Tomorrow starts the journey, driving up to Va. to see the 90SI i picked up off of the Bay with a blown head gasket (840$). Car is in great shape vice engine, great dash, interior, no rust all original paint. I will throw up some timeline build pics, but here is the agenda:
Pull motor from 90SI
Pull B17 from brother's wrecked hatch 89SI
swap in motor, HA sport brackets, shift linkage etc.
Wire in new motor (should be pretty easy as it is already setup for swap from old car
Swap DA Rear disks/master/prop from 92 GSR (also wrecked)
turn rotors, new pads, flush brakes
Install new wheels/tires from JLB motorsports
Swap in mint red stripe SI seats (i sniped off the bay, sorry victim)
swap Cracked moonroof
TAke pics of all remaining parts to sell
Drive home to Fla.

What do you guys think... do-able in 2 days?


Modified by SlapSmak at 1:01 PM 9/21/2007


Modified by SlapSmak at 6:35 AM 9/25/2007

 

My recommendation is to borrow a truck and rent a uhaul trailer to tow it back home. Who knows what you're going to run into trying to do a swap on a car you haven't seen.

Who knows, the wiring could be all hacked up, there could be other problems as well.

Trailing arm swap definitely a no no, chances are you're going to end up with broken bolts.

Regardless of how nice the seller says the car is, I'm never buying another one on ebay after my last experience.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by danmdevries &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My recommendation is to borrow a truck and rent a uhaul trailer to tow it back home. Who knows what you're going to run into trying to do a swap on a car you haven't seen.

Who knows, the wiring could be all hacked up, there could be other problems as well.

Trailing arm swap definitely a no no, chances are you're going to end up with broken bolts. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sums it up. Don't rush. Tow it back and risk problems along the way while its in you garage/in your yard.

 

^ for sure.. be very careful when buyin stuff off the bay, always best to go look at car, and then buy...

 

Well, I am back. After a 4 day trip, we worked sat,sun from 8:00 am until midnight. I am writing a full report as I type and will post up very soon.
As far as the car, it is one of the only Ef's I have seen with NO rust anywhere on the car. Paint is a little faded, more of an issue on the hood and top than anything. Otherwise, great condition, and a perfect base for the full changeover. Details coming soon...

 

Here is the full build, as it happened. I wish I had a photographer to come and take pictures, we were so pressed for time, we took none. The car is as I have said, in great shape and with the swap of all the parts will be a kickass car...

BEFORE


Day One
Car 1: 90 EF SI, stock everything, d16 with blown head gasket
Car 2: 89 Donor with B17 swap already done (from 92 GSR), drivers side fender hit, car undrivable in current condition
92 GSR Parts from wrecked car (which was cherry before a moron hit him)
Me
Brother (Steve)

Start 8:30 AM Saturday Morning
Car1
Disconnect all wiring /harnesses
Remove all splash guards
Drain radiator, accidentally pull drain plug from radiator, spray fluid everywhere before I can get it back in
Drain transmission
Drain oil, contains 8 quarts of oil and antifreeze, thus the blown head gasket
Pop pin on shifter linkage, no prob, takes 2 minutes with the right size punch
Disconnect cat at b pipe
Remove stock air box
Remove stock fans
Remove radiator
Dismount AC compressor from mount, leave on front support beam
Disconnect alternator, leave on rear cross member
Remove front wheels, pop suspension components to pull CV joints
Pull CV Joints
Disconnect all remaining cables, (throttle, cable for tranny, speedo)
Build engine hoist
Connect Engine hoist to engine with chain
Disconnect all motor mounts
Pull motor, careful not to rip AC lines out of car
Scramble to put antifreeze drain pan on driveway under pouring antifreeze coming out of exhaust manifold
Lift motor out, find hood not open enough, get hood prop to open it fully
Get motor out, roll backwards, find that the wheels on front of hoist don’t swivel
Use long screw drivers to pivot hoist so motor can be placed on wood on side of driveway
Attempt to air chisel front cross member mount from car1, figure out car 2 already has motor mount removed.
Remove front cross member from Car 1, remove front cross member from car 2 and install in car 1
Attempt to install front member in car2, but of course it wont fit because it has front mount on it, leave half *** installed with 2 bolts.
Go to EF-Honda and find page that describes how much to bang drivers frame rail in to accommodate alternator for swap in Car1
Get 3 pound sledge, beat frame rail in
Sand frame rail and paint
Eat lunch

Start on Car2
Disconnect all wiring /harnesses
Drain radiator, The right way this time
Drain transmission
Pop pin on shifter linkage, again no problem, takes 2 minutes with the right size punch
Disconnect cat at b pipe
Remove stock fans
Remove radiator
Dismount AC compressor from mount, leave on front support beam
Disconnect alternator, leave on rear cross member
Remove front wheels, pop suspension components to pull CV joints
Pull CV Joints
Discover Drivers Side CV is broken
Disconnect all remaining cables, (throttle, cable for tranny, speedo)
Connect Engine hoist to engine with chain
Disconnect all motor mounts, fun starts here as the HA sport motor mounts are not to easy to disconnect
Find that the drivers side frame rail is jammed into crank pulley and wedgeing the engine into the car
Attempt to break the crank pulley bolt loose, not a chance in hell that is going to happen
Continue to move the motor up, move turn, push until it comes out. Add 1 hour for that.
Lower motor onto driveway, place on wood blocks.
Attach crank pulley wrench to breaker bar and wedge into driveway
Attach socket to breaker bar #2 and slide 5 foot jack handle over wrench
Large pop is heard as Crank pulley bolt finally comes free
Attach new UR crank pulley to motor
Lift motor back up, again use long screwdriver to maneuver engine hoist to correct position
Begin to drop motor into Car1
Realize crank pulley (new blue UR underdrive pulley) will be all F’d up if it stays on motor during drop
Pull motor back up, remove pulley
Realize the HA sports mounts wont go back in attached to motor, pull motor back out and remove
Drop motor back down, attach passenger mount.
Spend 45 minutes reinstalling rear mount
Spend 30 minutes to install drivers side mount, disconnect mount from motor, finally able to install bolts in correct places.
Holy ****, motor is in Car1
Install Radiator
Attempt to install original fans
Passenger side fits, drivers side will not fit with Type R header on B17
Get drivers side fan from Car2, it is thinner from 89SI, install.
Reconnect all Fan wiring and clips
Eat dinner
Go to auto parts store to buy oil filter, wiper blades, correct size alternator belt, New CV Joint
Go home, test fit alternator belt, it is 1 inch to short. Discover what hidden info is in a belt part number (last 3 digits are the length, 1450285 is a 28.5” belt, need a 295)
Spend 1 hour cleaning up tools, drink beer
Take shower, coat bottom of shower with grease
Clean shower
Drink 1 more beer, pass out on couch 12:45 am

Day2
Brother begins surgery on wiring harness for Car1
I goto auto parts store, swap belt for correct length 29.5”
At auto parts store, pick up small stack of drain pans, turn over to look for price
Bottom drain pan mysteriously is full of trans fluid which pours down front of shorts and all over feet.
Walk over to manager leaving red footprints all the way to tell manager.
Clean feet and flip flops, screw the shorts, they are car work shorts.
Go home, test fit alternator belt (yes it fits, kick *** !!)
Check all hoses, use best hoses for heater core.
Attach all hoses, tighten down
Fill Radiaor with Honda long life antifreeze
I begin suspension swap
Remove passenger side front spindle and brake assembly and associated hardware Car2
Remove drivers side front spindle and brake assembly and associated hardware Car2
Remove drivers side front spindle and brake assembly and associated hardware Car1
Install passenger side front spindle and brake assembly from Car2 and associated hardware onto drivers side Car1
Figure out I am an idiot and remove passenger front spindle and brake assembly from drivers side of Car1
Walk around car and install Passenger front spindle and brake assembly on PASSENGER side, wow it fits there
Install drivers front spindle and brake assembly on drivers side of Car2
Install Passenger side front spindle and brake assembly on drivers side of Car2
Nut Gnome steals castle nut for end link passenger side car2 while I am not looking waste 10 minutes looking for replacement.
Remove stock exhaust from Car1
Remove shift linkage car 1
Remove DC Sports exhaust Car2
Remove HA Sport shift linkage Car2
Assemble Engine Hoist
Lift motor from Car1 to install in Car2
Install D16 into Car2
Remember we never ran bolts up into front cross member
Bolt in front cross member
Bolt D16 into Car2, let hang on Motor mounts

Eat Lunch (big Dagwood courtesy of Bros’ Wife Mary, very tasty)

Brother convinces me to install GSR rear assembly on EF (Disk Brakes ETC)
Go into car, remove center console to get to emergency brake cables, remove all bolts and dick around with cables until they come loose from retainer
Remove all bolts from drivers side suspension.
Remove POS rear drum assembly
Install Drivers side Disk Brake assembly.
While I do this, brother is removing drum brake parking brake cables and installing disk brake parking brake cables.
Route Parking brake cable to drivers side disks, use wrong hole in control arm, pull cable back out, route correctly and attach to disk brake
Remove all bolts from passenger side suspension.
Remove POS rear drum assembly
Install Passenger side Disk Brake assembly.
While I do this, brother is removing drum brake parking brake cables and installing disk brake parking brake cables.
Route Parking brake cable to drivers side disks, use CORRECT hole (last hole) in control arm, route correctly and attach to disk brake, NOT, no pin to attach.
Brother attempts to attach front conrol arm bolt (toe bolt) and pushes nut plate out of channel into body cavity
Find no access to cavity from outside of car.
Remove back seat, pull up carpeting
Steve attempts to retrieve nut plate with telescoping magnet looking thru the tiny ¼” wide slot.
I attempt for another 10 minutes and snap off telescoping magnet pickup tool.
Lose Mind, get uni-bit and drill; drill 2 holes
Steve takes over, gets nut with what is left of magnetic pickup and reinstalls into slot
Finally get bolt back into control arm
Install DC Sports exhaust into car1
Install DA GSR rear Swaybar onto EF
Check bolts on rear suspension, oops, missed 2, hit them with air hammer
Go inside car, reconnect emergency brake cables, bolt in emergency brake
Reinstall center console.
Brother finds castle nut for car2 end link, installs (I Hate Gnomes)
Swap out rear seat that looks like crap for seat out of Car2
Install ECU for B17 into Car1
Swap main Relay from Car2 into Car1 (92 GSR Relay)
Install Battery
Install AEM intake
Install distributor
Check all connections
Install CV Joints, tighten all bolts and ball joints for front suspension.
Install throttle cable
Install Clutch CAble
Fill Trans with Honda MTF (will be swapping out for GM Syncromesh Later)
Check oil level (not 8 quarts in this engine)
Brother sits down in Car, we say a little prayer, turns key…
Fires right up, nice idle, valves singing like a woodpecker (will adjust those later)
Let car idle for 15 minutes, wait for fans to come on
Jump in car while car warming up, hit AC button, nice cold air comes out…fans kick
Turn off ac
Check radiator, we have flow..
Fans kick on , temp staying perfect
Shut car down
Swap over sun roof from Car2 to Car1 (car1 roof was cracked)
Pull rear hatch door inside cover car2, install in car 1
Pull rear mud flaps from car2, install in car 1
Reinstall all splash guards, use best of both sets
Remove passenger side wheel well splash guard from Car2, install in Car1 (was shredded in Car1)
Install wheels/tires
It has been dark at this point for 2 hours, check for nuts and bolts on ground with forehead flashlight.
Check for any misc tools, stack all tools next to tool boxes.
Jack up rear of car, remove jack stands,
Jack up front of car1, remove jack stands
Car is actually sitting on the ground with a running motor for the first time in months.
Install wheels on Car2
Drop Car2 down to ground
Clean all tools, reload tool boxes
Put all unused parts/boxes back into car2
Take Car1 for road test 12:30AM Monday morning

CAR ON ALL FOURS AFTER SHOT



Modified by SlapSmak at 6:04 AM 9/25/2007


Modified by SlapSmak at 6:05 AM 9/25/2007


Modified by SlapSmak at 6:33 AM 9/25/2007

 

Any final pics yet?

Great job!
You lucked out avoiding Murphy's Law which tends to plague EF's

 

good job wit this.im impressed

 

A build thread with no pics, ha ha ha

 

 

SWEET! REMINDS ME of when i use to wake up early to work on my cars. Post up pics already!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ponda Baba &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A build thread with no pics, ha ha ha</TD></TR></TABLE>

just think, when you get your license and stop playing playstation, maybe you will be able to learn how to change your sparkplugs..

taking pics was not a priority given the immense amout of work which had to be done in a short amount of time.

Thatnks for the other comments, We were very lucky with no issues such as totally frozen bolts, broken items etc.

The final pics are coming, my bro will most likely take some this weekend as I am back down south. the car is definatly hooked up with some great stuff, the last items left to do are front end links, upper ball joints installed (on order), and alignment and down the road a bit put a set of GC's and Koni's. I think it might even keep up with my R once the suspension is done in autocross. It is driving very nice now and is pretty freakin' fast.

The only other issue is the shifter, which is a HA sport unit and is hitting the front of the console. I will install a short shifter or just the centering bushing from the shifter bushing kit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SlapSmak &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

just think, when you get your license and stop playing playstation, maybe you will be able to learn how to change your sparkplugs..

taking pics was not a priority given the immense amout of work which had to be done in a short amount of time.

Thatnks for the other comments, We were very lucky with no issues such as totally frozen bolts, broken items etc.

The final pics are coming, my bro will most likely take some this weekend as I am back down south. the car is definatly hooked up with some great stuff, the last items left to do are front end links, upper ball joints installed (on order), and alignment and down the road a bit put a set of GC's and Koni's. I think it might even keep up with my R once the suspension is done in autocross. It is driving very nice now and is pretty freakin' fast.

The only other issue is the shifter, which is a HA sport unit and is hitting the front of the console. I will install a short shifter or just the centering bushing from the shifter bushing kit.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Can you post pics on how to change spark plugs??? I need help!!!!