So, I've been pondering another daily driver. Needs to be something that gets decent mileage and stands up well to a LONG commute. I've sometimes had the idea of another mid '90s Honda pop up, but I've had a bad experience with one, and am somewhat worried about the condition of an older Honda drivetrain not having that many miles left on it.
Then the idea crossed my mind of starting with a 4th or 5th gen Civic and putting something newer in it. My first thought, of course, was K series (TSX / RSX / etc four banger). It seems to be the latest engine of choice. But then on the Hasport website, I found that they happened to have a kit to make a J series (Odyssey / Accord / TL V6) bolt in with a manual transmission. Only catch appears to be that you need to mod the hood for clearance. (And it may be a little harder to get a wrench in there to fix things.)
Seems like it may take a couple weekends to put such a thing together, but the result would be something with mid 2000s Honda reliability and reasonable gas mileage, and a rather amusing power to weight ratio. Any reason this would be a seriously bad idea for an everyday car?
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
Hondas and certain mazda swaps in particular seem to be the exception to this rule.
Now that said, i'm still voting against this, but more on the grounds of "LONG commute."
A Civic wouldn't be my choice for that, no matter what motor was in it.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:
Now that said, i'm still voting against this, but more on the grounds of "LONG commute."
A Civic wouldn't be my choice for that, no matter what motor was in it.
Could you elaborate? The main problem I had when I was commuting with a Civic was that I seem to have joined the Breakdown of the Month Club, and that may have been that particular car. (And was why I was thinking newer engine.)
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
Depends on what you are swapping. I can easily go from the 3.9 V6 in my Dakota to 5.9 V8 and it still would be a reliable DD....
Most swaps fail DD duty because the person that swapped in whatever didn't take the time to make it "right". Normally, it is wiring/fuel related. Very few are mechanical problems.
That would be my only reservation, not being a Honduh fanboi, is making the electronics get along.... And I find Japanese electronic schematics lacking about everything useful.
MadScientistMatt wrote:
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:
Now that said, i'm still voting against this, but more on the grounds of "LONG commute."
A Civic wouldn't be my choice for that, no matter what motor was in it.
Could you elaborate? The main problem I had when I was commuting with a Civic was that I seem to have joined the Breakdown of the Month Club, and that may have been that particular car. (And was why I was thinking newer engine.)
If i need a long-distance highway cruiser, i'd want something a bit longer perhaps, with a nicer interior and some more sound deadening.
It's purely a comfort point with me. Mechanically, they're a great choice, and i think i'd enjoy owning a V6 Civic anyways.
Sometimes it's not about how logical things are, but more about how badly you want it. 
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
The 5.4 swap in my P71 is a GREAT DD.
Duke
PowerDork
12/28/12 2:59 p.m.
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
I'm going to, uhhh, go ahead, and disagree with that. My wife's 2.4-swapped ATX first-gen Neon was an absolutely great DD. It did take a month to get sorted, but once it was, it was awesomely awesome.
In reply to MadScientistMatt:
I stick with the K24/6Spd. Probably for no other reason than that I HATE working on tranverse V6's.
Civic ep3 hatch?
Has a K motor already, they handle pretty well and are very comfortable and practical.
That said my 525i wagon is insanely comfortable and gets better mileage than my ep3 did.
Duke wrote:
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
I'm going to, uhhh, go ahead, and disagree with that. My wife's 2.4-swapped ATX first-gen Neon was an absolutely great DD. It did take a month to get sorted, but once it was, it was awesomely awesome.
Awesomely awesome? Would you say it was grounded to the ground?
motomoron wrote:
Civic ep3 hatch?
Has a K motor already, they handle pretty well and are very comfortable and practical.
That said my 525i wagon is insanely comfortable and gets better mileage than my ep3 did.
That may be the best argument against such a daily driver: I've estimated building it would cost around $8,000 or so, from a used Civic to the swap parts to other things I'd probably need to fix.. And for that amount, I could get an EP3 hatchback ready to go, or a Scion tC, or Corolla XRS. The EP3 definitely seems to shoot down the K swap idea, and may be more practical to maintain than a transverse V6. On the other hand, there just doesn't seem to be any factory combination of a decent size V6 in a Civic sized car out there...
The closest you'll get is an Altima.
Of course, i also HATE EP3s, so....
Conquest351 wrote:
andrave wrote:
swaps never make good DD's. Thats just how it works out.
The 5.4 swap in my P71 is a GREAT DD.
ditto. 2 years and 20k trouble free miles, so far.
MadScientistMatt wrote:
there just doesn't seem to be any factory combination of a decent size V6 in a Civic sized car out there...
doesn't the nissan VQ go into the sentra in a somewhat straightforward manner?
voila
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-Infiniti-G20-Sport-VQ35-6-Speed-Swap-/110994653977?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item19d7cc0319#ht_559wt_1167
MadScientistMatt wrote:
Then the idea crossed my mind of starting with a 4th or 5th gen Civic and putting something newer in it. My first thought, of course, was K series (TSX / RSX / etc four banger). It seems to be the latest engine of choice. But then on the Hasport website, I found that they happened to have a kit to make a J series (Odyssey / Accord / TL V6) bolt in with a manual transmission. Only catch appears to be that you need to mod the hood for clearance. (And it may be a little harder to get a wrench in there to fix things.)
Hood clearance is only an issue if you put it in the front.
1st gen Honda Odyssey with a V6/6MT swap, turbos, big brakes, and some suspension?
