diameters and the resulting affect on handling, and I am thinking I might end up unhappy with my setup. The EX stock front sway bar is 22mm, and the CTR rear sway bar is 22mm. I guess I'll find out soon... I'm running Tokico HPK201 suspension.

Next on the list is installing a proper exhaust, and keeping it legal. I'm looking at a DC Sports header with a 2.25" collector, universal OBD2b high flow CARB legal cat, with a Greddy Evo catback.

milkwasabadidea

finally someone with real evidence stating u can swap jdm motors (this year)... im planning on doing a 99 b16a2 swap into my 99 DX.... .. .and u have a pm

EJ8_Man

They are more lenient toward USDM engines. You should have no problem swapping a USDM Civic motor into a Civic regardless of the JDM laws

SpeedoKing

that looks sick man, i am in the process of building a similar set up but being a college student the money is just not there.

EJ8_Man

I started this project while still in college, got a job, and then waited and waited for the right motor to pop up. So your on the right track, education first, then reward your efforts, you deserve it.

Good luck

4cylfiend

iTrader: (1)

dammnn dude! thas fresh. *two thumbs up*

MR SATIVA

nice article. good info

Si_chRis

What steps did you take on converting the JDM motor from OBD2A to OBD2B? Did you just use a conversion harness or did you change the injectors, oil pump, distributor etc.?

EJ8_Man

I used my stock EX harness. OB2 regardless of a or b uses the same connectors for injectors and sensors. The main difference is the types of sensors in place.

For OBD2a to OBD2b I had to bypass the crank case fluctuation sensor, bypass the VTEC pressure switch, and manually wire up the distributor. I had the JDM harness so I used plugs off of it where needed (Distributor).

The other major aspect to getting things wired properly was extending wires so they would reach, and that's about it. Off the top of my head here are a few wires I had to extend:
VTEC Solenoid wire
EVAP purge solenoid wire
The air intake temp sensor required a different plug then what was on my EX. It also had to be extended and I had to steal a plug from the Teg harness.

That's all I can remember at this point, there might have been a few others. But if you label everything it's strait forward.

For the USDM P73 ECU I had to get an Immobilizer bypass chip from Austria, and I had to swap the fuel pump relay lead to a different pin.

That's the extent of the wiring.

Si_chRis

Thanks for the info! I have a 2000 Civic SI with a blown motor right now. I'm about to order a 96-98 spec JDM ITR longblock from Hmotorsonline and swap it in. I know my engine harness will be plug and play with the JDM engine but I'm planning on running the JDM P73 ECU with a rywire conversion harness. My state emissions (Connecticut) is not as strict as California but I should be able to pass emissions as long as I don't have a CEL. But in the case that I have to switch to a USDM ECU, now I know what I have to change.

EJ8_Man

Yeah you should be good. I have the JDM P73 ECU if you need one. Don't ever come to California though. The California Eco ***** will surround you at a stop light wearing white masks with torches demanding you be hanged by your engine harness...

DVDr

iTrader: (2)

nice job, lots of time put into cleaning her up nicely. looks grat in the engine bay.

and just some random info. ( the integra type R in dc2 chassi was made till 2001 ) . the head casting year for the 99 spec motors wa 98 . So you do actually have a 1999 spec motor .