I acquired a 1991 EF Civic Hatchback from a friend who owed me some money. It has a 3rd Gen ZC DOHC 16V swap with a 4SPD tranny, header, exhaust, intake, body kit, ect. Im mostly familiar with nissans and bimmers so the whole honda scene is pretty new to me. I was driving it pretty hard the other day and started noticing whenever at shift/take off, it makes loud grinding/clunking noises. First thought was motor mounts, but they were just fine the day before. So i looked under the hood and noticed what appears to be a front crossmember broken literally in half. It looked pretty rough already like someone had hammered at it to clear some room for the header during the swap process.

So my question: Will a stock crossmember from any EF be a direct fit?

 

Someone correct me if I am wrong but you will need a hatch or crx one.

 

I was thinking about welding it, but it might be too weak, plus now i think im gonna keep the car since its just so damn fun to drive. so i might just make my own or customize one pulled from a wrecking yard. just need to know "which" stock one.

Any drop-in trannys for this motor and car? Pretty quick as is for a 1.6 litre, but would obviously be quicker with a 5spd. the car has bad axles but came with a new set sitting on the back seat, likely for the 4spd. Was wondering if they are compatible with another tranny for this car.

 

actually for a front crossmember you can buy an aftermarket one... its a traction bar.... you can find the online really cheap... but i have gotten the innovative one.. the sell couple models for the EF..... its well worth the price and helps stiffen up the front too... worth getting....

 

Ya eaither get a traction. Or if you get another front crossmember you will have to hammer it flat or cut a notch out so the headers fit. or you can a stock header/down pipe from a 90-91 integra. And it will fit with out cutting or hammering so realy you got 3 ways to go about it but I would recomend the traction bar!

 

Worked on the car for about 5 hours today. Went ahead and welded the crossmember re-enforcing it with steel plates. Noticed during this whole process the passenger side motor mount wasnt even attached by any bolts. Probably contributed to the breakage. Looks like someone also hit a speed bump too hard and started the crack (its pretty low). New bolts, New weld, re-install. Did some other stuff while I was in there too. Runs great, rock solid!

 

if u plan on putting money into the car ... fullrace makes a great ef crossmember .

 

still debating on keeping it. a buddy of mine suggested he may want it to drop what he calls his "bad boy h22" in. (He has an accord with a turbo h22 motor that was an impulse buy 5 years ago after he received a settlement.) Another friend said i should sell it for more than what I was asking last week.

 

got pictures.. on it .. and .. h22 . are kinda a pain in a ef . imo ... but . there a strong fast motor . especially in a ef ... but .. efs have a cable trans .. so its easy to do a b16 with a cable trans .. i think they make a conversion to use b series trans with h series motors.. u can always get a cable to hydro kit too.. it its worth ur time and money .. but the crossmember .. wont holdup with power ( not bashin on ur weld )

 

lol, your not disrepecting my weld. (it is pretty strong though.) i listed at 1800 to get it out of my driveway, then pulled it, a friend said i could sell it for more. its a 91 with 140k on odo and 64k on motor, i have pics for the EF but none one the h22. i guess i should take pics next time i go to his house?

 

He could just to an H2B and it would be more of a direct fit but still a pain in the ***.

 

h22a i think is what he said it was. he also mentioned a company for the mounts called Place racing, which is who i used for mounts in my det swap in my g20. he has a "bring a few bucks" mentality. im just a little more paranoid about spending money on an old car.

 

efs. can be beautiful if done right .. hasport .. makes a good kit for the h22