My 93 Integra ls had a tick over 200,000 miles on her and the input shaft bearing was going out. I was hoping it was the throwout bearing and switched that out with a whole new clutch and replaced the Honda mtf with something thicker. The whirling noise was still there. The only other problem I had was a grind above 6k rpm when going from 2nd to 3rd gear. It was finally time to convert the DA from daily driver to track car. From the recommendation of our own Colin, I hit up Justin at Gearspeed. I went to their facility in Rancho Cucamonga and met both Justin and Bryan. Justin was very informative and happy to answer any questions I had.
This is the setup Justin and I agreed upon:
My stock USDM ys1 transmission
Carbon synchros with all the bearings
Replaced all the gears (after they dis-assembled the transmission and saw the condition of the gears)
ITR limited slip differential
Dis-assemble, cleaning and assemble
and Gear-x 4.78 final drive
Problem: The car sounded like a jet engine when the gas was let off while the car was still in gear. I took the car back to Gearspeed. Justin and I believe the manager (I work nights so my memory is shot) took the car for a spin. They were more then happy to diagnose the issue. I got the car back the next day and no more jet engine noise. It turned out to be the Gear-x final drive. Gearspeed has excellent service and they stand by their products. They will be rebuilding the DB2 transmission in the future. I highly recommend them to anyone that needs their Honda transmission rebuilt.
The DA9 is so fun to drive, she is still my daily driver instead of the DB2. With the Gear-x 4.78 final drive, acceleration is much more brisk compared to the stock final drive. I have taken her to Buttonwillow twice and have had no issues. I don’t mash the gears though. Gas mileage has taken a hit from an average of 33 mpg to 28 :sad:
I have to give it up to Honda for their stout manual transmissions. My car had all the bolt ons, 62403 crower cams with a dry 50 shot of nitrous during her street racing days in the late 90s. The stock transmission was beaten and still went 200,000 miles.
