Honda Conversion

[Dominic]

Looks like you have already made some decent progress.

It does seem a bit of a shame to modify a relatively rare Sport 135, but if it's engine has died, then why not do something different. Will be watching with interest

[Dipper]

personally, i think its a shame to leave it standard

[Gourlay83]

Best of luck with conversion, hope you enjoy the build.

If I can help, let me know.

Alan

[Sandy]

Alan,
when it comes to the electrics, you can be sure I WILL be calling for your help. Mine will not be done to the standard of yours, but I hope it is somewhere close.

[pete]

Alan,
when it comes to the electrics, you can be sure I WILL be calling for your help. Mine will not be done to the standard of yours, but I hope it is somewhere close.

I toyed with that very idea myself before remembering that I have no mechanical aptitude whatsoever. Or time. But mainly the mechanical thing.

[Gourlay83]

Alan,
when it comes to the electrics, you can be sure I WILL be calling for your help. Mine will not be done to the standard of yours, but I hope it is somewhere close.

No problem, something I would do different if doing it all again is don't bother with the conversion harness. Cut the honda engine loom plugs off (apart from ECU obviously) and wire in the ECONSEAL plugs. Saves connections and much tidier.

ECONSEAL PLUGS (used to connect engine loom to car loom).
http://www.autosparks.co.uk/index.php?cPath=94_738

Temperature Sensor Plugs
http://www.autosparks.co.uk/product_inf ... ts_id=2086

what's your plans with ECU?. I notice you have the standard ECU with the Engine/box, will you be running it standard (immobiliser by passed), Hondata or something interesting like DTA?.

One thing I would consider is wiring in a wideband lambda (i.e. PLX) when you're creating your wiring harness. Lets you map it yourself if you want to learn, or do most of the fueling tables and do power runs/cam timing on the dyno.

Alan

[robin]

This thread is a build thread for Sandy's car. Contributions to solving problems he has are going to be welcome. General abuse and bickering about engine conversion pros and cons are not and will simply be deleted (as some of you will see I've just done a load of that).

Please respect Sandy's choice to document his conversion on our forum.

Best wishes,

Robin

[mckeann]

Just following on from Alan's question about the ecu. Would highly recommend not staying with the standard ecu if that means sticking with the 6200rpm vtec. The hondata I had in mine was a pleasure to drive with its 4000rpm vtec. I believe some of them have a changeable vtec cut in depending on throttle position.

The cars I drove with the standard vtec were infuriating to keep on cam. The remapped ones were a pleasure to drive.

[Sanjøy]

Agreed, Scottys "Power Map" he had done by Corby while delivering max go go was a royal PITA when trying to cruise at an indicated 80 in 6th as it VTECed based on RPM rather than throttle position IIRC.
I have another map I use which is based on throttle which probably produces less power but makes the car much more usable. 60 seconds with the netbook and it is back to full powaaaar.

[jj]

Mine was the same; sitting at 80 was bang on 4000rpm and it used to feel like the vtecYO was switching on and off constantly.

[Gourlay83]

The standard ECU's when used in a conversion tend to run lean as well (or was my findings anyway), so really not recommended.

[robin]

Is the lean running an issue with Lotus fuel pump, perhaps? Or was that even after you had fitted a higher capacity pump?

Cheers,
Robin

[Gourlay83]

Is the lean running an issue with Lotus fuel pump, perhaps? Or was that even after you had fitted a higher capacity pump?

Cheers,
Robin

I suspected the fuel pressure regulator (FPR). In the original Civic Type R the FPR is part of the fuel pump itself, so you have to fit an aftermarket job as part of the conversion. Most use a fixed 3 bar regulator, which combined with original ECU/map runs a but lean or that was my findings anyway. Guess you could run an adjustable FPR and tweak it until you achieve the best fuelling?.

There is other issues with running the standard ECU,

• The ECU is OBD2, so requires a post CAT O2 Sensor.
  The Civic has a multi-plex system, which the ECU will see as a fault when not connected to car.
  ECU coolant fan trigger is used only as a backup to a fan switch, so way too high to just connect to Lotus Coolant fan relay

You can get round all of the above, but not worth the hassle IMHO

Alan

[mckeann]

My car had a 2nd fuel pump and swirl pot setup. Worked ok, but the original pump did die once about 2k miles after the conversion. Maybe it was on its last legs, I dunno, or maybe the new setup killed it. But the new pump I had fitted was still going strong 20k miles later.

[foz01]

Have you ordered the stark kit yet, there's a few others kicking about including TTS but not had a look around a finished one..