Outlaw

It's been a while since I've posted pictures, the last time I can remember was my X5 projector setup done by Mike (VXCL) and the pics of my H22 engine sittin in my garage (if anybody can remember that haha) last year. Skip down to the pics if you want, but here's the story of what I've done to my CL over the past year.

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG STORY

I bought a 2000 H22 swap, everything included except the ECU, from a junkyard in July. Cost me $2500 (after tax I think it was $2800?) for the engine. Folks over there told me there was about 35000 miles on it, they weren't sure.



My dad and I planned on doing the swap in our garage ourselves. My main goal was to get it BAR'd, getting the swap smog legalized at the smog referee so I don't have to pay some smog shop money to pass. I had a couple of doubts over whether my dad could do it (one of my friends kept tellin me to just bring it to a shop), but shit did he prove me wrong. It took over a year to do the swap because we did the swap little by little since my dad just did it when he wasn't working. Plus, we came across some problems: the tranny and the ECU. I did a whole lotta research and found that the tranny I had was for a Type SH, which wouldn't work for me because of that ATTS bullshit. So, I let the junkyard folks know and they said they would find me one.

SH Tranny


In the meantime, we replaced the timing belt and water pump. I would have done more work to it while it was out, but I was broke. We started disconnecting the F22, and we found the reason why my car was a little louder than usual. The exhaust manifold had a crack in it.

Damn this shit is rusty!




I also decided to look around for an ECU, since I needed one. It had to be OBD2, since my goal was to get it smog legal, so the OBD1 harness was out of the picture. Here's where my problem began.

Some background info on it: from what I've read, 97+ Prelude ECUs have an immobilizer in them. This makes it so that the car won't start without the exact key and ignition it came with. Of course, these parts are from a Prelude chassis, not included in the swap, but with the research I did, I found on Honda-Tech that I could call a dealership to get it reprogrammed so it would work.

I called around and everybody told me they wouldn't do it. Shit. I was in trouble. Did more research and found that a 96 ECU would work, it was OBD2, had no immobilizer, BUT IT IS VERY RARE. I looked on eBay and found one. The guy had 1 pic of it, and it looked ok to me, so I bought it.

FUCK. I got that shit, and 1 mount was broke. Dude had packed it with garbage bags. Plus, he didn't know shit about what he had. He bought it from a junkyard, who said it was a 96 USDM ECU. I found out it was a JDM one. I was fuckin pissed. The top sticker had been scratched out, but I eventually found out what it was a 4 wheel steering Manual JDM ECU. I had my dad's friend at his job weld the broken mount back on and eventually sold it, because I found out it was another rare ECU.






Looked around some more and came across a cool dude at H-T (that's rare too) and he sold 1 to me that he didn't need anymore. Finally I got the ECU.

Also, I needed a driver's side mount from a 92-96 Prelude. Found that easy.

Well after waiting a month or so, the junkyard still didn't have the tranny. They couldn't give me a refund for it, just junkyard credit. So I kept waiting. I went to school down at UC Riverside (which I hated, but that's a different story) and still waited. I even tried to find someone to buy my SH tranny so I could buy the right one. Finally, I called one day and they finally got one. My dad picked it up, got that shit and slapped it on the engine.

After a couple of weeks, I went to Vegas to visit my cousin and his family. I called home to check up on the progress, and my brother said "yeah the engine's in the car already, we put it in today." I thought he was bullshittin, but apparently with the help of my brother and my lil cousin, he rented a crane and dropped it in.

I hated UCR and I came back after 1 quarter, and I was back and able to help with the swap again. We came across some problems while finishing the swap. The Prelude downpipe didn't fit too well with my exhaust; it was a little long and the holes for the bolts didn't match. Amazingly, my dad cut the Prelude downpipe, cut the end of the CL downpipe, and had his friend weld it together at his job (sorry I don't have pics of that).

The CL power steering line didn't fit correctly to the Prelude power steering, so my dad made it fit haha. It's pretty secure and I thought it was creative.



Also, the firing order in the cheapo Haynes and Chilton Manuals were WRONG. When we first tried to fire it up, it would only turn. I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE HAD A HELMS MANUAL, BUT I WAS BROKE HAHA. Eventually, my dad figured it out and we started that bitch up! I was excited as fuck. Couldn't wait to drive it. More little problems came along.

I had to buy a new stock exhaust. The one that came with my CL had holes in it. My dad tried to patch them up, but there were too many. Bought a stock exhaust from an stock aftermarket parts site. Slapped that shit on.

Check Engine Light was still on. All we had to do now was add 3 wires to the ECU. My dad amazed me again and did it. I came home from work one day, started it up and the light was OFF. DAMN! He did it.

And you guessed it, more problems came along. The CEL would come on after a while of driving. It would flash too and the idle would jump. We would pull a certain spark plug wire while the engine was running and there was no effect on the car. My dad fixed it..or so I thought.

So, I made an appt with the smog referee at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. I was nervous as fuck. JUST as I parked and stopped, you already know what happens. CEL CAME ON. WHAT THE FUCK. Called my dad for help. He was at work, and he told me to press down on the spark plug wires, because he said they would get loose sometimes. Tried, reset the ECU, CEL still on. Damn. Told the ref that the CEL came on. I already knew what he would tell me, that I would automatically fail. But he told me I could just take the test anyway, so I could find out what was wrong. Unfortunately, the CEL was flashing, and he said he couldn't test it because it means that the engine is misfiring, and they don't want to mess anything up. Went home frustrated.

Once again, my dad fixed it. He found out that the vacuum lines for the Prelude were a little different, and he moved them to the right places. Back to the referee..
Nervous again, they tested it. They were doing the visual, and he asked me to come over. The ref asked me to look for this one part called an Evap canister, which I needed in order to pass, but I didn't have the right one. Failed the visual. Fortunately, I passed the smog part of it.

Left. Went to the junkyard, got what I needed. Went home, dad slapped it on. The CEL would come on after a while, saying it's running to rich or lean (probably because of a bad O2 sensor), but I went back to the ref and said fuck it. Got there, and they put my car on the dyno. They left it running, but for some reason, the engine would just die. FUCK! ...didn't matter, because I passed! They started it up, checked the visual, put it on the dyno, and passed smog! Once I heard him say, "Find a place to put the sticker" to his assistant, I was happy as fuck. My dad did it.

Here's what I needed to pass, installed.



This was a great accomplishment for me and my dad. I guess it's safe to say I'm the first smog legal H22 CL. I'm in Cali by the way, and everybody knows smog is strict out here.

On a side note, while the CL was out of commission, I sold my old projector setup (he knows who he is) for a new one. I got bored with the X5 ones. Now I have S2000 projectors. Thanks Mike for the work you did on my first setup! I also did the clock mod, and changed all lights to LEDs, including the gauges.

Here's the pics. Enjoy! Sorry for the long story everybody!

Mods:
- 10% Back, 35% Front tint (I think it's 10%, it doesn't look as light as Klepto's, but not as dark as my mom's 2nd Gen 5%)
- GHETTO cut springs, thanks to former idiot owner, dropped 1.75"
- LED gauges, Dasani blue clock mod
- H22 of course
- S2000 Projector Retro

The paint looks good from far..




Ouch, bumper paint chips.








BAR Certified!


I replaced that 80MPH with an LED instead of an incandescent bulb. I used the inc. bulb at first and it was still dim. I just soldered part of the plastic base of the LED and made it fit.


The needles look purplish because I changed the bulbs that light up the needles on top of the gauges to superwhite bulbs.






Listening to the Giants game, yes I will get a new deck (came with the car).


Shit, apparently took me 5 minutes to take this pic.


Amber bitch!


Up close, it's FAR FROM GOOD.










Inside the car..




Outside the car..




Outside the car..


High beams still aligned!






Inside the car again..output this time


Outside the car..


Sunroof view..


It doesn't look like it, but the light is wide enough to be seen on the middle dividers from the slow lane




Blue!


Inspired by a pic from Hidplanet.com


More mods to come! Planning on getting TEINs to replace the GHETTO drop next, then paint job, then rims.

(Took me like 2 hours to type this shit up)

burtonblue75

wow man congrats on that horible h22 story paid off i hope. i know how much of a biatch that install can be i have done two of em and ya they are fun!!! your dad kind of seems like a car god?? where did he learn all that honda tunning from , must be a smart dad. ........ ha! anyways gotta love the h22 power!

bebop.fey

I LOVE YOUR CAR!!
lol!

SanJoseRoller

Time For Turbo

h2o-pr00f

wow man thats a lotta work, good job on finally getting er done, musta been so exciting to finally drive it around.. cant wait for the next mods the projectors look INSANE

DivineCL

Good freaking work bro. It sounds like you and your dad did an excellent job. I bet projects like that must be fun to do with your old man. Anyways, congrats.

CL Platano

I should of had my morning coffee before I sat to read this but good story you gotta a lot more patience than I do.

jz-97-c7

i'll have to sit down and read the whole story later on but your car looks nice...i like the projectors. and the swap came out pretty clean. if i had a 2.x i'd do the same swap.

hybridnrg

iTrader: (4)

haha yeah i didnt read the whole story yet....but its dam nice man. good work

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

It was long, but it was a good story. Sorry to hear about your misfortunes, but at least you got the right ecu and got everything squared away. Nice job, way to hang in there. I love your car too, u have any more pics of the projector setup?

SupraManAG

Wow congrat man to you and me for actually having the patience of reading that long story. I've been thru those misfortunes myself and I know that exciting feeling once everything starts running. I know exacly what you mean. Car looks real nice. Keep up the dedication!!! and the good work!!!

agranado

congrats, and thanks for the huge update

koolposter

damn nice!

Acura3.0CL

DAMMN...those projectors look siiicckk! Did u make them yourself? I wish i knew how to do it. Crap, my HID's has such a shitty output. Its like 2 round beams of light thats all clustered together...I really need projectors to spread out the light.

How much were the S2k projectors and roughly how much $ & time did it take to make them?/ I'd REALLY like to do projectors on mine.

BlueCLS6

So why did you hate UCR?

Nice swap btw, congrats on the BAR sticker! Wish I had one of those!!

klepto

wow, GJ with everything. Mad props dude. We should meet up sometime for a photoshoot so I can see that thing in person. I pass by vallejo all the time when I drive back from school to the bay

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

Great job man....

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

we should meet up sometime

Outlaw

Thanks everybody for the compliments.

Acura3.0CL: I was going to try and do them myself with another different pair of projectors, but I found someone who did crazy ass projector retros and he did it for me. Paid a grip though..

Klepto: I might go to that meet in the City with a friend of mine, so hopefully I'll see you there.

BlueCLS6: I hated UCR because I really didn't even want to go there in the first place, let alone did I even apply! I wasn't accepted to any other UCs that I applied to, so I guess my app was sent there. My parents forced me to go (indirectly), for bragging rights (my son goes to UCR blah blah) but they won't ever admit that. My dorm fuckin sucked! It was the oldest one there, and I had a triple room squished into a double. SoCal just isn't for me, that's all. I found a good barber though haha.

Oh yeah and about the driving experience, the h22 makes it so that the car doesn't feel like a boat haha. It feels lighter now, not so sluggish when I'm smashin it. Sucks though, I lose some gas mileage and I have to use 91 now. The gear ratios are much shorter. If I'm going reaching 40mph and want to shift before 3k, I'm already in 5th gear. At 80mph, I'm at ~4k. My engine is still stock, and I'm averaging about 335 miles a tank (til the gas light comes on).

Outlaw

97BlackAckCL: Let me know what else you want to see. Those are the best pics I can get.

If you guys want I can post up pics of my X5 retro that VXCL did for comparison.

klepto

fasho. hope you can make it out. Im pretty much like the only 1st gen cl that goes

kamdawg

goood pics and great story. your dads a pimp. i also see your located in vallejo, right across the carquinez bridge.

first question is, how much was the total swap after the tranny and ecu problems?? also, which junk yard did you go to? im looking for some stock parts, so is it just a walk in junk yard? or what?

thanks man, and good job on the swap.

DigiBox

Good stuff!! I was wondering what became of your project.

97Acura3.0CL

hey man

who did the retro for you this time?

nice pics

ayougo

Hard work pays of in the end. Good job on the cl man. I like your lights, it inspires me to take mine apart again, sand them, polish them, and mount a higher intensity HID in them. M5 projectors but there Alot. Your car looks nice and new paint will deff do her good. hehe, just drive to a storm and claim insurance for a new paint job.

chuckz

your hard work paid off. car looks wikid.

VXCL

i wasnt going to post on here anymore, but i had to tell you good work. im glad everything worked out for you. it awesome you and your pops worked on your car together. its something you'll remember for the rest of your life.

peace

97Acura3.0CL

Did you have a guy named Larry do them in SF?


how much if i may ask? 500 for labor?

97Acura3.0CL

not true i was the first 1st gen to go to the meet in the bay with dennis, dennis is an OG with a new ride and then i was the only one for months

then the albino batmobile came along

and now i work 60+ hours a week and little time on the weekend for myself or my soon to be wife and then yard work to do for my new house, poker tourneys, im a busy guy

to top it off im selling the CL soon anyways, I am getting a Audi A4, carbon i think they call it, brand new, so parting out the CL will be coming reall soon

NitiNiteZ

iTrader: (1)

nice man... so what exact ecu did u use? The 96 OBDI prelude vtec one right? causee i think thats the only one u can make it smog legal with. I have that one in my garage... but i heard that it'll make me lose power... so i don't know... plus i'm running the JDM h22. Well... GJ. so how many h22 cls do we have now?

Outlaw

kamdawg: I can't remember how much I spent total. I went to a junkyard called Import Center in Hayward. Someone on here referred me there. They sell Honda/Acura parts only. They won't let you just waltz in around the junkyard to just look unless you're asking for something specific and they need help finding it, like how I got that smog canister thing from them.

97Acura3.0CL: Larry did it for me. He did a pretty good job. Didn't charge me $500 for labor though, I caught him before he bumped his prices up.

NitiNiteZ: I used a 96 OBD2 VTEC ECU. I don't really mind losing a little power right now, since my main goal was to get that BAR sticker. I'll probably get that OBD2-OBD1 harness after I start working on the engine.

Thanks again everybody for the compliments.

JayT

Good shit on the swap!!!!... Were did you graduate from Vallejo, Hogan, or Bethel? I'm from Vallejo moved to Vegas.

Outlaw

Bethel 04.

Racer510dude

NICE JOB MAN!!! Now all you need is some nice rims and the car is perfect.

NitiNiteZ

iTrader: (1)

is ur cruise control hooked up? cause mine isn't.

krazy99cl

woOOow nice cut-off. you've gave me a lot of ideas...

Outlaw

No, cruise control is not hooked up. I forgot to mention that, but I can live without it.

NuMnUtZzZ

dang outlaw, i think i gotta meet up with you. i need mad info for my swamp. think u could help a brotha out?

lnsyone

if you can live w/o it, then i say take it out. the engine bay looks less cluttered w/o it

Outlaw

NuMnUtZzZ: Sure. I'll try to help.

lnsyone: Haha that's what I meant. There's no reason for me to have it in there because I can't hook it up anyway. Thanks for the Photoshop help.