1999 Honda Civic Si - Ryan Basseri - Honda Tuning Magazine

Questions answered by honda expert, ryan basseri of rywire • www.rywire.com

I love your magazine! I've been subscribed for awhile now, but I haven't seen what I need in any of my mags. I own a '99 Civic Si and I just sold my B16a2 and got an H22a. What do I need to do the swap? It's a JDM motor with harness and ECU. Any info you can give me would be a help.
Mike Jones

Mike who? Mike Joooones!! Sorry. Anyway, that sounds like a good swap with a lot of potential. Every time I get a question about an H series swap I have to ask, will it be a B or an H transmission? There are some companies doing the H2B plates, like Quartersports Drag, and a few others that you might want to check out. Having the harness with the engine and ECU will help, but you still have to figure out what you are going to do about tuning. If you have an ECU with the swap, there is a good chance it's obd1 already. You can easily chip that ECU on Crome and tune from there. As far as electrical, you will need a jumper harness for the ECU, and a custom harness modified to fit the H. Rywire can modify the original EM1 harness to fit the H engine and supply the jumper for you all as a plug-and-play package. Other than wiring, you will need a mount and axle kit that match the transmission you decide to use. If you use a B transmission, the axles will be from your EM1, and if you use the H transmission you will want to get both parts from a reliable mount company like HaSport.

I had a question about a B16a2 motor. My buddy gave me one that he ran without oil! I haven't taken it apart to see what it needs yet, but I know it spun a bearing. So I'm assuming I need a crank case kit for sure, but that's all I know right now. I have no wiring harness or tranny, and I have a '95 Honda civic EX I just put a new 1.6 VTEC into. Would it be worth it to build the motor and get the stuff for it? Or should I just throw it away? Also, any help on where to get a crank kit for a decent price?
Thanks,
Josh

Josh, if he ran the motor without oil, there is a decent chance that you will need a new a new crankshaft. Finding a donor should not be too difficult, but may cost some money if purchased brand new. It could be better to just find a whole new block that has zero issues. I remember giving away old B16a blocks in the past, and also seeing them for as little as fifty dollars from the overseas importers. If I were you I would build the B16a slowly on the side, and collect parts for it. Enjoy the D, and when you are ready swap in the B16!

Hello there! Gotta say, I love the mag and you guys always give great responses to tech questions, so I know I'm in good hands. I'm converting my '96 Civic EX, which is an EJ8, from auto to manual. I have a D series tranny, shift linkage, pedals, and P28 ECU. Will this work on my D16Y8? And what other parts do I need to complete my swap? I might boost it later or keep it NA. What is the best way for me to go on a daily driven car?
Amp'D Up

Thank you! I try my best on all the tech questions! Here is a list of some of the parts you will need for the conversion:

The wiring is not very complex, and there are instructions online, but the main thing you have to remember is to join the heavy starter trigger wires that were leading into the automatic shifter box. As far as NA or boost, I would lean toward NA on a daily driven car. You will have fewer problems and better fuel efficiency in NA form.

I'm wanting to turbo my stock D16Z6 engine on my '95 Civic. Is there anything I should do with the engine first before I put a turbo on it? I would like to keep it around $600. I'm new to the turbo idea so any advice is welcome. Thanks so much!
Sabian

With a $600 budget I would keep the boost really low (around 6-7psi max) and invest in some good head studs and head gasket. Save the rest of the budget for the best tuner in your area and have him spend time on your map. That should give you some reliability with your setup.

I'm doing a V6 swap in my EG6. I have J32A2 Type S, and I need to know what transmissions will work on this engine. I'd love a list of cars and tranny years.
Thomas

Hi Thomas, this swap is becoming more and more popular these days! The transmission you need can be sourced from any manual J series engine. Some are LSD and some are not, so you need to make the decision on what will fit into your budget. From what I remember, all the TL type S and CL Type S manual transmissions come LSD, the rest are open differential. Honda Tuning did a nice J series spread in the April 2009 issue; it's a must read for the J series guys!

Hey guys, awesome magazine! I wouldn't change anything about it. I have a '97 Integra LS B18B1 5MT and the first question I have is this: is it possible to put VTEC cams in a non-VTEC motor? If so, what would the benefits be? And for the second question, if I was going to remove my ABS system, what parts would I need to get, as in proportioning valve, lines, etc.? Any insight will be greatly appreciated.
John

John, you cannot use the VTEC cam shafts on the non-VTEC engine. What you can do is a VTEC head swap commonly known as a LS-VTEC conversion. You will need a kit to feed the head more oil, and an intake manifold/distributor that matches the head. Last you will need an ECU that can control the VTEC and wiring to the sensors. Do some research and you can have a very reliable high-horsepower engine. If you are trying to eliminate your ABS system, you can simply use the lines, prop valve, and master cylinder from a non-ABS Integra. It will all bolt in like stock. Easy as that!

I have an '06 Accord V6 J30 with a six-speed, LSD, and drive-by-wire. I am considering swapping this v6 3.5 with a motor out of an '07 TL-S Acura. I plan on building the bottom to handle about 20 lbs of boost from a Rotrex supercharger. My questions are: What do I need from the Acura (transmission, computer, axles, motor mounts, wire harness, etc.)? What can I keep from the Accord? Which pistons, rods, rings and bearings could you recommend? Any help would be appreciated; even those questions I probably neglected to ask. Thanking you in advance, I remain a loyal reader.
Mark

Mark, I called my friend Fred over at Honda today to check to see if the Accord came with an LSD transmission and it turns out it did not. I will assume you sourced one from a TL or CL Type S already. If you can, source everything possible from the TL-S and you should have a straightforward swap if you can get all the parts. I have never done this swap before, but between the two chassis, there shouldn't be too much of a difference. A good source to check out would be J32a.org. They have a ton of J owners and people like yourself who are doing the swap. Good luck!

Hey guys, I need some help figuring out what the difference is between a regular wiring harness, and a mil-spec harness. I'm starting to clean up my engine bay to hide as much as I can, and while researching I kept coming across the term mil-spec. Can you fill me in on what it means? Is it something I need, or is it something that people go with because it looks cleaner? I'm lost, and I really want to make sure I do things right the first time, so I don't regret it later. Thanks! And thanks for keeping your magazine stories dedicated to the actual cars and owners, unlike that other magazine that tries to pretend it's all about Hondas when they're just trying to cash in on something thatwe live. Honda Tuning is an enthusiast magazine still, thank God!
Branson

This is a great question, especially for me to answer! Regular wiring harnesses are automotive-grade wire covered with corrugated loom and electrical tape. Mil-Spec wiring harnesses use military grade parts, which means the wire has a higher heat temperature rating with a Teflon coating giving it a barrier against the environment. The loom on the Mil Spec harness is a military grade heat shrink material. The most popular brand is Raychem. It has a very high heat rating, shrinks tight, and is very easy to bend and flex. The joints on the Mil-Spec harness are often sealed with glue liner and strain relief in mind. This keeps the harness lasting a long time in harsh environments. They often will have disconnecting feed-through bulkhead plugs that are water tight, and keep the grime out. These harnesses are generally bare bone designs that use only what is needed for the ECU to run the engine. These harnesses are hand-built around the engine being used. That being said, you can custom fit them to your setup and make a clean stealthy look at the same time. With new pins and wire being used, this becomes a great fix for that old brittle harness. When doing a proper tuck with an OEM harness, you are forced to cut and extend leads that can result in unsafe solders and broken wires. The solder-less Mil-Spec harness is a good choice when you can afford the price tag. Rywire.com harnesses generally range from $500 to $1,500, depending on the materials used.