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I just bought a 91 civic that's in pretty good condition for 500$. very minor rust pretty sick exhaust decent paint job, the rims are 17s and the guy pretty much ruined all the suspension so I'm getting tikico strusts and megan springs. the transmission makes this nasty metal on metal grinding noise when i let off the clutch. the interior was completely stripped so I'm in the process of replacing that. PS the Vtech was rigged to this ghetto button that he wired and taped, it's a wiring mess.


now here is my question.

do i sell the engine and replace the tranny and just pick up 91 SI engine? or keep the engine and what would i do to fix this wiring mess? I don't have a dash on and the heater and everything are gone so I have a feeling it's not all going to fit right? and how do I fix the ghetto Vtech contraption? I took it off because it was live and draining my battery. will an ecu off of ebay solve the vtech issue? a new ecu will make it kick in by itself right?


I've been looking for a civic HB forever and everyone in minnesota seems to think they are worth like 3300 so this car was a blessing, but is it going to be hell if anything goes wrong due to the swap?

 
Rep Power: 257

first off, its v-tec, not vtech. its not a kids toy or cordless phone. second, it sounds like u dont know much about cars or you wouldnt be asking these questions. everything you asked is a matter of the builders opinion. youre the builder. if it were me, id probably part it out and sell it off. sounds like you got a piece of ****. but ive bought bigger pieces of **** and got them running. the best thing to do is strip the car completely bare and start over. i usually buy donor cars for parts and then sell off the donor cars when im done. that way youll get all the interior, motor, trans, ecu, wiring, and other goodies.

 
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haha yeah I haven't really worked on much, I we have a "donor" car already and I'm in the process of installing the interior, yeah i don't really know much at all that's why I'm here, I've finally got a civic, I've maintained my stock accord for a few years now but I've always had a book to read out of when things went wrong, now that i have this car with the swap I have no guidelines, i cleaned up the wiring mess a little but I would like it to be simple, and reliable, it would be cool to keep the swap in don't get me wrong but like you said I have no idea what I'm dealing with and I'm just looking for feedback, i can get a tranny for 300 or so it's no biggie there i just want to know if this swap is just going to be a frustrating mess because I'd be fine with a stock engine if it meant less shinanagans to deal with later. it runs I drive it to class daily it really pulls and handles very well but it just seems kinda sloppy and reckless to have all these extra buttons and wires, ya know?

 
Rep Power: 257

i hate dealing with other peoples wiring. if you can get a b series tranny, i would get it and redo all the wiring. vtec shouldnt be on all the time. vtec has 3 activation methods, rpm, vacuum, and throttle rate. im guessing since the vtec solenoid is wired direct the car doesnt have the right ecu. i would get a stock or even a chipped ecu and that will control your vtec and also make the car run the way it should. the chipped ecu will probably change the rpm that vtec engages and you can also get a vtec controller and make it engage anywhere above 3000 rpm. you can also set vtec to engage at certain mainfold vacuum pressure. and vtec can engage if you go from o% to 100% throttle in like 0.7 seconds or some **** like that. you can pick up a b16a wiring harness faily cheap and also get ahold of rywire or hybrid racing and they can get you jumper harnesses and **** to make the wiring way easier. if you spend the time and money now to do it right you can have a swapped car that doesnt give you any problems. ive had tons of swapped hondas and have 2 now and i dont have a single problem out of either. just let me know if you have questions and ill try to guide you through it

 
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thank you, I found a step by step guide to how to set up the ECU and the solenoid for the vtec so I'm going to try properly rewiring and setting up that. my next step would be the dash so i will look up one of the two companies you suggested, than you again