yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Just did some searching in the 1g CL section and found one member (Cocoa) who's actually performed a J35 swap but unfortunately didn't see anything that will be helpful so figured I'd lay down a thread about this.

First of all, the car is a 98 2.3 CL and has MANY miles on the original motor (320k) and although there's nothing wrong with it, I'm entertaining the possibility of a J35 swap. I've already got the motor/tranny/harness/ECM but am looking for other necessities like mounts, suspension, cooling, etc...

Is this something that I couldnt simply get from a 3.0 CL and use all the parts I will need from that? I'm obviously assuming that the J30 is pretty similar to this 2G J35 motor I have...is it? Any help/advice/pointers would be appreciated. Thanks!

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

First, Cocoa's setup is a J32 (CL-S) with J35 Block.
Second. Although the engine will fit in the car, Cocoa did have issues with the hood. (if you look at his pics, the hood is slightly bent to compensate.

i remember telling me that the wiring is a nightmare for that car.

He will probably chime in here sooner or late.r

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Is the J32/J35 (without spacer) taller than the J30 and if so, what makes it taller? I'm assuming the intake manifold would be the culprit seeing how much flatter the J30's intake is than other J-series I see. I'm sure addressing that issue would alleviate any fitment problems under the hood.

As for the wiring issues, that's my specialty and my profession. Cake walk in that department.

Thanks for the help so far man.

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

Read this thread. it will give you alot of what Cocoa did on his swap.

https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-cl-1997-1999-56/latest-cocoas-3-5cl-475962/

DaInFaMMuS1

2.3CL to 3.5 swap seems like a big issue being that cocoa had so many issues. Probably better off going H or K swap w/a 2.3

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

I don't see how quite honestly. TBH, when Cocoa started his swap, he didn't exactly know alot about cars. I noticed he had alot of issues with non-mechanically related situations. Being that the J30 is an option for the 1g CL from Acura, not really sure what brings about "so many issues". As mentioned, I just need to know what parts are required to do something like this. Mounts, harness, ecu, motor, transmission, axles, etc...

Not trying to be an ass but instead of saying how tough it's gonna be, why not help and contribute some usable advice? Damn near ANY swap is gonna be tough...the challenge is what makes the job so unique. No disrespect.

DaInFaMMuS1

I only say that because not only do you need the things to swap from what a 3.0 CL would swap, you'd need even more like a full 3.0 subframe which has diff mounting points than 2.3, wiring harness which would still have to be fitted for 3.5, etc. But more power to you if you're up to the job, I guess I was just under the impression you'd be under a certain budget which would make an H or K swap more sense.

97CL_NC1102

k swap might be more beneficial (k24a2 from tsx or k24a4 from accord/element/cr-v). Although the TSX k24 will be more expensive, it has REAL vtec and not the economy vtec like the a4 and a8 have, which means more power . besides if youre looking to make decent power and tq numbers k24 is the way to go. But if you already have the parts for the J35 then go for it.

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

A J35 and K24 both make around a power equivalency of around 50hp per cylinder. How does a K24 have a REAL VTEC over a J35? I have nothing against using a 4 cylinder but I'm just trying understand what that was all about. I do, however, have an F20C that makes a claimed 240bhp and would like to gain some feedback on using this. It has a bad rod bearing so it would need a 'rebuild' before using it. Maybe a fresh set of bearings, hone, and some new rings and it would be GTG. Is it possible to mount this motor transversely and mate it to an appropriate transmission that would allow it to work?

DaInFaMMuS1

Actually, the F20C would be a viable swap candidate now that there are F2K swap kits that can put F20c engines in FWD cars. Also, there's a product to convert F20c's from dohc vtec to i-vtec which produced 30hp/tq for the F20c's. A lot of possibilities, but again will cost $$$ and the F20c isn't an engine with torque, these cars heavier than S2K's and civics.

I can see you're going for the gusto with this build, I like where you're headed either way!

97CL_NC1102

real vtec meaning you'll make more hp and tq numbers easier than you will with an economy vtec. Case in point when I purchased a 06 accord i had the k24a8 which is considered to be an economy k24 (177hp 170tq) and I wouldnt make a whole lot of hp/tq numbers with basic bolt ons. The k24a2 out of the tsx is a bit better (205hp/180tq) it just has better internals to make better numbers. I was just saying it might be more cost efficient to do k series if a j35 wouldnt work without having to do a lot of fab work.

But when it comes to the F20, Im not really sure.

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

Suspension stays the same.

Mounts - I use 2 custom mounts (rear engine mount and tranny mount) while using 2 stock located mounts (side engine mount and front engine mount) from the 3.0 CL platform.

Cooling - all stock 3.0 cooling

Axles - stock 3.0 axles work while using the cls-6 half shaft

The only way your j35 resembles our j30a1 is if it's the j35a4 or the j35a1, or even a j32a1/a2 with j35 internals would work as all of them consist of the same casting for the bottom end. If you are referring to a newer j35, then you are in a different ballpark and would have to be the guinea pig. Let me know if you have any more questions. I will proof-read this when I'm sober

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Using the F motor would have an awesome cool factor but the reality of it is that like you said: no torque. In order to make the power, I'd have to wrap the motor out just to get the car going quick enough to please me. Not sure that's what I'm looking for. Think I will sell the motor to supplement one of these builds.

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

You're like the little elf in the magical woods that everyone says to talk to but after a long, tough search you conclude he's not real.

Yeah, I figured that there would be a few things here and there that would be custom but knew most original parts could be used in the swap. I'm pretty sure that a J32 is a tad bit larger (in length for sure) than the J35 and if I make/use a shorter intake the swap should easy. I don't want a bulging hood or hole in top. I want a clean, "damn that motor looks factory" type of look. Also, does the J30 transmission have the same casing as the 5AT J32 trans?

What would be my top 3 biggest issues here in this swap and what was your solution to them?

yungone501

iTrader: (4)

Just to keep this thread updated, I've decided to not follow through with this just yet. I have my original J32 out of my 03 TL-S still mated to the transmission and because I plan using it as a reference when it comes time to assembling the J35 and routing its harness properly. This is extremely important to me because I want this motor looking perfect as it did when it was installed from the factory. As for the other J35 motor I was planning on using in this swap, it's front camshaft is currently removed so I could send it out along with the J32's factory cam to my machinist so he could accurately gauge the precise specs on machining the spacers to run 3g TL-S cams into my 2g TL-S.

FYI Cocoa, it's gonna be the beginning of next week before those specs are obtained.

DaInFaMMuS1

What do u plan to do with the cam specs once they're obtained, run spacers or actually have new cams made? If spacers, how exactly would cam spacers work?

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

I just spatted out my water when I saw this. He is actually short.

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

I'm 5'7" thank you very much!

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

Yes those transmissions are interchangeable.

The intake manifolds is what sits higher in the j32 as opposed to a stock j30. The newer 07 tl-s and even the 09 RL manifolds are shorter in height by 1.5" which will help with giving clearance for the hood.

The wiring is a mess. The solution for the 2nd shop's attempt was to integrate the cls-6 wiring harness with the stock j30 wiring harness.

The 2nd mess was the mounting points for the swap. The first shop wanted to mount the engine closer to the passenger side of the engine bay to give enough clearance for the transmission to come off during clutch jobs which would have consisted of 4 custom mounts. The 2nd shop decided to stick with the original mounting points which reduced the amount of custom mount down to 2 (transmission and rear engine mount). Unfortunately, I had to cut my firewall to give myself enough clearance for my last clutch job in the garage as I didnt have an engine hoist to pull the engine.

I couldn't think of a third big problem, as the mounts and wiring is what took the longest to solve during the swap.

Seli8

I am hoping for some advice for cam swap-possible cams re-grind and port and polish single port heads? I am new to this and I can use all the help possible

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

^TSX cams won't work, you need to machine a CL-S 3.2 cam

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

You can buy my car if you'd like for $3k. Put some $5k brakes on it recently and hasnt seen a mile since in the last 2yrs. Would save you a massive headache :p