The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

So I decided it was finally time to step up. I have been gathering parts and building a motor for myself for about 2 years now. I will try to list all parts with prices but its going to be hard to remember everything. I finally got the motor together and all the parts needed and got motivated to just swap out the good ole trusty LS motor (made 300 HP on this bitch and still running STRONG!).

I started Saturday morning about 9am, and knowing I would be doing everything by myself I knew I had a long day in front of me. I figured I might have a shot of finishing the whole thing and having the car running but I gave myself long odds of doing it in a day. If there were others there helping maybe...but still not bloody likely with the luck I have of things going wrong.

Most of the pictures speak for themselves, they are in time order...once it got as late as it did I got less motivated to take pictures and more motivated to just finish and get out of there.

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Car is on the Tow Dolly I just picked up recently ready to go to the shop for the install. The Dow Tolly cost me $950, it is a 2005 Master Tow with electric brakes...not a bad deal. $23 to register it for the year and $21 in tax when I titled it. Motor is strapped down in the bed of the truck to keep from sloshing around :)

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This is a shot of my little workshop, where most of the ECU madness happens these days out of my house.

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This V8 Carburated truck desparately needs a tune. Anyone know anything about carbs? :P

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At the shop getting the car on the lift. It is so low I need to use aluminum ramps to get it in the bay and a jack to lift up the chassis to fit it on the lift, major pain in the ass.

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Removing the wire harness very carefully. Lots of people prefer to leave the harness on the motor and remove it...not me. I'm weird like that.

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Everything disconnected/removed time to lower out of the bottom using a furniture dolly with an old tire on it for cushiony support.

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These cars it is easiest to remove the whole crossmember support, I only pop the ball joints and let the axles hang there during the whole process instead of removing more than needed.

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Completely out and removed. Now time to switch over all brackets and sensors that the new motor still needs. Do as much outside of the bay...especially with the DA's as they are a bitch to work on. So tight and compact...you can see from the pictures what a mess the bays are. Took me about 3 hours to remove it cleanly by myself...much better than the 1st time I ever did a motor. It's about 1 pm on Saturday at this point.

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Turbo assembly transferred over. I was thinking of switching to the GT3076r turbo, but decided to see if I could hit all of my goals by retaining this setup and saving money. Back in the day I got the Inline Pro T3 SS mani for $400 shipped, and the SC34 Turbo 57trim .48/.63 with oil line kit for $700 shipped. Tial 38mm for $200 shipped and the Rev Hard 2.5" Mandrel bent DP for $175 shipped.

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God damn that Edelbrock is HUGE...will it even fit in this engine bay?

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My trusty LS, for sale btw now with a perfect 180 compression across all 4 cylinders. Probably has 8,000 miles or so on it since I picked it up over the last couple years. Picked it up in a wrecked Integra as a steal...bought the car, parted it out and keep the motor. Has a Skunk2 IM, Gude throttle plate...and might have cams, who knows...anyone interested let me know. I may just build another LS/Vtec though for fun :)

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I put a stock ITR oil cooler on here, with the Golden Eagle LS/VTEC conversion kit and a custom breather tank setup designed by Vernon of Raver Motorsports. The GE LSV Conv kit came in a package with CP 9.5:1 81.5mm pistons and Eagle Rods...I paid $800 shipped for all three items from a member on here over a year ago. The stock ITR oil cooler setup cost me like $75 or something. The alternator is relatively new, had to replace that recently on the LS, transferred over. The TB is a pro products piece that I picked up from Moderator 'Chris' on here for a deal. I had to make a custom blockoff plate for the bottom of the unit and I dont have the best fabrication tools for that kind of thing so it took me a while. I hope it doesnt leak :-\

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Everything installed and transferred over. I had to run out only once for some oil, coolant and the hoses for the breather tank from home depot. It's about midnight here I am guessing...I cant remember :)

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This was a major headache. The Edlebrock IM hits the tank for the brake fluid. In order to install the motor I actually had to unbolt the master cylinder and slide it sort of out of the way and wedge the motor in, and then reinstall the MC after the motor was bolted in. Then I had to shave a portion of the manifold away in that area to get it to fit. I was going to install new solid billet mounts from AVID Racing (I just became a warehouse dealer for them) but when I read that you have to knock out a spot in the frame for the alternator I knew the motor would be pushed over too far to the drivers side for the IM to fit at all unfortunately so I reused my stock filled/inserted mounts which work fine with all four mounts and the Z10 traction bars setup I have.

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Motor is in and pretty much bundled up nicely! About 3:30 AM Sunday here I imagine.

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JB Welded DSM BOV madness. That piece has been holding strong for over three years now!

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Done and everything installed. It's about 4:30 AM here and after so confusion from being up so long I got the distributor wires correct, the vacuum hoses routed well enough to get it to run and she fires right up! Get the AFRs to where I want, top of the coolant and let everything warm up for a while.

I clean the place, pack my car, truck and tools and begin to back out of the garage and BOOM, the car stalls out and wont start. I see fuel coming out of the Throttle Body! Im like WTF...and then I find one of my injectors stuck wide open for some reason. This is very plausible as this set of RC 550 High Imp came free as one of them stuck open a while back. I sent them off to RC to be checked and cleaned and then verified the failure but said they had fixed it >:(

So at this point I am pas the point of no return, I switch back to the trusty DSM 450cc injectors that were on the old motor, fire her back up and on to the trailer. I got out at 7:15 AM Sunday morning :S

At this point I was beyond dazed but astonished I completed the whole thing in less than 24 hours.

So the goals for this setup:

- 400 whp on PUMP gas
- 10.99 pass as the strip with whatever tires/slicks get me there
- 40 MPG Highway
- Pass Emissions legally in NJ

Once those 4 have been reached and I can prove it, the car will be sold and I already have another project in the works. It is going to be Krazy :P

Setup List:

1991 Acura Integra GS

Junkyard B18b block, bored 81.5 mm stock sleeves
- Block - $100
- Machine work (bore, hone, check bearing clearances, micro polish crank) - $250
- CP Pistons (LS) 9.5:1 compression - $350
- Eagle LS Rods - $300
- Complete Golden Eagle VTEC Conversion - $150
- Assemble bottom end (done by a local friend, I didnt have the time or the right tools at the time) - $200
- Custom breather tank setup from Raver Motorsports (dont know cost yet)

GSR Head w/ Distributor (this is Hotrex's old stock head), raises Comp to 10:1 - $400
- Stock GSR Cams
- Skunk2 Cam Gears - $150
- Powder Coated ITR wrinkle red valve cover - $140
- Professional Products 70mm TB
- RC550 High Imp Injectors (might use something else)

Edlebrock Victor X thermal coated intake manfold with sensors - $300

Turbo Setup
- Precision SC34 57 trim t3/t4 - $700
- Inline PRO SS T3 Mani - $400
- Yonaka 22x9x3 Bar/Plate FMIC - $200
- 2.5" Aluminum Charge pipes - welded myself, maybe $100 in materials
- DSM BOV - $40
- Rev Hard 2.5" Downpipe

Suspension/Brakes
- Stock disc brakes all around
- PIC Performance Coilover setup
- Z10 Traction Bar setup

Custom Made 2.5" Exhaust w/ Cat, might eliminate CAT if I can get it to pass emissions without the cat. $80 in materials, welded myself.

I'm tired, will list more later. Comments/criticism welcomed and appreciated :)

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

SEXY. haha I'm excited for the enigma that is XENOCRON to finally have a new project car. Lets see what you can do eh? Its really a pretty budget setup engine wise, so it'll be cool to see sweet numbers and stock like drivability and reliability along with it. Yay!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

DEFF should put down some numbers.
a jap kid that used to live down the street had a 580hp ls/vtec and i thought he was full off ---- but he had papers.
thing barly broke 11 sec
one wheel wonder they kicked him of the track for not having a cage.

AWESOME SETUP!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Nice my man!

Lovin the tire on the dolly :D C an't wait to see this bad boy run!

You must have been a zombie driving home Chris, lol. What a day, and night huh. I should of head up there when I woke up at midnight, and just stayed for work, lol.

Hope you accomplish everything you want with this setup. 07 baby :y

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Why no help man?

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

What bs w/ the RC injectors...

Good to see you got everything together!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Looks awesome, can't wait to see you hit those goals, should be an awesome car...

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Nice. I like your goals too and they're pretty awesome. I remember your car making 299whp NOT 300whp though so stop lying. :P What gas mileage did you get on your last set-up and what kind of AFRs at cruise are you getting that high of MPG? Best I EVER got was 39mpg last summer.


JP

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

teh sex

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

did you port match the manifold to the tb. looks great

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

dam. hardcore budget build goign on there man! Sweet ----!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Oh and if you ever what to upgrade those mounts the typhoon manifold from my experince clears easily in the da chassis.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

wow Chris, that looks liek it was a major pain in the ass, but cant wait to see what kind of numbers you make!!! 40mpg highway he says, lol

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Wow good job with everything. 24 hours? Damn you must have moved fast.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

U better push that motor past 400whp O0

Now just get that much work dont on your pinks car :1

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Looks sweet, always loved your car... my ls hero goes vtec :P

Good thread!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

I'm gonna have to dock you 3 hours for having a lift. ;)

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

you're slacking, you were doing this at a shop and it took 3 hours??


i just pulled the LS out of my EF in 3 hours in my driveway w/ a bucket of tools and no air compressor. axle nuts w/out air tools = waste of 45minutes. had to pull out a fence post to add onto the breaker bar. and i had to massage a 5/8 wrench into a 17mm to get one of the engine mount bolts out

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Glad to see the trusty blue streak get a makeover, but feel I must offer condolences since your car is now crippled with V-Tech. :-\

Observations:

DA chassis have acres of underhood room. Go ED, then you are allowed to complain. ;)

Pro Products are awesome. Their TBs look and work just like stock, only they are bigger, and affordable too. I've touched STR, BBK, Skank2, etc, TBs and really didn't like any of them but the Pro Products pieces are minty fresh.

K-series make Joey sad. When Chris owns a K-series he will understand the hard way, and become sad, too. If Chris is serious, Joey will hook Chris up with the K24 Wes was given for a good price, if Chris really insists on learning the hard way.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

nice job chris. you need to bring that beast down to dsg so i can see it on the dyno

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Yeah that and the 10.99 pass are going to be the hardest to achieve honestly. Most likely the 400 hp is going to be pushing it on pump but if I have to I am ready to buy and install a Water/Meth injection kit. I might do it anyway...summer is killer here sometimes and tuned to the edge, the stock sleeves might not be all that forgiving.

I like doing ---- myself :)

I thought about hosting an event but I sort of decided this on the spur of the moment. I was supposed to have some help, but they didnt show :-\

There was BARELY a hair lip between the two so I didnt.

Honestly it is mostly an investment in the business. K is the way or so they say and I have that urge to keep learning. Rather than go with a different make, I'll stick to my Honda roots ;)

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Word I sold Chris the pro products tb I became a dealer with them a little bit ago. The throttle bodies for the price are bitchin. Has far has quality goes the only company that makes a better aftermarket tb is RPM imo due to ungodly amount of sizes he sells and they shiny. Either way all are machined correctly.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

I thought about hosting an event but I sort of decided this on the spur of the moment. I was supposed to have some help, but they didnt show :-\
[/quote]
Damn you should have called me, I was not doing anything all week end.
Steven,

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Im the same way about help. I honestly really don't like anyone even close friends touching my car. And really on a swap install like that all it causes is confusion and parts being put on out of order, Then you spend more time taking things back off so other things will fit and that just wastes time.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

40MPG??!! ::) i don't know chris, i've managed 37 in my 200whp d16, but to get mileage like that with 400 and run 10's is something else.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Ive hit 38mpg on 100% freeway trips in my CRX. It might not be in the 10's, but its 400whp.
It took awhile to find the A/F & timing sweet spot at cruise to get there, but this engine combo liked mid/high 15's and timing in the mid 40's. I could cruise in the mid/low 16's A/F fine, but the plugs glazed a little and my MPG actually droped a couple points.
Also, there was about a 5mpg diff. between cruising at 70 vs 60. The slower the better.
Like all this really matters though, at my current rate of around town rippers, I get low 20's MPG. >:D

If there's an LS tranny in your build, you have a good chance at 40mpg. Especially if your in the mid 9's or higher C/R.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

nice setup :y

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

That's an awsome feet to acomplish. It took me 2 whole days to swap entire front ends from one ef hatch to another. Body panels, rad support, motor, suspension and all. Pain in the ass was the wiring dpfi to mpfi, vtec and obd0 to obd1.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

wow that's bad ass

destroying mustangs and getting twice their gas mileage: priceless :6

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

good job chris!

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Awesome ---- man...glad to see the DA back in the spotlight. ;D I've gotta say from the first few pics, I know your shop's in Bloomfield, but I'm gonna take a wild guess and say You don't live in that town...there's too many trees and it looks too clean for Bloomfield ;D Let me know if you still want that crx shell. I work for the DoD now, so I have every weekend off without fail. 8) Not to mention I'd be more than willing to take a trip to NJ to work on the pinks car as well.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Sweet setup. Its nice to see a turbo Honda thats not an EG.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

I may be calling to pick your brain when I get to that point :)

Comp Ratio should be 10:1 so that will help and yes it is a Cable LS Tranny with stock gears and a Quaife :)

On a good note, I called up RC and they are replacing that defective injector for free! Major props to RC for taking care of me (I sell a few of their injectors so I assumed that helped) 8) I am going to keep the DSM 450s in there until I get them back.

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

^^ No wonder.

When I seen your motor at the shop I thought wtf, Chris threw on the dsm's? Cool of them to replace it.

Not much you can do today in this weather as far as tuning huh Chris? How's it coming along?

Re: The 24 hour XENOCRON DA swap transformation - 56k, slower than Hotrex
 

Havent touched it since Sunday, too damn cold outside.