17 replies to this topic

[Jill]

Hey guys it has been a while!

I started my 87 carb to 85 fi swap last weekend. Got the motor out of the 87 and exhaust. Any tips on the best way to pull the fuel system?

Oh, and with the carb motor out, if anyone needs parts let me know, I'll see what I have.

I wanted some input on some minor upgrades before I throw the ew3 in. I'm checking out the following parts and if anyone has a brand they like/use or good site for buying these parts, I'd appreciate it! Oh, and the fi motor has a t3 turbo setup too.

Upgrades/Replacement parts:

Master bushing set-energy suspension good to go with?
Front strut bar-where can I get one?
Tokico front shocks and eibach lowering springs (already have)
Skunk2 exhaust-any other good setups?
Fuel injectors
High flow fuel rail-is this possible on this motor?
Fuel pump
Spark plugs-NGK? Wireset, NGK as well?
Slimline fan-best place for this?
Intercooler setup-expensive I know, but, I am not planning on pushing a lot of boost. Egay on this?
Turbo feed and return lines-mine are leaking like hell! Not sure what he did with that......
Should I use flanges for the lines on the turbo? He had some shady rubber couplers, betting the leak is really from that?

Fluids: What does everyone use?
Oil-Some people tell me go with synthetic now, others don't, ahhhh! What is the peoples choice here? One guy told me go with royal purple. Thoughts?
Tranny fluid-assuming it doesn't make a difference, but, thought I would see.
Radiator fluid
Good oil filter?

Brakes: Not doing a big brake setup yet, but, I would like better brakes!
Pads-ceramics?
Drilled rotors-are they available?
Stainless steel brake lines-best site?
Rear drums-again, best site?

I'd like to change some other misc. things:
Mugen copy kit-where can I still get one?
Exedy clutch-votes?
Low pro tires-I have enkei rims now-go with nitto, falken.....? It snows here, so I would like to have all weather tires
Good floormats-retarded I know, but, the crap I bought is just that-crap!


I was also wondering what the best paint for an engine bay would be, and the best way to do it!

I also found (after days of raining) that my entire spare tire area was filled with water!! WTF! No rust on the roof, is there a leak from the drain areas on the hatch? Best way to seal this up??? Anyone else have this issue?

Thanks guys!!

[cbstdscott]

RPR member MrDisibility (Marcus) has a great site Heel Toe.

You have not mentioned a rear sway bar, along with the bushing replacement, is about the best thing you can do for your suspension. Check Summit Racing for the Addco rear sway bar.

Are you sure you want to turbo this engine? You will want to upgrade to OBD1 enegine management to make it work well.

The front rotors, caliper and caliper bracket from the 86-89 Integra are a direct bolt on. You could swap in the rear disks from the same car, but it is a waste of time (heavier and no extra stopping power). The aluminum drums from the 85-87 CRX HF is the trick solution.

Buy cheap street tires for the street, buy real racing tires for racing.

Scott

[Jill]

RPR member MrDisibility (Marcus) has a great site Heel Toe.

You have not mentioned a rear sway bar, along with the bushing replacement, is about the best thing you can do for your suspension. Check Summit Racing for the Addco rear sway bar.

Are you sure you want to turbo this engine? You will want to upgrade to OBD1 enegine management to make it work well.

The front rotors, caliper and caliper bracket from the 86-89 Integra are a direct bolt on. You could swap in the rear disks from the same car, but it is a waste of time (heavier and no extra stopping power). The aluminum drums from the 85-87 CRX HF is the trick solution.

Buy cheap street tires for the street, buy real racing tires for racing.

Scott

Thanks for your input! I did want a rear sway bar as well, and I actually just found a set for about $300. It is all a matter of money and I am trying to prioritize things based on the amount I can throw at the project.

As for the turbo, it is already setup up on the 85 and I haven't pulled anything from that car yet to throw in the 87. Should I not pull the turbo as well? Should I just yank it off and throw on a cold air or short ram intake? Is there a writeup about it on here? What does the obd1 setup do for the turbo and how exactly does that work for this engine-I'm assuming a conversion harness?

That part is now confusing me! Thanks for your response!

[cbstdscott]

What does the obd1 setup do for the turbo

Uh, if you ask the question then maybe you should not be messing with turbos.

Do NOT buy a front sway bar, you ONLY need the rear sway bar.

And replace all of the bushings in the suspension!

Scott

[Jill]

Uh, if you ask the question then maybe you should not be messing with turbos.

Do NOT buy a front sway bar, you ONLY need the rear sway bar.

And replace all of the bushings in the suspension!

Scott

Regarding the turbo, that was already set up and running on the 85 I bought. I'm just transferring all of it into the 87 because the 85 body is rusted thru. Should I assume that what the guy was running on the car probably did some damage? I'm just trying to understand it all.

I found a master bushing set for $75 bucks, it's being shipped overnight so I can get on with this project! Thanks for the websites, found some good stuff there! I have had my eye set on the carbon fiber hood from heel toe for months now! Beats replacing the nose panel!

Thanks!

[pvbcrx]

The spare tire well chock full o' water. I'm assuming you have a DX because of the original carb, so there's no sunroof to worry with. A few ideas:

1) The hatch is sealed around the perimeter with a rubber gasket on the body. Pull up the gasket off the lip, and see if you have any rust issues/perforation.

2) Hatch hinge bolts. Lightly pull down the rear of the headliner to peek in and see if there's water wicking in around the bolts. I've heard of rust cropping up there.

3) Taillights & center "CRX" trim panel. Rainwater normally cascades around the hatch perimeter, down past the taillights. Remove the interior trim piece to access the backside of the taillights & trim panel. Maybe camp out in the hatch area with a flashlight, and have a friend hose down the car. You might luck out and see where the water's coming in. The taillights have a foam gasket around the perimeter that might be compromised. IIRC the taillights and the center trim panel originally had little rubber washers under the attach screws; after twenty years they may have rotted away. There's a bunch of holes in the back side of the car's body, and any one of them could be your water source.

Other random stuff no one's touched on yet -

Floor mats:
I bought mine from Del Sol Tuning, CRX Floor Mats. They fit perfectly. Sadly, Honda's @#$% lawyers made the company's owner remove the "CRX" logos.

All-season tires:
We're running all-weather Yokohama AVID H4S on my wife's car. They handle great in inclement weather and aren't too expensive. Dunno what size wheels you have, but the smallest AVID H4S size is 185/60HR14. There is also a "V" rated version.

Brake lines:
I bought a set of Techna-Fit stainless lines from www.buybrakes.com, but check around the intarwebs. I've seen sets on eBay but I don't recall the brand.

Tranny fluid:
Back in the day Honda specified regular ol' 10W30 for our cars. Newer manual transmission Hondas have Honda's special manual transmission fluid called out. Many rpr members swear by it. I just use 10W30 because I always have some around. I change it every 30K miles.

Motor oil:
You'll get a LOT of opinions on this topic! 10W30 dino oil Castrol since I bought my CRX new, changed ridiculously often every 3K miles. No problems with 220K miles on the odometer. Nonetheless, if I bought a new car today I'd use Mobil 1, like I do in my other vehicles. In your case with a turbo, I'd use Mobil 1 or another synthetic. It's not that expensive; you can get a 5 quart jug at Walmart for $22 or so.

Oil filters:
I've used Purolator (PureOne if on sale) for a while. Fortunately they seem to do quite well in filter comparisons. Some dude cut a bunch of filters apart to examine the innards, but I don't have the link handy.

Hope this helps -

[cbstdscott]

Regarding the turbo, that was already set up and running on the 85 I bought. I'm just transferring all of it into the 87 because the 85 body is rusted thru. Should I assume that what the guy was running on the car probably did some damage? I'm just trying to understand it all.

Assuming that the previous owner did it "right" you should be able to look forward to years of happy motoring. Or, he has "pulled the pin" on the hand grenade and handed it to you.

Not to be harsh on a newb, but you do realize that slapping a turbo on an engine that was not designed to be turbo'ed is not a simple "bolt on?" The stock EW engine can handle about 5 psi of boost reasonably well but anything over that is stressing on parts that will find a way to leave their happy homes within the engine block.

Also, turbos have very challenging timing and fueling requirements that the stock fuel and ignition management systems can not really handle. That is why an upgrade to OBD1 is such a good idea.

We are here to help and support you.

Scott

[jsgprod]

Oil filters:
I've used Purolator (PureOne if on sale) for a while. Fortunately they seem to do quite well in filter comparisons. Some dude cut a bunch of filters apart to examine the innards, but I don't have the link handy.

I found in that (or a very similar one) filter comparison that the Motorcraft (yep, the Ford brand) filters were actually made by Purolator. Not only that but the guy mentioned that it seemed the Motorcraft filter had the thicker case with the better filter elements that Purolator makes. And the Motorcraft is cheaper than either of the Purolator brand filters.

I still think that Wix makes the best filters you can buy though.

Jay

[pvbcrx]

I found in that (or a very similar one) filter comparison that the Motorcraft (yep, the Ford brand) filters were actually made by Purolator. Not only that but the guy mentioned that it seemed the Motorcraft filter had the thicker case with the better filter elements that Purolator makes. And the Motorcraft is cheaper than either of the Purolator brand filters.

I still think that Wix makes the best filters you can buy though.

Jay

That's cool - Motorcraft actually makes filters for our cars? I'm all about cheaper if it's as good or better. I've also heard about Wix but haven't seen them locally.

Doug

[Jill]

Assuming that the previous owner did it "right" you should be able to look forward to years of happy motoring. Or, he has "pulled the pin" on the hand grenade and handed it to you.

Not to be harsh on a newb, but you do realize that slapping a turbo on an engine that was not designed to be turbo'ed is not a simple "bolt on?" The stock EW engine can handle about 5 psi of boost reasonably well but anything over that is stressing on parts that will find a way to leave their happy homes within the engine block.

Also, turbos have very challenging timing and fueling requirements that the stock fuel and ignition management systems can not really handle. That is why an upgrade to OBD1 is such a good idea.

We are here to help and support you.

Scott

Scott-
I really appreciate your input on this, and I am sorry I'm such a newb! I try my best to research and understand everything with this car which has turned into an obsession!

The guy with the turbo-he said he was pushing about 5 lbs and prior to putting the turbo on he rebuilt the bottom end of the engine and put on a new tranny. He upgraded the fuel management system and I was going to put in a new fuel pump and replace all the hoses on the car to "freshen it up." Perhaps I should just take the turbo off at this point? After I get it all in the other car I was going to take it down to get it professionally tuned. I'm still keeping my eye out for a d16, in fact I am going to go buy the whole fuel management system today from a guy with the ecu, all wiring harnesses, intake/exhaust mani's, the whole works! Everything but the engine, which I think would be easier to come by then the components I'm about to get!

I do sincerely appreciate your advice, I always read your's first on other peoples posts!! Domo Arigato! (Love the Japanese license plate, by the way!)

[cbstdscott]

He upgraded the fuel management system

That is only half the battle, the ignition control system needs to be fairly sophisticated to keep a turbo from killing itself.

If it were my project I would go Naturally Asperated (NA) just because most home-made turbo engine live short, but exciting lives. I know that the "turbo guys" will argue that they can make a turbo "easy" to live with but it is not a simple project for a novice.

I presume that performance is the ultimate goal? It is possible to achieve a 15:1 power to weight ration with a NA stock engine AND pass California's tough smog inspection. The secret is that power is made in the head. With some simple machine shop work, a larger throttlebody and a more agressive cam that engine really "wakes up."

Do not start buying D16A1 bits and pieces. Buy a complet package when you have the money. Besides, you've got enough of a project making the swap into the better body.

Scott

[R1SRUNS]

Hey, Jill hows your swap going??? I'm interested in your HF engine. pm your phone # and I'll call you see what we can work out.

Thanks
Brett

[rinnaye]

If it were my project I would go Naturally Asperated (NA)

I presume that performance is the ultimate goal? It is possible to achieve a 15:1 power to weight ration with a NA stock engine AND pass California's tough smog inspection. The secret is that power is made in the head. With some simple machine shop work, a larger throttlebody and a more agressive cam that engine really "wakes up."

Ok Scott,

Here's what I'd like to know. If given the opportunity, and considering California's tough smog restrictions, let me ask you this, would you opt to build a stock EW4, over swapping in a D16a1, and if you do say build the EW4, then would that "built EW4" produce as much power, or more than a stock D16a1? Say in the range of 113 HP.

Rene (n00b)

[rwdcrx]

Jill: If you do go NA I could get rid of that turbo set-up for you. If the other "guy" had it set up for turbo, then you would have to Un set it up for NA. I say use it if you got it! You could get T3 gasket kit cheap. That would stop the leaking. You need to find out what the "guy" did to the fuel system...EVERYTHING. How much boost are you planning? If you stay in the 5-6psi range, upgrades will be a lot cheaper. Go any higher and you open Pandora's Box! I've tuned turbo DSM's before I got my 1G, so I know a little bit about this. Applying turbo to 1g's, I dont know much.

Like I said.... IMHO I would run the turbo till it blows up (if it does) then rebuild it to be "the SuperTurbo Beast"!



<-----where is "somewhere" If you don't mind. I know/knew a lot of turbo "guys" in Colorado Springs.

Edited by rwdcrx, 27 August 2008 - 11:19 PM.

[Ghost-One]

Uh, if you ask the question then maybe you should not be messing with turbos.

Do NOT buy a front sway bar, you ONLY need the rear sway bar.

And replace all of the bushings in the suspension!

Scott

you can buy a front sway bar and use it for a rear sway bar
i recomend a 87 accord front sway bar its 1" think totally awesome
an energy suspensions end links some muffler clamps and a lil fabricating you got cheap and excellent bar