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F22 Swap EK 1997 Honda Civic EX Sedan

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    F22 Swap EK 1997 Honda Civic EX Sedan

    My swap journal on the F22 EK Civic = CB"Civic" (Instead of CB7 Lol)

    The F22 swap into the EK Civic was something different that I have been wanting to do ever since I pulled the F22A4 from the CB7. I do not want a B Series like everyone else in the civic world or a K series lmao. The process is like swapping in a H22. The various parts that I needed for the swap were Mounts, H22 Post Mount, Shifter Cables, Shifter Assembly, Custom Axles, D16Y8 Distributor, EK Half Radiator with Slim Fan, 36” Alternator Belt, H22 Alternator, Custom Test Pipe, Fuel Injector Adapters, & the Fuel Injector Resistor Box.

    First would be to remove the factory engine from the Civic. That is all straight forward. Just unplug all the sensors (label them), drain fluids, remove axles, loosen mounts. After having the engine out of the car I was able to take time to clean & prep the bay before the F22. I also did a power steering delete using the Power Steering Rack Loop Kit from Devsport. I did remove the A/C & all the lines as well. Remember to get the A/C system cleared professionally. I will only be using a half radiator with a slim fan since the area between the transmission & radiator is very tight. I could not use a shroud for the fan so I used those zip ties specially for mounting fans on radiators. The bleeder valve for the Slave Cylinder will hit the plastic guard that protects the fan blades. Right where the bleeder valve is, I removed one of the plastic guard pieces to make a small bit of room just in case. The valve does not hit the fan or the blades & I have never had an issue at all if you were wondering.

    For the F22 I am not doing anything special. Since it came out of my CB7 I just did the timing belt, water pump, water pipe, coolant hoses, oil pump, & a new headgasket & all new o-rings. I did not install the balance shaft belt & left the balance shafts still in place. I read that this should give me a small power upgrade as well as bumping up the oil pressure with no negative effects on the drivability. All new seals were installed as well, the valve cover, cam seals, o-rings on the rocker arm assembly, & the rear main seal. All to ensure that there will be no oil leaks. Set the timing & adjust the valves. I did not do any upgrades for the head so, there are still stock springs, retainers, valves, & valve seals. The bottom end was left alone besides a new oil pump & running the H22 crank shaft pulley.

    The transmission is going to be the H22 M2Y4. I decided not to go with the F22 transmission because I wanted shorter gearing compared to the longer gears for the F22. I bought this transmission from a guy who had a rear-ended Prelude. I went with an Excedy stage 1 clutch & pressure plate mated with an 11lb flywheel. This came as a kit from gripforce.com for the F22. I wanted to do a lighter flywheel because I have heard that the revving will be more responsive as well as less weight to turn for the crankshaft. During this process I learned that OEM H22 & F22 flywheels do not have the typical pilot bearing like B or D series but instead they use a brass ring called a pilot bushing/journal. Some aftermarket flywheels such as Fidanza do use a pilot bearing when supplied. You can find more info about this subject on CB7Tuner.com or any Prelude forum. The M2Y4 has extremely short gears. Fifth gear doing 70 MPH was at like 3,200 RPM & was screaming since I have basically a straight pipe exhaust lol.

    **After driving the car I believe that the lightened flywheel is my favorite mod. Revs very quickly.**

    Installing the shifter cables & assembly was done before putting in the engine. This required cutting a square/rectangle where the old d series shifter was at. The F/H shifter must be able to sit into the floor & since the Civic has a circle raised “lip” where the stock shifter was, the floor must be cut. You also must make another cut for the shift cables to run from the shifter, through the floor, OVER TOP of the subframe & turns right towards the top of the trans where it is held in place. You can then bolt down the shifter assembly once completed. My brother had to help me tighten the bolts for the shifter so I could be under the car holding the blots & he could tighten it from inside the car. The stock interior slides right over top like before. No fabrication necessary for that. SLEEPER STYLE!

    Exhaust I will be using the F22 header & downpipe but, since I learned there is no exact match for the EK H22 swaps I will need a custom length test pipe. The F22 downpipe was about 3 inches too short to meet the middle exhaust pipe WITHOUT A TESTPIPE OR CAT. The F22 downpipe is really long compared to the Civic’s. So I made a custom 3 inch long test pipe to connect the exhaust. I have been running the car with just an open downpipe but it is really loud lol. I ended up using one half of an adjustable test pipe, measured the length it needed to be plus a flange on the end & welded it up. Kind of ghetto but it has been working for me.

    The most difficult part of this swap so far was dropping the engine in the bay. The mounts I bought were eBay specials so maybe that is why they gave me a good fight. The order for bolting up the mounts were the driver side mount first, the trans mount & finally the rear mount. Well, it didn’t go to smooth for me. Before the engine was on the hoist I installed the rear mount first to the frame. BUT…. I did not realize that the mounts were slotted to allow some movement or positioning of the engine. I bolted the rear mount crooked unfortunately so when I installed the driver’s side first the whole engine was crooked. This gave me a huge issue trying to line up the trans mount & the rear. I was about ¼” off on the trans mount (the mount was ¼” too far forward towards the radiator). I was able to slide the bolt through the rear mount to have the centered mount in place. I then loosened the bolts holding the rear mount to the frame. This gave me the ability to turn the engine to straighten it out. I then unbolted the driver mount. I used my strength to twist the engine so I could then bolt up the trans side. As soon as I got the bolts set for the trans side I was able to position the driver side mount & work it into place. Either way I had to re-center the entire engine.

    DON’T GET DISCOURAGED! DO NOT GIVE UP, THE HARD WORK IS COMPLETELY WORTH IT, I PROMISE YOU.

    Wiring was not that bad at all. I extended the plug wires for the alternator & used a H22 alt cable that I had from another swap. Extended the IACV wire, starter wire, & the thermostat coolant sensor wires. Knock, VTEC, TDC, & a few other plugs were just neatly tucked away since I will be using the F22s ECU & it does not look for those sensors. Be sure to use the primary (header O2 sensor). I thought that the O2 sensors would be like the Accords & only the O2 on the exhaust after the header is needed but, Civic’s primary O2 spot is on the header. My car ran like crap & was getting terrible gas mileage from not running the primary O2. So learn from my mistake lol. The only portion of the wiring I could not fully figure out was the EGR system. I have all the wires pinned out correctly going to the ECU but, there was one wire I could not figure out where to put it in the ECU wiring. So, unfortunately I could not get everything wired in to run the stock ECU with no codes. On the positive side, the EGR does not effect the engine that much so YOU CAN STILL DRIVE THE CAR WITH NO EGR. I am currently waiting for my chipped P06 from Phearable.net so that I will be able to have the EGR system deleted. I will update as soon as that comes in the mail, which should be this week. (Actually tomorrow 04/10/2019)

    A resistor box was installed from a 1993 Accord in order to use the F22’s injectors. This is the only hard part in the wiring installation. To install you must go to the big square grey plug on the Civic’s engine harness that has just a male end to it without leading to other wires. Somewhat like a dead-end plug. It is a lot larger than the other sensor plugs so you should be able to easily see it. It is somewhere behind/under the intake manifold area. That plug is for the injectors. You must remove the male side of the plug. Take a multimeter & set for “Continuity”. You will be testing continuity for 4 wires on that plug which lead to the injectors. On the female side of the plug, it was the middle row of 4 yellow wires that go to the injectors. To make sure, you take your multimeter & to see which of those yellow wires goes to which injector plug. Each pin on that plug goes to one of the injectors. Once you find those four yellow wires with continuity to the injector plugs, cut the four yellow wires on the plug but, leave a few inches of slack so that you can still access both side of the cut wires. Both ends of the wires you cut will be utilized so make sure you cut the plug with enough length so you can solder. Strip both sides of the cut wires as well all five of the wires from the resistor box. The resistor box will have 4 red wires & 1 big yellow wire. You want to take four yellow wires TOWARDS PLUG side & solder them all together along with the 1 BIG YELLOW wire from the resistor box. The other side of the yellow wires TOWARDS HARNESS will get soldered to each of the red wires on the box, with no order needed. Do not forget to install the male end of the plug back on. So again, the four yellow wires from the plug side are all soldered together to the single big yellow wire from the resistor box, then the four red wires from the resistor box are individually soldered to each of the 4 yellow wires coming from the rest of the engine harness. I took the whole box & zip-tied it to the rear mounting T Bracket so you cannot see it. That is how you wire a resistor box for F22 injectors.

    (**I DO NOT OWN THIS PICTURES OF THE INJECTOR WIRING**)

    Big Grey Plug:


    Inside of Grey Plug to Test Continuity to Each Injector


    Four Wires from Grey Plug that go to Injectors


    Four Wires from Grey Plug Stripped with Length on Each End of Wire


    F22 Resistor Box


    F22 Resistor Box Wiring Connector Pigtail (4 Red 1 Thick Yellow Wires)


    The One Thick Yellow Wire from Box Meeting Four Yellows for Injectors


    Yellow Injector Wires Meeting Red Resistor Box Wires


    Finished Product




    Axles used were from Yonaka which are specifically made for swapping an F or H series transmission into an EK Civic. The inner boots are for the H/F setup while the outer boots are for the EK wheel bearing/hub style. This was an easy install. The intermediate shaft used was from a 2000 Prelude. An important fact about axles is that you must be careful how low your car is going to sit because if you go too low it will put the axles in a weird angle causing a binding issue. I raised my Civic up so that I have about 1.75” gap between the tire & fender. I have not had any issues at all but, I have not went any lower than this. I might see if I can take it down another quarter inch.
    Another weird issue I ran into was trying to start the car. Since this is an OBD1 engine going into an OBD2A vehicle I had to use that ECU jumper harness for this setup. I thought that I would be able to purchase an Accord 90-91 Internal Coil Distributor with an OBD2A distributor jumper harness to OBD1 but, either the coil was bad inside or the combination did not work. My ending result for the distributor was using the D16Y8 distributor! I was surprised that it would mate up correctly but it did perfectly. I just needed to sync the firing order from the distributor to the engine.

    I am running a P12 ECU from a Prelude with the F22.

    BUT…. I thought that I was finished. Nope. It kept cranking & cranking but nothing. We took a screw driver, stuck it in the number one spark plug tube & touched it to the header but there was zero spark. I tested to see if I was getting voltage to the distributor, which I was. But when I tried to start the car there was nothing at the spark plug tube wires. I thought that it was the distributor, so I started trying all these different distributors I had laying around. But, even after trying three different distributors I could obviously see it wasn’t a distributor issue itself. I was just messing around & thought, what if I put in the D16’s ECU to see if there was spark. After installing the Civic ECU I could tell right away after doing the screwdriver test we had spark 100%. Tried to start the car & fired right up. I turned the car off & tried the P12 again but no luck!!

    That night I went through the jumper harness & compared every single pin for both OBD1 & OBD2A. But, every pin was indeed correct. So I used the trusty internet to try & find my answer. I googled, “OBD2 to OBD1 swap jumper harness no spark”. I found a thread about someone who had the same exact issue as I do. They said they did a swap with a jumper harness but no spark. People on the thread started talking about the crank position sensor being an issue. This was where I remembered that the reason I bought the Accord Internal Distributor was to bypass all this. It is funny because before I started this swap my buddy asked me about what I am going to do about the crank position sensor lol. Go figure. Anyway. On that thread a well known Honda Forum user named Katman mentioned that you might need to “Bypass the CKF”.

    Definition of this trick from FF-Squad.com: “how to trick a U.S. OBD2a or OBD2b ecu into thinking a CKF sensor is wired in when there actually is no CKF sensor on the engine”.

    Apparently people use this trick when they run a P28 in OBD2 chassis & have to pass emissions. I will shorten up the bypass trick: on the OBD2A plug “C” you must take pin C1 & splice connect it to C4. You need to cut C1 right after the splice (the rest of the wire going towards the distributor). Then you want to take pin C11 & splice connect it into C14. Again you want to cut the C11 wire right after the splice connection to C14. Since I did not want to cut up my harness, I used two pin wires from an OBD2 harness I had from another swap to put in place of “C1 & C11” for this procedure. I just depinned the C1 & C11 then put those two spare pins in location so in the future all I have to do is plug those wires back into the C plug. Refer to FF-squad.com for images & details.

    After making all the connections I was now able to test to see if I was getting spark at the plug wires. I cranked it & got a perfect spark! Just what I was looking for. I put the plug wire back in place & the I started the car..Fired right up!! It scared me because I forgot how loud it would be since there was an open downpipe lol. Glad she started!

    I also used the fuel hose from the CB7 Accord since the Civic’s hose did not have the correct bends for the placement of the F22. I think that is just about it. I cannot think of anything else extra that I had to do.

    Overall: Looking back at doing this swap I would definitely suggest it to anyone who has access to an F22. They are a cheap engine so even if I blow this one up I can easily find another one for a few hundred. But, if I were to make any suggestions to someone wanting to do this swap, make sure you have the correct Alternator Belt, exhaust, & radiator/slim fan for this swap. Especially the Alternator belt because I kept measuring it wrong, even when doing the string method. Also, if you are not getting spark & you are using an OBD1 setup in an OBD2 car check the CKF Bypass like I did. Either way, I would recommend this swap to someone. The car drives so good. The torque plus displacement for the Civic is a great combination. I drove through some of the windy roads that I used to take with the D16Y8 & there is a huge difference. When I used to mash on the gas with the D series, I now must let off the gas a lot more with the F22! Almost makes me wonder how crazy an H22 would be or even a K series would be in a civic chassis lol. I guess now I understand even though in my very first paragraph I didn’t agree with those swaps.
    This has been a fun journey & I hope I inspire someone else to think outside the box & be different!
    Keep Pushing..

    #2




    Shifter Install
    Last edited by G. Wiffington; 04-09-2019, 04:01 PM.
    Keep Pushing..

    Comment


      #3
      The funny thing about this swap is the fact that the F22 just looks at home in these bays. It really fits almost as well as the D series and much better than a B series. There is tons of empty space in the bay from your pictures.

      Also I'm sure the displacement and the torque make that one fun little Civic.

      Congrats man!

      You should look at using the stock Accord lower rad hose. Should fit like stock as it does in the Accord. That is the only thing I can see to fix.
      MRT: 1993 Honda Accord SE Coupe (Lola)

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Rilas View Post
        The funny thing about this swap is the fact that the F22 just looks at home in these bays. It really fits almost as well as the D series and much better than a B series. There is tons of empty space in the bay from your pictures.

        Also I'm sure the displacement and the torque make that one fun little Civic.

        Congrats man!

        You should look at using the stock Accord lower rad hose. Should fit like stock as it does in the Accord. That is the only thing I can see to fix.
        Exactly!! I swear that these should have had an F22 from the factory!!
        So much fun to drive. I love it so much. Yes there is plenty of room. It is
        funny because I feel like I have more room to work on the engine in the bay.
        The torque on this thing is crazy!!!

        I really really really hate to say it but...I think this may be faster than my
        Euro-R!

        oops sorry just saw the rad hose part. It actually is an Accord hose! I tried the
        lower hose from the Civic & it could not fit around the Thermostat housing end.

        I am using a Yonaka rad so it actually has the same size diameter hose end
        just like the F22.
        Keep Pushing..

        Comment


          #5
          It's as the once and always famous Carroll Shelby said "Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." and "It's a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car."

          Gary (jdm92_accorn) proved that the F22 is just as good if not better than the H22 when brought up to the same standards. Well not even the same compression level. H22 header, H22 Skunk2 intake manifold, H22 AEM intake, custom throttle body (can't remember the size right now), and a custom cam of his design and he could make the same horsepower with more torque on the F22.

          This is with a longer stroke but a lower compression. If I remember correctly he only ever got like 9.5:1 compression with the F23 bottom end. Imagine if he had it all over again and ran with 11:1 or so compression that the H22 Euro R and H22 Type-S run at. The F would stomp the shit out of them.

          Also you need the H22/23 plenum, that will give you a kick in power. You also need the F22A6 runners or the H23A1 runners that combo will give you decent bump in power. Will make this little Civic all the more fun.
          Last edited by Rilas; 04-09-2019, 04:43 PM.
          MRT: 1993 Honda Accord SE Coupe (Lola)

          Comment


            #6
            Thanks for posting this up, what a cool project. I love seeing F22A's thrown into other cars Swap is super clean, keep up the fantastic work

            Comment


              #7
              This is awesome. Glad to see the love for the f-series. If you do decide to go turbo I believe Blake is selling my old manifold, which we believe will clear the hood in a civic.

              Also my dream now is to find a civic hatchback and drop the H22a I now having sitting in my garage.
              Last edited by Grumpys93; 04-09-2019, 09:44 PM.
              ~Nick~
              FSAE (F Series Accord Enthusiasts) ..."A dying breed thats taking it to the next level" Lucky #13
              MR Thread:http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showthre...ight=Grumpys93

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Rilas View Post
                It's as the once and always famous Carroll Shelby said "Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." and "It's a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car."

                Gary (jdm92_accorn) proved that the F22 is just as good if not better than the H22 when brought up to the same standards. Well not even the same compression level. H22 header, H22 Skunk2 intake manifold, H22 AEM intake, custom throttle body (can't remember the size right now), and a custom cam of his design and he could make the same horsepower with more torque on the F22.

                This is with a longer stroke but a lower compression. If I remember correctly he only ever got like 9.5:1 compression with the F23 bottom end. Imagine if he had it all over again and ran with 11:1 or so compression that the H22 Euro R and H22 Type-S run at. The F would stomp the shit out of them.

                Also you need the H22/23 plenum, that will give you a kick in power. You also need the F22A6 runners or the H23A1 runners that combo will give you decent bump in power. Will make this little Civic all the more fun.
                Carroll Shelby was right! I love that it is such a light chassis.

                Wow that is awesome what Gary did. I would like to get the all those mods done soon.

                **Did you guys know there is a company Brough Performance that sells (when in stock) an adapter that you can run a K series intake manifold??

                I love the F series. It reminds me of a big brohter of the D16 which I loved as well. I don't see me going to any other type of engines beside the F/H.

                The F just has that instant power that I need for my setup. I swear putting in that light weight fliywheel turned the whole project around!

                I was also looking for the H23 intake setup. Or even a whole A6 head. I keep looking out for an EX to pop up in my local yard, they said they will sell a head for just $65!

                Thanks for the comments!
                Keep Pushing..

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Granite CB7 View Post
                  Thanks for posting this up, what a cool project. I love seeing F22A's thrown into other cars Swap is super clean, keep up the fantastic work
                  Thank you for appreciating this build. I took this project to Honda Day last weekend & broke a few necks lol. People were doing double takes.

                  Thanks I appreciate the feedback. I have some more plans for this thing so this
                  won't be the last you guys see of her!

                  The CB is finally back in my driveway lol it made me very nervous having it
                  sit on the street parked for 2 months.
                  Keep Pushing..

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Grumpys93 View Post
                    This is awesome. Glad to see the love for the f-series. If you do decide to go turbo I believe Blake is selling my old manifold, which we believe will clear the hood in a civic.

                    Also my dream now is to find a civic hatchback and drop the H22a I now having sitting in my garage.
                    I really would like to go turbo in the future. Especially seeing your build.
                    Very inspiring.

                    Please do it!! I am sure that would be a monster for sure.
                    Keep Pushing..

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Cheddasauto also offers the K series intake adapters.

                      Cheddas Auto 1990-1997 Accord

                      Glad to see that you might be willing to keep bumping up the power of the F22. It really is a awesome little under rated engine.
                      MRT: 1993 Honda Accord SE Coupe (Lola)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Holy shit lol I am about to buy one & do this setup!!

                        DO you know anything about this setup? I don't really know much about
                        the K's but they are all over the junk yards around here so I could easily
                        go get an intake today.
                        Keep Pushing..

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Hey guys I got my chipped P06 the other & it is pretty sweet!

                          The car runs a lot better now with the EGR delete. Now I have no CEL at all
                          because the only one I had was Code 12 for EGR.

                          With this project I am going a different route & using crome, moates burn2, &
                          the moates hulog. I have the hulog now I am just waiting on my burn2.

                          I like to take on challenges so i'll see how this goes! If all else fails I can use
                          my s300. But, I am pretty confident because my dad has some experience
                          with burning the chips. & looking at the tutorials the crome just looks like a
                          simpler version of sManager. Either way I am excited to learn another program.
                          Keep Pushing..

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Hey guys I have been using the Moates Hulog to datalog with Crome & it works
                            great! Reminds me just like sManager & Hondata. I just do not like the part
                            of removing the chip to reburn an edited file. Everything has been working
                            great with the F22. I have just been doing some fine tuning on the street but,
                            I definitely have my WOT section dead on. This thing is a fun little sleeper.
                            Keep Pushing..

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by G. Wiffington View Post
                              Hey guys I have been using the Moates Hulog to datalog with Crome & it works
                              great! Reminds me just like sManager & Hondata. I just do not like the part
                              of removing the chip to reburn an edited file. Everything has been working
                              great with the F22. I have just been doing some fine tuning on the street but,
                              I definitely have my WOT section dead on. This thing is a fun little sleeper.
                              Pretty sure you can just buy an emulator if you don’t want to keep pulling the chip
                              Originally posted by wed3k
                              im a douchebag to people and i don't even own a lambo. whats your point? we, douchbags, come in all sorts of shapes and colours.

                              Comment

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