Back in November of 2018, I jumped in my friends Chevy pickup and we went do JDM in Long Beach, CA. We drove from the SFV to the LBC and picked up a newer engine for my Civic.
A buddy of mine recommended that I swap my engine with a DOHC VTEC. When I got the JDM warehouse, the employees were very helpful. I told them my story and they told me that they had a few D17’s in stock. Unfortunately, all they had were SOHC but their D17’s were VTEC.
So I went from an American D17 Non-VTEC engine to a JDM D17A VTEC. I dropped off the engine and my car at Red Line Built Performance in the San Fernando Valley. When they started working on my car, they called me and told me that I would need new axles and asked if I wanted to replace my clutch. So I picked up those parts from AutoZone and dropped them off at Red Line Built.
The guys at Red Line Built (Memo and Jeffery) did a great job with my swap. The car ran just fine with zero issues; I’m very happy with their work. They swapped the engine, clutch and axels. So basically, I’m driving a new car under the hood!
Vtec engine (non-vtec engine wiring harness)
One of the issues I ran across with the engine swap was the wiring harness. I didn’t think to pick up a new harness, so the guys that did the swap used my stock (Non-VTEC) engine harness on the new VTEC engine. They told me that there are two options, 1. Buy a VTEC wiring harness or 2. Tap the oil pan and wire a button/ switch to activate the VTEC feature. I didn’t want to drill a hole in my oil pan, so I thought I would buy a VTEC wiring harness. Unfortunately, buying a VTEC wiring harness would require a new starter and I would need to replace the door mechanism so that same key could operate the starter (with the VTEC feature) and open the doors. I had no clue this shit would be so complicated.