Steve Berman

Ok. Well, I figured I would post as much as I could about my swap to contribute to the HT community.

First, Id like to say that import auto salvage kicks ***. When going to there site, I figured that they were a bit expensive. But after speaking with Randy, I knew that paying these guys a few extra bux would get me the meal ticket.

IAS ( Import Auto Salvage ) is in Marion, NC which is a 2 hour drive for me. I called and verified directions then made my way. Upon arrival, I was breathless after gazing at the arrangement from type r tegs to RHD clipped civics. This place has it all. There were at least 12 GSR's with engines, 6-7 Civic Si's, 3-4 Type R tegs and.. well, just allot of ****. Randy let me step in the yard and personally check out each engine prior to paying him a dime. I wanted ODB1 so I went with a nice looking factory 4 door integra with 54k on it. Im not listing what I paid but lets just say I got the " I know Tom " discount. Hehe, when I told them I knew Tom they actually threatened me with a 10% mark up . Back to the subject, I went with that particular engine. I asked randy how much he would charge me for the teg strut bar and a set of 96 Mesh GSR wheels on this nice teg near by. He ended up selling me the gsr wheels for 300 and these things have awesome tires. I ended up getting the strut bar, full gsr exhaust system fuel pump, all included in the price of the engine Thx. Those little goodies were a very nice addition to my swap!

He said he would clean the engine and have it ready within two days. A day later I get a phone call stating its ready. MAN these guys are good. Get the old Chevy out and make way.

Upon arrival, I parked the truck near the loading dock and concrete area and waked in to the location that randy works. I spoke with him for about 5 minutes while he totaled everything up. I paid the balance of the bill then he said " Welp, my guys got you all loaded and ready." Im thinking damn that was fast. So I shake his hand and once again he reassures me to contact him if I have any problems and hands me a sheet with CEL codes.

I walk around to the side of the building where my truck was located, and I notice everything loaded in and the IAS employees putting air in the back tires of the truck. NOW THAT'S BUSINESS These guys are seriously all about making the customer happy and that means allot to me. When spending that kind of money, I feel that I deserve good customer service and these guys definitely delivered !

Here's what I got:




I didn't get to take many pics of the swap because the batteries in my digital camera were going out.

The swap went just as planed and I used this guide to get me through everything:

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=131949 *THX T

Only thing that I did differently from this link is I used all GSR mounts and everything was fine. Also, I used the complete exhaust system from a 4 door teg so, YES it mounts and bolts up FINE

Some things I encountered that were unexpected were the following:
Purchased an *** off tools:

Jack stands, Extra socket set, breaker bar, Shop Light, ratchet wrenches, adjustable screw hose clamps for the radiator ( because the factory opening on the gsr radiator hose is about a 1/2" larger than the inlet on the civic radiator)
Oil, antifreeze, and grinder.

I used the grinder to just grind the bars on the factory cx exhaust that go through the rubber mounts. I didn't feel like fighting with an exhaust system I didn't give a **** about so I just cut it off then removed the leftover bracket from the rubber mount.

What was the pain in the ***?

1) First and foremost, the hub nut. Anyone doing a swap should try to break them loose prior to doing anything with the swap. If you cant get them broken loose, then take the car to a shop and have them break them loose. After they get them loose, tighten them a bit and drive home slowly and carefully.

2) Second I would say the ball joint. I couldn't get hte passenger side ball joint separated for the life of me. The driver side came out with no problem by hitting " B " in the following location:


Since the passenger side wouldn't come out, I had to rent a ball joint separator from autozone. It fucked up my ball joint boot but I ordered a new one from honda for about 10 bux. It comes with grease, boot, and clip! Here's what the separator will do.


3) The bitch pin? Actually, no. I didn't have very many problems with it. Here's what I ended up doing for future reference. I used a 12 MM ac compressor bolt with a deep well 12MM socket and two big *** extensions. I put the bolt in the Socket and connected the big *** extensions, then ran them down through the top of the engine bay onto the bitch pin. Then hammered on the end of the extensions until pop, it came right out. 6 beatings max. When putting in the gsr engine, it doesn't look like you can access it from the top but you can on the cx motor.

Those were the only problems I really encountered. The swap took me by myself with hand tools and an engine hoist , 14 hours non stop. I started at 10am and finished at 2am. I didn't get any codes at all since I wired up the knock sensor during the install. On the GSR wiring harness, the color of the wire was red with a blue line. I ran it through the firewall on the driver side and soldered it to the ecu.

Just a side note,

After cranking the car, it puttered until I put 1/2 a tank of gas in the car. I believe the foam stuff on the fuel pump has to be saturated in gas and the fact that I installed it on a practically empty tank caused this. Im not positive but putting 7 bux of 93 fixed it !

Here's photos of the install:









Thanks HT again for all the help. This is my contribution.

Lata,
-Steve

edit: images

[Modified by Steve Berman, 12:55 AM 2/23/2003]


[Modified by Steve Berman, 1:56 PM 2/24/2003]

97hb

Nice

pennies_hatchie

iTrader: (1)

sweet swap
reminds me of my swap

Eee Pee

White hatches rule, oh, and good job!
fer yer effort.

BackSideSA

white hatches do rule.....we need to start a Team White

Steve Berman

lmao w0000t .. white hatches

tommyboy

Congratulations on the swap, looks great. Yep white hatches do rule, I use to have one but it was stolen.

Eee Pee

Oh yeah, new member....check sig

2camsaam

I can't wait to do another swap, this time it will be for my own car.
I think swaps go a lot easier when you get good parts to begin with even if it means spending more.
This post really motivated me thanx.

EgSick

lol i got a white hatch too!!!!

white hatch does rule!!

KOALA YUMMIES

Who the **** doesnt? My grandmother has a white CX, with amber corners, and B18C1.

hanson said

props on a real tech thread! it's much appreciated. have fun with your new engine.

Pengo

looks good man

junglerunna

You said it took you 14 hours to do you swap wiring included, but does that include taking out your stock motor?

EK MONEY

iTrader: (5)

you should be wackin on B... lookin good...

boss302

nice work...keep up updated

Steve Berman

Yep.

Jet Phi

bootiful swap man

street dreams

good job man did u do it by your self or did u have help

43MA

to DIY's

fcuked

Steve Berman

I had a fried remove an ac bracket from the cx motor. Thats all he did lol so, NO I didnt have help

Thx for the props

Sleeping4drLS

what a small world, my mom, grandpa, 2 aunts, 3 uncles, and 14 cousins have that car too

J.P. 4rm The dPk*

Lord Helmet

congrats on the nice and clean swap