Build Colin's 1978 1200 Honda Civic D16Z6 Engine Swap

Civic 1973-1979 Projects
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farenheight101
Short Shifter
Short Shifter
Posts: 98
Joined: September 14th, 2005, 5:35 pm
Province/State: Coquitlam British Columbia Canada

Post by farenheight101 »

Just installed some new coil overs too! finally, spring rates of an 88-91 civic instead of 96-00 civic! I was bouncing all over the place, a lot better now. just need new bearings for the tops of the struts.

Motors running GREAT, no rattles/vibrations and torque flex is just right.
DSC02988.jpg
DSC02989.jpg

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farenheight101
Short Shifter
Short Shifter
Posts: 98
Joined: September 14th, 2005, 5:35 pm
Province/State: Coquitlam British Columbia Canada

Post by farenheight101 »

I fabbed up the mounts, bolted them on the engine, then adjusted where I wanted the engine to be from there.

for height: I had to install the axles, jack up the suspension until the hub was at "ride height" and then adjust the height of the engine so the axles were level with the rest of the vehicle. of course you have to take in mind the motor will sag abit in the mounts when you let it down.

for side to side: you just want both inner axles to be about midway in their travel.

for front to back: you want the motor back as far as possible so the axles are straight, but that's impossible without cutting into the firewall. So to compensate for that, the axles have to angle backwards a little. It works, but I'm sure I'll be going through cv axles a little more often! Oh well, better than chopping into the firewall and messing up stuff there! You also have to leave clearance for the torque flex of the engine, so I moved it back until the intake was about half an inch to the firewall, very very close! had some touching at first, but had to "massage" the firewall with a pry bar a little. all better now. Also had to measure from the left side and the right side of the valve cover to the firewall to keep the engine perpendicular with everything. Keep the left and right measurements the same and the engine is straight.

Kept the oil pan level with the car and once everything was in the right place, I tack welded the fabbed up mounts to the frame rails! had a TON of frame reinforcing to do after all this too!

the shifter, I got the transmission with the stabilizer bar end and the shifter bar end torched off, so I welded the shifter bar from my 78 (cut to length) to the trans end.

The stabilizer bar on the civic is on the opposite side as the 88-91 trans, so I had to "spiral" the bar. I would cut a notch in the 78 bar where I wanted it to bend, then bend it, and then reinforce the bend. Heres a pic before I added some more support to the bends:
DSC02869.jpg
I need to get a better and complete pic sometime.

I had to relocate the battery to the back.

:twisted:

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farenheight101
Short Shifter
Short Shifter
Posts: 98
Joined: September 14th, 2005, 5:35 pm
Province/State: Coquitlam British Columbia Canada

Post by farenheight101 »

Some completed pix:
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