Lay's ZC Engine Swap 1978 Honda Civic CVCC Wagon

[Layspeed]

Well, just thought I'd finally start my own thread after all these years. Should have done it a long time ago. Brief history. Vehicle purchased in California in 2004 from 3rd owner I believe. Got it to pass California's crazy smog check program and drove it for a week. I then parked it and proceeded to do a 4 day engine swap. I already had a wrecked '76 CVCC hatchback to steal the engine from. Engine is a '87 JDM ZC with 5spd transmission. Drove it daily to work and around until about 2008 when life hit a major speed bump. Just today, Justin took me back down to Blaine, Washington and I drove my wagon back through the border and imported it to Canada with my temporary worker status. I just have to get a provincial inspection done and then I can purchase insurance/registration from ICBC. Those two things, I'm planning on getting done tomorrow :) I'm pretty stoked about having my car to drive again and it's just screaming to be driven.

Lots of things to come...so check back. I'll try to document as best I can with the time I have. Kids sure do grow up fast! 8) I may post up a photo or two this weekend. Funny true story...when we went down to pick up my car today, I completely forgot the key to the 'Club' that I placed on the steering wheel. Justin and I got creative and modified my '87 Integra steering wheel with a knife and lug wrench to pry the club off. Don't worry, I'll definitely post a pic of the wheel! I guess it's time to install my new steering wheel. Don't you just love it when things happen for a reason! :D

[Layspeed]

Pics as promised.
1. Engine bay quite a few years back, not much has changed though.

2. Cockpit, what it used to look like

3. 2006 Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA

4. Another from '06

5. Can't remember the year, but this was during a g1teg.org meet

6. another from that day with my friend's old ZC swapped '77 Accord

7. after I got the Miata wheels

8. the 30+ year paint still has some shine in it

9. June 2010 after the Nardi wheel install

10. the mangled '87 Integra wheel

11. the new (used) Nardi wood wheel, needs a polish

12. a wheel Justin found in a JDM RHD Nissan March, saving it for my wife's '77 wagon (whenever that is )

13. How many Honda's are in this photo?

14. messing around with reflections using Twyla's license plate light. Sshhh don't tell her.

I guess that's it for now. I'm going to be putting the factory front suspension back on the car in the following week. I need to install some seats, find a water leak, install some kind of windshield washer system. I want to redo 2 of my engine mounts and I think the 3rd needs to be replaced.

[Layspeed]

The battery is just an Odyssey dry cell. PC680 I think. It finally died in '08. I'm temporarily using a normal Honda sized (group 51) battery mounted in a wooden box in my hatch area

[Layspeed]

The battery lasted me 4 solid years of driving. But there were times when I didn't move the car for weeks at a time. I probably could have made it last a little longer if I kept it charged up. They're expensive now, it was only $85 when I bought it in '04. The other steering wheel is nice! The diameter is the same as the Nardi BUT it has a more sporty feel to it. I wanted to install it in my wagon but my wife likes it better than the Nardi so I'm using that. I didn't want it to get damaged when it comes time to finally install it in her car. I might put in on and try it out for a while. Besides, her wagon is in California so there's no way I'm working on it anytime soon.

[Layspeed]

I'm very much a 4dr hatch/wagon person
In pics 3 and 4 those are Acura Integra GSR/Special Edition wheels from 1994-95. They are 15x6 with a +45 offset, 4x100 bolt pattern. I was using 195/50R15 tires then.

[Layspeed]

Got my car inspected and is insured and registered a British Columbia car now :D I parked it this past weekend and started tear down to do a minor revamping. Things I've always been dying to do and never got around to doing. Engine wise, nothing changes. I'll upload pics when time allows as I'm trying to spend whatever little time I have working on it. I did install some 90-ish Acura Integra seats though a couple of weeks ago. That made a huge difference in driving comfort! I'll get the rear seats recovered with the same material as the new front seats to match. I'm in the process of changing out the dash to one that's less cracked For the past two nights, I've been tackling wiring. I've decided to finally redo my engine wiring harness to tidy it up a bit and fix some of the factory wiring as well while I'm at it. There's wiring all over the damn place...and I hate wiring. List of other things needed to be done.

- Re-dye door panels - haven't decided yet whether to do black or a dark charcoal.
- Install a better stereo - options are endless, I'm losing sleep over it haha, but trying to keep it budget.
- Install deluxe gauges - finally
- Re-carpet interior - the old carpet was super nasty
- Fab up another center console for a couple gauges I had. I'd like something with a cupholder this time.
- ????

Well that's the update for now..gotta get to work. Takes longer on a mountain bike

[Layspeed]

Well, got the wagon done up a little and went to JCCS with Justin in September. Now it's parked for the winter. I thought I'd share some more photos since everyone loves photos!

Old dash
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Stock rear seats
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yucky stock carpet
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the replacement dash pre-paint
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Nice? NO!
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interior semi stripped down
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torn shifter bushing
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replacement dash post-paint
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others bits painted also
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Deluxe gauge center pod (glass faces) hehe
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parts of engine harness I think
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new glass for tachometer and speedo gauge cluster
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shifter swap some integra one I found at the wreckers
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shifter bushing filled with poly, painted shift rod and stabilizer rod
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Much better!
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new rear seat material
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Look! It's Justin's wagon!
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Justin's stereo install for me. Blaupunkt AM/FM Cassette, Alpine audio controller, Alpine 6 disc CD changer, USB charging port, 3.5mm Aux input jack

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the Alpine controller crafted into the left fresh air vent. The 3 factory switches below are now momentary switches which control the controller
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new rear sounds, glass is sooo reflective

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custom amp rack into the rear seat back 2 EFX amps, about 1600watts max I guess
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Realm Audio 12" shallow depth subwoofer in custom mdf/fiberglass enclosure courtesy of Conner/Justin
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Other side
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too lazy to get my circular polarizer filter to get rid of the reflection
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All covered up...looks almost factory to help keep the thieves away
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and this is how it was a year ago parked in my parents backyard in Cali
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[Layspeed]

That's all PGMFI wiring. When I first did my swap in '05, I never removed the unnecessary wiring from the engine bay. The wiring redo was the main reason I actually got some work done on my wagon this year...snowball effect.

Bill - that's pretty funny! There were plenty of times when I lifted the harness up into the air just to straighten out the wiring. :?

[Firehawk989]

Well I don't know about that; it has some dents and rust spots that I'm not looking forward to dealing with, but a little cutting and welding and it should look alright I think. I just hope I can get the paint matched pretty closely because I really like the original white. As it stands right now the car is thoroughly wrapped in a giant tarp and buried under a foot or two of snow at my friend's place in Kamloops. His shop is too big and open to heat up or anything during the winter, so I probably won't be able to work on it more until spring unfortunately.

My search continues for an '88 or '89 Integra 5-speed donor car. There seems to be lots of them in the states, but hard to find here.

[Layspeed]

I insured my wagon last week and started driving it again! 8) I sure do miss driving my 1st gen. The other day, I replaced my whiny Holley inline fuel pump with a unit from an '89 Integra. Today I spent a few hours replacing the timing belt, spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor and readjusted the ignition timing. I ran into a couple problems and some things took longer than I had planned but isn't that what always happens? Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm taking the family out for the day and enjoy the drive in the wagon. The weather is supposed to be awesome for a change.