So this is basically my first post in the Civic Forum. I spent a couple hours last night looking at different ways to wire up a b18c1 obd2 motor into my 1992 dx hatch. I will explain what i would like to happen, then tell you my understanding of what wiring possibilities their are. Ill probably have more questions that ill ask down the post.

Oh yeah....big PROPS to 1slowcrx for Selling me a great motor for a great deal!

What i have:
1997 GSR b18c1 Motor
p72-a02 ECU( Can someone give me more information about this ecu.)
GSR throttle cable
Obd2 GSR Engine harness
1992 Civic Dx auto(also will be doing auto to manual conversion)

What i would like to do is use the obd2 ecu and harness. Is this a possibility? A friend of mine has a 93 si hatch with a type r and hes running a obd2 type r ecu with a jumper harness. Can i do the same? I know ill have to run wires for knock sensor, and IABs. What about vtec wires? i read the 92 civic came prewired for vtec. true or false? oh...what about the secondary o2 sensor? is this gonna be an issue? another concern, what about the Crank Fluctuation Sensor, is this going to be an issue as well? rYWIRE.COM makes a obd1 to obd2a jumper harness. Is this for the above setup.

Another way to wire up is to use obd2 harness for the fact that is wires up to the shock tower plugs, and find a 0bd1 p72 ecu. my concerns with this are: what happens to the crank fluctation sensor? With this same setup i will also have to run wires for Iab, Knock sensor, and vtec. What about Evap system, will it all hook up to my chassis evap components? Will the evap purge control solenoid valve thats on top of the b18c1 intake manifold have to be wired up, or do i just not use it and use the one thats on the civic dx chassis ? with this setup,can i just get the rywire.com subharness that hooks up iab, and knock, VTc? Or is this a waste of money and i can just run wires individually?

Im basically looking for the easiest install with the least amount of wiring. PLEASE, any insight is greatly appreciated. Im new to the b-series swap, so please be patient, thanks guys!

 

bump up!

 

bump!

 

Bump! Really know one wants to help? Civic forum is harsh. Imma keep searching for helpful threads, but i hope some one has a heart and can lead me in the right direction.

 

wait before you bump this any further let me read it.. Ill get back to you

 

okay after scimming through it I have an answer. If your good at wiring or would like to attempt to save yourself money and modify your harness than that would be a good idea. Remember to always use your original engine harness when converting to a jdm motor!! the donor engine harness off the donor engine will be for scrap parts unless its a usdm engine then you can actually reuse that wire harness because its not right hand drive.

* What you will need to do is convert your obd1 to obd2a. You need to change the injector plugs, alternator plugs, distributor wires, and add a knock sensor wire as well as vtec solenoid, vtec pressure switch, IAB if you plan on using the stock manifold and crank fluctuation sensor and purge solenoids for emission purposes and wire a second o2 sensor. You will also need to get a conversion harness from obd1==>obd2a which is kinda rare because most are from obd2==>obd1 or just run an obd1 ecu which is the easy way. And it bypasses all the emissions including secondary o2 sensor.

* To save yourself the trouble just get an obd2a engine harness from a gsr integra. It will bolt right up. Then run a obd1 ecu. this is the easiest route. I say take it! and you wont have to worry about emissions, secondary o2 wiring, or CFK sensor

*You can also find a 94-95 Integra Gsr wire harness which is obd1 and convert the injector, alternator, and distributor plugs to obd2. Then just run a obd1 ecu.

*Same for 92-95 civics Si. You need to convert the injector, alternator, and distributor plugs to obd2 but then you need to wire the IAB, maybe Knocksensor, and the Vtec solenoid, vtec pressure switch.

Someone correct me if Im wrong but Im better with 96-00 civic wiring.

 

Wow thanks man for being the one to step up. Actually i do have a obd2 USDM wire harness. The motor, and wire harness are from a 97 USDM car. From my understanding of what your saying, use the obd2 usdm gsr harness for the motor, which then plugs into the shock tower plugs that then go into the cabin, which connects to a obd1 p72 ecu. right? haha. yeah that seems like the best case scenario. I have a guy on here that has a obd1 p72 for 100 dollars. I really wanna bypass the secondary 02 sensor, and that stupid CKF sensor. Sounds like a plan bro, thank you.

**oh another question for you or anyone else. Will the USDM gsr throttle cable work with my setup, or do i have to find another one?


BTW, your avatar is inappropriate for a predominantly male forum... LMAO.

 

lol.. And yes the usdm gsr throttle cable will work perfectly as long as your using the stock intake manifold and throttle body

 

wait.. after thinking.. Im not really sure if an obd2 gsr harness will work for an obd1 vehicle because It may not plug into the shock tower plugs that goes into the cabin. Someone correct me on this. 96-00 civics have a 1 piece engine wire harness that goes directly to the ecu whereas 92-95 or integras have 2 piece that goes into the shock tower plug and then into the ecu.

if the obd2 plugs doesnt match with the shock tower plugs, then your best bet is to convert your original engine harness to obd2 and run and obd1 ecu. Just cut off the plugs from the gsr harness and wire it to your civic harness. Your going to need to convert the injector plugs, distributor plugs, and alternator plugs as well as add knock sensor, IAB, vtec solenoid, and vtec pressure switch.

 

Well...im about 95% sure it will plug into the shock towers. There are multiple post that state the engine harness with plug straight into the sjhock tower plugs. This GSR USDM engine harness is that only, an engine harness. it will end up being 2 piece harness's between motor and ecu. I understand what your saying though. Ur expreience with obd2 civics is telling you that the engine harness is also the same harness that connect straight to the ecu. in my case, the engine harness is one piece and the harness from firewall(shock towers) to ecu is another piece. based on that i WILL NOT need a conversion harness, due to the fact that the plugs that go into the ecu(cabin ecu harness) are obd1 compliant.

oh and what you said about the throttle cable, yes i will be using stock manifold and throttle body.

Any other advice about this swap is helpful.

Which motor mount kit do i get? Im confused due to the fact thatil will be converting from auto to manual. My understanding is an auto eg chassis needs a specific trans mount for it to "accept" a b-series manual trans. true false?? HELP! lmao

 

yes you need either 94-01 integra or 94-97 del sol DOHC VTEC rear engine brackets. Manual off course and you can use your stock motor mounts but not the rear ones or get aftermarket ones.. like hasport.. you also need 94-01 integra shift linkages as well as B series axels

 

Ohh ok...GOOD GOOD....

Since u brought up axles, heres another question. Do i have to swap out my kinuckle/hubs for an 94-01 knuckle and hub combo? I ask this because i read that the 92-95 honda civic hatchback DX model will not accept the outboard joint of a b-series axle? true or false?

 

I never heard of that problem. I believe the integra axels will work perfectly meaning no knuckle or hub combo required. Unless someone has a say in this.

 

Yep, and it all works too, been done before. See pics below. Pics courtesy of B18C5-EH2

Added Bonus: '92 non vtec Civics (and only '92) are prewired for vtec from the ECU to the shock tower plugs, meaning you wont have any vtec wiring to do.

 

the Del Sol bracket is different, only works on Del Sols.. he needs an integra one..

 

no it works.. you need the one that came off of the vtec motor which is probably a b16a3. 94-97 del sol DOHC vtec rear engine bracket.

 

Thanks everyone. Sorry for being such a novice b-series"er".

Ok another question? This is about motor mounts. I want to buy billet poly innovative mounts, and i see the kit they have for my setup up. Theres one problem, when you install a manual trans into a eg that was originally auto, you need that "special" tranny mount. So thats fine and dandy, but i would have to also by the 3 piece kit(trans mount, rear mount, driverside mount). They seem not to sell a set that includes the tranny mount already modiefied because of the auto chassis. meaning i'd have 4 mounts(2 tranny mounts- one for auto chassis, one for manual chassis), a rear, and driverside mount. that seems a waste of one mount and extra money. did anyone elsehave any issues with this? or am i the only one complaining. lmk
thanks!

 

You can always cut of the automatic pocket mount welded to the passenger's side frame rail and weld on the manual version (this is what I did both times I did auto to manual swaps) then you can just order a normal mount kit.