What suspension setup are you all running with your J-Series swaps in the Civic's and Integra's? I was just gonna order some front springs for my Ground-Controls on my Del Sol but was trying to get an idea of what spring rates you all may have had luck with.

 

bump

 

if you dont mind entertaining me, why would you go with a j-series in a civic chasis? The amount of work isn't worth it compared to b/h/k series engines.

since no one really does this swap what is your current spring rate?

 

If you just want a ballpark starting point, assume that the J isn't any heavier than a B (it is, but not enough to make a real difference) and adjust through testing from there.

Otherwise, get the corner weights, decide on the suspension frequency you want, and work backwards to find the correct spring rate.

If this is just a street car, your desired ride height will determine the necessary front spring rate much more than the engine weight.

 

The short answer is because I want to and I can. I've done a turbo D-series and a B-series in an EG I had. I've done a B-series and H-series in an EK I had. I'm not a huge fan of the K-series. Not because the engine sucks or anything but it's the money and time spent vs. reward that I’m not happy about.

When comparing the amount of work to do a K-series or J-series in an EG chassis you have about the same amount of work to do. Unless things have changed since the last time I've done a K-series, you still need to take off the mount that's welded on the passenger frame rail and add the bracket for the motor mount to bolt to. There's wiring involved in both (k-series is a little easier). You still to need alter the way fuel is delivered to the motor. You still need to add shift cables into the car, which requires cutting the floor. You still need modified axles (unless that's changed). Other than a hole being cut into the hood to clear the intake manifold with the J-series or fabing up a hood, there's very little different in getting the motor into the car.

If you're spending your money on the swap only and not building it before you swap it, in the end what you will have for time and money is 200 hp/142 ft-lbs from the K20A2 or 260hp/232 ft-lbs from the J32A2.

If you look at what it cost to correctly do a K-series swap start to finish you'll be looking at 6-7K+ depending on the cost of the type of swap you buy. You can get 01-03 TL/CL Type-S motors for around $750-$1000. The down side to them of course is the rarity of the manual transmissions for them. Now if you find a 6 speed trans from a 03+ Accord V6 (non-LSD) or a 03 CL-S (LSD) you'll spend $850-$1500. Then you'll get nickel and dimmed finding the little stuff like that alternator and such. But really you'll end up spending maybe a little more then half of what a K20A2 would run you and get a lot more for your money.

 

I would love to get my hands on the scales to get an accurate weight of all for corners and dial the suspension in perfectly. But it is just a streetcar and may never see a road course so to do all that may overkill.
I was guestimating that the front axle weight would be around 1100lbs once the swap was installed and figured that 450 lbs springs would be ok. But these are some off the top guesses at weights. This is why I asked the question to whom may have done the swap to get a general idea of what's been working for everyone.