Quick question..

I am purchasing a CRX in the next few weeks. It will have a D-series motor in it (OEM Honda) and I will be dropping in a B20v.

My question is... How much do I have to disassemble on the motor to get the motors in/out? I will have a freshly painted and stripped engine bay and I would rather not have to fumble around in the bay tryng to install P/S pumps/alternators etc. I would LIKE to drop in my B20v as a completely assembled motor with all externals attached (mounts, transmission, alternator, P/S pump)

Any post-motor-installed-components will run the risk of damaging my fresh engine bay paint job.

Can I drop in a completely installed B20v motor or will fitment be a problem in a CRX chassis?

 

feel free to post any tips.

I have an engine hoist (it has legs which roll under the car, a jack handle to raise/lower etc) and an engine leveler.

I have pulled a few odyssey motors and they don't have enough clearance (have to take off A/C compressor, header etc..)

 

depending on which model you get you may have to mess with the wiring. remove the a/c components and your good. also make sure you get a good set of mounts.

 

The mounts will be Hasport or Innovative. They will be new and fresh.

I will be deleting the A/C and P/S systems. There will be no A/C compressor or P/S pump and neither bracket on the motor when it goes into the CRX.

thanks for the helps, anyone else?

 

bump

 

It's going to be tight where the alternator's going ( may need some pounding for clearances).
pics of the area of pounding was done.


A traction bar would free up lots of space for the future of perhaps turbocharging and allowing better launch without wheel hops......just a thought

There's going to be quite more than just removal and dropping in the new motor. Wiring it up to OBD1 will be the best choice. G/L

These are old pics 7years ago from past projects.

 

As stated, you have to pound out a spot in the frame to make room for the alternator.

As for during installation, when I put in my B, I took the alternator off to make room. Its easy to put back on afterwards since the axle will be off anyway.

You can leave your exhaust manifold on...thats about it I think.

Edit: Wait, now that I think about it, I had the alternator on but I had it loose so it could be shifted closer to the engine.

 

You have to pound out the frame rail underneath where the hole is on the side. I left my alternator off and i have never had ac or ps so i didnt worry about that but it would be a tight fit between the ac and ps pumps and the radiator if they are still on.

 

i hope im reading you wrong. you left the alternator off? why?

a/c and p/s will not work you need custom brackets in order to get both to fit. you need a conversion bracket to get a/c to work in a B-Swapped 88-91 civic/crx. or i have heard that 88-91 B16A brackets for p/s and a/c may work. but i have yet to see it done in a USDM civic/crx

 

I left the alternator off the motor when swapping the motor in to give myself more clearance between the motor and bb/mc and the motor and frame. I know the b series ac and ps wont work in the ED/EE chassis but you can use the d series ac pump on the b series motor with the right bracket and it will work just fine. PS i have never seen done on a b series swapped ED/EE chassis.

 

my buddy has a full DA power steering set up in his LSV 89 civic sedan. i personally do not like the ps because with his DA set up it was very quick with response.

i have only seen the Hasport EF/AC conversion bracket (that i have) be able to accept both the 88-91 stock Sanden and Mitsuba A/C compressors. i have an HCP AC bracket as well, but that one only accepts the Sanden model.

 

Should drop in like any b swap motor tranny all assembled, pound the frame by the alternater and roll the front edge of the rear crossmember by the mount
so it doesn't crack.

 

I didnt do that last part and it never cracked but i guess it is possibly with enough torque.

 

Since you are installing into a freshly painted bay you probably don't want to be hammering the dent into the rail for the alternator.
As stated, You have to do it anyway for clearance.
A trick I learned for fender rolling is to heat the paint with a torch. Obviously you don't get it so hot to burn, so apply low heat for a longer time. For fenders, I move the torch constantly and heat it enough to get the metal underneath to hold the heat. It then stays warm to the touch for a while. This lessens the chance for the paint to chip.
You might want to use a 5 pound soft face hammer and add some cardboard to help keep your hammer blows from marring the paint.

 

@CRX Si-R

The mounts will be hasport or innovative. I haven't done any research on mounts yet but I plan to do this build correctly without cutting any corners.

@mighty137

Thanks for the pic. I can see right where the pounding is needed for the alternator. I'm a little worried tho... does that pounding weaken the frame? and if banged out properly, what about when the motor lurches about in the bay (high-torque shift etc) - will the alt ever touch the frame?

I will be installing a traction bar as per your suggestion. Which is a good one to get and is there anything particular features i should be lookin for?

The car will be wired up to OBDI and I will re-use my 94 del sol vtak harness with ECU and I have S300 installed already. hopefully i can directly swap harnesses and it will all snap together properly.

@//Mathew

thanks for the alt tip. I will leave it on the motor but loose when I drop everything in.

@project_ED3

yeh i won't be fckin around with p/s or a/c... those things are too heavy and the comfart gains are negligible.

@rd91sib18c5r

roll the rear crossmember by the mount? I've never heard of this before can you tell me more?

@project_ED3

I didnt do that last part and it never cracked but i guess it is possibly with enough torque. <<<<< can you tell me anything about this? why roll rear crossmember? huh?

@4drEF

I will use your trick and my heatgun to warm the paint prior to pounding. I will pick up a 5lb dead-blow-hammer with adequate layers of carpet for padding.

unless I decide to pound it out when the bay is completely stripped (i'm swapping harnesses even) - and then i'll just repaint the entire bay including my bang-out area.

good tip with the paint though.

Thanks to everyone for their helps!

 

Had power steering in my sedan

 

The hasport instal instructions says to roll the front of the cross member to strengthen it.
I've had my mounts along time two different swaps with no problems, my friends ef with
a b16 swap didn't do this and his cracked on both sides of the mount. We were going to
the drags alot back then I've got over 300 runs on my mounts.

 

so to roll the crossmember I basically have to bang the edges over with a hammer so instead of this

_____
........---
........---
_____

it will look more like this

_____
........\
______|
........./

?

 

Interesting pic lol but yeah i just folded the edge just where the mount goes,
should be an easy swap had my first one in the car and driving in less than 6 hours.

 

nice. how will the harness work out?

I'm gonna pull the entire wiring harness (and EVERYTHING else) outta the bay so i can clean and paint it - but then reinstall my b-series obd1 harness instead of the d-series one that came out.

will i need cableties and self tapping screws to hold the harness properly in the frame, or will all the clips/holes line up?

and what about shift linkage? the b20v is coming out of a 94 del sol vtak, with a short shifter installed. is everything a direct swap over? meaning i just unbolt from del sol/rebolt to crx chassis..

i'm also wondering about the clutch (mine is hydraulic) and how i'm gonna hook that up.

im just tryin to plan it all in my head before i pull the motor and have to special order a part and get everythign held up for 2 weeks because of the postal system meanwhile not having a car to drive everyday.

thanks dude

 

Your going to need the hydro motor mount kit, as for wiring my car is a si so I used
the stock harness and a rywire jumper harnes for obd0 to obd2 and dizzy harness.

 

Excellent, thanks for the info.

Do you know how the shifter linkage bolts up (or doesn't)?

 

i dont see why you have to roll the cross member. if you get the proper, and good, mounts you wont need to modify anything to the cross member. im using HCP swap mounts in my crx and my cross member is untouched.

 

approximately how many miles do you have with the swapped motor in your CRX? (what kind of motor too)

thanks dude

 

listen ALOT to what CRX SI-R has to say.
man literally talked me through converting my car to obd1 lol