Because I have to...

[Catnip]

I recently bought my '97 Civic DX from a good friend of mine. He was looking to get a Ranger and needed the cash. I offered a loan, but he counter offered with selling the car for the needed amount.

I wasn't a fan of the lips, so I ended up trashing them. Next came a detail:






The H22a4 swap had a noise I was unsure of. I was told everything from noisy valves, to lma, to rod knock, by very experienced mechanics. At the end of the day, opinions don't matter too much, you have to tear down the motor and see first hand what was going on. I started with dropping the pan to check the rods- they were tight, but I noticed some metal.




Well, finding the metal was all good and everything, but I couldn't tell where it was from. The motor came out and completely apart.





My dad is always messing around with projects and happened to have a F22b2 shortblock. He got it for free when he was rebuilding a D16z6 by someone that had it sitting around, so he said if I can use it, it's mine. After a little research I decided to do a G22 build. Nothing major like a built head, just higher compression than stock without the FRM sleeves. With a lot going on lately, money is tight, so I needed to stay busy with working on it and no so much spending money. With buying parts on the back burner, next step was to clean up the engine bay.



Somewhere along the way, I had the harness hanging under the car and my 8 month old dog was nice enough to make a meal out of it. I started doing some more research and obviously I could stay with a stock harness... which made me decide to tuck the headlight harnesses and fuse box. Now, this is nothing crazy for most people, but it will be my 2nd tuck (I tucked the MR2). I couldn't think of a better way to start this than to take apart the front end and clean it REALLY good, besides I do disassembly and reassembly for a living.



I feel like it would be foolish to do all this work and not respray the bay, but I'm still hesitant. If I do it, I'm unsure what color, but the factory color is probably most likely. I think a dark bay with a light colored motor really pops.

[AV8ter]

I'm in!

[Franco Tirador]

and that's why i dont like h22a4s anymore, i do h22a, h22a1, and the nice f20b, i seen that car bouncing around the net, i think it started with a guy in Gwinnett. Anyway, nice to see it finally in good hands. My h22a4 was knocking too, rods were tight, it may have been balancer shaft, or valves, or maybe same case as yours, but i had the f20b already so i just had the mechanic throw it in there. And you are very fortunate to have your had work on cars too, im sure it make things WAYYYYYY easier for you, and you learn a lot too, instead of having to pay for mechanics to you look at the car lol, like i have too. Just in case you have not checked i think honda tuning had a good article on a g22 (or g23 using a f23 block), aslo you can check a few accord forums.

im in to see how nice this will be

[Catnip]

and that's why i dont like h22a4s anymore, i do h22a, h22a1, and the nice f20b, i seen that car bouncing around the net, i think it started with a guy in Gwinnett. Anyway, nice to see it finally in good hands. My h22a4 was knocking too, rods were tight, it may have been balancer shaft, or valves, or maybe same case as yours, but i had the f20b already so i just had the mechanic throw it in there. And you are very fortunate to have your had work on cars too, im sure it make things WAYYYYYY easier for you, and you learn a lot too, instead of having to pay for mechanics to you look at the car lol, like i have too. Just in case you have not checked i think honda tuning had a good article on a g22 (or g23 using a f23 block), aslo you can check a few accord forums.

im in to see how nice this will be

I feel like an H22a4 can be an alright motor in the right hands, IE. daily driver for someone who has some self control and gets worked on by someone very meticulous. Otherwise, I agree 100%. This is definitely not the first issue from an a4. A simple youtube or google search yields an abundance of results for a4 noises, lol. I'm pretty set on the G22 build, so hopefully it'll all work out. Now it's the final details since I have the main pieces. To be honest, I've never worked on a bottom end (a few headgaskets, cams, suspension, body, interior, etc), so it will be an adventure for me. Luckily, it'll also be very cheap to do, if I only have to do it once.

It was a blessing to me, to grow up with the dad I have. He would always let me help on his work so I could learn, but would make me figure it out on my own work. If I were to ask a procedure or for advice, he would be happy to walk me through it completely, but it was always on me to make it work. I see it helping me tremendously when around people that lack the confidence to just do what they know. At age 5 I was in the driver's seat, in front of my dad, driving a manual Tercel. By 12, my brother and I had motor swaps (just replacements, not a non-oe swap) down pretty good. At 15, I paid my dad for an E30 he was scrapping. I had faith it was worth the money. I had a key cut, title bond, ended up having a blown headgasket, once I fixed that and drove it, I found out the clutch was completely gone. A few months after my 16th birthday I convinced my parents the car was roadworthy and it became the DD, LOL.

[Sammich]

very interesting Evian...in for progress

[l Gizzy l]

wow in for results. Seems a fun project. I want to scoop up something to tinker with since the Z parts are redonkulously expensive for NO gains.

But haz no parking space

[stealth1]

If you need some parts just let me know. I decided to part out my h22a1, My eagle rods and mahle pistons are on ebay as I speak. I still have a bottomend with good crank, balancershaft delete and new oil pump and main seal if you are interested. Let me know


I also have a f22 crank lying around, it appears to be in good shape ( doesnt looked as if it spun a bearing) but I dont know.

[Catnip]

Small update. I ended up tucking the headlight harness and pulling some more stuff. The more I do, the more I want to paint the bay while it's apart. If I did, it would most likely go back black. Debating on diving into tucking the brake lines, but I'm having trouble justifying that without doing a booster delete. With money being tight, that would just draw this out even more, lol.

[Catnip]

It's all down hill!



I'll be tucking the brake lines and using a manual brake booster. The prop valve will be mounted under the dash in the srs module location. The fuse box will be on the inside of the car as well. I've been talking to the painter at work about possible colors and ideas. I think I've narrowed it down. Gotta talk to the boss man and get a truck/trailer to haul it to work, then the bay will be painted.

[Catnip]

I had intentions of only filling in some holes on the upper tie bar, but ended up doing almost all of the holes. Still not completely done grinding the welds (I need a smaller disc to reach), and I have to pull the insulation on the back side of the firewall to continue. Thought about filling the washer fluid resevoir hole on the driver's side, but may not get around to it.

[Bacon]

You going for a wire tuck or just cleaning up the bay a little?

[Sammich]

bout time we get an update while you live your mustang dreams lol

[Catnip]

Robert, it'll be getting fully tucked. Didn't initially plan to but i can't stop myself, lol.
Brian, I'm really bad about the updating thing, plus family is on town and finally getting done stuff paid on. Living the Mustang as a dd. I'm having to block those thought s of superchargers, suspension, and wheels, lol. Especially after riding in a friends vortech supercharged 94 gt

[Bacon]

Robert, it'll be getting fully tucked. Didn't initially plan to but i can't stop myself, lol.
Brian, I'm really bad about the updating thing, plus family is on town and finally getting done stuff paid on. Living the Mustang as a dd. I'm having to block those thought s of superchargers, suspension, and wheels, lol. Especially after riding in a friends vortech supercharged 94 gt

In for the final result.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

[Sinfix_15]

Robert, it'll be getting fully tucked. Didn't initially plan to but i can't stop myself, lol.
Brian, I'm really bad about the updating thing, plus family is on town and finally getting done stuff paid on. Living the Mustang as a dd. I'm having to block those thought s of superchargers, suspension, and wheels, lol. Especially after riding in a friends vortech supercharged 94 gt

i've never been interested in heavily modding an sn95 mustang...... knowing that foxbodies are roaming around, it kind of feels like having a dick swinging contest in an NBA locker room.

[Catnip]

i've never been interested in heavily modding an sn95 mustang...... knowing that foxbodies are roaming around, it kind of feels like having a dick swinging contest in an NBA locker room.

Even though they're the same chassis, I could totally be happy owning a fox body and SN95. These are light like the fox body, with almost as much after market. Knowing how well a LS1 fits in these, it's tempting to see how much nitrous a stock 5.0 well handle, lol

[Sinfix_15]

Even though they're the same chassis, I could totally be happy owning a fox body and SN95. These are light like the fox body, with almost as much after market. Knowing how well a LS1 fits in these, it's tempting to see how much nitrous a stock 5.0 well handle, lol

depends on your definition of "handle"...lol....

if we're talking "make it down the track" ... a lot more than you would think

[Catnip]

depends on your definition of "handle"...lol....

if we're talking "make it down the track" ... a lot more than you would think

If I had the ls k member, crossmember, and driveshaft sitting around, I'd start with a 150 shot and go from there. I bet my clutch would take a shit and the motor would over-rev, lol.

[Sinfix_15]

If I had the ls k member, crossmember, and driveshaft sitting around, I'd start with a 150 shot and go from there. I bet my clutch would take a shit and the motor would over-rev, lol.

Most i've ever done on a 302 was 100 on WOT and 200 on the button.




yes, at the same time.

[Catnip]

Thought I was done, then realized the black paint and black primer hid a lot of smaller holes last time I was working on it. Or maybe I was just rushing, lol. Either way, not a whole lot more left. Deciding how I want to tackle the firewall, then it'll be done as far as the welding goes. Then I'll talk to my boss about bringing it to work to do the mud work and primer. Still haven't heard from my paint guy about some spray outs, which kinda made me lose motivation to get the bay ready.

[AZN_Pride]

Looking good, Evan. Appears you and I have a similar project going.