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Hey guys, so as the title says I own a 2003 civic LX coupe and my d17a1 siezed so I'm looking to do an engine swap. I'm wondering what all I will need to swap to a d17a(JDM) or d17a2. I've looked at the k20/k24 swaps but it's not in my budget. I'm not wanting to spend over $2500. So is the d17a/d17a2 just a straight drop in?? Or will I need to purchase a starter, wiring harness, ECU and all that?? I've also heard that I may need to change exhaust if i want to run vtec. Thanks in advance!

 
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If you get a JDM engine, I would replace the following:
oil pump
water pump
head gasket
timing belt
ALL SEALS AND GASKETS
spark plugs

The engines don't necessarily need all this done, it's more about having peace-of-mind...it's also easier to do when the engine is out of the car.
Take your time and use correct torque values...i'm sure i'm preaching to the choir here.

Everything will line up including the wiring harness....you will not be able to wire up the VTEC with the a1 ecu.

You have a few options here:
1) don't worry about the VTEC kicking in and not have it hooked up.
2) find an a-2 ECU and then you have to run wires to the VTEC
3) use some sort of aftermarket VTEC controller and splice in to your existing wiring harness...this is actually not that hard to do.
4) find a re-manufactured a-1 head and use that on the new engine...

if you have any questions during the process please feel free to post up or PM me.
There are a handful of us on this forum that can help you along with the process.

 
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and if you change ECU, the keys will need to be programmed to the ECU.