engine swap on integra
#11
Be careful.. my first swap was mucked by a guy who had done a lot of domestic motor swaps on chevys. Trust your dad, but do your own homework, too. Like my buddy's dad (a real muscle journeyman) said, 'All these wires and stuff!' The mechanics are traditional, but the wiring issues make or break many swaps.
Knock sensor stuff, it turns out, you can get away without worrying about. I've been doing some studying on pgmfi.org and found that if you use an obd0 vtec computer, there is no knock sensor issue, as knock sensors started being a vtec prerequisite in obd1. So.. even late model b20's with knock sensors in the block will work just fine.
If you want my best opinion on how to approach this, I'd say you ought to go w/ the b20 swap. The b20b is only 15-20 hp more. The b20z from Japan is a lot more, from what I hear. But a b20b should be easy to find and will glide into your engine bay. There are NO wiring changes for it at all. All mount points are the same. You might ask why. It's because it's the same block - just bored to 84 instead of 81. The other thing this will let you do is go for a crvtec swap later. That's like ls/vtec, but more displacement.. more power. That lets you get your hands dirty before deciding where to go from there. The benefits: mechanically native and CHEAP. There's no better combination. Also, turbo b20 is a mean thing. If you go for the b20z, you'll have LOTS of power to spare. It's a more expensive engine, but you'll have a gigantic grin once you pop it in.
Knock sensor stuff, it turns out, you can get away without worrying about. I've been doing some studying on pgmfi.org and found that if you use an obd0 vtec computer, there is no knock sensor issue, as knock sensors started being a vtec prerequisite in obd1. So.. even late model b20's with knock sensors in the block will work just fine.
If you want my best opinion on how to approach this, I'd say you ought to go w/ the b20 swap. The b20b is only 15-20 hp more. The b20z from Japan is a lot more, from what I hear. But a b20b should be easy to find and will glide into your engine bay. There are NO wiring changes for it at all. All mount points are the same. You might ask why. It's because it's the same block - just bored to 84 instead of 81. The other thing this will let you do is go for a crvtec swap later. That's like ls/vtec, but more displacement.. more power. That lets you get your hands dirty before deciding where to go from there. The benefits: mechanically native and CHEAP. There's no better combination. Also, turbo b20 is a mean thing. If you go for the b20z, you'll have LOTS of power to spare. It's a more expensive engine, but you'll have a gigantic grin once you pop it in.