Hi, from the new guy!

[soletek]

Guess I'll just jump in with both feet.
I'm doing an engine swap on a 1985 Honda CRX HF. The original engine finally gave up. The replacement is a 1994 Honda Civic VX. I am learning a lot about wiring harnesses!!!! I used to own a 1992 VX, brand new in '92. It got a best recorded mileage of 63, but normally got 54. The best recorded mileage with the HF was 51.7 on a 720 mi round trip to Northern CA. The HF weighs 1780 lbs. per my Intercomp scales (pre engine swap). I will post the resulting weight after I finish the battle with the ECU install.
Does anyone have any helpful recommendations other than: DON'T.
P.S. The engine is already in the car and it fits awsome!

[mrmad]

Welcome. Search some of the 1st gen CRX sites for all the parts you'll need to do the swap (axles, knuckles, mounts, etc)

[soletek]

Hi mrmad. Thanks for the input. I actuly Found that the stock HF axles fit in the CX tranny that I have cuppled to the VX powerplant. It has the same tall gears in it that the VX trannys do. It was in the best condition out of the trannys I could find. I also found that the shift stabelizer shaft fit on the opposet side of the tranny case (HF to VX), so I made a mounting bracket so it would fit on the original left side. I also fabricated my own motor mounts so when I need to replace the rubber I just hit the local parts hole and get 85 CRX mounts. When I figure out how to input picks, I Will.

[GasSavers_TomO]

It's cool to see someone doing an uncommon (on performance boards, that is) swap to a third generation Honda, congrats! If you need some schematics, don't hesitate to ask. Welcome aboard!

AS far as posting pictures here: {img}http://www.picturelocationhere.jpg{/img} but use the square brackets instead...or click on the icon that looks like a mountain with a yellow background and input the URL (address) of the picture in the box that pops up.

[soletek]

Hi TomO thank you for the input, I joined this site due to the awsome info that has ben posted (yours for one example). The most dificulty I have been having as of late is the lack of information on the CA 4 wire version of the VX. I have at my disposal quite a few versions of the honda factory manual and a 1995 service and 1995 electrical trouble shooting manual on order,soon to arive. The computer is a 1995 CA version and the engine is the 1994 CA version also with a 4 wire harness. I am not sure if in CA on a smog legal engine swap, if it is required to have a CA version computer or if I may use the FED computer and harness. By reading your previous threads it seems that the FED version gets better FE. And, yes, if you have any info that you think may be of help, I would welcome it gladly. Thanks!!!!!!!!

[mrmad]

Are you sure the transmission and axles you have will fit into your 1st gen CRX? Check out this thread on Hondaswap.

http://hondaswap.com/civic-crx-ew/ne...z6-swap-71557/

I'm pretty sure you need the CA ECU to pass smog. You are allowed to swap engines of the same or newer years, but you have to include all of the emissions equipment of the newer engine. Yours being a CA car to begin with, I think they'd frown on a federal ECU. You'd have to run into an inspector who knows the difference, but with my luck, I'd end up with a Honda expert as an inspector.

This is not to say you could pass smog with a CA ECu and then convert the car to a federal ECU and O2 sensor after you pas smog. Of course 2 years later, to pass smog again, you'd have to convert it back.

[soletek]

Hi again, mrmad. The VX engine is in the car at this time. Axles and all, except wiring and a few small things like the air box, exhaust pipe, muffler and such. I appreciate the link to the other page. It refers to the fact that custom motor mounts must be made. which I did. Also, as for the locations that each model differs, the factory still manufactured the VX engines with the mounting holes in the same places as they did for the first gen CRX engine and tranny. So what I did was use the HF engine mounts on the CRX side and the VX mounts on the VX side and I grafted them together with some creative machining and welding. The only fully custom half of a mount that I had to make was the one that connected the engine's front to the factory CRX left front mount. Honda even provided the holes in the block in the same place as they did for the 85 HF, the only difference is the hole pattern was not exactly the same, hence the need to make that bracket.
I agree with the smog info you wrote. I think I will be building it as a CA 4-wire version first, unless I find a '92 VX ECU and the corresponding 8-pin LAF plug since the '92 VX was only produced with the 5-wire LAF In both CA and FED versions. '93, '94, and '95 had the delineation between CA and FED of four and five-wire LAFs. You probably know that, though.

[mrmad]

Originally Posted by soletek

Hi again, mrmad. The VX engine is in the car at this time. Axles and all, except wiring and a few small things like the air box, exhaust pipe, muffler and such. I appreciate the link to the other page. It refers to the fact that custom motor mounts must be made. which I did. Also, as for the locations that each model differs, the factory still manufactured the VX engines with the mounting holes in the same places as they did for the first gen CRX engine and tranny. So what I did was use the HF engine mounts on the CRX side and the VX mounts on the VX side and I grafted them together with some creative machining and welding. The only fully custom half of a mount that I had to make was the one that connected the engine's front to the factory CRX left front mount. Honda even provided the holes in the block in the same place as they did for the 85 HF, the only difference is the hole pattern was not exactly the same, hence the need to make that bracket.
I agree with the smog info you wrote. I think I will be building it as a CA 4-wire version first, unless I find a '92 VX ECU and the corresponding 8-pin LAF plug since the '92 VX was only produced with the 5-wire LAF In both CA and FED versions. '93, '94, and '95 had the delineation between CA and FED of four and five-wire LAFs. You probably know that, though.

Sounds like you are a much better fabricator then I am. The stock VX axles fit?

If you could post pics of how you got it in there, I think people on this site would be interested to see them.

[soletek]

OK, mrmad. I now see the misunderstanding. The stock CRX HF axles fit the CX tranny that I have the VX coupled with, no mods to the axles, they just slip in. When I installed the engine I put the car on the lift and used a tranny jack to hold the engine/tranny at the right elevation, angle (engine tilt), and alignment (fore and aft), to align the axles so there would be no binding or loading issues throughout the front suspension travel. That is when I could then modify/make the engine brackets. I want to make clear to all that I did not modify or make the rubber motor mounts. I used the factory CRX HF mounts in all factory locations, so in the future I could just replace them.

I apologize for being unclear because of the complexity of what I am doing, and I sometimes forget to mention a step that seemed a long time ago to me.
If anybody has any questions on what I try to convey, don't hesitate to ask. I will respond to clarify myself as best I can and I really appreciate anybody's help.

Pics coming soon.