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The EF 88-91 Civic/Crx and DA 90-93 Acura Integra H22A How To

Summary:

My platform was my 1990 crx hf and the engine was a obd1 jdm H22A engine.

Once you have the motor mount kit it is pretty straight forward. I also made the alternator/tensioner bracket kit and the clutch cable/hydro conversion bracket which is all needed in the swap. The stock alternator bracket is bulky and weighs a lot and I believe hits the eye socket of the driver side headlight support. Not to mention, it's also an eye sore. Also you may be able to get away with using the stock front cross member, but not without modification for header and radius rod clearance. But, I made my own traction bar system. You can use the stock crank pulley, but I swapped it out for an alternator only pulley which you can get from aftermarket companies. You need the Integra or civic si or crx si hub and spindle assembly. I was able to use the F series 90-93 Accord mid shaft, it bolts right up. As far as axles, you can get away using 88-89 Acura Integra. The splines are the same as the Accord half shaft so it bolts up on the driver side. On the passenger side I had a custom axle made. Once you have the mount kit, undo the spot welds for the passenger side chassis mount. Then once that is out of the way, bolt up the transmission motor mount and bolt the chassis mount to that. Raise the engine into place and bolt all motor mounts up. Rotate the passenger side chassis mount that is bolted to your transmission mount until it sits nicely on the frame. Either weld it in, as I did, or bolt it in. The wiring is easiest if you use your stock factory harness and the harness that came with the engine along with an obd0-obd1 jumper harness. The easiest way to go about it is to connect your H22A engine harness to the engine and cut the connector/sensor wires about 5” or so down. Then extend or use the wires of your car’s factory harness. The wires that are left that are not hooked up should be the knock sensor, vtec solenoid valve, vtec pressure switch and 4 wire 02 sensor. The jumper will do that for you. We have included some photos and explanation in the hope that it will take some of the mystery out of the swap.

EF

DA

 

EF 88-91 Civic/Crx

www.Rywire.com sells the OBD0-OBD1 jumper harness for the DX/STD and the HF/SI.  The DX/STD is different then the HF/SI.  The DX/STD has Dual Port injection from the factory which needs to be converted to Mult Port injection.  The jumper harness does this for you.  The HF/SI has Multi Port injection and is ready to go.  I would recommend also getting the OBD0-OBD1 distributor conversion harness.  Which it plugs into your OBD0 distributor plugs and converts to OBD1 and to accept the OBD1 distributor plugs.  Or another option would be to buy a complete H22A engine conversion harness.  www.Rywire.com kits come with detailed instructions and has great service.

  • www.Rywire.com
  • DX/STD or HF/SI OBD0-OBD1 jumper harness
  • OBD0-OBD1 distributor conversion harness
  • Or H22A engine conversion harness

DA 90-93 Acura Integra

www.Rywire.com sells the H22A conversion engine harness.  90-91 comes from the factory OBD0 and 92-93 comes from the factory OBD1.  Just get the right harness to the year of your car.

  • www.Rywire.com
  • 90-91 or 92-93 Acura Integra H22A conversion engine harness.

Which ECU should I purchase?

ECU options for the EF/DA H22A swap:

You can use either a 92-95 Honda Prelude JDM/USDM P13 OBD1 ECU which they came from the factory with or 94-96 Acura Integra GSR JDM/USDM P72 OBD1 ECU or 92-95 Honda Civic EX/SI JDM/USDM P28 OBD1 ECU.  Make sure the ECU is a 5 spd.  The P28/P72 ECU will need to be chipped for a H22A program.  The P72 ECU supports IAB's (secondaries) and EGR which the H22A engine does have.  You can leave the IAB's un-hooked and open all the time and do away with EGR.  The best ECU for that situation would be the P28 ECU because it doesn't have IAB's and a EGR.  There are chips and programs out there available to modify your ECU to your needs.  If you want to pass emissions the factory un-modified JDM/USDM P13 OBD1 ECU would be your best bet.

  • 92-95 Honda Prelude P13 JDM/USDM OBD1 ECU
  • 92-95 Honda Civic P28 JDM/USDM OBD1 ECU
  • 94-96 Acura Integra GSR P72 JDM/USDM OBD1 ECU

The picture below is of the passenger side chassis mount welded in and the transmission mount.

The picture below is of the driver side OEM factory chassis mount and the motor mount. You can also see the alternator bracket in the lower left corner.

The picture below is to show the ground clearance, 3 1/2" on a 2" drop.

The picture below shows the firewall clearance at its closest point, the TAS or TPS. There is still 3/8" plus to the firewall. Never has gotten close to touching it with our motor mounts. No denting, cutting, or banging in the firewall at all!

The picture below shows where we installed a block-off plate where the original IAT sensor was. This gave us clearance around the larger Integra brake booster of about 3/8" without denting to the booster. The block-off plate does not hit the booster at all. If you retain the stock crx brake booster there would be no problem at all as it is smaller. We ended up using a 96-00 Civic IAT sensor where it now is located in the air intake tube.

The picture below shows where we had to heat up with a torch and slightly dent the rear crossmember in order to gain clearance for the transmission filler plug. As you can see we clearanced it a lot more than necessary. When we first mocked up and experimented with different engine locations, we at one time had the engine set back farther and at a different angle. But after many hours of adjusting the mock up kit, this was the best setup. So you will not have to clearance near as much as we have done. The best way to determine what clearance is needed is to bolt up the driver side mount and then level and angle the motor to the specs that we provide in the kit. This will show you how much and where you need clearance and also where you must locate the passenger side chassis mount.

Below is a picture of our axle alignment on the EF H22A motor mount kit.  Just about perfect.

Parts list with my motor mount kit for the EF/DA H22A swap:

  • EF 88-91 Civic/Crx obd0-obd1 jumper harness or a H22A engine conversion harness.  DA 90-93 Acura Integra H22A engine conversion harness.

  • The driver side axle for the EF is a 88-89 Acura Integra.  The DA driver side axle is a 90-93 Acura Integra which is what it came with from the factory.  You can get this at your local parts store.  Remove the rubber balancer if it has one.

  • The EF custom passenger side axle is based off an 88-89 Acura Integra which has a Accord inner joint and 88-89 Acura Integra outer.  Also the axle is cut down 1/2" on the shaft.  For the DA you can try your 90-93 Acura Integra axle with an Accord inner joint on it, if that doesn't work try the 88-89 Acura Integra axle with an Accord inner joint.  www.Raxles.com sells the axles.  Ask for Marty and he will hook you up.
  • The EF/DA will use the 90-93 Honda Accord F series midshaft/halfshaft.  94+ may also work, not sure though.  The models that will have the midshaft are Ex or Lx.
  • 90-93 Honda Accord cable shifter assembly with cables.  94+ possibly too.  92+ Prelude will work also.  You can mount the shifter assembly under the car to keep your factory console look.
  • EF/DA you will need to take off the PS pulley on the OEM crank pulley.  This can be simply done by a machine shop on a lathe machine for real cheap.

My Personal Experience:

It is my daily driver. The car sits on some AGX shocks and Skunk2 coils with a 2" drop. I have 3 1/2" of ground clearance to the oil pan. There is 3/8" clearance from the highest point on the valve cover to the USDM hood. I haven't yet found a bump my car hasn't won. As far as the BS about being too front end heavy, this is not true. It weighs about 35 lbs. more than a GSR maybe less. My car weighed in at 2020 lbs with no driver. I have full faith in my car around corners and turns. I have owned a B series crx and I would say that it is the same or better at handling. My mount kit distributes the motor perfectly. It is very hard to throw up a con with the potential of 200 whp and 150 ft lbs of torque and the engine swap costing half as much as the Type R swap. It puts out more whp and torque. I love the swap and looks OEM!