Axe's Back From the Grave Build!

[AxeOfGlory]

Hey guys,

I’ll start off with a story. About two years ago (just looked at my images, date is 9/5/2010!) I was browsing Craigslist for cars to flip when I found two DA Integras together for 500 bucks. Now, when I called him I never got through to him, and he never called me back. THE NEXT DAY, my roommate comes home with THOSE TWO DA Integras. I ended up buying one of them off my roommate for 300 bucks (half the price plus covered his towing). Here’s what she looked like:

The car was “intended” to be a parts car for the owner he bought it off of. Now, This car was in bad shape, but not near as bad to be a parts car. It had a miss that they couldn’t find resolution to. So I figured what the hell, this will be fun! I started with the basic things I needed, like some good used tires to get her rolling, a striker so the door would latch, misc stuff. Then I started with the motor. I chased UP and DOWN, replacing this and that of which already needed to be replaced, I’m talking over kill tuneup :rant:. Long story short, she had a serious chunk of material missing from one of the valves. SO, I did a full head swap (that I picked up for $37 bucks), swapped everything over, fired right up

Here’s a shot of the bad valve:

I went to take her out for her first real drive, put it in gear and took to the street. I forgot my phone at home in case something were to happen so I went to put it in reverse and back up. Damn shift linkage breaks in half on me and wont come out of gear!!! :bang: Got her fixed up, and started daily driving her after about a month of turning wrenches.

After she had been running right I started to clean her up, I buffed the living piss out of this car for a solid week, ruined 8 compound pads in the process. Here’s what she looked like:

Fast forward 3 months. It’s the middle winter now. The oil pan gasket has a leak but I’m keeping a good eye on it. I’m driving to work at 5:30 am, cruising at 60 on the highway, and all of a sudden my oil light comes on, and a noise arises. Within 5 seconds it went from quiet to LOUUUDDDDDD, and I instantly shut the car off. I pulled over and popped off the oil fill; it’s bellowing smoke out of the valve cover :bawl: I guess the oil pan gasket froze up and broke apart big enough to dump 4 quarts of oil, thus spinning a rod bearing…

Times got tough, I moved, it got towed (with a bad motor) by the city and I had to go get it. I was trying to sell it just because I didn’t have time to repair it. It’s an automatic with a spun bearing, I couldn’t even sell her for 600, with a 400 dollar hit for what I had in it. I didn’t even want to sell her, but such is life.

Fast forward a year, I had taken her to my moms and decided I was gonna wait until I could afford to build her back up. Now fast forward again about 6 months or so (losing count now haha), I finally decided to map out a plan to do a 100% rebuild on the motor. Now after pricing everything I found a guy who had a built ls bottom end for cheaper than it would be to rebuild…

My plan quickly spiraled out of control, way off track from what I had intended to do. I had planned to do a fresh bottom end, hot tank the head and no all new seals, slap it on and drive it.

Here’s what I have now:

B18b1 block
GSR crank
Eagle H beam forged rods
ARP Rod Bolts
ITR pop up pistons
ACL bearings
GSR water and oil pump
ARP head studs

Golden Eagle Vtec conversion kit

OBD1 B16 Head:

Bone stock, resurfaced head (within factory spec)
All new guides, seals, cleaned valves and springs
Stock cams
ITR wrinkle red replica valve cover

I’m now in the process of grabbing my parts for a full manual swap (92 YS1) and getting rid of the slushbox!

Swapping full interior to black (getting rid of that ridiculous Palmy Blue!)

I picked up a virgin p28 ecu and I just bought (today) a chipping kit so I can have a basemap for startup and take it to a tuner on a dyno here in town in the next month.

I’m getting super nervous, and excited at the same time. I would be a lot more excited to be putting this money into performance parts, but first she must come back from the grave

I’ll post some more updates later tomorrow if I have time, I’m running to grab the rest of my manual swap tomorrow, so it’ll be a busy day!!

Thanks for reading! I’ll get more in depth of the nitty gritty and the fun stuff the next few posts!

• Brandon

[wingbox]

Awesome story lol that teg has been thro alot!

[CHAGGMEISTER]

i know the feeling of hearing that knocking noise from the engine bay! its horrendous! but i agree with wing box awesome story! im gonna check this frequently!

[Deceptakhan]

Nice job man! I absolutely love your screen name lol

[AxeOfGlory]

Thanks guys! I just went out of town to grab the rest of my manual swap and I shared the whole story with my buddy on the way down. I used to think this car was a nuisance but now I look back and realize all the funny stories that came with her! Now to some updates

Thursday I swapped all the interior but the dash. I had picked up an ENTIRE conversion to black kit for 100 bucks a few weeks back, unfortunately the interior isn’t in AS good of shape as my palmy blue was, but I still wanted black. The side panels that run from the rear seats to hatch had cracks at the strut mounts and the center piece in the hatch was completely trashed, BUT I found a guy who has those MINT pieces that I’m grabbing Wednesday for 20 bucks I pulled the dash Friday. Luckily i did because it gave me complete insight on removing the pedals and linkages. The dash is going in after I get the pedals in.

I bought a YS1 tranny the other day for $100 that only had 60k miles on it, and I went and grabbed the full manual swap this weekend for another $100. I’ve read most people usually spend 700-1000 for their swap, and i got really lucky and only spent 200 total. While I was down there I also grabbed some hatch struts, taillights, cluster, aluminum motor mount and obd1 wiring harness for an extra $20 :rockon: He had the car flipped on its side so we could easily pull the linkages and then we just flopped it back down to grab the rest :lol: So now I can convert my §§§§§ harness to obd1 easily without spending a ton of money! Best part was since I had already pulled my dash the day before, it only took 20 minutes to pull his dash haha.

That was a WHOLLLEEEE lotta parts for such little cash, he just needed to get rid of everything haha.

I’m ordering my Exedy OEM clutch kit tomorrow, as well as an upper end gasket kit finally. Still gotta grab a flywheel for it but that’s no biggie. My chipping kit comes in in the next few days from Xenocron, so i can have my buddy chip it and convert it to a manual ecu.

All my parts are just waiting now, I should have everything I need to start building this motor and getting it swapped, just gotta double check dyno availability so I can work around that schedule! Here’s a few other pictures:

Conversion kit and ARP Rod Bolts.

Some pictures of the motor:

The machine shop resurfaced the head, and hot tanked it. Unfortunately all the carbon didn’t come off, but we’ll take care of it soon!

Sandblasted the valve cover, gonna attempt to wrinkle finish the cover when it quits raining!!

And finally a picture of all my parts just waiting for some good weather!

I’m doing this on a severe budget, and this is what I have into it compared to average price…

Bottom end - $550 avg $1200
Head (machine work and conversion included) - $700 avg $1000
Full Tranny swap (clutch etc) - $350 avg $1000
Interior swap - $120 avg $300
ECU - $120 avg $175

Totals so far - $1840 avg $3675!!! That’s just the average numbers I’ve seen and heard from people. Yeah it’s taking longer and is way stressful this route, but look at that difference!

I’m sure there’s some stuff I missed, i have to repair a few things to make them functionable, like the shift lever threads broke off, so I might either grab a short throw or weld on new threads. Still up in the air!

I’m getting excited! I’m on a time limit of a month to get it running, and I can definitely achieve this, i just have to stay motivated!

Thanks for reading,

• Brandon

[GermzDB1]

Really interesting. I’ll be sure to check back. Hope you don’t forget to update often. Have fun :rockon::rockon::rockon:

[AxeOfGlory]

Well I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is I ordered my Exedy OEM clutch and my upper end gasket kit. I ordered the kit from Eristic. Now before yall go yellin at me I did my research! They’re ISO approved and haven’t had any bad reviews from any Honda guys that I’ve found. Some just ne-say about the headgasket preferred to be OEM, but I already have that covered

As soon as those two lovelys come in, I can install the new valve seals, then I can mate the head and tranny to the block!!

Now, for the bad news…I was super stoked tracking my Xencron chipping kit today, I get home and open it up, and it says OBD0 on the kit when I ordered an OBD1 kit (even shows on the receipt) :bang:

I sent Chris an email over there, but I think they won’t get back to me tomorrow. I’m hoping we can sort this out and not have to wait a week for it again, cause I was planning on chipping my P28 tomorrow.

I do have something that needs a little insight. I’m still researching but I figure I’d get some response first hand. I’m looking at getting a Megan single bend billet short throw. I thought I read somewhere that there are fitment issues with the exhaust? I pulled all my linkages off a 91 DA, and the Megan shifter is meant for 90-93 integras.

In a perfect world, this should fit with no issues correct?

Thanks for any insight!

• Brandon

[AxeOfGlory]

Anyone have any knowledge on those short throws? I’ll be getting the ES bushing kit with it as well. I think all I read is removing the heat shield and you’re fine.

Chris over at Xenocron did email me back Monday, all is well with the packaging

• Brandon

[AxeOfGlory]

Some small news. I swapped over my odometer into the manual cluster. For anyone who doesn’t know how:

1. Gently twist off the rubber plug on the end of the trip reset.
2. Remove the two screws that hold on both mounting brackets.
3. Depress the back three locking tabs, starting from the top makes it easier, then the bottom two should just slide out. The trim should come off.
4. Gently pull off cluster bezel that lays over the gauges.
5. Remove the 2 large bronze Philips screws and the two small silver Philips screws.
6. Installation is reverse, I did this so I keep my original mileage.

Take a minute to take some fine polish and polish the clear plastic.

Hopefully some more updates this weekend. I dunno if anyone is following this, as it really isn’t interesting at this time lol.

• Brandon

[AxeOfGlory]

Some small but impacting news. I got the manual pedals installed! I tell you what, the write up I’m following sure makes it easier, there is soooooo much stuff to remove to get good access to those pedals haha. Buzzed out my hole and it fit like a glove. Got the majority of the transmission case cleaned so I can spray it to match the block when the time comes. Brake clean sure disappears fast!

• Brandon

[CHAGGMEISTER]

Dang!! Putting in work!!

[AxeOfGlory]

Haha yeah it’s taking all my free time! But I really wanna get her running so I can enjoy her again. My clutch and upper gasket kit is supposed to come in by the 7th, so at that point I’ll be able to start assembling the motor!

Stay tuned,

• Brandon

[AxeOfGlory]

Clutch and Gasket kit came in yesterday! Time to put in some serious work. I plan on having this motor fully assembled by this weekend and installed in the next two. We have to work around not only the dyno but my buddies schedule because he’s the one with the shop haha.

First things first are to disassemble the head , replace the valve seals, clean the valve seats and valves, then start replacing all the seals, and go from there. Weather should be nice, so I think it’ll come along nicely.

I’m going down to my tuner tomorrow to pick up a jumper harness and talk dyno. Been doing some research about 2 step, vtec engagement and rev limits. By the end of this week my ECU will be set up for datalogging, dyno, and converted to manual.

• Brandon

[DAmondread]

awesome progress. I like this thread. I had the same issue with the shifter stock. The threads were gone on my mine. I was gonna get a short throw like you are planning, but instead just borrowed my uncles tap and dye set and put new threads on the exiting stock. It worked perfectly, and saved me $$$$. Just a thought.

[AxeOfGlory]

Yeah it’s still up in the air, I’m looking at a Megan racing one that I found for 35 bucks. It’s billet steel so I know it’ll be strong. I think another issue I’m gonna run into is the guy who pulled the shift linkage before I got there misplaced the bolts so I have to try to find the proper bolts for it. Where would be a good place to source the correct bolts for a bunch of things? I have to check and see if the bellhosuing bolts will work too as i read somwhere there may be a few different.

• Brandon

[DAmondread]

you have “u-pull its” over that way? Thats where i source all my weird misc. stuff that nobody sells like hardware.

[AxeOfGlory]

Yeah we’ve got a bunch of junkyards but never any DA’s. I’m assuming that any bseries tranny/motor combo will work so I might swing by on the weekend and check it out.

I actually did fing www.hondaautomotivepartparts.com that has some serious breakdowns of images, with part numbers, quantity needed, sizes, etc. It looks like the manual uses 11 bolts, and the automatic only has 7 of the same size bolts. I hate collecting the small stuff because there’s always something you’ll forget lol.

• Brandon

[BLKACK1]

Talk about a budget build! great build

[DAmondread]

[QUOTE=AxeOfGlory;2258674]Yeah we’ve got a bunch of junkyards but never any DA’s. I’m assuming that any bseries tranny/motor combo will work so I might swing by on the weekend and check it out.

I actually did fing www.hondaautomotivepartparts.com that has some serious breakdowns of images, with part numbers, quantity needed, sizes, etc. It looks like the manual uses 11 bolts, and the automatic only has 7 of the same size bolts. I hate collecting the small stuff because there’s always something you’ll forget lol.

• Brandon[/QUOTE]

I feel you bro. Thats the worst part. Sourcing hardware is usually a head ache. But you could always take one of those 7 that are right and go to ACE hardware or a Nut and Bolt store and see if they have something in stock that will work. I do that alot too.

[AxeOfGlory]

Yeah I think we’ll get it figured out. Worst comes to worse I can run to a local hardware store, and my buddy works for Acura so I get OEM parts at wholesale +10 percent.

I had a feeling to go to the junkyard on Thursday on a whim and check and see what was in their lot. Turns out they had TWO DA’s down there. Unfortunately one had the motor, tranny, linkages, the rear half of the interior was gone too. BUT I did however get full perfect condition power steering lines, carpet that was in great shape just dirty, a drivers side OEM floor mat, odds and end things like dash clock/ashtray/sills/interior pieces, a mint condition ecu cover. AND, I only paid 32 bucks

Then I met with a local guy and bought another set of two interior side panels and the center rear panel in the hatch for 20 bucks! The set that came with my interior swap had major cracks at the strut mounts. I should be picking up the rear seats and carpet in great shape for 30 next Friday :excite:

We tore the head apart to replace the valve seals on Saturday, and ran into issues with which seals go on the int/exh sides, but we got it figured out today so we’ll work on it tomorrow! I also pressure washed the living piss out of the carpet and floor mat yesterday and hung it to dry in front on a shop fan for the next few days. It was filthy :down:

Oh one final thing, I also met up with a guy I’m thinking about tuning the motor to pick up an obd-0 to 1 harness. He wanted 50 bucks, and when I got there I found out it was a Xenocron harness and was still rolled up in the original packaging!! Scooorrrreeeee. Running $104 on their website right now.

Anyways, some pictures haha.

Anyways, had a slight setback, and Mother’s Day was today, but hopefully more progress soon! Still working things out with the tuner. I have two options, two different prices. I heard some bad reviews about the guy I was planning on going with, so I’m talking to the other tuner as well now.

Ah I forgot to mention that I got a factory owners manual for a 91 as well! Although it’s for an LS, I didn’t care haha.

• Brandon