02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

So i figured id show my progress so far and my future plans.

I bought this car in 2008 with 122k miles, bone stock.

Mods so far:

clear fogs w/ yellow bulbs

17" Maxxim "Fourteen" rims wrapped in Nankang NS-1 205/40 R17

Injen SRI

Option group (ebay) fornt and rear strut bars

Option group (ebay) ex header

Random Technologies high flow cat

DC Sports cat back

8k HIDs

Was on Tein s-techs, but am now on ebay sleeves:

Attachment 105588

In the works:

junkyard ex rear trailing arms and sway

vtec swap

my d17a2 head, ported, milled, polished cam, and valve job:

Attachment 105589

Im also getting a VAFC-II from a member on here.

Here are some other random pictures before the ebay sleeves:

Attachment 105590

Attachment 105591

Attachment 105592

Im hoping to have my vtec head ready to swap in a few weeks, then it'll be off to get a dyno tune.

Im hoping to get 140 whp, but alot of people have been saying i should get more than that, what do you guys think? any comments, questions, suggestions, etc are welcome!

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

i think that's about right. what other mods have you done ?.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Love the clean look!

I also like how you guys have each car spaced equally apart when you took the pic. LOL!

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Do the ex arms and sway sooner rather than later. You won't regret it.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

are those ebay sleeves sagging or are you just rakeing ???

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Thats about it for the mods list, i may be forgetting things though, lol.

haha, that was definitely not planned.

Yeah, i want them pretty bad, its just been really hot and the yard is a "pull the part yourself" place, so ive been waiting for a cooler day to go get them, the EM2 im getting them off of also has full coilovers on it he said i could just have, but im not sure what they are, they have a blue body with aluminum upper mounts without camber adjusters... I have no idea what brand they are.

Its just dumped out, the rear is sitting on just one adjuster maxed out, i dont recommend it, haha. I ended putting the other adjuster back in, the 1/4" helped out a lot. But the sleeves havent really sagged.



Thanks for the comments you guys, I might get the head swap in tomorrow, weather permitting. Ill post pics whenever I do get it done, whether tomorrow or another day.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

bump 4 pics

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

looks good so far

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

I ended up not getting the swap done the other day cause the heat index was 108 degrees, lol. But I have everything to get it done just need a day im free to do it. But I will post pics of the install when I get it done.

Thanks man.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

In this case, beer is your friend.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

"In ALL cases, beer is your friend" :rockon:

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

*UPDATE*

I decided to update you guys on my dinner break from the head swap, everything is off except the head, holding me back is the one nut on the bottom side of the intake manifold. I hate this nut. But once i finally get it off it should be fairly smooth sailing from there. Pics will be posted once we actually finish, which at this rate is who knows when...

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

lol post some pics if you can. that nut is pretty easy to get with a mini socket wrench

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

i dont have pics yet, lol, but i am going to try a closed end wrench with a cheater bar, as soon as i get a hold of said cheater bar, lol.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Ok, got the new head on and torqued down, but need insight on easy way to get the timing belt back on, when we were taking the timing belt off, We couldnt get the lower timing belt cover off and according to the haynes manual you had to take the harmonic balancer off. I didnt want to have to fool with taking that off. We found what looked like a plug over the tensioner bolt but couldnt get it to come out, then we tried using a closed end wrench over the tensioner bolt between it and the lower cover. That started to strip the bolt so we just slipped the belt off the cam sprocket. So, whats the easiest/best way to get the timing belt back on? also, has anyone replaced their oil pressure switch? I accidently broke mine and have to replace it, but the biggest socket i have is a 24mm and its still too small, anyone have any insight on that?

I really appreciate anyones help. I had a total of 8 people over here including a guy with an B16 EF hatch and a guy with a B16 EG hatch who used to have an EM2. Noone really knew how to get that tensioner bolt off and had never seen a lower timing cover that didnt come off after getting the bolts off. Needless to say its been an interesting night so far. Spilled antifreeze into the cylinders, broke the oil pressure switch, hopefully i wont mess anything else up.

Now onto the only pics ive taken so far...

Attachment 104805
With the head off

Attachment 104806
With the vtec head on

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Keep up the good work! Not really a fan of the 7th gens, but yours is pretty damned sharp!

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Take an impact wrench and take the pulley off and you can take the whole dust cover off after removing a few bolts that hold it on. You might want to change the belt, water pump and tensioner while you have that stuff off. I just did the head gsket on my B16 and it helps if you get that PS pump out of the way. I think that might also be whats holding the dust cover on.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Yeah, I tried both my electric and air impacts...nothing. Im going to either try my friends 3/4 impact, or rent a pulley holder from autozone and use a breaker bar with probably a 6ft length of pipe on it... As far as the belt tensioner and pump go, those were done at 120k a few thousand miles before I bought the car. Thanks for the help! Im surprised that they didnt design that dust cover to come off without taking the crank pulley off.

The good news is that all thats left after getting the timing belt on is reattaching the p/s pump and alternator and replacing the oil pressure switch, then connect a few connectors and hopefully she'll run.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Got the timing belt on, without even loosening the tensioner, just took off the cam sprocket and lined up the belt on it, (in correct timing, of course) then set it on the cam shaft, then lifted it with a large screwdriver for leverage and the bolt took care of the rest, very easy, took less than 10 minutes to figure it out.

Onto another question though, Many people have been telling me that there is a plug in the block that needs to be pulled in order to give oil to the vtec solenoid, i thought that the d17 didnt have such a plug... if you look back at the picture i posted with the head off, and look between cylinders 2 and 3 youll see 3 holes, 2 are for the head bolts and the other one, near the top of the picture is the only oil port i can see, i looked at the old head and it used this same port for lubrication, and the vtec head uses it and has a channel that looks like it runs to the solenoid, so im assuming that there is no plug, and the plug theory only applies to the ls/vtec swap which does have to have a plug pulled in order for vtec to work.

I really appreciate the help you guys, Im pretty sure im right about there being no plug, but i dont want to continue putting everything back together if i have to pull the head to get that plug out.

Thanks again.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

so, the swap is done, just the oil pressure switch is holding me back. Me and my infinite wisdom bought a new one to replace the one i broke from oreilly auto parts...Turns out its made in Taiwan and it broke off inside the block. Threaded it about 1/3 of the way in by hand then started turning it with a socket and got to about 1/8" between it and the block left of threads and it was still going in easy as all hell and it just broke straight off. So to the dealer i go for a genuine part tomorrow and then i get to take the intake manifold completely out (and figure out a way to depressurize the fuel system without running the engine) and then drill and retap the hole, or use a screw extractor if it works. After everything gets done ill be sure to post more pics, just goes to show that something is guaranteed to go wrong no matter what youre doing...

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Sounds like fun! lol

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

So, got the oil pressure switch situation dealt with, but, well, went to start it and no compression.

We figured out that it mustve been when we put the head gasket on, we didnt use the dowels we just used the head bolts to line it up and apparently the gasket can still shift and therefore, well you get the picture of how much frustration I am dealing with right now.

Another rookie mistake i guess, many people told me they made this mistake before but it still sucks to pull the head again.

Pics will be up i guess once its actually done.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

That sucks. How did you miss reinstalling them?

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Idk man, i guess we just figured the head bolts would line it up well enough, apparently not cause it had compression for like a second of cranking and then it lost it all.

I ordered a new head gasket from the dealer today, had to special order it for some reason and got new dowels.

Tomorrow will definitely be the last day devoted to this swap, lol, if it doesnt run after this then damn, lol.

My plan is to pull the head without removing the intake manifold, so after draining the block of coolant and pulling the head, my plans to make absolutely sure the gasket seals this time are this:

1: Make absolutely sure nothing fell into cylinders or bolt holes

2: clean mating surfaces thouroughly with isopropyl alcohol

3: line up gasket using dowels

4: set head down over dowels

5: reinstall head bolts in their same locations after dipping them in oil

I hope this will definitely make it seal this time, if anyone knows any other things i could do to make sure it seals, please let me know.

Thanks you guys.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Well, the swap is done and working well. Ive been driving around for a few days now and havent had any major problems. I did however notice vtec engagement problems sometimes, but i remember someone saying that 5w30 would take care of that problem, so im gonna switch out for 5w30 and see if that fixes it.

that little problem aside, WOW, when vtec kicks in, its ridiculous, lol. Last night Honda tuners in my area met up as we usually do and my vtec kicks in harder than most others.

As of now, i have vtec engagement set at 5k rpms with an 18% fuel correction, i had it set at 12%, then played around and it worked the best with 18%.

I drove a couple b series swapped ef's and ej's and as expected vtec is ridiculous in a b series

I also drove 2 d16 ej's one has a chipped ecu and the other is stock.

My vtec kicks almost as hard as the chipped one does at 5500 rpm, and kicks in way harder than the stock one.

I am pleased with the results of the swap, a dyno tune is on the way, but i was very shocked by how hard it pulls when vtec kicks in.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

UPDATE:

Well everything is still working well, have a couple oil leaks to fix still and switch to 5w30. I guess when the head shop reinstalled the rocker assembly they didnt rtv the mating surfaces because it seems oil is leaking there and the cam seal i bought form oreillys is leaking because it split in half (seeing a pattern yet? :_doh: ) But overall I'm really glad i did the swap and cant wait to get my stage 2 cam and valve springs.

As of now im set for vtec engagement at 4900, back down to the lo side at 4800, and 18% fuel correction. Havent even messed with the air correction factors yet.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

Uhn...
Engine works sounds doing good with improvements by steps, but from 3rd picture, maybe a rear camber kit coming soon?
especially considering that you are even lower now...

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

haha, yeah i got a camber kit pretty soon after that picture was taken.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

*Update:*

So for about a week now I havent been able to engage vtec. As I stated before it was going in and out of vtec sometimes when it was supposed to be in vtec, but i figured it was the 5w20 oil. Then vtec just went out, wouldnt engage at all, doesnt engage all the way to redline. After switching to 5w30, I pulled the solenoid and the filter was still perfectly clean, i then patched a wire into the pink vtec solenoid output wire from the VAFC II straight to the battery and could hear the solenoid "click". I double checked the VAFC II settings. Not sure what to look for now. I think that maybe the solenoid gasket isnt sealing good enough since i didnt get a new one, just used the old one, didnt really pay attention as to whether or not there was an oil leak at the solenoid or not.

So, im not sure what to check next. I am going to check oil pressure soon. The reason I suspect oil pressure is because with the old head the valvetrain was kind of noisy even after I did a valve adjustment, and the new head is just as noisy even after I adjusted the valves twice, so maybe the oil pump is going bad and isnt getting enough oil to the head? And maybe its just not bad enough yet to trigger the idiot light... Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Re: 02_d17a1_dx 's Build thread
 

let's see, do you have any DTC's?
Do you have a service manual?