LS/VTEC Head Swap - Still The One

The cam followers are pre-lubed before the head is loaded up with the Blox Racing Type B cams outfitted with Skunk2 adjustable cam gears. Then the bumpsticks are doused in yet more engine oil.

Here's another oil control orifice that's in the head and needs a new O-ring. Botch this and you risk starving your cams of oil. Once that's done Castro can secure the cam caps and plates.

The 1.8 block gets all kinds of new goodies: oil pump, water pump, tensioner and LS timing belt. Castro turns the crankshaft and cam gears to TDC before routing the belt, which he says should be a little snug since it's a hybrid engine.

While number one is at TDC and the motor is still on the stand, Castro decides to go through adjusting valve lash. Afterward, he can bolt on the valve cover and crank pulley.

A length of steel braid a smidge over 20 inches in length links the oil sender in the back of the block to the cylinder head. VTEC is ours.

PSI cohort Fat Kid Aaron bolts up the GSR intermediate shaft and '99 Civic Si rear engine bracket to the back of the block while it's still accessible.

Blox Racing provided one of its new cast aluminum B16 intake manifolds, boasting nice, long runners and a healthy plenum in a lightweight package.

Problem: the Edelbrock GS-R 65mm throttle body has its cable lever/linkage flipped, making it useless for this application. Not to worry, though; Castro pinches one from a B16 throttle body (right) and swaps them.

Though it's not critical in this all-motor application, AEM's billet high volume fuel rail and adjustable fuel pressure regulator are capable of moving much more fuel in case we do decide to boost down the line.

The manifold comes together fairly quickly. Castro screws a 45-degree NPT fitting with some thread locker into the rail for a fuel pressure gauge. Next to that an intake air temp sensor, scavenged from another manifold, is secured to one of the runners.

Fat Kid begins hooking up the engine harness, which is much easier to do with the motor out of the car. For a clean install he runs the injector connector wires up through the intake manifold runners. He'll also plug in the TPS, IAT, and MAP sensors, as well as others, while he's at it.

There are a number of gearboxes available for the LS-VTEC engine, but Castro is going to stick with the most obvious choice. The Type R transaxle is desired for its short gears and limited slip differential. Castro even took it a step further, getting his mitts on a JDM Honda LSD and final drive ring gear and countershaft for the R. The Japanese pieces raise the final drive to 4.785:1, versus the 4.400:1 that comes on the U.S. Type R and the paltry 4.266:1 of the LS gearbox. The box didn't come together in time for the story, so we're stuck using the beat LS tranny for now.
We should also point out that whatever transmission you choose, you should try to get the corresponding drive shafts. Typically this means using drive shafts from a '94-to-'01 Integra or a combo of EG VTEC del Sol and EM Civic Si shafts. You'll also need the shift linkages from the EM Si.