So, I'm new to the car scene and I'm confused about what a "straight swap" is.

For instance, could you not just take one car, let's say a wrecked GSR and transfer the harness, ecu, engine, transmission, etc to a donor, let's say a civic and have the car run like new?

I'm asking because I'm looking to do a J swap next year and instead of buying individual pieces I may be looking to get a donor.

So I would essentially just take all the parts off one car and put it on another, in my case a EJ6. Is this correct or where have I gone wrong?

Any answers are appreciated thanks!

 

Same car same engine same tranny, what you want is a swap or mod. 94

 

fcm said it well.

A straight swap is swapping in the same exact motor or a motor that requires next to no modification.

On the 92 civic, you can swap in either the Si, CX or DX motors as long as you also swap the respective ECU. These could also be considered straight swaps but this is rather rare.

For the 92-95 civics, only the 92 is that simple. 93-95 requires some wiring if it's not an Si if it is not the same motor that was in the car. Even then it has to be the same generation motor.

Also some swaps are easier than others, your J swap won't be an easy one. Will require mounts and much modifications to get everything working well. Also would require upgraded suspension for the added weight up front.

 

Thanks guys for the responses.

I know that if the engine came in the car it should be a drop and plug and play, but obviously the J isnt. That's why I asked if you could straight swap it with parts off a donor car, in my case a 03 cl-s MT. This is going into a 97 civic, not a 92-95 EG.

If I could avoid a custom harness I wanted to because the AEM for this engine is for auto engine only. So it would be pointless to get a donor car (03 cls MT) because I'd have to get two harnesses at two different points, one for installation and another when I'm ready to mod.

That's like throwing 600 bucks out the window lol. So probably not.

 

May I suggest getting a h2b route?
pros:
pretty much plug n play swap with minor adjustments
200-220whp/150-180tq area
costs relatively cheap:
$800-900 h23a vtec
$400-600 b16/gsr tranny
$625 qsd h2b kit
$250 competition stg1
$150-200 aftermarket good brand flywheel
$350 header h2b
$125 balance shaft delete
$125 manual belt tensioner
$80 99/00 em1 tbracket
$200-250 used solid hasport/innovative motor mounts
reason I say used is cuz cheaper vs $350-400 new

total will be $3-3.5k
save $5k to be safe
cons:
patience to source the parts
stock for stock it's a k killer supposedly (atleast k20's I don't know stock for stock vs a k24a2 tho)
dont respond as good to internal work (cams/pistons) vs a k would with cams


A j swap into a civic chassis cost to much
i just know it has a lot of custom work
custom mounts
shift linkage tweakage
engine harness is custom stock out of cl won't work
custom headers
custom engine management stanalone

 

I've always considered a "straight swap" to be one that just bolts in. IE the B18 in a EG, or the H22 in an accord.

An H2B or a J swap would NOT be a 'straight swap' lol.

 

H2b is not a straight swap. no
but a b swap into a 96-00 is pretty much straight swap if you prep plug and play parts together
and h2b is essentially a normal b swap