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Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX

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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 05:56 AM
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Default Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX

I'm going to do a very complete write up on my complete ITR change-over project. I'll just keep adding to this post as I progress. Right now this will be a place holder. Here are a few pictures.

1998 #55 ITR get's wrecked at the track:



Purchased 1995 Honda CX for $2,995


Toda Powered Chevy Wagon


ITR gets taken apart. Sold the shell for $1000






Ouch! Broken Mugen parts...





Suspension get's swapped over. I transferred everything as complete assemblies so I did not have to seperate the upper and lower ball joints. In the rear, the trailing arm, struts, and LCA's all went on as a unit. This is a very fast and effective method for doing the swap



Complete brake swap including ABS Master and booster. I did not have to cut any lines, I just rebent them by hand!



Engine bay getting ready. Need to clean it!



Okay. Time for wiring. I took apart the interior to make the task easier. I'm going to route everything through the factory harness/wire bundle. In order to access that, you need to remove the HVAC blower motor, the battery, and the under hood fuse box. Then you need to remove all of the electrical tape and wire loom.


[b]The USDM B18C5 engine wire harness hooks right up to the Civic harness. The only exceptions are:
1)3 wire plug (B18C5 engine harness) on passenger side. Includes white/red, blue/red, and red/yellow wires. The first two are for the crank position sensor which the stock CX motor does not use. The red/yellow is for the EVAP Purge valve - I think! I need to verify that.
2)Two wires need to be added for the VTEC system. On the engine harness they are blue/black and green/yellow. They are shown in the following photo with orange tape.
3)There is a thrid wire that is blue/red for the knock sensor. If you run a re-chipped P28, or similar ECU, you can just forget about this wire and tape up the knock sensor plug on the engine harness.

So in summary. There are 5 wires you need to worry about that you will have to add to the main (cabin) wire harness.


Updated August 30. Finished the swap. No problems - things went pretty smoothly. My test pipe was too short, so I had to borrow the exhaust from my race car (loud ) Tomorrow I have to set timing, do a complete alignment, and bleed the brakes. I'll report back after the first drive.









Modified by Ausmith at 10:25 PM 8/31/2003
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:11 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

very nice garage!! and car.
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:14 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (fastwanabe)

Very nice, now what one you like the most?
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:15 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

were you able to save the tranny? looks like just the case was busted.

and you dont seem too upset about crashing the itr.
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:21 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (db8sirg)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by db8sirg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">were you able to save the tranny? looks like just the case was busted.

and you dont seem too upset about crashing the itr.</TD></TR></TABLE>

**** happens. Actually my Dad was the one who crashed... I just wrote it off.

Yeah it was just the case on the tranny. Actually it was an LS tranny - it came with my ITR when I bought it. Former owner had a turbo on it. I'm going to be using a JDM ITR tranny from my race car in this project. The LS tranny is being rebuilt specifically for my race car - Mugen LSD, 4.4 final, and only 1,2,3 gears The JDM ITR was too short for the race car, even with 9500 rev limit I was bouncing the limiter at some of the bigger courses. The 4.4 with LS 1,2 should be perfect for autocross.
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:23 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (turbogixxer)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turbogixxer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very nice, now what one you like the most?</TD></TR></TABLE>

An EG hatch will never be an ITR - period. On the track the ITR owns. I think I'll like the hatch better as a street car.
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:29 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

Your garage looks pretty sweet. Nice and clean and organized. How big is it?
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 01:46 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (junglerunna02)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by junglerunna02 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your garage looks pretty sweet. Nice and clean and organized. How big is it?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Big! I can fit 4 cars in the part you can see. That part is heated and air conditioned. That's only 1/4 of the whole thing!!!! It's actually a big pole barn that has 1/4 of it finished. Lots and lots of storage and plenty of space for projects
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 02:40 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

sweet mugen lsd. 2way lsd

are they like the only one that makes the 2way for a b-series tranny?
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Old Aug 24, 2003 | 04:46 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (db8sirg)

Very nice write up man!

Much props to you.
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Old Aug 25, 2003 | 12:33 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (poison)

VERY NICE. I am currently doing exactly the same thing as you. I totalled my 99GSR, head on into a power pole. Had the same damage, even the cracked tranny casing, looks EXACTLY the same. And I bought a 93 Phantom Grey CX hatch. Transferring the brakes and suspension the same. Sweet car bro, and I cant wait till I'm done with mine. Later.
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Old Aug 27, 2003 | 09:26 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (ILUVTEC)

nice. could you not cut the header and have the dent taken out by a pipe widener.
idea my be a long shot, but what hell give it a try!
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 02:21 AM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (itr1235)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by itr1235 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nice. could you not cut the header and have the dent taken out by a pipe widener.
idea my be a long shot, but what hell give it a try! </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm having Dave at SMSP repair the header. In the meantime I bought a JDM DC.
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:27 AM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

Nice hatch
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:54 AM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (whitelightning)

Awesome!

It is going to haul way more *** than the DC!
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 05:00 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (976)

car looks way better then it did befor, can you say mugen ***** hahaha
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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 09:33 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (eddiecut)

Very nice!

I'm thinking about doing the same swap once I get my hatch, or I might settle for the GSR, rather than the typeR, and turbo it..
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Old Aug 29, 2003 | 04:23 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (DarkProject)

WOW!! very nice man..i love the mugen seats...**** i cant wait till ure done..gl..plesae keep us updated..


Modified by eg6h8k at 4:58 AM 8/30/2003
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Old Aug 29, 2003 | 05:31 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

very nice,sorry to hear about the itr...well good luck keep up the info
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Old Aug 29, 2003 | 05:49 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

nice job man....keep us posted
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Old Aug 30, 2003 | 12:46 AM
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Default

lookin good! "hype R" motors are great in hatchbacks!
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Old Aug 31, 2003 | 07:27 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

Updated with new pics... Finished the swap today. Going for a drive tomorrow.
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Old Aug 31, 2003 | 10:59 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (Ausmith)

how hard was it to change obd1 to obd2?
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Old Sep 1, 2003 | 04:46 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (itr1235)

i am totally clueless what you mean by adding 5 wires. like how do you add them? starting where? and end up at the ecu? how do i actually attach them to the ecu? also, are you adding them cause its an obd 2 motor in an obd1 chassis/ harness? i know im gonna get ****, but you don't know till you ask.
d
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Old Sep 1, 2003 | 07:25 PM
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Default Re: Complete How-To: B18C5 into 1995 CX (moms-wolf)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by moms-wolf &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i am totally clueless what you mean by adding 5 wires. like how do you add them? starting where? and end up at the ecu? how do i actually attach them to the ecu?also, are you adding them cause its an obd 2 motor in an obd1 chassis/ harness? i know im gonna get ****, but you don't know till you ask.
d</TD></TR></TABLE>

All valid questions.

Why do I need to add wires to my Civic when doing a VTEC swap?
Depends on what model of Civic you are starting with. If your Civic originally came with a VTEC motor (sohc) you really don't need to add anything. Since I started with a CX, I didn't have the proper wires in my chassis harness.

How do I add them?
I did it the proper way by completely exposing the wire harness, adding the necessary wires, and then wrapping everything back up. Some people just add the wires and don't integrate them into the stock harness - to me that is a shortcut and not clean at all. To add the wires it is best to start with a junk wire harness from which you can take the proper "pins" and wire colors. Any 92+ Civic or 94+ Integra harness will work fine - go to a junk yard and pick one up. You want the chassis harness. Basically you remove wires and pins from the junk harness and add them to yours. You will need a good pick set and a very very small flat head screw driver to pull the pins out. If you need to add length, always use a soldered connection with heat shrink tubing to cover.

OBD1 vs. OBD2
In the end there are a bunch of different combos you can run successfully. For the most part the difference between OBD1 and OBD2 is the ECU, however there are differences in some connectors (fuel injectors, distributor). Another thing to watch for is the crank fluctuation sensor - this is located on the motor at the crank. IF your ECU doesn't need this sensor, don't worry about the wiring.

The other wiring difference is the EVAP wire routing - on OBD1 Civics it goes to the dirvers side (fused) and on the OBD2 Integra it goes passenger directly to the ECU. The easiest way to deal with this is to clip the stock wire - where it goes over the pedals and use that length of wire and re-route it to the passenger side harness. You will need to a the proper "pin" for the engine bay harness.

One could really go on and on given all of the little differences and possible combinations of parts and electronics. The best advice is to get the factory service manual and study it, understand it, and figure out what you need to do.
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