Re: My EM2
 

I painted them using Krylon hammered finish silver for plastics and Krylon Clear over top.

So, some of you may disapprove, but I just had to :P
Attachment 81767
The only thing I don't like about this particular design, is that the button lights up blue only when you press it, and I wanted it to light up when the key is in the on position. Oh well.

Re: My EM2
 

It think it's nice :tup: I can't have a start button at that place, because all those 3 places are already taken in my car ;) (1. sunroof 2. electric mirrors 3. headlight hight adjustment)

Re: My EM2
 

Wow, theres a button for headlight adjustment on yours?

I have cruise control there

Re: My EM2
 

Yeah there is ...

And damn ... you have cruisecontrol?!?! :eek: that's the only thing I still need so badly in my EM2 ... it's very sad (again ...) that Honda never sold any 7th gen Honda with cruise control in my country :hithead:

Re: My EM2
 

Yea, no options in my car :( But the only thing I don't have that I really wouldn't mind having, is cruise. I'm likely gonna go junk yard hunting for the parts and see if I cant get a complete system to install. Also, I'm picking up a stock D17Y8 intake manifold with a bunch of accesories on Sunday, so as soon as the 30th comes and my car gets parked, I get to work on that. If I can afford it, I might have a port/polish done on it just to squeeze a little more hp out of her, if I can afford it.

Re: My EM2
 

The d16y8 manifold definitely makes power, but from what I read without a decent engine management system it will result in a really poor idle.

Cruise control might be difficult to swap in as well, definitely worth a shot though. If you do pick up the system make a thread about it, I'd love to discuss what it takes to install it on a car that doesn't have it stock.

Re: My EM2
 

Well the car gets parked for the winter next week, so I will have lots of time to to install the intake and play with it. So if it really comes down to it and the car runs like a turkey with a broken leg, I'll start my search for a K-Pro or the like in the early spring and hopefully find something used for a decent price. Either way, I'll do a thread with pics of the install and my experience with it.

And in terms of the cruise control, I can imagine the complications involved, especially when it comes to wiring the system in. I'm not even going to bother trying unless I can get a complete system and a very very good price, but if I do, I'll definitely get a discussion going about the install.

Re: My EM2
 

haha I forgot you were planning on getting k-pro!
Take lots of pics while you work on the manifold if you can, the ones in the DIY we have up are all broken. I'll give you massive admin style rep if you do :)

K-pro requires a specific cam gear btw, I don't think you can use the standard AEM one without modifications.

Re: My EM2
 

Yea, I noticed that, It makes the tutorial a little bit harder to follow, if it weren't for the fact I've been under the hood more times I can count. I've never taken the stock manifold off, but I've taken everything on and around it apart, so the basic disassembly/reassembly process shouldn't be too difficult.

And thanks for pointing out the bit about the cam gear. I haven't done much research on hondata stuff, although they say on their website that the stock cam pulley will not work, but their replacement looks an awful lot like an aem cam pulley, so maybe it will still work. They mention something about the teeth being different, but maybe because the aem is adjustable, you can create a similar offset and have it work. I guess I'm just going to have to do more research on it. Would be nice to be able to use the aem gear though, 'cause its only around 80 bucks used, and the hondata one is $100 more (new, that is)

Re: My EM2
 

*Update*

Going to pick up a used header tomorrow. Its made by Ractive, so I'm not sure of the quality, but its in one piece, just a little beat up. It's for an EX, so there's gonna be some customizing to do, so here's the plan:

The header will bolt up as normal, thats not an issue of course. Now, the magnaflow exhaust system I have hangs kinda low on the car, almost too low, but I'm going to use this to my advantage. Because the EX header is shorter than the DX/LX, by extending the down-pipe slightly and bolting it up to the new header, it should raise the exhaust up high enough that its not pretty much dragging on the ground anymore. I've also ordered a magnaflow universal cat to weld in-line into the down pipe to hopefully keep my car emissions-legal here in Ontario. If anyone has an opinion on that, let me know.

The other part of my plan, seeing as how I'd rather not extend my O2 sensor wires, is to drill a hole close to where the header bolts up to the down pipe, weld a piece of steel tubing to the hole, and then welding up an O2 sensor bung to it to create an O2 sensor de-fouler. I'd be interested in hearing some feedback on this idea, so feel free to add you 2 cents to the discussion! :)

Re: My EM2
 

Those magnaflow cats work don't work that well, it'll pass the car if your safely within the emissions standards with an ordinary cat, but if any thing is wrong then it won't work well enough to compensate.

Just a heads up.

Re: My EM2
 

hahaha.. same here..

Re: My EM2
 

Id rather extend those wire bud, a lot less fab work. My two cents :D

Re: My EM2
 

car looks good!

Re: My EM2
 

Well regardless of what method I use, there's going to be some fabbing going on, because the header has no hole for the upper O2 sensor, and neither does the cat I bought, so no matter what I do, I'm going to be drilling a hole into the side of the header and welding a bung in there for the upper O2 sensor, and then if I extend the wire for the lower O2 sensor, I'll be drilling a hole and welding in a bung after the cat in the down pipe. Otherwise, the hole will go right after the header in the down pipe, and I'll make a defouler for it. Right now though, my problem is getting the old exhaust apart. The top two bolts holding the heat shield and the manifold on are in decent shape and came off quickly, but the three studs that hold the manifold on are, to my scientific deduction, royally f**ked. The two on the outside arent too bad, after hitting them with some more pb blaster, and scraping the rust buildup off, I may be able to pull the nuts off if I am careful, but the middle one, well it's a mess lol...maybe I can't tell because of the amount of rust, but it looks to me as if half of the nut has rusted and crumbled off completely. Basically, what I am getting at, is that the studs are getting replaced, if I can get them out.

I also discovered, after removing the heat shield, that there is a crack in the manifold, so now my project is not just cause I want a bit more rumble and some more top-end power, but also to replace a damaged part :)

Re: My EM2
 

Well sound like u have a hella project my friend, good luck to u :)

Re: My EM2
 

Alright, so, another update -

The guy who I was supposed to be picking up a complete d16y8 intake mani from, complete with a td, injectors, fuel rail, sensors etc etc, for $40, disappeared from the forums, so I am going to have to head to the junk yard, or just wait until someone else decides they want to get rid of one. In the meantime, I have another problem with the header. The nuts holding the manifold on are rusted to the point where one of them looks as if it is part of the manifold, and two of the nut faces are disintegrated, making a wrench or socket useless, so it looks like I may have to cut them off and extract the studs somehow. I was already planning on replacing the studs and nuts, and I have the parts, but what I'm not sure about, it the best way to get the old manifold off, whether I should just cut the end of the suds off and hope i can get vice grips on them to twist them out of the head, or use another method.

Any suggestions?

Re: My EM2
 

UPDATES!

-Got the old manifold off, had to take an angle grinder I had to the nuts and grind them off. Once they were off and I had sheared the lower manifold spring bolts in half, the manifold came right off, and some vise grips were all it took to get the old stud out the aluminum head. I picked up new studs, nuts, gasket, and spring bolts, and here are the results:
Attachment 81906

Attachment 81907

I also have a 2.25" EX "Test pipe" on the way, which is going to get cut up for the cat to be welded in.

On Wednesday, I also picked up some other goodies:

-Type-R grille
-Mugen Oil filler cap
-Type-R front lip
-Flush mount hood pins/latches
-"H" logo valve caps :P
-Eyelids (for the wrong car :S d'oh)
-Momo "Nero" style pedals

I'll have some pics up once everything is installed.

Aaaandd....I have another lead on a cheap intake mani, so we'll see where that goes.

Re: My EM2
 

Nice!

Looks clean.

Re: My EM2
 

Got some pics of the new goodies!

The first pic is the new hood latches - I'm really liking the look of these things!

The second pic shows the mugen oil filler cap and one of the momo "Nero" pedals.

I've also finally found a guy with a complete y8 intake manifold for $40, so I'm gonna go pick that up, hopefully next week, and my test pipe should be showing up next week as well, so I can get the exhaust put back together. Then, if I can find my keys, which seem to have gone missing...sound test!

And, my girlfriend just decided she wanted to spend a bunch of money on me, so she bought me a set of ground control coilover sleeves. :) So...yes, I know it a dumb idea, but it's okay, cause I'm dumb, so I'm gonna rock these nice and low on stock shocks (with the camber corrected though, of course) until they asplode, then I'll start looking for aftermarket shocks that will work with these sleeves at a lower setting.

Re: My EM2
 

Progress on another y8 mani swap! :sweet:

I like the hood latches.

Re: My EM2
 

More goodies!
Attachment 81940

Gonna start measuring up the test pipe for the cat and slicing her up...unfortunately, unlike the pic I saw, this thing only has one O2 sensor bung, so I'm gonna have to put one in behind the cat...oh well.

After that's done, I'm gonna strip down the manifold and start the process of cleaning that bugger out...it's a bit dirty!

Question for you all:
Should I paint the intake mani gloss black, silver, or just clean it and leave it like that?

Re: My EM2
 

Black I think.

I've painted a few of my engine parts silver and it shows dirt pretty badly.

Re: My EM2
 

I'd say black also, or just brush it really good and leave it like that, it'll probably shine up really nice.... no silver paint tho

Re: My EM2
 

Yeah, I was thinking black too...the more and more I research this project, the more daunting it looks lol...Some people have said they have it running well with a VAFC, some with emanage, but what I wanna know, is if I use matched injectors and the stock TB, how would it affect idle? Wouldn't it just be like going from a stock intake to a CAI? Just more air flow capability? I'm going to do the swap so that I can switch back to stock if it's really messed up, that way I can just slap on the new mani and see how it goes. In the meantime, I've got it all stripped down and ready for cleaning.

I've also got the new cat welded to the test pipe, and have it fitted to the header. Conveniently enough, the o2 sensor bung is on the wrong side, so not only do I have to get an extension for the upper o2 sensor, but I have to extend the lower one like 3 feet and add in a bung there with a defouler. I'm going to pull the rest of the exhaust out tomorrow and mock it up with the test pipe, so I"ll hopefully have it all back together and ready for the extensions at the end of the night. Then, as long as I havent broken anything, the intake swap begins!

Re: My EM2
 

My understanding is that on emanage and VAFC the engine will idle without stalling, but it's on the verge, above idle it's all good. It's not like an intake swap because the change is more dramatic; an intake swap will make a minor air flow difference, go a little further down the line and the throttle body makes a slightly bigger difference, changing the intake manifold makes the biggest difference. That's why you see guys willing to spend $1000 on equal length manifolds from Gerry.

If the idle isn't manageable and you need to remove it then you'll be able to sell it to someone for a bit of a profit I'm sure.

Re: My EM2
 

Hmm that makes sense...well I'm still going to do the swap, it just may have to wait until I'm ready to get the k-pro. In the meantime, I'll get the exhaust finished up, and get the coil sleeve and strut bar mounted up. Unfortunately, that's probably all I'll be able to do until spring, as I'm running out of money lol.

Re: My EM2
 

I say just take it slow man, do it once and do it right you know... I think pretty much everyone rushed to do a bunch a things at once and they had less then stellar results... u don't want to be that guy. Good luck and post pics as you go :D

Re: My EM2
 

Yea, I've been there..I've spent the last while up until recently, fixing mods I rushed. Luckily, I havent destroyed anything that can't be fixed, so hopefully things will turn out pretty decent in the spring, when I'll hopefully have all of my exterior mods done. Whether or not I get k-pro will depend on what I get for a co-op this summer, and then I'll be able to go ahead with the intake mani swap, and who knows, maybe next winter I'll be ready to buy another engine and start my turbo build :) For now, though, I have to finish putting my stubborn exhaust back together and get my ground controls to hurry up and arrive so I can install them!

Re: My EM2
 

Some updates -

Got the rest of the exhaust out today and started mocking it up with the new parts:
http://muskokacarclub.com/gallery/im...=1&image_id=22
(ignore the mess in the garage, I"m a messy worker, and I have no toolboxes at the moment :P)

Ordered a new O2 sensor bung to weld into the pipe.

All that's left is to get/make some extensions for the O2 sensor wires and weld it all together, then it's time to work on getting the bumpers redone and get some side skirts and the front lip put on. After that, I wait, until spring time when the car goes back on the road and I start looking for rims and tires.

That's it for now, I'll have more updated once i get some more stuff welded together.