I have unfortunately found myself in the position of needing to replace the engine in my 2000 GS-R. My car is completely stock, but I have always intended to a NA build and swap somewhere down the line. Now that I need to replace the engine due to internal damage resulting from a timing belt problem, I am looking at swapping a B18C and transmission into the car. I figure as long as I'm going to do the work, I may as well upgrade. I have a lot of mechanical experience including engine swaps (DSM, SR20, FD, etc.), but I'm pretty new to the Honda world. I have found a source for a complete B18C swap (http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc...age&item=30011), and from my research, it appears that this should be relatively straightforward.

I just wanted to check to see if anyone has any advice for specific issues to look out for or any other helpful tips and tricks you may have to share.

I'm also wondering what I might be able to sell my B18C1 and transmission for once I pull them. Obviously the value of the engine depends on the extent of the damage, but I'd be willing to sell it in parts to help recoup the cost of the new motor. The car only has 85k miles on it, so it sucks to have to replace such a low-mileage engine.

Thanks a ton!

 

Why not just rebuild the longblock you have? Most likely you need to replace the valves, slap the head back on, and go... That's maybe $600 worth of work. Worst case scenario, there's a valve embedded in a piston and then you have a bottom end build. Even so, its not difficult and would be cheaper to fix instead of swapping.

 

I got 40 bucks on the camshafts

 

I have definitely considered it, and it certainly is an interesting possibility. Here are a few reasons that the swap appeals to me:

1) Time: So long as the swap is as straightforward as it appears to be, I should be able to complete it much more quickly than pulling the engine and doing a rebuild. I need the car up and running sooner rather than later.
2) Unknowns: I cannot be sure what I am going to find inside the engine when I crack it open. Maybe it is just the valves. Maybe (probably) the guides too. Then there's the possibility of one or more pistons being damaged. These are all things I could deal with given unlimited time and resources, but the swap is a sure thing fix with a set price.
3) Cost-Benefit: If I'm going to go to the trouble to pull the motor and do a rebuild, I'd rather do a performance rebuild instead of throwing it back together stock. Thus the cost will rise, and I bet it could get darn close to, if not easily exceed, the cost of the complete Type R B18C swap, which includes the LSD transmission to boot. Even doing the rebuild using stock parts could start to get uncomfortably close (depending on the damage) to the cost of the B18C swap with none of the associated benefits.

If anything, I may simply swap a used GS-R B18C1 into the car if the $$ and challenges of the Type R swap seem too big a hurdle. That's one reason I was hoping that someone could let me know if the swap is as straightforward as it appears because if it's not, I may go another route. From what I can tell, the HMotors setup includes everything I will need except for consumables like seals, gaskets, belts and fluids.

Hopefully I can recoup some of the cost by selling off what I remove, but I may also keep the longblock to rebuild as time and $$ permit.

Thanks for the feedback.

-Ben

 

Of course with continued research, this just got a little more complicated. I live in an area where I have OBD2 emissions testing. Therefore, from what I can tell, I will need to run a USDM P73 ECU, which will require a USDM oil pump, CKF sensor, and USDM VTEC solenoid and switch. There's some talk that the USDM distributor is necessary as well. However, the good news is that it looks like except for the ECU, I should be able to source those parts from my B18C1.

 

Or I could do the CKF bypass, which seems even simpler than swapping the oil pump and CKF sensor. Although, with the engine out of the car, the oil pump and CKF sensor would likely be a pretty straightforward job.

 

If you have a 00 GSR you don't need a another GSR trans so thats one thing you can KEEP!, i would also recommend just rebuilding the head because like said best case is just a head rebuild. And thats like he said around $600 usually. Get it back fresh slap it on, set the valve lash, if you set the timing you will be golden.

If you are stuck on swapping a new engine id go with a Type R swap, you can make the JDM engines obd2 to pass emissions.

If you can't afford the Type R id get the GSR swap but buy a Type R lsd trans and bolt it up to the gsr engine. The Type R trans makes a huge difference, i love my ITR trans.

Or you can get gangster and rebuild the engine using JDM or USDM ITR pistons and use a Type R trans, use a ITR ecu, and convert the intake manifold to a ITR style intake manifold and delete the GSR sensors and drive that setup. And if you can find usdm ITR cams even better, you will have essentially a poor mans type R setup, traditionally they use a B16 cast head because it is pretty much identical to the Type R head cast besides the valves and port work done to the ITR head from the factory, But you can save some money and just use the GSR head you have it will be just fine. Skunk2 makes a old style ITR intake manifold that works great for that setup. You will have to modify your throttle body cable bracket if you reuse your GSR throttle body but its very simple.

 

Fix the head!