On Tue, 4 Jun 2002, Craig Borden - ZCC wrote:
> I am slowly trying to find good info on replacing the engine in my 89 CRX > Si. It is doing pretty well right now but will eventually need replacing. I > love the idea of a bit more power and a VTEC "kick" (and a bit more > power)but don't care much for the idea of a JDM swap. My reasoning is that I > am for ease of maintenance; mixing and matching non-domestic and domestic > parts just seems like asking for trouble. > > I did read something that said a US version 92-95 Civic EX engine will drop > in (using stock mounts) and that it will use the CRX Si tranny and axles. To > top it off, the engine is domestic and parts/maintenance would seem to be > easy. What is involved regarding the FI side of things: EX brain and > harness? Does the Si harness work, etc.? Noah at www.norcalcrx.org did the SOHC VTEC swap you're thinking about. He did it both ways. You can keep the stock ECU and just use a VTEC controller to activate VTEC at a certain rpm, or, rewire your ECU harness to accept the 92-95 OBD1 VTEC ECU. Your CRX is a OBD0 or non-OBD so the ECU harness is different. If you go the OBD1 route using the 92-95 ECU you also have to repin the distributor and remove your fuel injector resistor box. I also did this with my B18A swap. I had a '91 LS ECU at first (OBD0) but bought a OBD0-OBD1 conversion harness for $100 and rewired everything later on. The 92-95 ECU will run better because its fuel curves are modified specifically for VTEC whereas your stock CRX ECU is not. AFIAK, you can use the stock CRX Si tranny with that motor. The only motor mount that is actually on the block lines up like stock. > My other option is to just rebuild the stock engine. Price will influence my > decision as well but I don't mind paying a bit more for an upgrade. > > If there is a good URL I missed with all this information I would appreciate > the link. > Finally: am I making the issue of JDM maintenance bigger than it is? There are smog issues in many states. Most of the B16A1's that you can get overseas are very old now. I've seen people buy them and just drop them in without doing anything on them and they run like crap. If I got a JDM 1st gen B16A, I would rebuild it before I dropped it in. You can check out http://hybrid.honda-perf.org/ for more information. Look under 4th gen swap tech. They have a complete breakdown of what swaps work with what cars and how hard it is. -Kristian
